THE AMERICAN POSEIDON ADVENTURE

This morning, I dreaded reading the papers. The murder of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive-care nurse and U.S. citizen living in Minneapolis, by federal agents sworn to protect us was revealed in bystander video. There is no question about what happened. You can read it, watch it, and see it for yourself.

Pretti was coming to the aid of a woman who had been knocked to the ground by Trump’s federal gestapo. From behind, a sick, cowardly agent sprayed him with pepper spray and then assaulted him. By any pre-Trump standard, Pretti would have been justified in defending himself. In Florida, under its “stand your ground” law, he would have been legally justified in firing on that coward.

Immediately, Barbie Noem, followed by the Liar-in-Chief, jumped out ahead of the facts, deploying the familiar ready, fire, aim tactics their jack-booted gestapo favor. As they always do, they blamed the victim. Once again, this became another Renee Good episode, where the cover-up began almost before the crime itself.

There is no way we can trust the federal government to investigate this. There is no way we can respect what this administration claims are the “facts” when the truth is plainly visible before our eyes and they deny it.

Then Noem, with a straight face, claimed that Minnesota officials were to blame. She accused them of “inciting violence” while flinging every unrelated accusation she could think of (past funding disputes, administrative grievances) hoping something might stick. All of this while the Governor of Minnesota and the Mayor of Minneapolis pleaded with Trump to stand down and remove the invading force that precipitated the violence.

People, citizens and non-citizens alike, have been abused by Trump’s federal agents. There are multiple documented examples of women and children being manhandled, terrorized, and stripped of dignity, with no regard for basic rights or human decency. This inhumane, un-American, overly aggressive enforcement has shattered public trust and destroyed respect for federal officers.

Minnesotans feel assaulted, abused, and attacked by those who are supposed to obey the law and enforce it judiciously. Instead, these invaders break every norm, violate local authority, and trample basic human decency, then act shocked when people are angry. People feel as though they have lost their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The very rights governments are expected to protect and defend.

When a national government turns violent, heavy-handed force against its own people, what response does it expect?

Step back and look. This is the Trump playbook, practiced on January 6th: define reality through lies, act on those lies with force, then blame the inevitable human response on the victims. We see it implemented in Minneapolis. We saw it last week in the Greenland ‘crisis’. Create a crisis whose “solution” consolidates power, regardless of the human cost, like the murderer who begs for mercy because he is now an orphan after killing his own parents.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti was murdered by the federal government, just as Renee Good was. Trump and his fascist followers are guilty, not metaphorically, but morally, of executing American citizens.

As heinous as this is, it is not a justification for violent retaliation. Violence only breeds more violence, and we must resist that trap, no matter how justified the rage feels. The courts, especially local and federal district courts, remain a venue where justice still has a chance. And the power of the people, in sheer numbers, remains the lever capable of pushing these criminals and their enablers into the garbage pit of history where they belong.

Protest is our first line of resistance. The courts are our defense. And the ultimate weapon is the voting booth.

We must strategically take our country back from those willing to destroy what we cherish. Patience, fortitude, and facts will prevail. As Zechariah reminds us: “Speak the truth to one another and render judgments that are true and make for peace.”

So tell it like it is, factually, loudly, and persistently. Protest where you can. Defend the truth. And VOTE.

RESIST!!! & EDUCATE!!!