Tucker Carlson CALLS OUT Right Wing On Alex Pretti Killing

from Young Turks

 

Border Patrol 'untrained and unskilled' for policing in urban areas, ex-CBP head says

from PBS

Amna Nawaz:

So you have seen a number of videos circulating online, some even frame-by-frame analyses by different news outlets. I'm just curious, what stands out to you from what you have seen?

Gil Kerlikowske:

Well, the fact that they took him to the ground.

And he is resisting. But you would think that, with the number of agents that they had, they would be able to get his hands behind his back and get him secured and get him handcuffed. And it reminded you of kind of a football scrum, where they were all at different angles. So I didn't see them doing a particularly good job of securing him and getting him in custody.

Amna Nawaz:

Based on what you know about what happened before that interaction, what should have agents done in that case, in those circumstances?

Gil Kerlikowske:

Well, I think what they don't do and what they should be doing is that when they're confronted with somebody who is attempting to interfere or attempting to obstruct, they should tell that person we're arresting you.

This use of chemical munitions, just bringing out pepper spray, et cetera, just makes little sense. Police officers deal with these things all the time and they make a physical arrest. And that actually then deters some other people from getting involved or obstructing.

But, remember, this is a group of people, the Border Patrol in particular, who are completely untrained and unskilled for policing an urban environment...

read more here 

Trump softens stance on Minnesota crackdown as some federal agents prepare to leave

from PBS

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he spoke by phone with Trump, who praised the discussion and declared that "lots of progress is being made." Frey said he asked Trump in a phone call to end the immigration enforcement surge and that Trump agreed the present situation cannot continue.

The mayor said some agents would soon leave and that he would keep pushing for others involved in Operation Metro Surge to go.

Among those who are expected to depart was senior Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Bovino has been at the center of the administration's aggressive enforcement surge in cities nationwide. His departure marks a significant public shift in federal law enforcement posture amid mounting outrage over the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents, the second fatal shooting by federal immigration officers this month...

read more here 

Minneapolis Live Updates: Trump Shakes Up Immigration Crackdown Leadership

from the NYT

The Trump administration is shaking up the leadership of its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis by pulling its director of on-the-ground enforcement, according to two U.S. officials, as federal agents face growing criticism for their heavy-handed tactics in the city.

The expected departure of Gregory Bovino follows outrage over the killing of Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal agents at a protest against the administration’s immigration crackdown over the weekend. President Trump said on Monday that he was sending Tom Homan, his border czar, to oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota. Mr. Trump said Mr. Homan would report directly to him.

Mr. Trump also met with Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Corey Lewandowski, her top aide, in the Oval Office for more than two hours on Monday evening, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

The president did not suggest in the meeting that Ms. Noem and Mr. Lewandowski were at risk of losing their jobs, those people said. But it was another sign of Mr. Trump’s concern about the reaction to the killing of Mr. Pretti and the fatal shooting of another Minneapolis resident, Renee Good, by a federal agent on Jan. 7...

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‘Shocking, Unusual Times’: Federal Judge Weighs Constitutionality of Trump’s Surge in Minnesota

from NOTUS (H/T T)

A federal judge in Minnesota is considering whether it is time to take a “high-level step” of “ending the surge” of federal agents in the state, she said during a court hearing Monday, calling the circumstances of the Trump administration’s immigration operation “shocking, unusual times.”

U.S. District Judge Katherine M. Menendez wasn’t ready to rule from the bench Monday, and indicated her decision could take time as she weighs whether the Trump administration’s actions violate the Tenth Amendment and the state rights it affords.

Still, Menendez signaled an openness to the state’s pleas to push out the administration’s influx of federal agents. Menendez described the federal operations as roving patrols of masked men who are “engaged in retaliation” against locals trying to record their actions.

During the hearing, state officials said the agents were “terrorizing” its people.

The state is alleging so many violations of the Constitution — amid hundreds of individual cases challenging arrests, assaults, and searches — that the judge wondered where to start when considering this fight between the state and the federal government...

read more here 

ICE Unloads: Immigration officers speak out: “Fuck this.”

(You know... if there was a video out of Iran showing officials shooting an unarmed protester in the back 10 times the right in this country would be demanding regime change on every Fox News show there is. But let TrumpyBear do it and.... (crickets)) 

from Ken Klippenstein

“The best they can do is shoot the guy in the back?” That’s not the voice of some liberal commentator. That’s what a homeland security officer told me this weekend, one of over half a dozen who have reached out to express their alarm over the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and beyond.

I’ve listened to the stories and the beefs of immigration officers in Minneapolis across the country, and to a person, they all blame the shooter, one of their own. The major media is stuck on framing the killing of Alex Pretti as some national and partisan battle, highlighting Republicans breaking ranks, the NRA protesting, MAGA wavering, and Chuck Schumer doing whatever he’s doing, but no one is really capturing what the federal law enforcement officers on the ground are thinking. The truth is that they’re fed up and have been for weeks.

They paint a picture that is more Police Academy (or even Reno 911!) than a Gestapo on the march. Yes, they agree that Washington is a huge problem and are uncomfortable with the mission creep that is taking them away from actual immigration enforcement. But internally? Theirs is also a story of gung-ho 19-year-olds, drunken stakeouts, and senior officers disappearing into meetings and all of a sudden needing time off.

They are also frustrated with the narrative unfolding and the information war being waged from Washington, including the flamboyant defense of the shooting and other controversial moves on the ground.

“As much as I support this administration there needs to be more common sense in situations like this, not a knee jerk damage control narrative that does not line up with the evidence on video,” one Border Patrol agent said in a private chat group that was shared with me. “This individual was shot 8 to 9 times while unarmed.”

“We can’t always support what happens just because it’s one of us,” he adds.

An ICE agent was even more critical. “Yet another ‘justified’ fatal shooting … ten versus one and somehow they couldn’t find a way to subdue the guy or use a less than lethal [means],” the agent said. “They all carry belts and vests with 9,000 pieces of equipment on them and the best they can do is shoot a guy in the back?”...

read more here 

 

That's Why God Made Lawyers

That's why God made lawyers. I'm trying to keep people alive, not blow smoke up their asses. 

NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/democrats-grow-louder-calls-kristi-noem-resign-face-impeachment-rcna255844?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Mike Levin https://levin.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-mike-levin-joins-bipartisan-coalition-to-reintroduce-comprehensive-immigration-reform-bill-the-dignity-act

video of Pretti shooting https://www.facebook.com/CBSNews/videos/video-shows-another-angle-of-the-moment-federal-agents-shot-and-killed-37-year-o/4403751306524938/ 

Direct Support

Michael Parenti

The Corporate War Against Democracy

 

The U.S. War on Yugoslavia

 

Democracy and the Pathology of Wealth

Michael Parenti Lives On in the Global Struggle Against Imperialism

from Counter Currents

Michael John Parenti (September 30, 1933 – January 24, 2026) lives on through his works, which continue to educate anti-imperialist people and inspire struggles against imperialism unfolding across the world. The revolutionary’s voice resonates in city street protests, in mountains, among miners, sailors, peasants, workers, the urban poor, students searching for a peaceful and just world, and sections of the middle class that still stand against imperialism. It does not resonate among those who have sold themselves to imperialism, joined its intrigues, or among renegade, lumpen elements devoid of historical consciousness who identify themselves as “Gen-something.”

For Parenti, democracy was never class-neutral. Democracy always had class character. People’s democracy stands in polar opposition to the democracy propagated by exploitative classes.

A revolutionary intellectual, prolific writer, political scientist, academic historian, and critic of decadent bourgeois culture, Parenti taught hundreds of students through his lectures and analyses of contemporary world problems and imperialism. Beyond classrooms, thousands across the globe learned from his works. He exposed imperialist acts, designs, intrigues, invasions, and aggressions with facts and data that revealed the ugly, brutal, and anti-human character of imperialism. His uncompromising critique made him despised by the exploiting classes.

Vance says ‘engineered chaos’ driving unrest in Minneapolis

(Yesterday Minn. Governor said that people should not engage with the ICE Nazis because its exactly what they want. They want chaos and as I have been saying, its what they wanted from the start. A crisis. Now, since their plan is exposed, they turn around and accuse us of engineering chaos for unknown reasons. Thats what weasels do, they accuse others of doing what they are doing to muddy the waters and neutralize the accusation.) 

from RT

US Vice President J.D. Vance has said protests and unrest in Minneapolis were the result of what he described as “engineered chaos.” 

The city has seen days of demonstrations after a controversial federal immigration enforcement push in Minnesota; the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has deployed thousands of agents in its largest interior operation to date, aimed at arresting undocumented immigrants. Tensions have further escalated following two fatal shootings involving federal agents in January.

The latest incident happened on Saturday, when US Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis resident and intensive care nurse.

“This level of engineered chaos is unique to Minneapolis,” Vance wrote on X on Sunday, accusing what he called far-left agitators of working with local authorities to inflame unrest following the shooting.

Pretti’s death, the second fatal shooting involving federal agents in the city this month, follows the January 7 killing of Renee Good during an earlier enforcement operation and has sparked protests and widespread criticism... 

read more here