Below is my column in The Hill on the recent controversies over enhanced images of Alex Pretti and his shooting in Minnesota. As seen throughout our history, Pretti has achieved mythic status — even having an ice cream invented after him by one of the founders of Ben & Jerry’s. Reality recedes when politics demand the perfect hero.
Here is the column:
“Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy.”
That statement, from F. Scott Fitzgerald, has never been truer than with the posthumous treatment of Alex Pretti, killed in a confrontation with federal officers in Minneapolis. He has been called a “hero” and a “martyr” by the left as a rallying cry for protests around the country. In the process, many have “enhanced” both his story and his image.
MS NOW has admitted that it used an AI-enhanced photo of Pretti that made him look more handsome. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was criticized for bringing to the Senate floor an altered image, featuring a headless immigration agent, that made it look like officers executed a kneeling Pretti with a shot to the head.
Pretti needs to be be inviolate to make the government seem vile in the eyes of the public. He is being described as the combination of Florence Nightingale and Crispus Attucks.
A CNN panelist and co-host of “The View,” Ana Navarro, voiced the new orthodoxy that Pretti was the “perfect guy … the guy you’d want to date your daughter, the guy you want your son to grow up to be, a decent human being who was serving humanity.” She added that he was so perfect that “there is nothing that has been said about that man that isn’t wonderful. And so they can’t malign him.”
The point is that any skepticism, let alone criticism, is no longer acceptable.
In fairness, Pretti was vilified before he was canonized. Many of us objected that the videotape evidence did not support the original description of Pretti’s conduct. Pretti did not threaten officers or approach them brandishing a weapon.
But he did disobey police orders and he did resist arrest. Indeed, eleven days earlier, he had spat at officers, damaged a police vehicle by kicking out its taillight, and again resisted officers.
The remaking of Alex Pretti by both sides is strikingly familiar. On Tuesday, my book on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution will be released. “Rage and the Republic” looks at both the American and French Revolutions to explore why one became the world’s oldest democracy and the other became a blood-soaked terror.
At the height of the social unrest of the French Revolution, the Jacobins also “enhanced” the images of their martyrs. One of the most famous paintings by Jacques-Louis David was called The Death of Marat, the depiction of the murder of one of the architects of the Reign of Terror. David was an ardent supporter of the radical faction that carried out the mass executions of the period.
Marat was a vile human being who had delighted in his summary executions. Covered by painful sores from a rare skin condition, he was stabbed in his bathtub by a young woman who gained access by promising him a list of new traitors to be executed. David portrayed the slain Marat as a flawless martyr with alabaster skin, laid out like a religious Pieta.
Pretti was no Marat. He was described as a caring nurse at the Veterans’ hospital. He also vehemently opposed immigration enforcement and was a member of a group committed to filming and disrupting ICE operations.
What occurred on that day will be resolved in the ongoing investigations. However, few are waiting for such findings. He is now a figure to be enhanced while dehumanizing law enforcement.
As with the French Revolution, establishment figures are fueling the mob to ride the rage wave to the midterm elections. Walz even repeated the debunked story of the “bait boy” and said that undocumented persons being sought for removal were like Anne Frank, an assertion that drew a rebuke from the Holocaust museum.
Protesters responded to such rhetoric with signs reading, “Kill Nazis.”
Deification and demonization have long been methods used to push a populace to embrace radical action, or even revolution. As we celebrate our Declaration of Independence, “Rage and the Republic” asks whether the American Republic can survive the 21st Century with the pressures of civil unrest and economic upheaval.
Yet, when I wrote the book, I never anticipated how we would hear many of the same voices calling for revolution and resistance in the U.S. Walz has even referred to this as a Fort Sumter moment, a reference to the fight that led to our civil war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
The history of the American and French Revolutions shows that heroes can be discovered or created for political purposes. They can produce true tragedies when they are used to radicalize some and dehumanize others.
Pretti needs no enhancement. Neither he nor the officers on that day were “perfect” beings. The facts of what happened on January 24, 2026, are likely to be as conflicted and subjective as the political environment itself. Any shooting of this kind is imperfect — events that could have been changed by a myriad of different actions or movements. That is the true tragedy.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of the Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Professor Turley, I appreciate that there is balance in your description of Pritti. But I have to suggest that law enforcement is dehumanizing itself. Masks dehumanize the wearer. Battle gear in civilian contexts dehumanizes the wearer. And being forced to dominate helpless civilians is dehumanizing. The left only points out what has already occurred,
No normal person talks like that.
Try not to kill officers, attack their families and riot and bin cities.
“Masks dehumanize the wearer.”
Tell that to the school children during your Covid paranoia.
It’s great to be an amateur DIY person, but sometimes you need to consult with a professional with a proven track record of competency and success.
Obama could mentor Trump on the proper way to do immigration deportations. Trump’s amateur hour is literally costing lives, he needs a professional at deportation – free mentorship from Barack Obama.
Obama’s stellar record was happening quietly while big mouth critics were crying about Obama’s birth certificate and Kenyan witch doctors. Obama is the real professional at accurate, humane and successful deportations. Trump could call him today if he really cares about the United States.
The issue I think is not whether Obama could or would help. A bit of a blind eye was turned on Obama on this issue. Rightly or wrongly, Trump draws lightening every time all of the time. If Obama stepped up right now to help, the left would try to publicly gut him now too just because Trump was involved.
Obama deportations a cake walk compared to current situation.
The current situation is a result of prolonged appeasement and failure to enforce our laws. Look around, we have politicians committing fraud stealing our country’s resources, wealth and military might. It’s on video, federal criminal activity documented yet zero enforcement and zero accountability. Russia gate cost taxpayers over $50M, it’s a proven fraud. If this were in the private sector the perpetrators would be arrested and prosecuted, yet nothing.
Enforcement is necessary else you create lawlessness and chaos.
Obama the Kenyan? He’s lucky the Governor of Hawaii covered his ass and didn’t get deported himself. Let’s ask Joe Arpio and his FBI forensics experts.
The good professor, in his prudent and finest example of professionalism, avoided the obvious pun:
–that MEDIA, in its attempt to influence and stoke, tried to make “Alex Pretty,” -as in Pretty handsome, pretty professional, pretty innocent.
Within hours of Pretti’s death, Media was already producing headlines about the “VCU Nurse” and “ICU Nurse” as some saintly profession above reproach. Stop and think about it: why was that important to repeatedly show up in the headlines?
Another ‘rated-AI-doctored’ photo was published by George Conway’s Lincoln Project, clearly aimed to curry favor and affirmation of the saintly character. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/fact-check-posts-claim-image-110000737.html
Let me tell you something. I once had to defend a prominent physician who, after a disagreement with his neighbor, was caught on security camera urinating on the neighbor’s property and into a flower planter on his porch (giving new meaning to acidic disagreement). AND, in another case, a medical intern caught stealing the medicine ostensibly administered to a patient. (Of course, after reviewing the evidence, my only choice was to negotiate an acceptable settlement.)
This sounds like I dislike Pretti, trivializing his death; -or that I am defending ICE.
Neither.
I’m simply affirming a new twist to the old adage: NO ONE is above the Lawlessness.
Lin
The two videos out there shows Pretti had anger issues. He was not a protestor, he wanted to fight.
Dust
Pretti was an obstructionist involving himself in a federal law enforcement operation. His interference and obstructionist “activism “ led to his physical detainment and his carrying a concealed weapon while in a physical altercation with law enforcement led to his untimely death.
Fuk with the bull you get the horn, it’s as simple as that. He’s no hero, he’s a dead dumbass that bought into the Governor’s and Mayors selling of a lie. Their incitement of ICE and federal law enforcement cost him his life. They both need to be arrested and prosecuted. This fits EXACTLY the yelling fire in a crowded movie theater test of acceptable free speech!
Lin, within hours the Trump administration started to lie outright to the American people. Everyone saw just how bad it was and why it wasn’t gaining any traction when they labeled Pretti a domestic terrorists and made claims clearly not in evidence. DHS already has a history of lying to judges, disobeying court orders and entering homes without a proper warrant.
The media has been reporting exactly what has been happening. But the Trump administration and his supporters do not seem to like that the media is correctly pointing out Pretti was killed in cold blood by poorly trained CBP agents and it has been pointed out the majority of these guys can barely be called…professional.
“The media has been reporting exactly what has been happening.” By media, you obviously mean MSNow, CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC, NYT, LAT, ad nauseum. HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA! What color is the sky in your world, X?
No kidding! I think the agents were exceptionally well trained. Ten rounds on target and they all went home alive while the idiot bringing a gun to a protest that then assaults LEOs in performance of their duty goes to the morgue. A sad thing but what do you expect from the pot of chaos stew cooked up by these liberal fkstx?
. X, I don’t respond to you because it’s feeding the trolls but yes, Pretti is a domestic terrorist as are Walz, Ellison, Frey by the alarm, fear, they cause the people here illegally to feel. Many aren’t proficient in English and think they are going into concentration camps to be killed by Nazis, the kidnappers. They are further alarmed by the noise created at these arrest sites. Yes, Pretti and the Goods are DTs.
Domestic terrorist is an overstatement.
As much as they deserve it – do not due to left wing nuts what they did to J6ers.
These are vile people engaged in bad conduct – some of which is also illegal.
They have also been caught conspiring.
But conspiracy is just another name for communicating, and communicating is legal – if often revolting, unless it is clearly to commit a crime.
I beleive – and I am sure you do to that is EXACTLY what they were doing. But they have been careful about it.
There is no “smoking gune”.
You have to assume bad intent to get a criminal conspiracy – and though I am HAPPY to assume criminal intent on the part of these vile people. they were just as happy to assume criminal intent for J6ers.
Do not play into their hands.
Do not assume criminal intent – find the smoking gun and prove it.
And if you can’t leave the issue to the court of public opinion.
“within hours the Trump administration started to lie outright to the American people.”
What are you talking about ?
Absolutely DHS etc. engages in more benign spin than YOU and the left who from moment one have painted Pretti as a saintly nurse
Are you honestly arguing that DHS is just supposed to role over and cede the saintly nurse nonsense ?
In the past LEO’s and Government that stood behind LEOs would respond begging people to wait for the evidence and investigation.
The left has repeatedly used that through the Trevon martin, Micheal Brown and George floyd instances to paint LEOs as violent goons,
resulting in the Geroge Floyd riots, and the frame job on Chauvin and the rest of his squad.
LEOs are in jail for doing their job becaiuse people bought left wing nut naratives that became impossible to overcome as the truth eventually came out.
Those of you on the left have blood on your hands.
Regardless, as with everything else – as the tactics of left wing nut criminals and liars change – so do those of law enforcement.
LEOs anmd particularly their unions are not rushing to get Body cam footage out.
Wise Cheifs of peolice – ie those who run communities where their is little crime because the law and law enforcement is respected start by defending officers.
Noem over stated the case against Pretti – but not by alot.
Pretti was not a domestic Terrorist – but he was an oirganized criminal part of an illegal conspiracy, and a violent thug.
Pretti was also not holding his gun when he was shot – but he was reaching for it, even thogh he did not know it was not there.
Noem’s errors are TINY compared to yours.
“Everyone saw just how bad it was”
They do ? Myriads of people right here disagree with you.
Someone is dead – that is bad.
Pretti was a pi$$ poorly behaved person – but he did not desreve to die.
But his bad conduct created a scenario where officers had a choice between risking their own lives and taking his.
Pretti put them in that Bind.
“DHS already has a history of lying to judges, disobeying court orders and entering homes without a proper warrant.”
All of this has been debunked over and over.
Lying is not argument.
“The media has been reporting exactly what has been happening.”
No it has been doing what it has been doing for 20 years – lying through its teeth.
Only idiots like you trust the MSM.
3 Recent polls show support for deporting criminal illegals, support for deporting all illegals and support for Trump
All at the same levels they have been for most of the past year.
You are only winning this fight in your head.
Absolutely no one wants people to die.
But they STILL want criminal illegals deported by super majorities, and all illegals by 56 percent.
Not just one survey but many – including harvard harris.
Not the poorly trained garbage again.
Just keep the lies up.
John Say,
“Benign spin?”
You’re in denial again. Within 45 min of Pretty getting killed DHS started a smear campaign against Pretti. They literally lied to everyone about what happened. They accused Pretti of being a domestic terrorist, brandishing his weapon, assaulting CBP agents, and planning on assassinating ICE agents. I don’t believe you’re this stupid John.
Everyone knew DHS was lying to their faces when overwhelming video evidence from multiple angles was shown to everyone. They were forced to backpedal from their original claims because their lies were utterly unsustainable. 50,000 people protested in the streets because of those lies. Everyone saw what happened.
Bovino and Noem were removed from their roles because they kept making things worse.
“In the past LEO’s and Government that stood behind LEOs would respond begging people to wait for the evidence and investigation”
Yes, in the past. Not anymore. Trump’s DHS has engaged in blatant lying almost immediately after these kinds of incidents. They have been caught lying to judges, defying court orders nearly 100 times, and literally have been lying to everyone. I thought you were opposed to government lying to your face John.
“Noem over stated the case against Pretti – but not by alot.
Pretti was not a domestic Terrorist – but he was an oirganized criminal part of an illegal conspiracy, and a violent thug.
Pretti was also not holding his gun when he was shot – but he was reaching for it, even thogh he did not know it was not there.”
Again, you step up to lie for Noem which is truly sad to see.
She didn’t “overstate” anything. She flat out lied and when confronted with the evidence she doubled down. That’s not an overstatement. Smearing him as a criminal when he has no criminal history and no evidence of any crime is exactly what you and those on the right do. He was not reaching for his gun, he had his hands on the ground while being beaten by 5 agents. He was disarmed and then shot afterwards. John, why do you resort to such blatant lying? Everyone saw it.
“Everyone saw just how bad it was”
They do ? Myriads of people right here disagree with you.
Someone is dead – that is bad.”
Myriads of people on the right here are total morons who can’t discern fact from opinion. Someone is dead because DHS immigration agents are poorly vetted and trained.
“3 Recent polls show support for deporting criminal illegals, support for deporting all illegals and support for Trump
All at the same levels they have been for most of the past year.”
Cite your evidence John. Everyone knows that is not true. Polls show Trump’s immigration crackdown is failing.
“Just 39% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing on immigration, down from 41% earlier this month, while 53% disapprove, the poll found. Immigration was a brighter spot for Trump’s popularity in the weeks following his January inauguration. In February, 50% approved and 41% disapproved.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-immigration-approval-drops-record-low-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2026-01-26/
Trump’s approval rating is dropping and polls show he is underwater in every issue. Texas Republicans just experienced a serious upset in a special election a Democrat won a deep red district and added one more Democratic seat in the House leaving the speaker just one vote to maintain a majority. That is not a good sign for Republicans or Trump.
Your level of denial is off the charts John, and yes it’s that obvious. Enabling DHS’ lying? Truly a sad sight.
X says “I don’t believe you’re this stupid John.”
Another idiotic tactic X has learned in order to provoke response.
Doesn’t work georgie, we see through you.
“You’re in denial again. Within 45 min of Pretty getting killed DHS started a smear campaign against Pretti.”
What smear campaign? Define what you mean by smear. You overbroadly use words so they can encompass almost everything. The video of Pretti days before demonstrates that what they said was reasonably accurate and definitely more accurate than what you say. In fact you are the one who with no evidence smears people especially Turley, all the time.
All we need is to rename the street where the FREEDOM FIGHTER was killed and probably put up a statue showing him in a Captain America suit and pose! HAHA. This typical leftist moron got exactly what he was begging for – a chance to show his moxie and qualify for Sainthood like ST GEORGE FLOYD. Minnesomolia is on a run with the holy types!
A point not discussed by any one… The Constitutional right to carry a weapon inherently imposes a profound obligation to act responsibly. It raises the crime of simple assault to the highest level, a lethal confrontation, the taking of life in response to an attack.
Mr. Petti, while armed, violently kicked an ICE vehicle inching away from a mob. He broke the right rear light assembly, provoking a response by the ICE agents inside. Had the local police been present, and acted, he would have been disarmed, arrested and entered into the judicial process, possible jailed. Because the local officials failed their duty, he subsequently was killed by Federal LEOs, while armed.
These events must be reviewed, but it is certain the locals and federals did not cooperate in law enforcement. Bosses and cops must be held to account.
Turley shills for trump while yrump’s popularity caves in…
https://youtu.be/hyPFxh_XXwY?si=gyepr7EQTRfNDCsc
Your attempt to prove something ONLY proves that actors and pollsters play to their audiences.
President Trump Job Approval –CNN
Approve 40, Disapprove 59 Disapprove +19
President Trump Job Approval—RMG Research
Approve 47, Disapprove 51 Disapprove +4
It proves people HATE trump.
The extent of Trump hatred is unchanged since the election – despite the efforts of the left.
Rassmusen – 46% – relatively unchanged since October.
Regardless of the bigger issue of using enhanced photos or not, that is not new. News have consistently used unflattering pictures of people they want vilified for various reasons. If an unflattering news story is being written on a given individual, why use a good picture when you can use a picture that pushes the narrative you want?
Yet none of this really matters. We can argue about the larger politics and policies. We can argue if ICE is doing their job. We can certainly argue whether any of this is even humane.
None of that matters right now either. The only issue at hand right this moment, is this a good shoot or not. There is an investigation ongoing as of this writing. It needs to be left to run its course to determine the facts. If it is a good shoot, then what lessons may be learned to either mitigate or lessen the likelihood of another shoot in the same type of circumstances.
If it is a bad shoot, the agents need to be punished to whatever the level is required up to and including jail if so warranted. Then, a second look to see what can be learned and incorporated to prevent further bad shoots.
I do not if this is a good or bad shoot. I do not know if Alex Pretti was a good guy or bad guy. I do not know if he was an agitator, an innocent bystander, or had a bad five minutes that cost him his life. I do know it needs to be investigated and resolved.
There are calls for justice for Alex Pretti and I agree. There needs to be justice. I just hope that those that are calling for justice also understand that it may not be the “justice” they want. The justice may be the ICE agents had a good shoot and properly defended their lives.
Are nurses nice? Be on guard.
Meet Nurse Cullen. Charles Cullen aka The Angel of Death.
Charles Edmund Cullen (born February 22, 1960) is an American serial killer. While working as a nurse, Cullen murdered dozens—possibly hundreds—of patients during a 16-year career spanning several New Jersey and Pennsylvania medical centers until finally being arrested in 2003.
Turley’s assignment of late: to cast aspersions on Pretti to somehow divert attention from or justify his murder. Very similar to Turls’ long campaign to take down Hunter Biden. It’s from the Roy Cohn handbook that Turley tries to implement with better table manners…
Thing is, it’s a completely futile task (as well as being despicable on its face)…
https://youtu.be/Rizh2W1a4EI?si=iAr0IWq5XUX_8N8l
“Turley’s assignment of late: to cast aspersions on Pretti to somehow divert attention from or justify his murder.”
You need to learn to read. Professor Turley quite accurately describes Pretti’s actions, on the day, that resulted in his death. The rest of the essay talks about the way his death is being exploited by the left.
None of Pretti’s actions were deserving of being murdered. Turley is casting aspersions through his efforts at implication. He fails miserably.
Anonymous, where were the riots in the streets when Obama deported the fathers?
Where were the riots in the streets when Laken Riley was brutally murdered by a man that Joe Biden let into the country. Now comes another hero for you to worship.
Finally, where is your heart for all the victims of the sexual predators let out on the streets?
You have hidden it in a stone.
Apparently, Putin’s nickname for Epstein Island, and what went on there, was ‘The Vampire Ball’.
Let’s let ou imaginations play with that for a minute.
YAWN… The more we learn, the more dem’s show up on his long list
“Let’s let ou imaginations play with that for a minute.”
Is that supposed to be English? Or French? Did you even graduate high school? Or are you the product of a Democrat ran city that it took you five years to graduate high school and you still could not read your diploma?
Aha…, yes, in my haste I skipped a letter didn’t I? Good catch.
Guess I have to live with the fact I sometimes type carelessly on my phone.
Still, I’d rather have to live with that than with having to be a drooling, moaning window licker at the cretin circle jerk such as yourself.
But at least you know a little French.
TIT, sidenote…, are you really so miserable as to not be able to get around your hatred of a half black man being president so as not to let your love of a racist pedophile con man calm you down at all???
Whooo hooo, spin racist spin! If you work hard enough at it maybe Don Lemon will let you carry his purse.
What is not discussed, by anyone.
The right to carry a weapon inherently imposes a profound personal obligation to act responsibly. It raises violent conduct, which otherwise, would be a simple crime, e.g. an assault, to a potential lethal confrontation, leading to the legal taking of life in defense. Mr. Pretti while armed, kicked an ICE vehicle inching out of a mob and broke the right rear light assembly, provoking federal LEOs to react. Pending a full review, it appears his state of mind, while armed, lead to an instantaneous judgment by these LEOs, days later, to kill him. Had local police done their job, disarm, arrest and jail him, he might be alive today.
Officials did not do their job and must be held accountable.
Holy…wow. professor Turley sure went to bat for the Fox News narrative today.
I always find it amusing when Turley makes an effort to identify Democrats when they do sketchy things but leaves out Republicans and the Trump administration when they do sketchy things. For example,
“ In fairness, Pretti was vilified before he was canonized. Many of us objected that the videotape evidence did not support the original description of Pretti’s conduct. Pretti did not threaten officers or approach them brandishing a weapon.”
Yeah, Pretty was vilified almost immediately by the Trump administration, Trump himself, and “conveniently” leaves out the fact they blatantly lied to everyone’s faces. Turley had no problem calling out Biden when he supposedly lied. But strangely he can’t bring himself to call out Trump or his administration’s blatant lying. This is why Turley’s columns are often wide open to criticism and ridicule because of the hypocrisy.
The altered picture of Pretti has been around for a while now and everyone knows it’s an AI photo. Guess what? The Trump administration also has put out AI alters photos to depict arrestees in a different “light”. Remember the church protest? The organizer was originally photographed with literally a blank stare, but the Trump DOJ put out an altered photo of her crying. So what did Turley do? Nothing. Because he can’t openly criticize Trump or his administration for the same reason many Republicans can’t. They fear Trump and what he can do to them. Trump could easily nosedive Turley’s book sales if he ever dared to criticize Trump or his bad policies. It would take just one bad “review” from Trump on the air and it’s a downhill ride for his book sales.
You do realize you’ve just made Professor Turley’s point for him?
According to numerous article coverage, the only thing apparently altered was the addition of tears.
It was a MEME, The WH did not offer it as fact. DHS did, and the DHS photo was unaltered.
The alterations to the WH post of the photo were no different from putting FAFO as a caption.
“Trump supporters take him seriously but not litterally,
Trump detractors take him litterally, but not seriously”
Salena Zito 2016.
Still true today.
Trump has been having fun for 12 years.
The left has been angry anxious and depressed.
Trump posts are always meaningful, they are not frequently intended to be taken literally.
Trump constantly speaks in extreme superlatives – everything is the best that ever was or the worst.
Some of the things he says were never done before were never done before, but mostly he is just praising his own positive actions and criticizing the negatives actions of the left – all in exaggerated terms.
And he is having fun doing it – including sometimes poking fun at himself.
“professor Turley sure went to bat for the Fox News narrative today.”
Have no idea what Fox may have said.
But Turley has adopted a “narative” called Truth.
That is generally what he does.
“effort to identify Democrats when they do sketchy things”
No effort needed.
“ In fairness, Pretti was vilified before he was canonized. Many of us objected that the videotape evidence did not support the original description of Pretti’s conduct. Pretti did not threaten officers or approach them brandishing a weapon.”
While Turley has the order wrong – the left was out damning the shooting before even the videos were available.
At the samne time you say “Turely goes after Democrats” and then cite criticism of Noem for claims that are minor errors in the initial heat of things. Regardless Turely is not criticizing democrats, he is criticizing Noem.
I have zero problems with criticising Norm on this.
I have a problem with those who try to paint a minor error as the end of the world.
““conveniently” leaves out the fact they blatantly lied to everyone’s faces.”
Because it is not a blatantly,
it is a minor overstatement of the facts.
Pretti was reaching for a gun.
Pretti was refusing to cooperate from the start
Pretty was being confrontational from the start.
“Turley had no problem calling out Biden when he supposedly lied”
Mostly Turley did NOT call Biden out for lies -= he and all the rest of us constantly called out the left and MSM for lying about Biden.
Biden was demented, most of us felt sorry for him.
He was not up to getting himself to bed, much less being president.
He was not constantly lying – because he was not in the real world any longer.
The LIARS were people like you who claimed he was competent.
The same people who are now pretending the shooting of Pretti was anything but tragic and justified.
” But strangely he can’t bring himself to call out Trump or his administration’s blatant lying.”
Identify and actual consequential lie – not this tiny nonsense.
Reaching for a gun that you do not know was removed, is not the same as brandishing.
But it is a legitimate reason Pretti is dangerous and a reason to justify shooting him.
Pretty is not a “domestic terrorist” – but he was an out of control violent left wing white guy who reached an inevitable end.
“This is why Turley’s columns are often wide open to criticism and ridicule because of the hypocrisy.”
By who ? You ? The same people who lied to us about Biden ?
Who is criticising Turley with an actual reputation for Truthfulness ?
“The altered picture of Pretti has been around for a while now and everyone knows it’s an AI photo.”
Correct – it has been arround from pretty much the same time Noem said Pretti was brandishing a gun.
The difference is Noem’s stately was not a deliberate lie. The altered picture was.
Noem had no reason to lie about Pretti – the truth was inevitably going to come out.
While the MSM had reason to beleive the alteration of the Pretti picture would not come out.
We see the same with Rene good – while the media picture is NOT to the best of my knowledged altered, it is a deliberate glaomor shot from when she was younger and more attractive. In the various videos of her shooting she does not look like the media photo.
There are plenty of pictures of Pretti and Good litterally from the moments of their shooting.
Why didn’t the media go with them ?
Why in both cases was the MSM looking to portary both of them as quite different from what they looked like when they were shot ?
Might it be because those images were NOT sympathetic ?
The only big deal about the Pretti AI image is that it is like photoshoping – it is what in court they call consciousness of guilt.
You can claim the photo of Good is what you were given.
But you can not escape the fact that the Photo of Pretti was deliberately altered.
That is an ACTUAL lie – as opposed to the things you call lies.
It was a carefully crafted KNOWINGLY false communication – that you though you could get away with, but were caught.
Nothing Trump or Noem has ever said comes close.
“The Trump administration also has put out AI alters photos to depict arrestees in a different “light”.”
No Trump posted a “meme” the WH does that all the time.
As does the left.
For once in my lifetime, Republicans are better at communicating that left wing nuts.
The left can’t meme.
“So what did Turley do? Nothing. ”
Because it is a meme. Has Turley criticized the Baby Trump and Baby Vance memes ?
Nope,
Further the initial meme was posted by the left. Vance and later Trump then took ownership of the meme.
Todays republican leaders no how to laugh at themselves, and better still no how to turn laughing at themselves into laughing at you.
The change Trump has made in conservative communications is beyond beleif.
Through my entire life – Democrats were far better communicators – even when they were wrong.
Today Trump OWNS the left,
“They fear Trump and what he can do to them. ”
ROFL
What is Trump going to do ?
We heard you left wing nuts tell us all you would be in concentration camps.
Trump has left most of you left wing nuts alone to destroy yourselves.
Trump is not “doing anything to anybody” – you are doing bad things to yourself.
You rant that Trump’s approval is low – 46% today – higher than obama and bush at the same time.
But the approval of Democrats is in the teens.
Trump actually has the highest approvaal he has ever had among republicans,
but even democrats hate democrats.
“Trump could easily nosedive Turley’s book sales if he ever dared to criticize Trump or his bad policies. ”
ROFL
Nothing would boost Turley’s sales more than being attacked by Trump.
You really are brain dead.
“It would take just one bad “review” from Trump on the air and it’s a downhill ride for his book sales.”
From who ? Turley gets bad reviews from left wing nuts like you all the time.
Regardlless, is theree anyone that doubts that If Trump attacked Turely you would rush to defend him ?
You have no principles beyond “orange man bad”
Identifying lefties behaving badly is trivial.
Aparently it is OK witht he left to be a “legal observer” and document ICE, but god forbid a female journalist should report on protestors – three female journalsists were driven out of Minneapolis for trying to cover the protests because allegedly they were doxing protestors – they werent. But lets say they were – you want the IDs of ICE officers – why not the IDs of violent protestors.
MN protestors today broke out the car windows of 60 parked cars for …. Who knows why ? Because lefties like destroying theings.
In portland protestors dumped a guy in a wheelchair onto the road infront of Portland police – who refused to arrest.
in Minneapolis protestors are taking over neighborhoods – often when no one from ICE is arround at all, and shutting down roads and ordering people in cars where the are allowed to go. Aparently Black UPS drivers are allowed onto selected streets – if they argue enough, but white people are not allowed to drive back to their homes.
lot of dumpsters were lit on fire by protestors,
This is just a sampling itis not even close to the left wing misconduct.
Sorry, increasingly I am with Noem – you ideiots are domestic terrorists.
Really stupid ones. But still domestic terrorists.
Oh, and lots more polling showing near super majority support for funding ICE.
Multiple polls dropped today with varying degrees of net positic support for ICE operations – varying from +8 to +38
Also some polling showing Schumer shutdown II is unpopular.
And schumer is threatening to shutdown the government again if the SAVE act is not stripped from Defense funding.
And OH BTW – while technically Democrats can do anything in any bill – a shutdown will have ZERO impact on ICE,
ICE was funded for Years in the BBB.
Another poll has Rs +8 among swing voters.
Several polls can not even get more than 50% of democrats to oppose deporting criminal illegals.
ICE are good people, in general. Pretti, too, was probably a pretty decent guy overall. Jon is right. This damn tragedy did not have to happen and what was accomplished. He’s gone and ICE is condemned by many.
Illegal immigrants are not permitted to be here. If they don’t leave on there own, we have to remove them. Perhaps most of them are good folks. Some clearly are not. After they leave, they can apply to return. We don’t have to hate them. If you do, don’t.
If I want to enter this country with my family, I’m not going to take chances that my daughter might be jailed or injured by sneaking in. I have to exercise patience and take the legal route. The formula is simple.
“Pretti, too, was probably a pretty decent guy overall”
Pretti, as amply demonstrated by his conduct, was stupid. Stupidity was long ago decreed by nature to be a terminal illness.
My children are legal immigrants – I am strongly in favor of legal immigration.
As I have said – Immigration is NET positive. But NET is not the same as all positive, and we need to keep in mind that those actually harmed – atleast in the short run, are pi$$ed and deservedly so. Further they are not priviledged afluent white women.
When people come through the front door we get to allow in those who are the good people. who will help Make America Great Again.
When they come in illegally we get alot more bad AND we do harm to those who are good that get it.
The percent of women who get raped trying to cross the border is horrific.
But even a very large percent of men and children are sexually abused entering the US.
That really F$%Ks you up. Owing thousands to drug cartels is not a good start to a contributing life in the US.
Illegal immigration means many more bad people, and it means making more good people bad and damaging many of the rest.
On immigration, it’s fair to criticize Biden’s policies but Trump should follow the most professional deporter of the 21st Century – Barack Obama.
Obama deported more illegal immigrants and was acting in his Christian faith (very humane) in being far more successful than Trump.
Obama’s deportations were also far more accurate and fact-based, actually deporting more real criminals than Trump simply hiring too many ICE agents then setting quotas.
Reminder: any constitutional officer, constitutionally-oath sworn and with the public trust to carry a lethal weapon – that constitutional officer (ie: ICE/DHS) has the “burden of responsibility” – not untrained regular people having their 4th Amendment rights violated. The burden of responsibility is on the ICE Officer not the U.S. mere peasants.
If Trump were to call Obama, he would probably love to tutor Trump on proper governing.
Pahlease! BM wouldn’t cover resistance to Obama, are you kidding? THAT IS WHY CONSERVATIVES ARE OUTRAGED. Public opinion is swayed without an even-handed approach to disseminating the NEWS.
When O-dumber was doing. GOP supported it. Libs went along, because he was a dem.. Now the Trump is stuck will all these illegals (thanks biden)
The dems have a melt down. The dems need more illegals for voters. Nothing more.
Like how to overturn an election his choice lost .
Henry David Thoreau, the inventor civil disobedience, would have been horrified by Pretti. Pretti violated Thoreau’s emphasis on nonviolent protest and being accountable for one’s crimes of conscious. Pretti did the exact opposite. He repeatedly provoked violent confrontation, carrying a deadly weapon into those melees. He resisted arrest not once, but twice–no accountability at all.
Who but a communist would lionize such behavior??
Pretti was a creature of the hard Left, like all the cannibals that danced on Charlie Kirk’s grave. There’s no need to imagine the zombie apocalypse; if the voters ever give these kinds of Democrats real power, we’ll live it.
Yes. I am the mother of a 37 year old son. Were he engaging in a demonstration, it would never occur to me to sit him down and warn him not to “do anything stupid.” His parents found it necessary. And his ex-wife described him as a hothead, and obsessed. I would be willing to bet that if anyone looked even cursorily into his history, the saintly image would implode. Does not change the facts of the event but there is a context here. As the mother of 4 adult sons, my impression is that he was a handful.
Yep, his parents felt they had to warn him about such things at 37 years of age; a handful for sure. I’m sure your boys will be a credit to their mother because she is a credit to herself 🙂
He was a Bed-Wetter to
@Anonymous
Sorry, but if you are having to warn someone who is 37 of literally anything whatsoeer, you did something profoundly wrong.
Correction, “conscience,” not “conscious.” I should have been conscious when I typed it 🙁
Diogenes provides the key to protest, non-violence, recognizing the law as a valuable asset. I engaged in protest both as a youth and as an adult. Never would I approach a peace officer in a hostile fashion. The last protest I was involved with, one of the women in her late 80s was detained. She didn’t move from her spot, so the police did it for her in the same peaceful fashion she demonstrated. She got her point across, and the police did their job.
Pretti was violent, as demonstrated in an earlier film. I think the shoot was good, but I will wait for ICE’s review. Some of the statements made should have been withheld, and other statements substituted, but I understand why they acted. We don’t need another George Floyd; a phony excuse for the following riots. The job of law enforcement is to prevent death, injury, and property loss, which was great during those riots.
Pretti’s death is clearly at the feet of communists and their supporters, not ICE. It should not have occurred because real protest of substance is peaceful; otherwise, we can call it mob action.
Allen, agree. For the Democrats, political deaths are just the latest of late-term abortions. Chips in a game.
“political deaths are just the latest of late-term abortions.”
🙂 🙂 🙂
I’m going to steal that!
Altering a photo is a form of deceptive, manipulative misinformation. They want the viewer to have a different impression of Pretti than his unaltered image creates.
Proof? He was filmed by many cell phones and even BBC.
They altered the Photo of Pretti in nurses scrubs.
Not one of the videos of the shooting.
There has been some image enhancement done to those – but those are using noise removal techniques – technigues that were developed for astrophysics as well as for spy satelites and drones.
These techniques do not create information that was not there, change the shape of your nose and face or add muscles.
Sometimes they are able to combine information from multiple videos to improve images.
I have not yeat seen anyone do this, but it is also possible using multiple videos from different views to create an accurate 3D model of the event.
But so far all I have seen done with videos of the shooting is noise removal.
That makes it clear Pretti was reaching behind his back just before he was shot and as an officer shouts “gun, gun gun”
It also makes it clear that a different officer removed Pretti’s gun from behind his back.
Seems to indicate Pretti’s gun discharged as it was being removed consistent with the sound of a single shot before all the others.
And makes it clear Pretti was trying to stand up when he was shot – i.e. NOT following orders to get down and stop resisting.
No human is perfect. That’s how you know they are human. You do not want to associate with any ‘perfect’ humans.
Also, it is a crime for Governers and Mayors to thwart the Federal government. It’s called Insurrection and the last time dems tried that the republican party was started and handed them their hat.
Begin arresting them first.
why do Democrats their outrage should TRUMP our FREEDOMS!
ZERO tolerance….JAIL THEM ALL!
Free Speech is not Intimidation!
being a Democrat does give you a RIGHT to override OUR Rights.
Yelling in a Bullhorn to shout down others…IS A CRIME!
Walking up to cops and threatening them…is a CRIME
Walking up to citizens to intimidate them…is a CRIME
Having a sit down(“Occupy” in a church, school, business, speech forum to PREVENT others from their RIGHTS…A CRIME
The “pursuit of happiness” is a foundational, unalienable right declared in the Declaration of Independence, alongside life and liberty ”
Democrats PURSUIT of FASCISM….is a CRIME. They don’t get to INTERFERE in our LIVES. Protesting and blocking others…is a CRIME!
Go stand in a park…express your ideas. INTERFERING with other people lives…IS A CRIME!
“A CNN panelist and co-host of “The View,” Ana Navarro, voiced the new orthodoxy that Pretti was the “perfect guy … the guy you’d want to date your daughter, the guy you want your son to grow up to be, a decent human being who was serving humanity.” She added that he was so perfect that “there is nothing that has been said about that man that isn’t wonderful. And so they can’t malign him.””
Wasn’t it Taylor Lorenz, another libtard “journalist”, that said something like this about Luigi Mangione? Violence and insurrection is only allowed what its carried out by the Left.
I’d prefer arresting EVERY SINGLE person attacking, interfering, harassing ICE and Law Enforcement or helping illegals. THOSE ARE CRIMES!
Your 1st Amendment rights do NOT ENTITLE to you to any of the above. Your 1st Amendment right entitles you to write your ideas or go speak in a park. Not INTERFER in Law Enforcement or other people lives!
YOU have no right to attack people in a church, walking on the street, running a business.
Democrats appear to believe open FASCISM is a right! You yell in my face that is VIOLENCE! Time for ZERO TOLERANCE!
Yelling at a speaker is NOT a 1st Amendment Right!
Hear Hear! Areest all that interfere or obstruct