It’s hard to tell which is more tragic…
…the callous gunning down of two Minnesotans who were trying to be helpers…
…some in the government labeling them domestic terrorists before an investigation even began…
…or those I’ve known for a long time on social media cheering on their deaths.
That’s not the America you and I know. But bipartisan change will hopefully come soon.
Both tragedies, along with hundreds of individual stories involving separated families, children, brutal tactics, have shown us that this is more than just policy as usual. After the two killings, Republicans in Congress, including Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are joining Democrats in sounding the alarm about what’s going on in Minneapolis.
As you’ll see below, President Trump may have also changed course, and seems willing to rein in ICE.
For those that claim it’s only about public safety, I direct you to the letter sent by Attorney General Pam Bondi to Minnesota’s Governor. According to KTTC, “The third request in the letter was to allow the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to access Minnesota’s ‘voter rolls.’”
There’s a conservative meme that claims Clinton, Obama and Bush Jr. deported far more people than Trump ever did. Well, there goes the argument that Democrats supported “open borders.”
According to The Guardian, several officials from Homeland Security to Senior Advisors made a number of claims about Alex Pretti after the incident. “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” and an “‘individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.’” It may be the first mass shooting attempt where the alleged perpetrator never drew a weapon. According to CNN, videos show he was disarmed before the first shot was taken.
We now have seen the video of Renee Nicole Good behind the wheel of her van. The Washington Post has reported that evidence calls into question the government’s account of events, contending that the shot was not taken as the van approached the officer, but as the vehicle passed the person taking the shot.
Thanks in part to their tactics, and also because of both killings, more Americans now support abolishing ICE than keeping it around, according to YouGov, a marked shift from a month ago.
Perhaps that’s why President Donald Trump contacted Governor Tim Walz, and is now working with him on a solution. According to KARE 11 TV “The President agreed that he would talk to his Department of Homeland Security about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case.
“The President also agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals… The Governor reminded President Trump that the Minnesota Department of Corrections already honors federal detainers by notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement when a person committed to its custody isn’t a U.S. citizen.”
Republicans and Democrats must keep up the pressure to ensure these un-American killings never happen again and that justice is served in these cases, and any other case where the rule of law isn’t being applied; those who govern must follow the rules just as the governed must do.