This year, there has been a race to the bottom as Democratic politicians fuel the rage in our streets against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. That continued this last week when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz again rushed to judgment after a shooting, adding that the public should not treat Border Patrol or ICE officers as real “law enforcement” officers. However, rock bottom was finally reached by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D), who not only said that she does not consider ICE officers to be “real law enforcement,” but raised the possibility of citizens shooting them under state law.
First, the obvious. Mayes said, “I put [“officers”] in air quotes because I don’t think they are real law enforcement.” These are real law enforcement officers under federal law, enforcing federal law. Period. The effort by Walz, Mayes, and others to question their status or treat them as impostors is clearly designed to inflame citizens and encourage greater confrontations. It is a dangerous form of demagoguery. It is sending citizens into harm’s way, encouraging them to impede federal operations involving the arrest of criminal suspects.
Mayes later stated that she was “mischaracterized” and that “the idea that I would want the life of any member of law enforcement put in danger is wrong, offensive, and an outright lie.” Mayes’s “mischaracterizations” came at a time of growing unrest and the “Attorney General” rushed forward to add to the reckless rhetoric.
Again, repeating Walz’s talking points, she referred to these officers as “poorly trained.” She obviously has no idea about the training of these officers. The officer involved in the Alex Pretti shooting was an experienced officer with the Border Patrol. The officer involved in the prior Renée Good shooting was also an experienced officer.
While mischaracterizing the officers, figures like Walz are sending demonstrably “untrained” citizens into highly dangerous situations. Walz specifically called out citizens into the streets to record these operations, which is precisely what Pretti was trying to do before his fatal confrontation with officers.
Mayes, however, was not looking for a tie in that race to the bottom. She told citizens that Arizona’s “Stand Your Ground” law might be cited as grounds for the use of lethal force against officers. She declared:
“You have these masked, federal officers with very little identification — sometimes no identification — wearing plain clothes and masks and we have a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law that says if you reasonably believe your life is in danger and you’re in your house or in your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.”
She later added, “It’s a fact that we have a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law and, in other states, un-uniformed, masked people who can’t be identified as police officers.”
It was a reckless statement of the law. These laws only protect “reasonable” uses of self-defense. However, they have an express exemption for using force “to resist an arrest that the person knows or should know is being made by a peace officer or by a person acting in a peace officer’s presence and at his direction, whether the arrest is lawful or unlawful, unless the physical force used by the peace officer exceeds that allowed by law.”
It is not uncommon for law enforcement to use officers in plain clothes to make initial arrests or contacts with suspects who might flee or resist.
Mayes’s comments could encourage an already enraged and irrational segment of our population to use lethal force under the false pretense of standing their ground.
Attacks on these officers have increased exponentially with the violent rhetoric of these politicians. Just last week, a rioter bit off the finger of an officer.
Mayes also vowed to prosecute any ICE agent who violates state laws in these operations. She is also mimicking Walz in spreading legal disinformation. While federal officers do not have absolute immunity in all cases, it is extremely unlikely that state officials could successfully prosecute such cases without facing a transfer to federal court and likely dismissal.
Walz made the same misleading claim in saying that Minnesota would investigate the shooting and that the federal government would not be allowed to conduct the investigation. He has no authority to dictate who or how the shooting will be investigated.
While the state can conduct its own investigation, the federal government will investigate a shooting by a federal officer. Walz further pandered to the mob by raising the debunked “bait boy” story and telling citizens that ICE was “shooting them in the face when they come out of donut shops.”
Rage is hard to maintain for months and the Pretti shooting, as described by one Democratic operative according to Fox’s Chad Pergram, is a “new wild card” in the politics on the Hill over funding.
There remain legitimate questions about this shooting. The videotapes do not show, as suggested in early accounts from the federal government, that Pretti approached the officers brandishing a weapon.
Pretti does not obey the commands of the officers in returning to the middle of the road during their operation. However, he did not appear threatening until after the officer pushed him to the side of the road. At one point, he appears to shove the officer as he tries to assist a woman who was pushed to the ground.
What happens next is hard to determine. There is a video that suggests that an officer may have removed his weapon from its holster just before another officer yells “gun.” It is hard to see Pretti’s hands and we do not know what happened in that split second. We may get a better idea as new videotapes emerge.
Law enforcement officers do not expect blind deference on shootings. However, they have a right to expect a fair chance for an investigation to hear their side of a shooting — not a governor or a mayor rushing before cameras to effectively accuse them of murder.
At this point, it may not matter. Only the mob matters. Minneapolis Brian O’Hara explained: “even if there is an investigation that ultimately proves that at the time of the shooting it was legally justified, I don’t think that even matters at this point, because there just- there is so much outrage and concern around what is happening in the city.”
Walz has demonstrated politics of the lowest kind, stoking anger as citizens and officers alike are injured. Walz is pledging to go to court to stop further operations—a lawsuit that would be another frivolous filing. Previously, the state, including Attorney General Keith Ellison, filed to prevent the federal government from increasing forces to investigate fraud and immigration violations.
Walz, Maye, and others are following a long line of demagogues who sought to use social unrest to advance their political careers. For Walz, sending people into the streets has the benefit of not having them at home watching and reading about the growing fraud scandal in his state.
It is not a defense of democracy, but mobocracy in Minnesota.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the author of the forthcoming “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,” which will be released on Feb. 3 as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
This column appeared on Fox.com
During the Bush Administration, Professor Turley was opposed to “Constitution Free Zones” – defined by the Bush Administration as any area within 100 miles of a national border.
The vast majority of the American population – exceeding 150 million Americans – lived in Bush’s “Constitution Free Zone”. In that zone the federal government deemed itself above the U.S. Constitution and above their own Oath of Office.
If Bush’s radical interpretation of constitutional law had been legal and unconstitutional. Minneapolis is far beyond the 100 mile lawless zone.
Turley opposed it during the Bush Administration, why no mention of it during the Trump era?
“Again, repeating Walz’s talking points, she referred to these officers as “poorly trained.” She obviously has no idea about the training of these officers. The officer involved in the Alex Pretti shooting was an experienced officer with the Border Patrol. The officer involved in the prior Renée Good shooting was also an experienced officer.”
This would not last 10 seconds in a courtroom.
They may be experienced. Badly experienced as it turns out. Experience is not a substitute for training. They are entirely different aspects of a job. They were not trained to shoot a person in the back from close range who was unarmed and under a dogpile of other cops. They should have been trained to never do that. Clearly they are poorly trained for the job they are ordered to do.
They should also have been trained not to confront every person standing around, attempting to direct drivers to move along and not block the road – the opposite of the complaint against Renée Good.
Clearly being near ICE is lethal. They came looking for a fight, picked a fight, and after winning the fight killed a person.
In the case of killing Renée Good the officer had previously experienced the stupidity of attempting to stop a car. He repeated that stupidity and failed to stop the car driven by Renée Good, which continued on, out of control, endangering other “agents” and bystanders and doing physical property damage that would not have occurred had Renée Good been allowed to leave. They knew who she was, could find where she lived, and gotten an arrest warrant from a judge.
You are an idiot
How Not To Get Your A– Kicked By The Police
You complaining commies have a training problem of your own. You’ve failed to train our commie insurrectionists on how they can criminally obstruct and assault police officers – but how to do it in a way that their level of violence doesn’t get them shot dead.
Pretti’s level of violence was attempting to help a woman to her feet after she had been knocked to the concrete.
Walz and Frey have blood on their hands. Plain and simple. The very same Democrats who cry repeatedly about the supposed “insurrection” on January 6 are literally calling for and encouraging an actual insurrection on the streets of their cities.
If Michelle Carter can be convicted of coercing her boyfriend into committing suicide, seems to me MN victims’ families have a cool road to riches by suing Waltz for the same.
Turley seems to carry the lying DHS is so engaged in. Mays not only stated a valid fact. Turley conveniently “forgot” to mention that the reason for her statement is because DHS is circulating a memo telling agents they do not need a judicial warrant to enter homes. While Turley is chastising Mays and Walz of offering legal disinformation he’s not chastising DHS for doing the same and worse. Telling agents they can unilaterally violate 4th amendment rights and forcing their way into homes without a true legal warrant. Mays made it a point that if these kinds of forced entries and the known fact that ICE is being told they can force their way into homes without a proper warrant will result in a very tragic outcome for anyone in that scenario. Stand your ground law in Arizona does allow for defending against unlawful intrusion into a home by poorly identified and masked men not answering questions. Any 2nd amendment supporter is now pointing out that it that happens at their home they WILL defend their home or family even it means someone getting hurt. Mays only stated a legal fact that points out where we are with regard to ICE now telling agents they can barge into homes without a valid warrant. And the trigger happy ICE agents with a few weeks training and a member of the Proud Boys, or Oath Keeper or whatever white supremacist group they came from is going to be eager to get more aggressive and violent knowing they are going to be fully protected by federal immunity.
Turley knows he’s not going to be on this MAGA defense binge for long if Democrats take over the House.
Pretti was there legally with a gun legally and filming ICE legally. Having 5 agents on top of him and struggling to keep them from harming him and AFTER being disarmed he got shot. Bovino and Noem are already lying through their teeth telling the media Pretti aimed his gun at an ICE agent which is NOT true. If they have to immediately gaslight him and the rest to the nation it means they know they are not going to admit to any wrongdoing. Bovino is saying Pretti brought a gun at the protest and he had one. So what? It’s perfectly legal and constitutional. He cannot concede that he did nothing wrong by bringing it to a protest and filming.
Minnesotans do NOT Trust the FBI or the Trump administration. Minnesota will have to join in on the investigation and have access to the same evidence in order to ensure transparency. Turley is doing a disservice to his readers by implying early on that Walz is making things worse by demanding exactly what needs to be done. Properly investigate openly with the FBI. ICE is not trained in de-escalation they are literally engaged in escalation wherever they go and they are doing it on purpose to give Trump an excuse to invoke the insurrection act. Trump wants it to happen so he can be proven right by antagonizing and provoking the violence he claims is the fault of protesters.
At some point these tactics will result in violent and deadly outcomes for ICE. Trump is not calling for calm or toning down the tactics because he’s doing exactly what he did on Jan 6. He let it happen until it got too hot and the blame was getting too close to him. Trump and his henchman Miller want the violent arrests to continue to justify military intervention.
X says: Turley seems to carry the lying DHS is so engaged in.
X never deviates from his chosen path to come here daily to lie and smear his host, Professor Turley. Daily claims that Professor Turley is lying while he is telling the truth. Daily claims that his host’s analysis are wrong and his are correct. X functions here as a Marxist parasite, using this as if it were his own blog. X: you’d get more readers willing to assign you credibility and agreeing with you if you started your own Marxist blog.
Why don’t you have articles by author X on the Marxists Internet Archive?
https://www.marxists.org/admin/janitor/faq.htm
The writer is alive and well and politically active. The MIA’s Charter forbids us from building an archive for a writer who is still politically active. There are several reasons for this:
(1) It ensures that the MIA stays out of current disputes and
(2) remains independent of all political parties and groups; Also,
(3) if a writer is still alive, they can build their own web site. This does not prevent the MIA from using material also from politically active writers in an editorial role or in support of a subject section, so long as we have the author’s permission.
OMG. It’s the dazed and confused PTSD patient, bottom feeder, and Tim Walz-style valor thief, striking fear in the hearts of the enemy, Miss Mess Sergeant Doggie Doodoo, again!
OMG. That pedophile who got his ass kicked from his cushy Navy mess steward job for luring the base children with tales of being a Space Shuttle SEAL door gunner with his .338 Lapua Magnum is violating his parole restrictions on staying away from the internet. Well, no vulnerable little children on a Navy base at risk here, so at least that’s a plus!
Is it stolen valor when you claim that being an Airsoft Keyboard Commando makes you a REAL veteran???
The misstatement of the law is already etched in stone. ICE does not need a warrant to enter the home of an illegal alien who already has a deportation order. The reason is that the illegal alien already had due process from an immigration court and a right to appeal. If the illegal is not subject of a deportation order, then the 4th amendment applies.
“ ICE does not need a warrant to enter the home of an illegal alien who already has a deportation order.”
Wrong. ICE cannot enter a home without a judicial warrant, period. A deportation order is not permission to enter any home in search of said illegal. A separate warrant signed by a judge, not an ICE agent or immigration judge is required.
“ If the illegal is not subject of a deportation order, then the 4th amendment applies.”
Wrong again bucko. The 4th amendment applies to everyone including the illegal alien. It’s patently clear you have no idea how the law works or what due process is.
No ICE or even a police officer can enter a home without a valid warrant. An administrative warrant is not a warrant granting access to a home. Only a judge from the judicial branch can sign a warrant to enter a home. Unless the homeowner gives consent or there are exigent circumstances no law enforcement federal or state is allowed to just barge into a home. I
X you are woefully uninformed and humorously wrong.
First, you say, “Bovino and Noem are already lying through their teeth telling the media Pretti aimed his gun at an ICE agent which is NOT true.” Actually it is YOU who are lying, and you know it. Neither Bovino nor Noem said any such thing.
Next you say that,” ICE cannot enter a home without a judicial warrant, period.” Oh, really, X? And what “judicial” decision do you rely on? Or is it just little ole you again, acting like you haVe authority to speak for the courts.’
Third, you say, “An administrative warrant is not a warrant granting access to a home. Only a judge from the judicial branch can sign a warrant to enter a home.” Oh really, X? Says who? SCOTUS has demurred on this question and until it is taken up by SCOTUS, your personal opinion remains….just that…..and it is not highly regarded on this blog.
ICE needs** a judicial warrant to enter any home. They do not need a warrant to effect the arrest on the street.
**Used to need one. Now they can kick the door down, kill everyone there, and then see if there were undocumented immigrants. If not, too bad, they looked like they might resist arrest.
I think no knock warrants is before SCOTUS currently? They’re dangerous for everyone.
No thanks
You sound desperate.
“You sound desperate.”
Drop a Democrat Dump and run, smelling like you’re a thief siphoning somebody else’s gas.
Gaslighting
Gaslighting is the intended psychological manipulation by a low-IQ perpetrator targeting those they hope to victimize through intentionally misleading that person or group. This involves the perpetrator trivializing, lying, denying events, and other methods used in the hope their intended victims doubt their perceptions of reality, memories, and feel overly emotional or irrational.
The main five methods of gaslighting that may be used alone or in conjunction with others are: trivializing, countering, lying, blame shifting, and withholding.
Thanks X. Adding to the outrageousness of the foregoing is bottle Blondie sending an letter to Governor Walz, offering to get ICE to stand down in exchange for allowing the federal government to access Minnesota voter rolls, Medicaid records and other state government records—presumably looking for something, anything, for Trump to use to claim he “won” in 2020 and 2024 and to try to use to prosecute Walz for running against him in 2024. All part of the retribution campaign. AND Trump WILL LIE.
Why won’t Turley address Bondi’s failure to turn over the Epstein files? Because it’s all about Trump— not the Constitution or the benefit of the American people.
Basically , it’s: “we’ll stop murdering your citizens and escalating tensions in your state if you’ll allow us access to records we don’t have any right to “. All for the ego of Trump so he can lie about losing Minnesota and also lie about Walz allowing fraud —of which the Trump regime has failed to offer anything resembling proof; also, ICE has nothing whatsoever to do with investigating fraud. That’s what courts are for.
Turley refuses to address the essential fact that Bondi is oath- bound to protect the rights of citizens to peacefully protest, which is what Pretti was doing when he was murdered. Noem has repeatedly lied about the facts— falsely accusing Pretti of pulling a gun and intending to kill ICE agents. They didn’t even know he had a gun, which remained holstered, until after they murdered him. Before they killed him, they knocked him down and beat and kicked him. He was just trying to help a woman ICE had shoved to the ground. He had a lawful concealed carry permit. Pretti was an ICU nurse at the VA Hospital.
Y’know X: when we cleverly alternate between posting as “X” and “Anonymous”, we suck this MAGA morons in every time! They’ll never figure it out! The inclusion of always pointing out Turley’s failings might be a giveaway to intelligent people like Democrats. But Turley and Trump’s MAGA will never figure it out.
Migrants with a final order of removal have exhausted their legal options. Why would a judge’s intercession be required to pick him up? He has no right to be here.
Turley has become a literal paid agitator. He gets paid by Rupert Murdoch via Fox News and he plugs his books on Rage.
For “social unrest,” read the non-euphemistic “mob violence.”
“It is not a defense of democracy, but mobocracy in Minnesota.”
– Professor Turley
_____________________
Indeed, it is a Mobocracy in Minnesota that is neglected and allowed under the communist JURISTOCRACY in the Supreme Court in the United States of redistributive and socially engineered America.
Once-free America is antithetically, unconstitutionally, and evidently under the “dictatorship of the proletariat” as it gifts, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” under the Central Planning, Control of the Means of Production (i.e. unconstitutional regulation), Redistribution of Wealth, and Social Engineering of the Communist Manifesto as presided over by the Supreme Court.
Look around you, America.
“Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino said Sunday that Second Amendment protections do not apply when federal officers believe they are being obstructed or assaulted, even as he offered no evidence that Alex Pretti engaged in such conduct before he was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Saturday.”
Read that again all you 2nd amendment people. Your guns are only allowed to be used if they let them. They will kill you whenever and wherever they want.
This is BS. Stop ICE NOW.
Thank you for your attention to this matter you orange god freak show.
Wrong.
Of course us freedom loving gun owners would never take a fully loaded weapon, with two additional fully loaded magazines, then try to confront, obstruct, federal officers carrying out their official duties. Your comment is nothing but lies and gaslighting.
Upstatefarmer, your ignorance know no bounds. Pretti had every right to take his gun to the protest. It’s not illegal. He didn’t obstruct anyone. He was helping a woman being pushed around by an overly aggressive ICE agent. At no point did he pull out his gun or aim it at anyone. One ICE agent saw it holdstered and decided to take it and after he took it yelled gun. That’s when they started shooting. 5 agents on top of him and beating him up while all of them were armed made for a good excuse to start shooting Pretti. You can see one clapping and hooting in celebration after Pretti was shot. These guys are not professionals. They are former Proud boys and militia wannabes who are now getting to play enforcers with the backing of the federal government.
You’re the one gaslighting Pretti. Their job is not to shove people around and continue to escalate. The ICE agent was not arresting illegals or anything of the sort. He was shoving a woman around for simply filming and so was he. I don’t believe you could be this stupid but you are certainly making it hard to give you the benefit of the doubt.
Pretti was mobbed by multiple agents and he was fighting any attempt to harm him. One grabbed his firearm and ran away while the rest of the rats went ahead and started shooting. Bovino and Noem already started the lying as soon as they heard the about the new shooting. Of course they will gaslight as you did because you will h never be affected by what is going on in Minnesota. You’re perfectly comfortable with the fact that no ICE agent will ever stop you and question your citizenship. That is why it’s easier for you to defend ICE and their lying. Because you believe they will never come to your neighborhood and detain you for looking like you don’t belong.
Actually he was not legally carrying his weapon. Minnesota State law, and most other state carriy concealed laws,requrire the Carry Concealed permit…not a copy or digital image…and proper ID to be carried when carrying a concealed weapon. According to all the reports I’ve read,, he had neither the Carry Concealed permit or any other ID on him. Did he deserve to be shot for this infaction? No, but according to Minnesota law he was NOT legally carying his concealed weapon.
He had a concealed carry permit – he would have that gun with him everywhere. The fully loaded magazines weren’t in his immediate possession. He did not confront anyone; ICE stepped away from what they were doing to confront him. He was moving out of the way when ICE shoved a woman to the pavement and they became enraged when he went to help her up. Your comment is nothing but lies and gaslighting.
Read that again all you 2nd amendment people. Your guns are only allowed to be used if they let them. They will kill you whenever and wherever they want.
We already understand it, you Cheap Fake False Flag Democrat paddling here in the war canoe loaned you by Princess Fauxahontas Warren. Americans lawfully carrying a weapon whether openly or concealed are, by definition, law abiding. Which means they don’t plan and deliberately assault and attempt to harm law enforcement officers engaged in enforcing existing immigration laws. Just as people lawfully operating a motor vehicle with their drivers license, don’t commit felonies by using that vehicle as a weapon to attempt to harm a law enforcement officer.
If you’re carrying a weapon either legally or illegally as if you were Hunter Biden, when you criminally assault any law enforcement officer and cause them to fear for their life that you may use it, you are probably going to get shot.
Now… enlist Princess Fauxahontas Warren to loan you a better war canoe for the next false flag foray by you and the rest of you Biden Bolshevik Birthing Boys furry tranny road show.
Minnesota’s requirements for having and continuing to have a Concealed Carry permit were violated by this Democrat felon the moment he engaged in criminal conduct, even if he hadn’t attempted to murder this officer and committed more minor offenses like obstruction.
Minnesota is very picky about their requirements to be granted and then keep your Second Amendment rights (a state privilege in Minnesota) to carry a concealed weapon. They do daily monitoring of their current permits to find police records of arrests that match up with anyone having such a permit.
How many times was Minnesota law enforcement aware of this dead Democrat criminal Illegal Alien martyr previously engaging in criminal behavior during rioting and chose not to revoke his Carry Permit?
Imagine that! Minnesota law enforcement who will not cooperate to enforce federal immigration laws, might have saved his life by revoking his carry permit before he chose violence towards LEOs while armed to get himself killed as a Democrat Martyr.
These postings are getting easy to read. I just skip the ones that say, anonymous.
Why would anyone of sound mind bring a pistol to riot in which he plans to participate? Let alone with extra magazine.
How did he get and kept RN license while suffering from an acute case of TDS?
Glance at CNN and NYT front pages tells us the agenda. Good and Pretti heralded as martyrs, and only good pictures are shown.
Speaking of which, there was a mural in Spanish Harlem in NYC depicting Jesús, pillar of society, whose life was cut short one day. What the mural failed to mention, is the fact that Jesús was short of money for his daily fix when he decided to rob a local gas station. His luck ran out that day, when just happened NYPD cop stopped on the way from work and foiled the act.
“ Why would anyone of sound mind bring a pistol to riot in which he plans to participate? Let alone with extra magazine.”
Because it’s his constitutional right. Any 2nd amendment fan knows that.
It wasn’t a riot. It was in the area he normally went to. ICE brought their conflict to him and, in particular, went far out of their way to engage him. The only reason ICE wants distance is to cover the crimes they are committing against those they arrest – the brutality and the damage.
Shame on the MN voters who voted for the “bottom of the barrel” when they elected Walz. Ditto for the AZ voters who cast ballots for Mayes. If it were not for such voters in MN, a governor and attorney general and Minneapolis mayor would not be impeding federal law enforcement officers. The blame doesn’t stop at elected officials but also rests on FOOLish voters.
Why don’t the voters have a choice in how their state is run? Aren’t there state’s rights?
Pam Bondi has made clear, this action is solely to extort the state of Minnesota to give up the voter rolls that the courts have said they don’t have to. They are killing people in order to create interference in the midterm election, one that has no national candidate running.
Walz, Frey and other Democrats are encouraging resistance to the enforcement of federal law. Whether they have crossed the line into criminal conduct — I doubt it — is being investigated by DoJ, and we will see if indictments follow.
In this particular shooting it is impossible to tell from the videos whether it was justified. In particular, we do not know what caused the officer(s) to open fire. It would be in the public interest for DHS to explain what happened, once that is discovered.
The “root causes” of incidents like this are Biden’s open border policies that let in millions, Democratic Party sanctuary policies that require criminal illegal aliens to be hunted down and arrested in communities rather than in jails and Democratic Party and “progressive” resistance to the enforcement of federal law. These positions may be motivated by the Democrats’ objective of retaining/regaining power by increasing the number of people – illegal aliens – in their states to get them reflected in the census to increase the number of their Representatives and electoral votes.
If the agent fired for good reason, he would have stated that publicly at the scene and at a press conference shortly after. Instead it might be a “I thought I saw” event where what he thought he saw was something he desperately wanted to see to justify killing Pretti. I am more convinced that he decided that Pretti had a gun and might, maybe, possibly, sometime in the future, use it and took on judge, jury, and executioner.
According to the MPD Chief the MPD had taken hundreds of armed suspects into custody in the past year or two and had on no occasion felt it necessary to kill them.
What did Byrd “think” he saw when he shot Ashley Babbitt? What did his imagination think she (unarmed) was going to do?
The sad fact is that in politics, reaching the bottom is almost impossible. In the USA, these skirmishes serve to destabilize the country even further, and those financing it want exactly that! Find the confounded money and stop it. That may be the only hope.
This is what Project 2025 was designed to do. That document was prepared by the billionaires behind the Heritage Foundation. That is where the money is coming from.
As has been pointed out in other posts, these groups are seeking out this kind of confrontation to generate this kind of public outcry. From their standpoint, its a cost of doing business that someone was killed. In their mind, they’ve created a lose-lose situation for the Trump administration. Either they invoke the Insurrection Act which will be extremely unpopular or retreat which is a fundamental challenge to federalism and the supremecy clause. Given the choice, the government has to assert control. It’s a political winner either way. If the protestors are successful, I expect them to expand to multiple cities with increasing intensity. At that point they will likely overplay their hand leading to backlash. The only question is whether this occurs before or after 2028.
Bondi gave it away when she said that ICE would be withdrawn from Minnesota if the voter rolls were turned over the Trump administration. They are literally killing people to get state records that the courts have said the Trump administration is not entitled to.
It is more than bad optics for DHS to be investigating themselves. For anyone to fully believe the conclusions in this shooting, it should be a joint investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the FBI. Otherwise it will be viewed as tainted.
For anyone who claims that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation – the ones who refuse to turn over criminal Illegal Aliens in custody to ICE, while refusing to enforce Minnesota state laws violated by their state’s Democrat felons assaulting and obstructing federal LEOs – should be included in investigating this officer who they refused to either cooperate with or protect by arresting anybody threatening him, is very tainted Marxist Democrat sauce indeed.
May as well claim Trump will get an unbiased trial in New York at the hands of Merchan and Bragg.
“ However, they have a right to expect a fair chance for an investigation to hear their side of a shooting — not a governor or a mayor rushing before cameras to effectively accuse them of murder.”
Professor Turley sure loves to start smearing Democrats as soon as possible to deflect from the other problem everyone sees but him. DHS and ICE have already been caught lying outright to judges and the public. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has gone on tv mere minutes before any facts have been verified to accuse Good and now Pretti if being domestic terrorists. Pretti was clearly just filming which is 100% constitutional protected 1st amendment activity. He was trying to help the woman who was shoved by the ICE agent and protect her from further harm. What Turley doesn’t mention as does most of MAGA and Trump conservatives is the escalating aggressiveness of ICE and provoking these kinds of responses. Pretti was armed and perfectly legal. Which should make something every 2nd amendment afficionado rage with anger. ICE clearly disarmed him before shooting him. An investigation should include the Minnesota authorities because DHS and the FBI cannot be trusted. A glaring irony given one of our posters John Say. When you lose trust in government what do you have left?
The Arizona AG was stating facts correctly. Even 2nd amendment supporters should have been pointing out she’s not wrong. If ICE is putting out a memo stating agents don’t need a warrant to force their way into people’s homes and only an administrative warrant should suffice which completely ignores 4th Amendment protections it brings us right back to when British army soldiers could barge into your home with impunity. Turley should be outraged and deeply concerned. Arizona stand your ground laws clearly allow a home-owner to use deadly force to defend his home and family from unidentified intruders, masked men barging into their homes unannounced and guns. Like she said, it can turn into a tragedy and a potentially serious problem. Already a man accused of threatening Bovino got acquitted of all charges thru jury nullification and that is happening more often as a consequence of DHS, ICE and federal DA’s overreaching and overcharging.
ICE is paring down training to keep up with the White House’s demand for more agents. It’s no surprise that they are hiring former Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, former cops fired over policy violations involving abuse of their authority and even physical standards have gone to crap. Have you seen the fatso’s among them? It’s truly a sad sight to behold. Walz is correct in calling ICE out for their increasingly violent tactics and constant constitutional violations.
“Professor Turley sure loves to start smearing Democrats as soon as possible”
Turley is not smearing anyone. You only think that because you are an uniformed person and a troll. All one has to do is read the rest of your post to see how you draw the wrong conclusions from erroneous facts and spin. People respond to your folly but you cannot respond back directly or you run away.
S. Meyer,
Of course I did not bother to read the slow and dumb one’s comment but read yours.
You are correct. The good professor is not smearing anyone. He is just pointing out how dangerous their rhetoric is, and how unlawful it is. Or, disinformation concerning the law. Democrats do the smearing of themselves with no help from anyone else.
Upstate, I rarely reply to GSX, The Troll, but do reply on occasion just to let him know that my opinion of him hasn’t changed. He remains an unintelligent lying troll who remains on the blog only because he has no self-respect.
How is the weather up there? I’m sitting at my pool watching the boats go by. Outdoor temp 85 sunny and clear; pool 80, mild refreshing wind. I could not survive the north. I hope you are doing well.
S. Meyer,
Ahhh, woke up this morning to a balmy -5 degrees. Warmed up to about 6. We did not get the snowmegeddom that was forecasted but, meh, all is well. Keep the fires going, a few extra bales of hay for the livestock, hot cups of tea and no worries! Thank you for asking!
You stay active and healthy that way. Tonight I have to remember to lower the A/C. I used to live up north and occasionally miss the snow and change of seasons, but except for the hurricanes, life here is a giant picnic.
” -5 degrees” You live in a giant icebox.:-)
What exactly is going on between Meyer and our fake farmer friend ???
You are constantly thanking and congratulating each other on your “well said” comments, as the fake UpstateFarmer is wont to say.
Both of you seem to be enthralled with other.
Is it just mutual masturbation ??
Or is it true love ??
When is the wedding??
Oh!! Poor! Poor, annony moron!! He is all hurt that good people, like myself, S. Meyer, OldManFromKS, Estovir, Lin, HullBobby, Young, Diogenes, OLLY and many more who are respected, credible, logical, sensible here on the good professor’s blog, we would get together for coffee, lunch, I would even make them dinner.
You? Not so much.
Just look at the language you use, “mutual masturbation.” Why would anyone want to be in your presence? You have no class. No respect. No credibility. You were the kind of guy in high school who would leer at girls and say grossly inappropriate things. And they would come to me, and ask me to protect them from you. Which I would do with a kind smile, hold their hand, ask them to dance and do it in a classy way.
Whereas, you would be standing up against the bleachers. Wondering why the girls liked me and not you.
You did that to yourself, just as the Democrats the good professor points out, smear themselves.
How marvelous!
Upstatefarmer, as usual argues from ignorance. Turley is merely turning a blind eye on Noem’s and Bovino’s own gaslighting and blaming Democrats for pointing out the fact that DHS and ICE started lying almost immediately.
Calling Pretti a domestic terrorist and stating he aimed a gun at ICE is dangerous rhetoric. But of course you choose to ignore it because your naivety and ignorance seems to be all you have to rely on.
Where are the facts? I forgot faceless, faceless George Svelaz doesn’t bother with them.. He prefers his ignorance and lying to prevail. Typical troll behavior.
S. Meyer, yes Turley is already smearing Democrats as it is obligatory for him to do so. Fox News needs to keep the narrative about democrats despite the fact that this is about an out of control ICE and DHS.
S. Meyer, you cannot handle a real discussion. It falls apart the moment you try to engage and end up looking stupid.
Turley completely ignored the issue the ICE memo telling agents they don’t need a warrant to enter a home or the fact that Noem and Bovino have already been outright lying and making claims clearly not in evidence.
Maybe you should engage in more facts than insults.
“S. Meyer, you cannot handle a real discussion.”
Do you hear the crowds laughing? You are a fool who cannot stand in an argument without the use of lies and erroneous facts. I bring facts to the table everywhere that facts are respected. You are a worthless, ungrateful troll.
“Turley completely ignored the issue…”
Another argument tactic learned by georgie on this blog, akin to “Turley forgot to mention that….” or “neither you nor I know” or “,right?” or “yup” and “Nope” or “disingenuous” or “naive.” All these tactics learned by georgie from others on this site….. I can tell by when he started using them. Sad sack.
X says: Professor Turley sure loves to start smearing Democrats as soon as possible to deflect from the other problem everyone sees but him.
Projection: X’s daily smears of his host, Professor Turley. While claiming the readers here see what he sees, as he functions as a Marxist parasite using this as if it were his own blog. You’d get more readers willing to assign you credibility and agreeing with you if you started your own Marxist blog. Here you only function as annoying background noise.
Why don’t you have articles by author X on the Marxists Internet Archive?
https://www.marxists.org/admin/janitor/faq.htm
The writer is alive and well and politically active. The MIA’s Charter forbids us from building an archive for a writer who is still politically active. There are several reasons for this:
(1) It ensures that the MIA stays out of current disputes and
(2) remains independent of all political parties and groups; Also,
(3) if a writer is still alive, they can build their own web site. This does not prevent the MIA from using material also from politically active writers in an editorial role or in support of a subject section, so long as we have the author’s permission.
no. none of that is true X, you America-hating commie.
X claims it is true. And as he claims this is actually his blog, not Professor Turley’s, your analysis of X must be false.
What’s missing from discussions about these fatal encounters is the context that made them inevitable. The tactics of chaotic confrontation, when tolerated by law enforcement, effectively transfer force-level decisions from the police to the most unhinged of those opposing them. Chaos is the ultimate force-multiplier of stupidity. Thus, one fool with a firearm, explosive, or accelerating SUV can turn a run-of-the-mill calamitous confrontation into a headline-grabbing tragedy (pleasing self-admitted activists as well as their compatriots posing as journalists).
None of this would be inevitable if riot control were practiced as if it were intended to control the rioters rather than merely manage the riot. Skirmish lines, enforced with the directed use of non-lethal weapons (batons, chemical agents, contact tasers, canines), would keep the rioters at bay, allow those intent on peaceful protest to voice their complaints, and deliver certain, but less-than-lethal, harm to the dumb and daring.
Unfortunately, cowardly politicians and law enforcement leaders have, in service to their own self-interests, endangered officers by limiting their tactical options while expanding those of the rioters. By bending at the knee in response to highly-politicized incidents (Rodney King — who lived), leadership has embraced the Pollyanna notion that rioters respond kindly to passivity (such as hands-only pushing). Well, we’ve seen how that works, haven’t we? All that passivity has produced thus far is ICE agents being pushed, pelted, and assaulted with deafening noise, blinding lasers, 3000 pound vehicles, and now, a 9mm handgun.
Had hardcore crowd control been the rule there might have been a few bumps, bruises, and bites inflicted, but the world wouldn’t be down two absolute idiots.
Old Schooled Fool, you are the wisest soul in the room. All your points are spot on.
There was no riot. There was a gathering of people with cameras recording what ICE was doing and talking to them to encourage ICE to go elsewhere.
Inventing an alternate set of facts to justify shooting a woman in the head or a man in the back is a pretty common tactic, like yelling “Drop the gun!” when the person about to be killed does not have a gun, in order that some witness will say there must have been a gun.
What you suggest about the gun is that the Second Amendment no longer applies; that anyone with a gun can be executed on the spot. The gun remained concealed and holstered. His only weapon was the cellphone. ICE made sure to eliminate the primary witness.
the videos clearly show one officer repeatedly hard-smacking at Pretti’s hand or arm, as if to either knock something out of his reach, or knock whatever it was out of his hand or control. This is milliseconds before the yell of gun and first shot.
Seems strange that the officer would go through that trouble over a cellphone.
or prevent him from reaching something
First, you should look up the legal definition of a riot. That there were “two or more persons” assembled with the intent to obstruct, delay, and intimidate officers engaged in their lawful duties is beyond doubt. To brand it a “gathering” is to brand yourself a liar.
But more import is this: you should try to read sentences without rewriting them in your biased head. I wrote nothing that could be construed as justifying the shooting. What I wrote is that had law enforcement — there to use its authority to arrest illegals, also used its authority to forcefully control “gatherers” deadly, chaotic interactions could be avoided.
Lastly, a little arithmetic. One’s right to carry a firearm + deciding to threaten or physically engage law enforcement officers = a seriously bad outcome. With the right to carry a firearm (or drive an SUV) comes the responsibility to walk the straight and narrow and be cognizant of the safety concerns of others, something Mr. Pretti should’ve considered.
“…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness….”
American citizens are having their constitutional rights violated, and the alleged Constitution worshippers here on this blog are OK with this.
What a farce.
The “citizens “ having their rights violated are committing crimes during a policing action, they will have due process equal to that given J6 non violent offenders. The “citizens “ ICE is arresting are NOT American citizens. Are you looking at the people that they are arresting, they are hardened criminals. Rapists, child molestors, kidnappers, violent assaults, drug trafficking and the worst. Get the F outta here and go line up, be sure to wave your pistol around DF.
Says,absolutely. These people aren’t citizens, they’re here illegally.
Professor Turley, Do you have any first, second, or fourth amendment concerns with ICE and CBP tactics in Minnesota and other cities? I hope you will address this issue in an updated post, as a commenter to this post, or in a new post.
Concerned Citizen says: Professor Turley, Do you have any first, second, or fourth amendment concerns with ICE and CBP tactics in Minnesota and other cities?
Why have you abandoned all moral Concerns to defend, and promote the violent widespread felonies of your fellow Democrats rioting, pillaging, obstructing, assaulting and attempting to murder law enforcement officers carrying out their duty to enforce existing immigration law?
Do you have no moral Concerns that there is no Amendment that provides you and your fellow Democrat rioters with a right to riot, pillage, obstruct, assault, and attempt to murder law enforcement officers.?
If you have no moral Concerns, do you also have no shame as a defender of your fellow Democrat criminals?
Don’t do the Democrat Drop A Deuce And Disappear: you can have debate on where you feel the specific actions of these riotors are protected under Amendments from the Bill Of Rights.
It’s worse than this, Jonathan. The “protesters” are all thoroughly-committed hard-left activists. They are highly organized, and their top leaders are highly-placed in the government. They have the ability to trace license plates, which, in most states, only LEOs can do, so that tells you a lot right there. They have a broad, closed, tightly coordinated communications net on Signal, and they also use radios. They are active 24/7. They are well funded with a logistics system that provides stations where the mob can get food, handwarmers, even milk. There is now at least one “autonomous” area, cordoned off by police. They are stopping people they don’t recognize and demanding they produce identification.
And now they are fielding armed “patrols” in certain neighborhoods.
I would agree with you that they are thoroughly-committed hard-left activists. Reasonably organized. It appears their license plate database is flawed. Closed, tightly coordinated communications? Not so sure about that.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2015093523733733474.html
https://substack.com/redirect/72ec6135-8aa1-411d-bf99-5c5e5bd96a7c?j=eyJ1IjoiYjRhM28ifQ.LvEMva-ccuYDqvYPHjRCskA5_QMfFY7XHmAdjbijgGc
They claimed to have ID ICE. Turned out it was a bunch of IT guys out for lunch. One of them even was on some ICE watch app.
In the past this was called grass-roots community efforts. They cost very little and the use of technology means that it is easy to make a viewable database of license plates that are seen at hotels where ICE is staying; they all drive the same fleet vehicles, making identification easier. They literally cannot “trace” the license plates because ICE is using fakes/pooled plates that they switch from vehicle to vehicle. The police would not be able to “trace” an ICE plate to a particular person or particular government department.
If the FBI were apprehending the criminals that burnt Minneapolis down these same groups of clowns would be out there doing the same stupid stuff. The moral of the story is you don’t interfere with LEO during their operations. Because Biden, Walz, Mayorkas et al flooded our country with illegal interlopers and criminals the MAJORITY of Americans voted to have our laws enforced and have them removed. If you show up to yell and scream, don’t do it during an operation and don’t come armed or try to run them down. It could very well cost you your life. Now go home and let them do their job and STFU, if not be stupid line up for the meat grinder.
Excellent comment.
Only about 30% of Americans voted for this. Another 30% voted against it, and the remainder decided they didn’t care to vote.
While America was flooded I noticed no increase in crime, but I did notice a large number of possible recent immigrants redoing roofs and taking down trees and doing other work that Americans in general don’t like to do because it is hard physical labor under difficult weather conditions (mainly heat and unforgiving sun,) and dangerous. A roofer has a greater chance of being killed on the job than a cop does.
They aren’t focusing on dangerous people, or even people simply accused of crimes. ICE is concentrating on the easy targets. People who have applied for asylum which the courts have slow-rolled. People who have passed every test for citizenship and are literally in line to take oath of Citizenship.
There is no asylum for financial hardship skippy and you don’t get to circumvent the legal immigration kprocess by rushing the border. GTFO