Federal immigration agents killed another American citizen in Minneapolis today, and the administration is already shoveling out its usual slurry of lies, contradictions, and smug deflections, as if the country is too stupid or too numb to notice the blood on their hands. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37‑year‑old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen, was filming ICE agents pepper‑spraying bystanders when at least five of these untrained, adrenaline‑drunk federal thugs tackled him, pinned him to the pavement, beat him, and then one of them — an eight‑year Border Patrol veteran whose name DHS refuses to release — fired ten rounds into his body in five seconds. Pretti never got up. The shooter scurried behind a car like a man who knew exactly what he had just done. And the administration wants the public to swallow the phrase “defensive fire” like it’s gospel.
This is the second American citizen ICE has killed in Minneapolis this month. On January 7, they shot and killed Renee Good. Two dead Americans in seventeen days. Two citizens. Two people with no violent histories. Two people killed during operations that Minnesota officials have repeatedly described as reckless, unlawful, and out of control. Governor Tim Walz said it plainly: “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.” But instead of accountability, DHS and ICE have responded with the same script they always use: contradictory statements, refusal to release the officer’s name, refusal to allow outside investigation, and a demand that the public simply accept that federal agents can kill citizens and then investigate themselves.
And the brutality doesn’t stop at shootings. ICE’s takedown tactics in Minnesota look like a parody of law enforcement written by someone who has never read the Constitution. Face‑first pavement slams for “failure to comply.” Knee‑on‑neck restraints. Guns drawn on families. Dragging people out of cars without identifying themselves. And in one of the most grotesque abuses yet, ICE agents broke down the door of a St. Paul home and dragged ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a 56‑year‑old naturalized U.S. citizen, into the freezing Minnesota air wearing nothing but boxer shorts and Crocs. They pointed guns at his family, handcuffed him in front of his five‑year‑old grandson, and hauled him outside in 14‑degree weather while he clutched his grandson’s blanket for warmth. ICE claimed they were looking for sex offenders supposedly living at the address. But Thao has no criminal record, is a U.S. citizen, and after fingerprinting him and realizing they had humiliated an innocent man, they dumped him back home without explanation or apology. NBC News +3
This is what happens when an agency is trained — yes, trained — to believe that an administrative warrant is all they need to enter a home. Reports from Minnesota describe ICE agents being told in their minimal training that they can treat an administrative warrant, a piece of paper signed by ICE itself, as if it were a judicial warrant. It is not. It never has been. It never will be. But ICE is using these self‑issued hall passes to break down doors, point guns at families, and drag citizens into the snow. That is a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…” A warrant requires probable cause and a judge’s signature. ICE does not get to sign its own permission slip to terrorize neighborhoods.
The First Amendment is no safer. It says: “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech… or the right of the people peaceably to assemble…” Tear‑gassing peaceful protesters who are not blocking traffic, not damaging property, and not threatening anyone is a violation of that right. It is assault and battery. If a private citizen did it, they’d be in handcuffs. When ICE does it, the administration calls it “crowd control.”
And then there’s the constant demand for papers. Legally, merely asking someone about their citizenship is not automatically unconstitutional. It becomes unconstitutional when paired with detention, coercion, profiling, or demands for ID without reasonable suspicion. But let’s not pretend ICE is politely inquiring like a census worker. The reality on the ground is simple: if you don’t answer, they escalate. If you hesitate, they detain. If you assert your rights, they treat you like a criminal. The law may draw distinctions, but ICE’s behavior erases them.
And while we’re talking about law, let’s be clear about the level of offense involved in being in the country without authorization. Unlawful presence is a civil violation, not a crime. Improper entry — crossing the border without inspection — is a misdemeanor for a first offense. A misdemeanor. Not a violent crime. Not a felony. Not something that justifies deadly force. Not something that justifies dragging a citizen out of his home in boxers. Not something that justifies tear‑gassing peaceful protesters. Not something that justifies any of this.
But the administration, led by people like Kristi Noem, Thomas Homan, and Stephen Miller, continues to spew hateful lies about “dangerous criminals,” “drug traffickers,” and “invasions,” all while refusing to release basic facts about the people ICE is arresting. The data we do have shows that the majority of ICE detainees have no criminal convictions. Only a tiny fraction have violent records. Immigrants with no criminal history are the largest group in ICE custody. Yet these officials stand at podiums with smug grins, assassinating the character of innocent Americans to cover their own failures, their own cruelty, and their own political ambitions.
And the Republican members of Congress — those trembling, spineless, self‑preserving cowards — refuse to intervene. They refuse to protect their own constituents. They refuse to defend the Constitution they claim to worship. They refuse to acknowledge that American citizens are being killed by federal agents under their watch. They are so terrified of Trump being mean to them on social media that they will let federal agents kill Americans in the street rather than risk a bad nickname.
If any of this had happened under Biden, Obama, Clinton, Bush, Reagan — hell, pick a president — the very same people cheering this on would be screaming about tyranny, marching on Washington, and demanding impeachment. But now? Now they wave flags and call it patriotism. Now they shrug and say “don’t resist.” Now they pretend that killing citizens is law enforcement. Their hypocrisy isn’t just staggering — it’s dangerous.
Two Americans are dead. A naturalized citizen was dragged into the snow in his underwear. Peaceful protesters have been tear‑gassed. Homes have been entered without judicial warrants. ICE agents with minimal training are being told they can treat administrative paperwork as a license to violate the Constitution. And the administration is telling the country to sit down, shut up, and accept it.
Nothing about this is normal. Nothing about this is lawful. Nothing about this is acceptable in a functioning democracy. And the people responsible for it — Noem, Homan, Miller, and every Republican too cowardly to intervene — will be remembered for exactly what they are.
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