Let’s start with the photo below.
These are, of course, ICE agents training their loaded weapons on a driver in the Twin Cities. But why? Have they tracked down a dangerous criminal? Is this a drug dealer? Has the person brandished a weapon or tried to impede their work?
No. None of the above. The person in the driver’s seat was following the agents. That’s all, Just following them. Last I checked it was legal to drive on a public street. And if their intent was to see where the agents were going and to document whatever it was they were going to do next, well, that’s also not illegal. American citizens have a right to see what their government is up to.
Properly trained city police officers would have simply gone about their business and let the citizen do whatever it was they wanted to do, so long as it was legal. And if, for some reason, they felt it necessary to contact the citizen, they’d do so with respect. Maybe even explain to them where they were headed (maybe it was to lunch, for all we know) and invite them to observe what they would do from a safe distance and record to their heart’s content. What no well-trained police officer would do is draw his gun in a situation like this.
For all of the outrageous images coming out of the Twin Cities, this one sums it up so well. America under Donald Trump has come to this.
That being said, it looks like — in fits and starts and reversals and amid chaos, as he does everything — Trump is in retreat. Trump pulled Thug-in-Chief Greg Bovino from Minneapolis last week and sent Tom Homan to make vaguely reassuring — and, of course, conflicting — statements. Then he made a deal with Congressional Democrats for a short-term budget extension for Homeland Security with a promise to negotiate on reforms. Now, he’s pulling back 700 agents from Minnesota. It’s pretty clear that he’s been beat. He’s looking for a way out that doesn’t look like total acquiescence.
That comes too lake for Renee Good and Alex Pretti, but their deaths were a key part of the public backlash that is turning the tide against Trump. That’s too great a price to pay, but it still means that they didn’t die in vain.
The next big step will come in November when the Party of Trump needs to pay a steep price at the polls and then weather whatever Trump will do to try to steal that election. If you have any doubts that Republicans deserve to be routed, explain the picture above.
Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos 
It’s called obstruction Dave. Do your own test with MPD if you think it’s an ICE thing.
Granted the “feelz” are on your side. Will play well at the Grammys.
This is not Democracy, this is mob rule. Reminiscent of Freedom Inc. disrupting the Madison School Board. We know how well that worked out.
And for the love of God stop lumping Good and Pretti together. Pretti was looking for a fight. Good was a clueless good natured person who had no clue what she got herself into.
When Following Becomes Obstruction
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Do we have any evidence the actions of the folks following ICE met any of those criteria, other than ICE’s word (which we know isn’t worth a dime after they lies they spread about Pretti)?
Even if their actions did meet those criteria (say following too closely), do you actually think that justifies ordering them to exit the car at gunpoint?
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I honestly have no idea, certainly not for the case in the photo. I do think anyone following police in a vehicle should be treated as a potential threat. Ultimately it would come down to he said/she said in court.
You ever wonder about the charge of “disorderly conduct”? I see it so much for “residents” of the Dane County jail. What does it mean? Answer is “anything under the sun”. You crossed some line where the officers are sick of your shit. We give law enforcement some leeway for good reason. Is that privilege abused sometimes? Definitely! Ben Masel being roughed up by UW police was a good example.
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You seem to be under the assumption that all the people getting assaulted by ICE are obstructing. FYI, many are not. Following a police officer is not obstructing them. Yelling at a police officer is not obstructing them. Recording a police officer is not obstructing them.
Law enforcement officers are allowed to arrest and physically assault anybody at anytime. They can just say they thought a person was breaking any old law, use force upon them, arrest them, hold them a while, then decide not to charge them. A well disciplined department that’s accountable to the public won’t abuse that power, and will be held accountable if they do. ICE is not a well disciplined department that’s accountable to the public. Neither the US DOJ nor congress is holding ICE agents accountable. States and cities aren’t allowed to. That’s a recipe for tyranny.
Even if Pretti was looking for a fight, as you assert, there was no justification for killing him. Nor was there for Good. You can make excuses for ICE all day if you want to, but excuses aren’t justifications.
The news media is not well capturing the incredible situation as a whole – it’s not just the deaths. The city has thousands of what are essentially unaccountable heavily armed soldiers roving around everywhere, who need no probable cause to do anything they want to anyone, and who know they will not be accountable for their actions. I’m told by a resident that it’s like living among an occupying army; that agents are everywhere. Imagine if every time you left the house you’d pass by masked men with rifles who are not accountable to your local or state government, laws, or police and who can physically assault and detain anybody they want just because they feel like it. This should be horrific to every American.
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You say that Alex Pretti was “looking for a fight” as he tried to shield a woman who was being pushed and maced by federal agents. Why not go all in: he was a “domestic terrorist” (Noem), an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents” (Miller) in order “to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement” (Bovino).
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Why not go all in? Because I’m a reasonable person.
Are you?
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From The Free Press: As Trump scrambles to turn down the temperature in Minneapolis, Minnesota officials are letting jails and police cooperate with federal immigration enforcement—quietly handing the Trump administration what it called for in the first place.
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