Bearing Witness

Don't believe their lies

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell, 1984

This is not some overseas war zone, but a place so friendly it is known for the phrase “Minnesota nice” (image from NYT)

Yesterday, federal agents executed Alex Pretti, a 37-year old US citizen and registered nurse at the local VA hospital. Immediately following the shooting, DHS officials claimed he was a “domestic terrorist” who approached officials with a gun and threatened to kill them. ICE officers claimed they feared for their lives and fired defensive shots.

Those were lies.

Video of the murder, which I will not link to here (but they are all over the internet), shows Pretti approaching with a cell phone to record ICE officers, who then harass and shove him and a woman next to him, followed by pepper spraying both. The officers begin to hit them, and Pretti moves his body to shield the woman. At one point, one of the five-plus ICE agents pinning Alex to the ground removes a handgun from his rear waistband—which he legally possessed and did not grab for during the encounter—and walks away with it. Seconds later there is a gunshot, followed by nine more.

ICE shot an unarmed man 10 times in the back at point blank range.

You don’t have to believe me, witnesses have filed sworn statements (at risk of perjury) in court. Here is an eye-witness account from someone a few feet away:

Here is one from a pediatrician who watched from his home and then tried to help:

This incident comes just two weeks after ICE shot and killed Renee Good in her own car. The pattern there was the same: Initial claims of a protestor attacking agents who feared for their life, only to be wildly contradicted by numerous bystander videos from different angles.

DHS said that Jonathan Ross, the agent who killed Good, was “run over” by her car and that he was treated for serious injuries at the hospital. Yet video shows him casually walking down the street after without any apparent injuries, and one recording captures a male voice (presumed to be Ross) saying “fucking bitch.”

At this point, the federal government has proven itself to be untrustworthy, and we should not take anything they say at face value without corroboration. Their lying and gaslighting will almost certainly continue. They said a Cuban immigrant died by suicide in an ICE detention center in Texas; a medical examiner ruled the death homicide after a struggle, which matched eye-witness accounts. This administration is digitally altering images of arrestees for propaganda. They are baselessly slandering their victims as terrorists while hiding their own faces and destroying evidence.

These are not isolated incidents by a long shot, and it is not just Minneapolis or Los Angeles or Chicago. Here is a short, non-comprehensive recap of ICE brutalities from around the country from a recent post by Noah Smith:

Here’s a video of ICE agents in Arkansas beating up an unarmed U.S. citizen. Here’s a video of ICE agents arresting two U.S. citizens in a Target. Here’s a story about a similar arrest. Here’s a video of an ICE agent brandishing a gun in the face of a protester. Here’s the story of ICE agents arresting a pastor who complained about an arrest he saw. Here’s a video of ICE agents arresting an American citizen and punching him repeatedly. Here’s a video of ICE agents threatening a bystander who complained about their reckless driving. Here’s a video of ICE agents arresting a man for yelling at them from his own front porch. Here’s a video of ICE agents making a particularly brutal arrest while pointing their weapons at unarmed civilians nearby. Here’s a story about another ICE killing, this one in Maryland, under dubious circumstances. Here’s a video of ICE agents savagely beating and arresting a legal immigrant. Here’s a video of ICE agents storming a private home without a warrant. Here’s a video of ICE agents pulling a disabled woman out of a car when she’s just trying to get to the doctor.

[…]

For the past year, ICE has been involved in a series of escalating incidents that rarely result in repercussions for anyone involved. ICE agents have recklessly caused traffic accidents and then, in one incident, arrested the person whose car they hit. They’ve tear-gassed a veteran, arrested him, and denied him access to medical care and an attorney. They have attacked protesters merely for filming them in public. They’ve pepper-sprayed a fleeing onlooker in the eyes from a foot away. They’ve pointed guns at a 6-year-old. They’ve knelt on top of a pregnant woman while they arrested her. They have arrested another pregnant woman, then kept her separated from her newborn while she languished in custody. They have repeatedly arrested American citizens, and they’ve even reportedly deported a citizen, directly contradicting court orders.

This isn’t about politics or views on immigration policy, it is about basic right vs wrong. I don’t care whether you are liberal or conservative, we should all be able to agree that the brutalities above are immoral and un-American.

If you feel compelled to go out and peacefully protest, I applaud you¹. If you are too afraid: trust me, I get it. Whatever you decide, the least we can do is bear witness: speak up and state the truth plainly. Fact check their lies with independent sources. Document any wrongdoing you see with photos and video and share them widely.

They want you to be afraid and silent.

Don’t be.

“I explained to him how naive we were, that the world did know and remain[ed] silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.”

— Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor; 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

1. Check out this resource page on knowing your rights and ways to stay safe.