This weekend, a gang of ICE thugs killed Alex Pretti in broad daylight. People across America are enraged, hurting, and demanding justice. How much longer can this go on?
On Sunday, House and Senate Democrats convened separately to decide their next steps. Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) joined April immediately after the Senate call concluded to discuss what is to be done. Tune in to this special episode of The Tea to hear April and Sen. Alsobrooks highlight the eerie similarities between masked ICE agents and the KKK, the possibility of another government shutdown, and the missing consciousness of the Republican party.
Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-MD) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior Senator from Maryland. Senator Alsobrooks sits on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Senate Committee on Aging, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
The following transcript has been edited for formatting
April Ryan
It is Sunday evening, 7.53 Eastern. We’re with U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland. She just got off of that elongated call, the Democratic caucus call, about the quote-unquote ICE crisis. Why was the meeting so long? What were the contentious points?
Senator Angela Alsobrooks
Well, you know what? I mean, I think you can imagine, that all of us, similar to every American, feel deeply concerned about what we’re seeing, and something more than that. people are enraged, people are angry, people are hurt, people are just really determined, first of all, that no one wants to spend another penny on DHS or on this operation, that we’ve seen the deployment of these people who are untrained, who are depraved, who are killing Americans in cities across it. We look at what’s happening in Minnesota, and you can just imagine the deep concern about where our country is headed, quite frankly. You know, that if you can do this somewhere in an American city, you can do it anyplace, and it is a very fast-moving approach toward really seeing our democracy continue to be dismantled. It is… so the concern is there, and just really robust, conversation.
April Ryan
And the concern was after the second killing in three weeks in Minnesota by ICE, this time by 37-year-old… of 37-year-old Alex Pretty, a VA, ICU nurse who had a gun, who was actually allowed to carry. He was exercising his Second Amendment right, and he was killed dead on the scene. So what was the conversation about that? Because we understand that, as you said, this is about the appropriations bill with DHS this week. Can Democrats make a difference by standing down and rejecting this bill unless you get restrictions on immigration enforcement?
Senator Angela Alsobrooks
Well, first of all, let me just step back and talk about what this is really about. This is Trump’s America. This is Trump’s America. When he said he wanted to, to address violent people, immigrants, we now understand that really what he meant was that he was gonna kill Americans. He is willing to kill Americans. We look at how just, again, the depravity We look at the thug-like behavior of the people who are on the ground in Minnesota. They’re the lawlessness of it, that we killed Alex Pretty. And why? Because he had a camera in his hand, a phone trying to record what was happening there. An observer. An observer.
And these people, it took 6 of them, by the way, because they’re so cowardly. to hold down a man who had… who was there with his hands in the air half the time and with a phone. The same group of people who felt it appropriate to fly a 2-year-old A 2-year-old, these are the people who are supposed to be dangerous. A 2-year-old was sent to, to Texas. We look at if the 5-year-old who was there, who was detained. So this is Trump’s America, you know, charted the man out of his house, an American citizen who was half-dressed, and so none of what has been promised has been delivered. Americans, we shouldn’t be asking ourselves, are we better off? It is now that it is not affordable to live here, and these people are unaccountable, and so if you’re asking what it is, we feel all of us agree it needs to stop. The deployment, they need to get the whole heck out of Minnesota right now. They have no real purpose for being there, they are untrained, they don’t know what they’re doing. And the national standards that we hold for general police and law enforcement apparently do not apply to these people. who do not have body cameras, who have covered their faces, and I, you know, I don’t even want to tell you, the cover of the face is just a disturbing detail. We’ve seen this someplace before in our history.
April Ryan
It’s like the KKK.
Senator Angela Alsobrooks
Yes! Yes! That is what it feels like. And so we have now unleashed these masks, these people with the mask on, because they are both ashamed of what they’re doing and they’re cowards. We see this, they do not have body cameras, as I’ve mentioned. We need judicial warrants, not these administrative warrants. So we need them to at least follow the standards that we hold our police officers to, but they are… they somehow are not even held to the same standard, the national standards, that have been established for our police officers. And so this is a really disturbing trend. And let me just also say this. Let’s level set. The Republicans, my colleagues, what we really need in this moment, people keep asking, what should the Democrats do? What we all should be asking is, when will these Republicans, when do those who have any conscience When do they say enough is enough? The ones who funded this big, beautiful bill that already set loose $74 billion. They have already superfunded this. So we need to stop it.
April Ryan
So, will there be a mass protest of Democrats in the Senate? Will there be a consensus of Democrats in the Senate that will reject this appropriations bill that calls for $20 million for body cams and only $2 million for de-escalation efforts?
Senator Angela Alsobrooks
I think what you’ll see is Democrats will be saying, and basically with a degree of unity. That we don’t want another penny spent on this operation, and that we want standards to be put in place. That we want this, this, not only this conduct to stop. this mass deployment and the killing of Americans. That’s what we… we wanted to stop. But we also, when you talk about the funding, whether or not we put more money toward this, I think you’re going to see all of us say in unison, no, but again, I want us to level set, April, and let the American people know That these Republicans have already superfunded this. So we need them to stand with us. We need the Republicans to stand with us, but I’m going to know about another penny, and I think you’re going to find that my colleagues will be saying the same thing. Absolutely not, not another penny for this.
April Ryan
So the Department of Homeland Security is… well, the ICE agents are already funded till 2029, correct?
Senator Angela Alsobrooks
That’s correct. $79 billion or $75 billion has already been forward-funded through the, that big ugly bill. So you’re… you’re right, but should we be adding more money to it, is the question, and I think you’re going to find that most people will say no.
April Ryan
And in my last minute or so with you, and I thank you for your time, at this moment, with… the Democrats standing strong, saying we don’t want to add any more money. Could that create a problem for the midnight deadline on January 30th that we could see another government shutdown? The last one was the longest in history by Donald Trump.
Senator Angela Alsobrooks
Well, let’s see what the Republicans do. You know, let’s see what they do. Again, this is, this is, you know, this is in their control. Whether or not they want to continue this… this terrorizing of American citizens, whether it’s worth it to them, we’ll see what they do. That’s who we should be looking at, is to see whether or not they agree. with this depravity, with the murdering and cold blood of American citizens on our streets, and whether they want to continue to fund it. You can rest assured the answer from us is that we do not want to. The question is whether or not the Republicans have any moral center. Our country has lost its moral center. And whether or not any of my colleagues will bring it back.
April Ryan
Thank you, U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland. I mean, if it can happen in Minnesota, it can happen anywhere in this nation. Thank you so much for your time.
Senator Angela Alsobrooks
Thank you, thank you.
