Yep. This. It is, frankly, appalling that it took the murder of a white man to make so many white people sit up and take notice. I would also like to point out that The Felon now expresses "sympathy" for Renee Good because her parents are "Trump supporters." This is the kind of cognitive dissonance that we deal with every damn day. Every time someone says to me that "this has never happened before" I point out to them (these people are always white and always middle class or above) that this has been the life experiences of every single person of color in the USA since before it was the USA. And that to claim that white women have never been victimized is an outright lie. Because we women are ALL suffering from millennia of generational trauma because of the behavior and actions of men. Full stop. Time. Is. Up.
Right. The glass ceiling only has cracks in some small areas. Women are still frequently denied the recognition and positions that they have earned. It didn't happen to just my mom, and I've watched it for over 70 years now.
I’m 85, and a white woman, but I’ve experienced discrimination. I know I have not been through the hell that black and brown men and women have suffered since 1619. It took the on camera murder of a white man to cause other white men to understate it could also happen to them. They are finally becoming aware of the danger of this criminal regime, and are now looking for ways to end the danger.
I agree! No one in this Congress has the backbone and gonads to actually iimpeach, convict and remove Loose Cannon. My hope is, what I call, "The One Last Cheeseburger Theory".
Maybe some are making far too much of the issues of race or sex here. For me, neither Pretti's skin color nor his sex was even close to accounting for why I see his murder as particularly outrageous.
If Pretti were a woman, I'd be even more inclined to be sympathetic--as I am with Renee Good. She was a woman trying to flee multiple big, armed men, at least one of whom was angry, physical, and seemed bent on dragging Good out of her car (to do who knows what).
Pretti was a nurse. That counts a lot in my eyes. His life was largely devoted to helping people. Moreover, when Pretti was first attacked, he was just helping a woman who had been physically attacked by a thug on ICE.
In my eyes, the most important factor is that Pretti was viciously attacked and then murdered in a vicious and cowardly manner, all for doing nothing more than trying to help a woman who had been attacked by a vicious thug and for having engaged in picture-perfect examples of how to exercise the rights secured by our Constitution, including the First and Second Amendments. I do mean literally picture perfect. Pretti's conduct was caught on video, and it was utterly and entirely innocent. The conduct of multiple attackers of Pretti also was caught on video, and it was utterly criminal.
Another crucial factor is the irrefutable evidence. Video shows how and why Pretti was attacked and murdered. The video proves beyond a reasonable doubt that some of Pretti's attackers acted like thugs and criminals. They irrefutably committed crimes.
Then, there are the vicious lies by Noem, Miller, Bovino and Trump. Again, the video and the conduct of Pretti and the ICE killers and thugs is crucial. Not only was Pretti murdered for perfectly innocent conduct--conduct that was quintessentially the best conduct we could expect from the best American--but then people in power immediately tried to smear him and convict him in our eyes with their lies.
Killers on ICE attacked a perfectly innocent American engaged in the perfectly innocent and perfectly appropriate exercise of our most cherished rights. A gang of thugs attacked Pretti repeatedly in a manner that was both vicious and cowardly. Then, instead of punishing the cowardly criminal attackers, their bosses stated lying to us. Killers on ICE murdered Pretti, and their bosses immediately started lying to smear him and deceive us. What they all did to Pretti is powerful evidence of what has been done before.
All the foregoing--not Pretti's skin color or his sex--is why I see his case as so important.
You miss the point. No one is saying that these two murders were not horrific and heinous. What we are saying is these murders of white people are all too common for people of color. People of color experience this kind of hatred, hostility, aggression, and violence daily. And they have done in North America for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Public response to the sickening violence perpetrated on Good and Pretti ramped up while the murders of Black and Brown people were treated with silence and compliance. The Contrarian folks don't mention Julio Sosa-Celis, who was shot by ICE officers a few days after Good was murdered. He had done nothing, but his reputation is being debased by entirely false claims that he was "dangerous" and "attacked" them. He did not: video evidence proves this. But his situation dropped out of the news cycle in a matter of hours. Why? Because he is Latino and his family are Latinos? How many people have been killed by ICE and the Border Patrol in the last year? How many people brutalized, traumatized, raped, and tortured by these thugs and sadists? Do you know their names? Many are on the record and the assaults against them videoed. Do you remember what was said about the acquittal of OJ Simpson? That he got a "white person's trial"? This is the point. When we call the murder of white people extraordinary but the murder of people of color par for the course, we deny the humanity and legitimacy of people of color existing in our society as peers and fellow travelers.
Thank you, Ms Mitchell. Your points are well put and ones Americans must address seriously if public discussion and public judicial investigative work is to actually achieve justice along with supporting public trust in equal protection under the law.
How tragically biased personal and media attention and effective action can be is in fact made plain, again and again, by public and media response variations.
Any shooting by an agent of government must become, by law, subject to a designated and unavoidable investigation and public presentation of investigation results, including whether or not a conclusion about cause is warranted. That is what the public needs to see: were civil rights of a person violated, was the person harmed or killed by a government agent; is the agent's action cause for a civil action or criminal action?
Equal responsibility and equal protection by law, without prejudice, as a matter of due process and rule of law justice.
Sarah Longwell and Andrew Weissmann provide us with useful assessment on this matter during their conversation, "The Minneapolis Shooting Demands a REAL Investigation (w/ Andrew Weissmann)" Jan 24 2026 [available at the The Bulwark substack, on YouTube, on podcast,...].
Your observation on the reporting of the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, that, "...his situation dropped out of the news cycle in a matter of hours...", clearly points to media bias. The media can keep reporters active on events, having reporters do follow up questioning and reporting. The following is the most recent reporting I have found: https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/16/videos-add-new-detail-to-2nd-minneapolis-ice-shooting-in-a-week/
We have the capacity to put aside any tendency to be biased, to be alienated,.., and we have constitutional rule of law protections and responsibilities to assist us.
The lack of general respect and general understanding of constitutionalism that actually underpins our entire society and its day to day fundamental significance to personal legitimacy and security are also shockingly in evidence. Our Constitution's rule of law tradition, how it unconsciously informs a large and varied framework of sets of assumptions of social relationship and social legitimacy, is almost without conscious importance.
We can be very optimistic about the much more visible and active humanity being shown by most Americans [by most in America ! ] as they condemn and question and protest the cruelty of Trump et al is made visible by DHS ICE.
Americans are turning to each other to help those in need and those being cruelly targeted, being cruelly harmed.
Can we now join, in so plain a way, our common and willful humanity for each other with the Constitution's rule of law tradition and how it unconsciously informs a large and varied framework of sets of assumptions of social relationship and social legitimacy which effectively and visibly acts as reinforcement for and improved effectiveness of our willing humanity for each other? Will humanity reinforced by constitutional political will give us the advantage of our active expression of revulsion and to our political opposition of the cruelty and lawlessness of the Trump et al administration?
It is up to us, Americans, to effectively constitutionally and legally oppose, and by opposing end Trump et al's selfish and cruel misuse of public office.
Julio Sosa-Celis is vastly different from Pretti or Good, in part, because Sosa-Celis wasn't killed. That, alone, is a massive difference. Aside from not being killed, he wasn't murdered. Good and Pretti were murdered. Moreover, they were murdered on video. The video evidence is compelling and we can judge for ourselves what is true or false. The circumstances of the shooting of Sosa-Celis sound egregious, but they aren't near as clear as the circumstances of the murders of Good or Pretti. For good reason, the level of coverage and the level of outrage are different.
Those ARE all important and compelling reasons to see his murder/execution as a watershed moment. But I think the color of his skin is also a factor. Imagine if he was a black man, and everything else was the same. I suspect that there are, unfortunately, a large number of people who would be somewhat less outraged, less emotionally reactive, in that case. And those are exactly the people most likely to be Trump supporters, the ones needed in order for there to be a true tipping point. There's a certain visceral response attached to seeing "one of your own" being attacked--whether than means "male", "white", or "gun owner". I think both of these things are true, not just one, not just the other.
It seems like another case of "both/and." It is abundantly true that Whites are privileged, and males above all; non-Whites are given less attention when abuses occur. I think it's also true that the cumulative effect of multiple killings in short order, all in the same city, all at the hands of the same thug squad, seemed to add up exponentially. People are reacting to both of these things. None of us are safe until ALL of us are safe.
Fair enough. But I did imagine how I’d feel if his skin happened to darker. I could not care less. His skin color would be as irrelevant as it possibly could be.
The only reason I think Pretti’s skin color is relevant is that it is clear that he wasn’t killed or attacked because of his color.
No: he was killed because he was trying to protect a woman who was being brutalized by a bunch of white men and they found that to be so infuriating they murdered him. And, according to reports today, a couple of weeks ago when he tried to protect a Brown person who was being brutalized by another group of thugs, they were so enraged by this action they beat him up and broke two of his ribs. Q.E.D.
Nailed it, thank you! As a white woman, I know the fear, outrage, & disgust that African Americans have to live with. It’s a big part of why I voted for Barack.
Alex Pretti is also being described as a good Catholic, which is lovely truly. Renee Good is a lesbian Mom…misogyny is alive and well in the reporting. Neither deserved to die, both were doing just what we would hope to do: de escalate and help someone who had fallen on the ice. There is a special place in hell for the agents, for this administration, and yes, for the many bigots and hypocrites who suddenly give a shit because he was a straight white Catholic male. Sorry if that is a rant but I’m just so pissed off.
Rant away, Carol, because there is a helluva lot to rant about. Thank you for emphasizing the fact that Renee Good was a lesbian with a wife and children. Misogyny AND homophobia are alive and well. For some, Mr. Pretti's martyrdom is more palpable for the reasons you and Jen point out.
Regardless, we have 2 martyrs whose lives were sacrificed on the altar of the government's bloodlust fueled by Herr Stephen Miller's irrational hatred of immigrants and those who refuse to give in to tyranny. Let us also not forget the 32 people who died in ICE custody after being rounded up, the 5 people killed by ICE and Border Patrol agents since the beginning of the year and the countless innocent people who are being detained in Herr Miller's inhumane concentration camps with no due process or access to legal counsel.
And every one of those rounded up deserves due process. I keep thinking about that poor Minneapolis citizen mistakenly taken naked from his home in the frigid air.
Me too Carol, so much so I am considering rejoining the Catholic Church. After listening to Father Tasto and the local Bishops the church of commitment to peace and justice may step out from behind the veil of conformity and speak like Christians. That is worth supporting.
Our culture more readily recoils from acts of cruelty inflicted upon animals than it does from acts of violence inflicted upon humans. Possibly because there is not a centuries old propaganda machine targeting cute dogs as enemies to be feared, suppressed, and ultimately eliminated.
We don't actually know he was straight. He left no spouse as far as I know, and there are plenty of people who assume male nurses (like male flight attendants) are likely to be gay.
FYI. Pretti was previously married and though the Catholic Church disapproves of divorce (to say it nicely) it has adjusted to the fact that many of those filling the pews are, in fact, divorced.
Swbv: It slipped out in one of the many "press coverage" conversations with Homan about that $50,000 that Homan thought he deserved the money (get this) because he took a public service job instead of working for more money in the private sector.
I cannot remember which program I heard that on, but I did hear it--and, that I can find, Horan doesn't say he didn't take the money, he only says he didn't do anything wrong, which "flows" plausibly with the "public service job" narrative, rather than "taking a bribe."
I think the issue will come out at some point, so we must wait for the verification; but in the meantime, I thought it was one of the finest examples of rationalization I have ever heard.
You beat me to it. Let's see, Venezuela, Greenland, the Big Ballroom and the Trump Arch, the Epstein files and Bondi's refusal to release them (no doubt on Trump's order) are all still in play. With the continuing attack on NATO and our own people, there are so many plates spinning, it's hard to keep track of them all.
OOPS! Thank you. A major oversight on my part,, along with the lies that continue to pour forth about the murders in Minneapolis and general inhumane treatment of our people by our own government.
And the entire travesty wrought on the EPA whose mission now, apparently, is to "Power the Great American Comeback" Initiative, to energize the greatness of the American economy, the resurgence of fossil fuels, combustion engine vehicles, the phasing out of regulations which put a damper on profits and unhindered growth, no longer collecting emissions data from polluting companies and providing it to the world, etc etc. We are now join 4 countries who have withdrawn from or haven’t signed the Paris Agreements (I am a little unsure about the correct wording)—and the others are Yemen, Libya, and Iran. Some noble gathering of dissenters to be hanging out with ….
I like the analogy to spinning plates. My parents taught me that when self-righteous people start making allegations, look for what might be the accuser's hidden sins.
I agree with the assessment, but don't see mention, as a point of bigotry, of Ms Good's being a lesbian. This is a rude shock to many people, not me, I feel compelled to add, but a 2 woman marriage is incomprehensible to a sizeable portion of the population, and I think this had a lot to do with the failure to respond emphatically.
Nick Hammer: I also think it was difficult to NOT make Good's sexual orientation clear because they kept referring to "her wife." But my hope is that the "public" including MAGA people would have become used to democracy's realities of "other" ways of living life by now that have nothing to do with anyone else's area of legitimate political control.
I suspect the "fucking bitch" remark was directed at Rebecca Good, not Renee Good. Rebecca had just told him "You want to come at us, I say go get yourself some lunch big boy” -- way more provocative than anything Renee ever said.
Stephen Miller is the most dangerous person (among many dangerous people) in the Trump regime. That is because he has stated that ANYONE expressing negativity to what the regime is doing is a traitor. In other words, he says dissent is totally not allowed. And when Miller whispers on Trump's ear, Trump will echo what Miller says.
I have said from day one, in my signs when protesting, everywhere....Stephen Miller is the words, the racist, hateful, voice, the thoughts of Trump who has no ability to do thoughts and paragraphs, speeches, and strategy.
Athony Scaramucci is on a recent Pivot podcast with Kara Swisher. He knew Miller when they both worked at the White House. He points out that Trump is officially working five-hour days these days - and Miller is doing all the speech-writing and policy development on a much fuller schedule. Scary.
What ICE is doing here now is normal operating procedure for the IDF is the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, and has been for decades… except that it’s a thousand times worse there.
Jews have been victims of antisemites such as yourself for two millennia.
The story has changed. It’s easier to convince people in modern times of a fake genocide than a fake deicide.
The difference now, is that Israel can defend itself from the more recent physical assaults perpetrated by Islamists, who constitute about 20% of the Muslim world supported by left wing philosophers such as yourself who hypocritically support Islamist entities which murder gays, subjugate women and celebrate the deaths of Jews.
I realize there’s not much point to jumping in here because I also understand your comment, Richard, but as a Jew who is very aware of the long history, I feel it needs to be said: criticism of the leadership and military of Israel is no more antisemitism than criticism of the leadership and ICE here in the U.S. is anti-American. We can love and defend our country and those we consider our people while also demanding that those in power do better, and remembering that unless all people are free, no one is truly free, and that the American ideal of liberty and justice for all is a pretty great one.
You are correct, Andrea. But why does Israel even need to be brought up here? And why only Israel — and not the myriad other countries with awful governments? That is where the problem with Jason’s comment lies. The need to attack Israel when it is not the subject at hand and the double standard.
The main one being, the US has always been a pivotal, crucial element in the oppression of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories by the IDF. The US has always and continues to provide fundamental political, military and financial support for exactly the same sort of tactics our own government is now deploying against American citizens, but Israel's violence is on a much, much bigger and more lethal scale...abducting people off the street..invading homes...killing people in daylight, then claiming they are terrorists... barring independent investigations..this is par for the course by the IDF.
There is no other place on Earth currently where the US so openly and enthusiastically supports the violent oppression of an entire population based on their ethnicity as in the Occupied Territories. The 'ceasefire' has been next to meaningless in Gaza, where the IDF continues to kill and abduct people constantly...yet few in America seem to even notice. The US is not funding the government attacks in Iran. The US has funded and supported open genocide and apartheid in the Occupied Territories. The whataboutism is frankly ridiculous.
It is also relevant because US military and police forces commonly share training and tactics with the IDF, including ICE itself. It is impossible to not see the parallels in the techniques there and here.
And, this is relevant because the violent oppression by the IDF has been able to continue because of the complete and total lack of empathy for the extreme suffering of the Palestinian people by much of the American public, exemplified by the venomous hatred displayed by a couple commenters here. You'll notices these comments attack Muslims broadly, without any acknowledgement of the horrors the IDF has wrought on stateless, rightless people living in occupied lands.
The 'double standard' is that people who claim to care about people living in America that are being subject to state-sponsored violence openly support a much worse version of strate-supported violence against people in other regions., specifically in the Occupied Territories. The violence there could not happen without steadfast American support.
Yes, there may be parallels between the IDF and ICE, but there are parallels between ICE and many other government military forces around the world. Yet, you only focus on the wrongs by the Jewish state. And the fact that the U.S. government supports Israel does not justify singling out Israel in the context of this particular Contrarian post. I could challenge some of your other points but will stop here.
Amy, I agree re raising the topic of Israel here. I think one of the things that’s made public response since the October 7 attack so complicated and painful for so many of us is the awareness that many people who I believe had never paid attention previously to this particular subject jumped on the bandwagon. Well, I join in their criticism of Israel and the IDF, I’ve often found myself wishing they knew a bit more about the history, including understanding that there are reasons for many Jews’ defense of Israel and Zionism. I’ll add to my previous statement that you can be critical of Israel without being antisemitic and say you can be critical of Israel and be sympathetic to the history of the Jewish people.
Absolutely. Criticising Netanyahu is practically the Israeli national sport.
But there is a big difference between supporting the existence of a state that absolutely needs to exist in this world, while criticizing its policy and leadership and simply shouting “Israel bad, terrorists good” with zero comprehension of the actual facts.
Trump is terrible. But he has done things which benefit Israel. But not because he sees Israel as a moral necessity, but only because he sees it as a potential benefit to him. He sees support from evangelical Christians and hope for a Nobel peace prize. But he will be perfectly willing to throw Israel under the bus when he starts seeing Israel as a liability.
Israel has the moral high ground in the Gaza conflict.
Gaza attacked. Israel defended. People died. No genocide.
The situation on the West Bank is murkier. Hamas has significant support in Areas A and B, some of it armed. Israel has a legitimate interest in routing out the armed Hamas presence in those places.
Area C is under full Israeli control. Unfortunately, the center right Netanyahu essentially ceded control of area C to his ultra right wing coalition partners as the price for supporting his premiership.
Those coalition partners have given a group of like minded Israeli settlers IDF uniforms, authority and weapons. These irregular forces acting with government authority have been terrorizing the relatively small group of Arabs living in Area C.
This needs to change, but as bad as it is, does not delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and defend itself any more than the existence of Trumps ICE Brownshirts delegitimizes America’s right to exist.
Sometimes democracy is ugly. Fortunately it usually self corrects.
Richard, my own perspective is that arguing for or against the right to exist is fruitless, simply because it does exist, and I think everyone would be better served by focusing on what is. I disagree with you that Israel has the moral high ground. But my response to you was merely about your calling Jason’s comment antisemitic.
But many anti-Israel folks do challenge Israel's right to exist and need to be called out on it. For example, supporting the right to return to Israel of all descendants of the Arabs who left/were expelled during the 1948 war is a challenge to Israel's right to exist. Many would not understand that unless one explains it. Calling Israel an illegitimate colonialist state is another example. I would rather not argue about Israel's right to exist but unfortunately it can be necessary.
Thank you for perfectly illustrating the point of Jen Rubin’s column, and my response.
I suggested extending empathy to a people who are clearly and plainly being violently oppressed. This is not at all, not in any way, a condemnation of the Jewish people, any more than condemning ICE is flatly condemning all Americans.
You responded with pure xenophobic tribalism and hatred, exactly what Rubin writes against here.
If "never again" means only "never again to Jews," not "never again to anybody anywhere," we have learned the wrong lesson from the Holocaust and have made more genocides more likely, not less.
The same Islamist mentality that slaughtered ten thousand Iranians this month has been at work all over the middle east including Israel. Hiding behind the cause of Palestinian freedom Israel has been under constant attack for 75 years.
Honestly, the more we learned about the Renee Good killing, the more I've come to believe it was a hate crime for daring to be a woman with a wife talking back to them. It was Republicans ultimate bad luck that Alex Pretti was white, male, a legal gun owner AND a deeply moral person by any standard.
It is highly doubtful that Jonathan Ross, the agent who killed Renee Good, knew anything about her family life. She was a bump in the road to his authority, no more, no less, and so he murdered her. A hate crime it was not - cold blooded murder it was.
No worries, it was easy to miss cause she was on the other side of the vehicle on the outside and that angle doesn't get played very often because it doesn't show the shooting well. They are after Becca because she was the one being openly antagonistic and mocking them. They fit the visual stereotype of a butch and femme lesbian couple.
Thank you for the additional information, not that it should have had any effect upon Renee's murder. She was attempting to leave the area, as ordered. Ross was still wrong. He should stand trial for murder.
I wonder if Becca is blaming herself somewhat, for her part in possibly triggering the guy. No moral or legal excuse for his actions, but his shooting Good demonstrates his ‘being triggered’.
Jonathan Ross most likely knew Renee Good was a lesbian before he murdered her because she had a rainbow decal on her vehicle. ICE is sweeping up data about everyone protesting.
I don't give a damn. It's still wrong, unprofessional and illegal conduct. He must be made an example of in order to thwart similar behavior, though it's pretty certain knowing the tone of this regime that nothing will happen to him. He is the ugly American personified.
You don't think, as horrible as the reality is, that her having a wife didn't factor into the lack of response and acceptance/justification of her murder? Right-wing media paints the entire LGBTQ community as violent radicals.
Yes, that’s exactly the point I was making. But I realize that I messed up who I was responding to (my apologies). I actually meant to reply to the comment by Steve, whose comment was about the motive of the killer, and not the response.
Oh! I'm sorry, no problem! But yeah, they spent all 2024 calling every non-straight person a freaking pedophile to the point where I took it out on a guy trying to hand me a Republican sample ballot at my polling place lol
I'd love to say I felt bad for being rude and antagonistic, but Trump has a genuine gift for bringing out the worst in people and as much as I hate to admit it, that includes me.
Thank you. I find it so offensive that Americans place different values on life depending on race, nationality, color, etc. The costs of the Iraq War are always measured in American lives lost, not the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives list.
Biden spoke out, calling for an investigation of two American deaths at the hands of ICE, but he failed to call for the investigation of all deaths at the hands of ICE.
I find it terrifying that the "moderate" and even "liberal" voices are quiet at the brutality shown by officers of the US government going after undocumented immigrants. I hear the words "they should have done it the 'right' way." And the crimes of those who are condemned? Seeking a way to feed their families when life in their countries of origin makes that impossible.
all humans do that....caste system in India, light blacks vs dark skinned, shites vs kurds, crackers vs people who can read,etc. the list is endless ..................French vs everyone ha ha
Perhaps analogous to the Kent State shootings in 1970? That was certainly an inflection point and then too occurred after many non-white people suffered terribly. We are in some sort of science fiction time warp where all our nation's conflicts have reemerged with a vengeance. (fueled by the Republican party)
Roy Cohn and Roger Stone both had a large impact on Trump
They have been in Republican politics for a long time. Cohn was part of Mccarthyism. Roger Stone has been around since Nixon. Trump is a monster. He wants to drag us back to a past where white Christian men were treated like kings no matter how unqualified.
I thought of Kent State also, 4 students killed and the news and photos in every paper and on every TV screen. Such an uproar! Then thought about the student killings at Jackson State College two weeks later during student protests. Two Black students killed during a protest but at least one if I remember correctly was just walking across campus and not even part of the protest. Barely made the news, just a blip on the screen.
You can also bet that had it not been for the independent phone videos and social media sharing, the murders of Good and Pretti would have been swept under the rug as collateral damage from the illegal protests. If mentioned at all, that term 'illegal' would surely have been stated by the regime.
I agree with everything you said but I also think that media has some responsibility for our reactions or lack of. I was not aware of the number of deaths of non-white people until someone posted a list on social media. We can’t react to what we don’t know. I read substack posts and other non-mainstream media and I still don’t feel fully informed. People who only get news from mainstream media or social media are really un-informed.
It is not just the MSM that is a problem,and that is going to get worse. It is the general information environment. Information silos constructed so people never have to leave the cocoon of news that agrees with what they want to hear and see. The algorithms that feed off anger and violence. We need fairness rules that encourage broad information sources. Regulations on the algorithms tech companies use. We need guardrails around AI. All this will be hard to accomplish. It still is a fight worth having. For now I am grateful to the Contrariens and new media for their efforts.
Reporters were 'embedded' with troops in Vietnam. Boy howdy did the American government learn that was a bad idea. Another correction was made when President's ceased having press coverage of caskets being returned to Dover AFB.
There was nothing like a Phantom jet blowing up a farmer behind a water buffalo to stir patriotism. And the conveyor belt of metal boxes was a real wake up as to the need for higher education.
I totally agree Jen! I've been outraged every time I see ICE break a car window and drag someone out or throw a crying mother to the ground. I cringe every time I hear a journalist say that they "killed an American citizen" as if that's somehow worse than killing someone without documents.
I think the Pretti's death resonated more than Good's for several reasons:
1) it was the second outrageous execution of a ICE observer.
2) The video in Good's death was less immediately clear about what happened--it was possible that she had bumped the agent with her car. It took several days to get to a conclusion. The video of Pretti's death was pretty clear.
3) Good was a poet and a lesbian, a bit counter-cultural in the eyes of some Americans.(Not me. Now we need the arts more than ever!) Pretti was a friggin VA ICU nurse. We've all had experiences with nurses and relied on them. I think that contributed to the collective outrage and the way his story has taken hold.
I agree with everything presented in this article. I would also like to add that I believe the fact that MSM was already focused on Minneapolis when the murders occurred helped to elevate the atrocities. Other attacks on people that occur in smaller communities or neighborhoods go unnoticed, not only because of the social class of the victims but also due to the lack of local journalism. We desperately need local reporting to bring more of these incidents to light. Sadly, that no longer exists in most of our country
True that. Outside of the local region, ICE's seizure and deportation of a father and family restaurant owner of 20 years in Staunton, Illinois (population 4,935) was hardly noticeable. If we had more local reporting like this, it would be much harder to say "it can't happen here." It does.
Yep. This. It is, frankly, appalling that it took the murder of a white man to make so many white people sit up and take notice. I would also like to point out that The Felon now expresses "sympathy" for Renee Good because her parents are "Trump supporters." This is the kind of cognitive dissonance that we deal with every damn day. Every time someone says to me that "this has never happened before" I point out to them (these people are always white and always middle class or above) that this has been the life experiences of every single person of color in the USA since before it was the USA. And that to claim that white women have never been victimized is an outright lie. Because we women are ALL suffering from millennia of generational trauma because of the behavior and actions of men. Full stop. Time. Is. Up.
Right. The glass ceiling only has cracks in some small areas. Women are still frequently denied the recognition and positions that they have earned. It didn't happen to just my mom, and I've watched it for over 70 years now.
I’m 85, and a white woman, but I’ve experienced discrimination. I know I have not been through the hell that black and brown men and women have suffered since 1619. It took the on camera murder of a white man to cause other white men to understate it could also happen to them. They are finally becoming aware of the danger of this criminal regime, and are now looking for ways to end the danger.
“I would also like to point out that The Felon now expresses "sympathy" for Renee Good because her parents are "Trump supporters." “
Look up ‘narcisissm’ in a dictionary, and see Trump scowling back st you.
What an example of hypocrisy too! You wisely put "sympathy'' in quotes.
Well said. I looked up the word moron and there was a picture of the fat felon.
I fear time will not be up until Trump is gone.
My hope rests on his wretched health.
Stephen Miller needs to be gone, exiled to prison for life.
I agree! No one in this Congress has the backbone and gonads to actually iimpeach, convict and remove Loose Cannon. My hope is, what I call, "The One Last Cheeseburger Theory".
Maybe some are making far too much of the issues of race or sex here. For me, neither Pretti's skin color nor his sex was even close to accounting for why I see his murder as particularly outrageous.
If Pretti were a woman, I'd be even more inclined to be sympathetic--as I am with Renee Good. She was a woman trying to flee multiple big, armed men, at least one of whom was angry, physical, and seemed bent on dragging Good out of her car (to do who knows what).
Pretti was a nurse. That counts a lot in my eyes. His life was largely devoted to helping people. Moreover, when Pretti was first attacked, he was just helping a woman who had been physically attacked by a thug on ICE.
In my eyes, the most important factor is that Pretti was viciously attacked and then murdered in a vicious and cowardly manner, all for doing nothing more than trying to help a woman who had been attacked by a vicious thug and for having engaged in picture-perfect examples of how to exercise the rights secured by our Constitution, including the First and Second Amendments. I do mean literally picture perfect. Pretti's conduct was caught on video, and it was utterly and entirely innocent. The conduct of multiple attackers of Pretti also was caught on video, and it was utterly criminal.
Another crucial factor is the irrefutable evidence. Video shows how and why Pretti was attacked and murdered. The video proves beyond a reasonable doubt that some of Pretti's attackers acted like thugs and criminals. They irrefutably committed crimes.
Then, there are the vicious lies by Noem, Miller, Bovino and Trump. Again, the video and the conduct of Pretti and the ICE killers and thugs is crucial. Not only was Pretti murdered for perfectly innocent conduct--conduct that was quintessentially the best conduct we could expect from the best American--but then people in power immediately tried to smear him and convict him in our eyes with their lies.
Killers on ICE attacked a perfectly innocent American engaged in the perfectly innocent and perfectly appropriate exercise of our most cherished rights. A gang of thugs attacked Pretti repeatedly in a manner that was both vicious and cowardly. Then, instead of punishing the cowardly criminal attackers, their bosses stated lying to us. Killers on ICE murdered Pretti, and their bosses immediately started lying to smear him and deceive us. What they all did to Pretti is powerful evidence of what has been done before.
All the foregoing--not Pretti's skin color or his sex--is why I see his case as so important.
You miss the point. No one is saying that these two murders were not horrific and heinous. What we are saying is these murders of white people are all too common for people of color. People of color experience this kind of hatred, hostility, aggression, and violence daily. And they have done in North America for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Public response to the sickening violence perpetrated on Good and Pretti ramped up while the murders of Black and Brown people were treated with silence and compliance. The Contrarian folks don't mention Julio Sosa-Celis, who was shot by ICE officers a few days after Good was murdered. He had done nothing, but his reputation is being debased by entirely false claims that he was "dangerous" and "attacked" them. He did not: video evidence proves this. But his situation dropped out of the news cycle in a matter of hours. Why? Because he is Latino and his family are Latinos? How many people have been killed by ICE and the Border Patrol in the last year? How many people brutalized, traumatized, raped, and tortured by these thugs and sadists? Do you know their names? Many are on the record and the assaults against them videoed. Do you remember what was said about the acquittal of OJ Simpson? That he got a "white person's trial"? This is the point. When we call the murder of white people extraordinary but the murder of people of color par for the course, we deny the humanity and legitimacy of people of color existing in our society as peers and fellow travelers.
🎯 Spot on, Linda!!!
Thank you, Ms Mitchell. Your points are well put and ones Americans must address seriously if public discussion and public judicial investigative work is to actually achieve justice along with supporting public trust in equal protection under the law.
How tragically biased personal and media attention and effective action can be is in fact made plain, again and again, by public and media response variations.
Any shooting by an agent of government must become, by law, subject to a designated and unavoidable investigation and public presentation of investigation results, including whether or not a conclusion about cause is warranted. That is what the public needs to see: were civil rights of a person violated, was the person harmed or killed by a government agent; is the agent's action cause for a civil action or criminal action?
Equal responsibility and equal protection by law, without prejudice, as a matter of due process and rule of law justice.
Sarah Longwell and Andrew Weissmann provide us with useful assessment on this matter during their conversation, "The Minneapolis Shooting Demands a REAL Investigation (w/ Andrew Weissmann)" Jan 24 2026 [available at the The Bulwark substack, on YouTube, on podcast,...].
Your observation on the reporting of the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, that, "...his situation dropped out of the news cycle in a matter of hours...", clearly points to media bias. The media can keep reporters active on events, having reporters do follow up questioning and reporting. The following is the most recent reporting I have found: https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/16/videos-add-new-detail-to-2nd-minneapolis-ice-shooting-in-a-week/
We have the capacity to put aside any tendency to be biased, to be alienated,.., and we have constitutional rule of law protections and responsibilities to assist us.
in addition,
The lack of general respect and general understanding of constitutionalism that actually underpins our entire society and its day to day fundamental significance to personal legitimacy and security are also shockingly in evidence. Our Constitution's rule of law tradition, how it unconsciously informs a large and varied framework of sets of assumptions of social relationship and social legitimacy, is almost without conscious importance.
We can be very optimistic about the much more visible and active humanity being shown by most Americans [by most in America ! ] as they condemn and question and protest the cruelty of Trump et al is made visible by DHS ICE.
Americans are turning to each other to help those in need and those being cruelly targeted, being cruelly harmed.
Can we now join, in so plain a way, our common and willful humanity for each other with the Constitution's rule of law tradition and how it unconsciously informs a large and varied framework of sets of assumptions of social relationship and social legitimacy which effectively and visibly acts as reinforcement for and improved effectiveness of our willing humanity for each other? Will humanity reinforced by constitutional political will give us the advantage of our active expression of revulsion and to our political opposition of the cruelty and lawlessness of the Trump et al administration?
It is up to us, Americans, to effectively constitutionally and legally oppose, and by opposing end Trump et al's selfish and cruel misuse of public office.
Julio Sosa-Celis is vastly different from Pretti or Good, in part, because Sosa-Celis wasn't killed. That, alone, is a massive difference. Aside from not being killed, he wasn't murdered. Good and Pretti were murdered. Moreover, they were murdered on video. The video evidence is compelling and we can judge for ourselves what is true or false. The circumstances of the shooting of Sosa-Celis sound egregious, but they aren't near as clear as the circumstances of the murders of Good or Pretti. For good reason, the level of coverage and the level of outrage are different.
Linda, has someone been raped or tortured by ICE?
Those ARE all important and compelling reasons to see his murder/execution as a watershed moment. But I think the color of his skin is also a factor. Imagine if he was a black man, and everything else was the same. I suspect that there are, unfortunately, a large number of people who would be somewhat less outraged, less emotionally reactive, in that case. And those are exactly the people most likely to be Trump supporters, the ones needed in order for there to be a true tipping point. There's a certain visceral response attached to seeing "one of your own" being attacked--whether than means "male", "white", or "gun owner". I think both of these things are true, not just one, not just the other.
It seems like another case of "both/and." It is abundantly true that Whites are privileged, and males above all; non-Whites are given less attention when abuses occur. I think it's also true that the cumulative effect of multiple killings in short order, all in the same city, all at the hands of the same thug squad, seemed to add up exponentially. People are reacting to both of these things. None of us are safe until ALL of us are safe.
Fair enough. But I did imagine how I’d feel if his skin happened to darker. I could not care less. His skin color would be as irrelevant as it possibly could be.
The only reason I think Pretti’s skin color is relevant is that it is clear that he wasn’t killed or attacked because of his color.
No: he was killed because he was trying to protect a woman who was being brutalized by a bunch of white men and they found that to be so infuriating they murdered him. And, according to reports today, a couple of weeks ago when he tried to protect a Brown person who was being brutalized by another group of thugs, they were so enraged by this action they beat him up and broke two of his ribs. Q.E.D.
Agree. (RN-ret.)
We women must include all the women of the world!
We must first elect a woman as President.
Hear, hear!!
Nailed it, thank you! As a white woman, I know the fear, outrage, & disgust that African Americans have to live with. It’s a big part of why I voted for Barack.
How old and tired is "the country is just not ready to elect a woman President"? No, how old and tired is misogyny?
Alex Pretti is also being described as a good Catholic, which is lovely truly. Renee Good is a lesbian Mom…misogyny is alive and well in the reporting. Neither deserved to die, both were doing just what we would hope to do: de escalate and help someone who had fallen on the ice. There is a special place in hell for the agents, for this administration, and yes, for the many bigots and hypocrites who suddenly give a shit because he was a straight white Catholic male. Sorry if that is a rant but I’m just so pissed off.
Rant away, Carol, because there is a helluva lot to rant about. Thank you for emphasizing the fact that Renee Good was a lesbian with a wife and children. Misogyny AND homophobia are alive and well. For some, Mr. Pretti's martyrdom is more palpable for the reasons you and Jen point out.
Regardless, we have 2 martyrs whose lives were sacrificed on the altar of the government's bloodlust fueled by Herr Stephen Miller's irrational hatred of immigrants and those who refuse to give in to tyranny. Let us also not forget the 32 people who died in ICE custody after being rounded up, the 5 people killed by ICE and Border Patrol agents since the beginning of the year and the countless innocent people who are being detained in Herr Miller's inhumane concentration camps with no due process or access to legal counsel.
And every one of those rounded up deserves due process. I keep thinking about that poor Minneapolis citizen mistakenly taken naked from his home in the frigid air.
And the children, the children, the children who have been terrified, traumatized, and so innocent.
‘History will not be kind’ to the perpetrators of these atrocities.
We still have time to address "history."
Not a rant, it’s true. Had Pretti not been carrying a gun, or were gay, guarantee you the NRA wouldn’t have given a shit.
Take advantage of the situation.
Me too Carol, so much so I am considering rejoining the Catholic Church. After listening to Father Tasto and the local Bishops the church of commitment to peace and justice may step out from behind the veil of conformity and speak like Christians. That is worth supporting.
Our culture more readily recoils from acts of cruelty inflicted upon animals than it does from acts of violence inflicted upon humans. Possibly because there is not a centuries old propaganda machine targeting cute dogs as enemies to be feared, suppressed, and ultimately eliminated.
Thanks, Carol. I feel exactly the same.
We don't actually know he was straight. He left no spouse as far as I know, and there are plenty of people who assume male nurses (like male flight attendants) are likely to be gay.
Very very good point.
just pointing out, you cannot be a good Catholic and be divorced. church rules, I don't give one trump about it.
FYI. Pretti was previously married and though the Catholic Church disapproves of divorce (to say it nicely) it has adjusted to the fact that many of those filling the pews are, in fact, divorced.
FYI, cause they were losing members hence $$ ...8 years of Catholic school taught me well
Who in this thread does that apply to?
carol r
and when I said I don't give a trump about cath rules, I meant I don't give a shit about it
And Lo....the TRUMPSTEIN scandal gets pushed to the back pages.
I think it is possible for the Trump administration to do two awful things simultaneously.
And of course the new man in charge of Minneapolis, Tom Homan, still has some explaining to do over his $50,000 CAVA bag.
Swbv: It slipped out in one of the many "press coverage" conversations with Homan about that $50,000 that Homan thought he deserved the money (get this) because he took a public service job instead of working for more money in the private sector.
I cannot remember which program I heard that on, but I did hear it--and, that I can find, Horan doesn't say he didn't take the money, he only says he didn't do anything wrong, which "flows" plausibly with the "public service job" narrative, rather than "taking a bribe."
I think the issue will come out at some point, so we must wait for the verification; but in the meantime, I thought it was one of the finest examples of rationalization I have ever heard.
Homan, don't do us any favors.
🙄
Oh yes! That cava bag!
A lot more than just 2!
You beat me to it. Let's see, Venezuela, Greenland, the Big Ballroom and the Trump Arch, the Epstein files and Bondi's refusal to release them (no doubt on Trump's order) are all still in play. With the continuing attack on NATO and our own people, there are so many plates spinning, it's hard to keep track of them all.
Don't forget desecration of the Kennedy Center.
And abandoning Ukraine, and maybe having Witkoff work out a 21st century version of the Hitler-Stalin pact.
And threats to Canada.
OOPS! Thank you. A major oversight on my part,, along with the lies that continue to pour forth about the murders in Minneapolis and general inhumane treatment of our people by our own government.
And this https://www.npr.org/2026/01/28/nx-s1-5677187/nuclear-safety-rules-rewritten-trump
And the entire travesty wrought on the EPA whose mission now, apparently, is to "Power the Great American Comeback" Initiative, to energize the greatness of the American economy, the resurgence of fossil fuels, combustion engine vehicles, the phasing out of regulations which put a damper on profits and unhindered growth, no longer collecting emissions data from polluting companies and providing it to the world, etc etc. We are now join 4 countries who have withdrawn from or haven’t signed the Paris Agreements (I am a little unsure about the correct wording)—and the others are Yemen, Libya, and Iran. Some noble gathering of dissenters to be hanging out with ….
I like the analogy to spinning plates. My parents taught me that when self-righteous people start making allegations, look for what might be the accuser's hidden sins.
Many, many more…many people are saying.
I agree with the assessment, but don't see mention, as a point of bigotry, of Ms Good's being a lesbian. This is a rude shock to many people, not me, I feel compelled to add, but a 2 woman marriage is incomprehensible to a sizeable portion of the population, and I think this had a lot to do with the failure to respond emphatically.
Thank you, I was about to make this same point.
Nick Hammer: I also think it was difficult to NOT make Good's sexual orientation clear because they kept referring to "her wife." But my hope is that the "public" including MAGA people would have become used to democracy's realities of "other" ways of living life by now that have nothing to do with anyone else's area of legitimate political control.
So hope we all. WE being more and more people, but assuredly not everyone.
I suspect the "fucking bitch" remark was directed at Rebecca Good, not Renee Good. Rebecca had just told him "You want to come at us, I say go get yourself some lunch big boy” -- way more provocative than anything Renee ever said.
Yes. Empathy. What a concept.
Excellent point. Perhaps the most important point?
What is the matter with them? us?
Stephen Miller is the most dangerous person (among many dangerous people) in the Trump regime. That is because he has stated that ANYONE expressing negativity to what the regime is doing is a traitor. In other words, he says dissent is totally not allowed. And when Miller whispers on Trump's ear, Trump will echo what Miller says.
I have said from day one, in my signs when protesting, everywhere....Stephen Miller is the words, the racist, hateful, voice, the thoughts of Trump who has no ability to do thoughts and paragraphs, speeches, and strategy.
Athony Scaramucci is on a recent Pivot podcast with Kara Swisher. He knew Miller when they both worked at the White House. He points out that Trump is officially working five-hour days these days - and Miller is doing all the speech-writing and policy development on a much fuller schedule. Scary.
This is apparently true, from day one.
The regime's head is the true danger.
He listens to the last person who speaks to him, and most of those people, headed by Steven Miller are hateful bigots.
Vance would do the same, as he is now, only smoother.
but Vance won't keep the cult together, with his personality of wet blotting paper.
Somebody posted on FB today that Vance is the cyber truck of politicians.
John, brilliant description of Vance!
Is that why the boys of 2025 approved of Vance for the job of VP.
Blotting paper indeed, true!
Excellent!
Don, exactly! The reason Vance was chosen and then groomed and sculpted for the job of VP.
See also, the Occupied Territories.
What ICE is doing here now is normal operating procedure for the IDF is the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, and has been for decades… except that it’s a thousand times worse there.
Jews have been victims of antisemites such as yourself for two millennia.
The story has changed. It’s easier to convince people in modern times of a fake genocide than a fake deicide.
The difference now, is that Israel can defend itself from the more recent physical assaults perpetrated by Islamists, who constitute about 20% of the Muslim world supported by left wing philosophers such as yourself who hypocritically support Islamist entities which murder gays, subjugate women and celebrate the deaths of Jews.
I realize there’s not much point to jumping in here because I also understand your comment, Richard, but as a Jew who is very aware of the long history, I feel it needs to be said: criticism of the leadership and military of Israel is no more antisemitism than criticism of the leadership and ICE here in the U.S. is anti-American. We can love and defend our country and those we consider our people while also demanding that those in power do better, and remembering that unless all people are free, no one is truly free, and that the American ideal of liberty and justice for all is a pretty great one.
You are correct, Andrea. But why does Israel even need to be brought up here? And why only Israel — and not the myriad other countries with awful governments? That is where the problem with Jason’s comment lies. The need to attack Israel when it is not the subject at hand and the double standard.
It is very relevant for a few reasons.
The main one being, the US has always been a pivotal, crucial element in the oppression of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories by the IDF. The US has always and continues to provide fundamental political, military and financial support for exactly the same sort of tactics our own government is now deploying against American citizens, but Israel's violence is on a much, much bigger and more lethal scale...abducting people off the street..invading homes...killing people in daylight, then claiming they are terrorists... barring independent investigations..this is par for the course by the IDF.
There is no other place on Earth currently where the US so openly and enthusiastically supports the violent oppression of an entire population based on their ethnicity as in the Occupied Territories. The 'ceasefire' has been next to meaningless in Gaza, where the IDF continues to kill and abduct people constantly...yet few in America seem to even notice. The US is not funding the government attacks in Iran. The US has funded and supported open genocide and apartheid in the Occupied Territories. The whataboutism is frankly ridiculous.
It is also relevant because US military and police forces commonly share training and tactics with the IDF, including ICE itself. It is impossible to not see the parallels in the techniques there and here.
And, this is relevant because the violent oppression by the IDF has been able to continue because of the complete and total lack of empathy for the extreme suffering of the Palestinian people by much of the American public, exemplified by the venomous hatred displayed by a couple commenters here. You'll notices these comments attack Muslims broadly, without any acknowledgement of the horrors the IDF has wrought on stateless, rightless people living in occupied lands.
The 'double standard' is that people who claim to care about people living in America that are being subject to state-sponsored violence openly support a much worse version of strate-supported violence against people in other regions., specifically in the Occupied Territories. The violence there could not happen without steadfast American support.
Yes, there may be parallels between the IDF and ICE, but there are parallels between ICE and many other government military forces around the world. Yet, you only focus on the wrongs by the Jewish state. And the fact that the U.S. government supports Israel does not justify singling out Israel in the context of this particular Contrarian post. I could challenge some of your other points but will stop here.
Amy, I agree re raising the topic of Israel here. I think one of the things that’s made public response since the October 7 attack so complicated and painful for so many of us is the awareness that many people who I believe had never paid attention previously to this particular subject jumped on the bandwagon. Well, I join in their criticism of Israel and the IDF, I’ve often found myself wishing they knew a bit more about the history, including understanding that there are reasons for many Jews’ defense of Israel and Zionism. I’ll add to my previous statement that you can be critical of Israel without being antisemitic and say you can be critical of Israel and be sympathetic to the history of the Jewish people.
Absolutely. Criticising Netanyahu is practically the Israeli national sport.
But there is a big difference between supporting the existence of a state that absolutely needs to exist in this world, while criticizing its policy and leadership and simply shouting “Israel bad, terrorists good” with zero comprehension of the actual facts.
Trump is terrible. But he has done things which benefit Israel. But not because he sees Israel as a moral necessity, but only because he sees it as a potential benefit to him. He sees support from evangelical Christians and hope for a Nobel peace prize. But he will be perfectly willing to throw Israel under the bus when he starts seeing Israel as a liability.
Israel has the moral high ground in the Gaza conflict.
Gaza attacked. Israel defended. People died. No genocide.
The situation on the West Bank is murkier. Hamas has significant support in Areas A and B, some of it armed. Israel has a legitimate interest in routing out the armed Hamas presence in those places.
Area C is under full Israeli control. Unfortunately, the center right Netanyahu essentially ceded control of area C to his ultra right wing coalition partners as the price for supporting his premiership.
Those coalition partners have given a group of like minded Israeli settlers IDF uniforms, authority and weapons. These irregular forces acting with government authority have been terrorizing the relatively small group of Arabs living in Area C.
This needs to change, but as bad as it is, does not delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and defend itself any more than the existence of Trumps ICE Brownshirts delegitimizes America’s right to exist.
Sometimes democracy is ugly. Fortunately it usually self corrects.
Richard, my own perspective is that arguing for or against the right to exist is fruitless, simply because it does exist, and I think everyone would be better served by focusing on what is. I disagree with you that Israel has the moral high ground. But my response to you was merely about your calling Jason’s comment antisemitic.
But many anti-Israel folks do challenge Israel's right to exist and need to be called out on it. For example, supporting the right to return to Israel of all descendants of the Arabs who left/were expelled during the 1948 war is a challenge to Israel's right to exist. Many would not understand that unless one explains it. Calling Israel an illegitimate colonialist state is another example. I would rather not argue about Israel's right to exist but unfortunately it can be necessary.
Thank you for perfectly illustrating the point of Jen Rubin’s column, and my response.
I suggested extending empathy to a people who are clearly and plainly being violently oppressed. This is not at all, not in any way, a condemnation of the Jewish people, any more than condemning ICE is flatly condemning all Americans.
You responded with pure xenophobic tribalism and hatred, exactly what Rubin writes against here.
Xenophobia is simply fear of those who are different, which is not logical.
Israel and now Jews worldwide are under physical assault as well as propaganda assault.
Fear of physical assault is not illogical.
Fear of propaganda assault is not illogical.
Defending oneself from these assaults is not illogical.
Defending misogynists and murderers of gays whose goal is to destroy the only Jewish state in world is illogical.
I won't waste any more time responding to someone so clearly full of hatred-driven Islamophobia while also completely lacking empathy.
Try reading Rubin's column, again, slowly this time. You obviously missed the point entirely.
If "never again" means only "never again to Jews," not "never again to anybody anywhere," we have learned the wrong lesson from the Holocaust and have made more genocides more likely, not less.
The same Islamist mentality that slaughtered ten thousand Iranians this month has been at work all over the middle east including Israel. Hiding behind the cause of Palestinian freedom Israel has been under constant attack for 75 years.
See above.
Honestly, the more we learned about the Renee Good killing, the more I've come to believe it was a hate crime for daring to be a woman with a wife talking back to them. It was Republicans ultimate bad luck that Alex Pretti was white, male, a legal gun owner AND a deeply moral person by any standard.
It is highly doubtful that Jonathan Ross, the agent who killed Renee Good, knew anything about her family life. She was a bump in the road to his authority, no more, no less, and so he murdered her. A hate crime it was not - cold blooded murder it was.
No, he knew. Her wife was with her and called him "big boy"
Missed that piece of reporting in all of the rest of the horror.
No worries, it was easy to miss cause she was on the other side of the vehicle on the outside and that angle doesn't get played very often because it doesn't show the shooting well. They are after Becca because she was the one being openly antagonistic and mocking them. They fit the visual stereotype of a butch and femme lesbian couple.
Thank you for the additional information, not that it should have had any effect upon Renee's murder. She was attempting to leave the area, as ordered. Ross was still wrong. He should stand trial for murder.
I wonder if Becca is blaming herself somewhat, for her part in possibly triggering the guy. No moral or legal excuse for his actions, but his shooting Good demonstrates his ‘being triggered’.
It's been reported that she absolutely does and it breaks my heart
Jonathan Ross most likely knew Renee Good was a lesbian before he murdered her because she had a rainbow decal on her vehicle. ICE is sweeping up data about everyone protesting.
I don't give a damn. It's still wrong, unprofessional and illegal conduct. He must be made an example of in order to thwart similar behavior, though it's pretty certain knowing the tone of this regime that nothing will happen to him. He is the ugly American personified.
Victoria, this column is primarily about the *response* to the execution of Renee Good. .
You don't think, as horrible as the reality is, that her having a wife didn't factor into the lack of response and acceptance/justification of her murder? Right-wing media paints the entire LGBTQ community as violent radicals.
Yes, that’s exactly the point I was making. But I realize that I messed up who I was responding to (my apologies). I actually meant to reply to the comment by Steve, whose comment was about the motive of the killer, and not the response.
Oh! I'm sorry, no problem! But yeah, they spent all 2024 calling every non-straight person a freaking pedophile to the point where I took it out on a guy trying to hand me a Republican sample ballot at my polling place lol
:) And on top of everything else, if the guy was campaigning at a polling site, he was violating the law!
I'd love to say I felt bad for being rude and antagonistic, but Trump has a genuine gift for bringing out the worst in people and as much as I hate to admit it, that includes me.
Thank you. I find it so offensive that Americans place different values on life depending on race, nationality, color, etc. The costs of the Iraq War are always measured in American lives lost, not the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives list.
Biden spoke out, calling for an investigation of two American deaths at the hands of ICE, but he failed to call for the investigation of all deaths at the hands of ICE.
I find it terrifying that the "moderate" and even "liberal" voices are quiet at the brutality shown by officers of the US government going after undocumented immigrants. I hear the words "they should have done it the 'right' way." And the crimes of those who are condemned? Seeking a way to feed their families when life in their countries of origin makes that impossible.
What a heartless soul we Americans possess.
Careful Thomas you may be suspect of having succumbed to woke. Next thing you know you will be sympathetic to the 2 million victims in southeast Asia.
all humans do that....caste system in India, light blacks vs dark skinned, shites vs kurds, crackers vs people who can read,etc. the list is endless ..................French vs everyone ha ha
Perhaps analogous to the Kent State shootings in 1970? That was certainly an inflection point and then too occurred after many non-white people suffered terribly. We are in some sort of science fiction time warp where all our nation's conflicts have reemerged with a vengeance. (fueled by the Republican party)
I too have been thinking about Kent State and the parallels. “ Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been gone long ago
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?”
Roy Cohn and Roger Stone both had a large impact on Trump
They have been in Republican politics for a long time. Cohn was part of Mccarthyism. Roger Stone has been around since Nixon. Trump is a monster. He wants to drag us back to a past where white Christian men were treated like kings no matter how unqualified.
I have the sense that king would not be plural in Trump's past.
I thought of Kent State also, 4 students killed and the news and photos in every paper and on every TV screen. Such an uproar! Then thought about the student killings at Jackson State College two weeks later during student protests. Two Black students killed during a protest but at least one if I remember correctly was just walking across campus and not even part of the protest. Barely made the news, just a blip on the screen.
You can also bet that had it not been for the independent phone videos and social media sharing, the murders of Good and Pretti would have been swept under the rug as collateral damage from the illegal protests. If mentioned at all, that term 'illegal' would surely have been stated by the regime.
Well said! Excellent piece that deserves to be widely read.
When will we get the names of Alex Prettis murderers!?!?
it's a long list starting with trump and including all MAGA
I agree with everything you said but I also think that media has some responsibility for our reactions or lack of. I was not aware of the number of deaths of non-white people until someone posted a list on social media. We can’t react to what we don’t know. I read substack posts and other non-mainstream media and I still don’t feel fully informed. People who only get news from mainstream media or social media are really un-informed.
It is not just the MSM that is a problem,and that is going to get worse. It is the general information environment. Information silos constructed so people never have to leave the cocoon of news that agrees with what they want to hear and see. The algorithms that feed off anger and violence. We need fairness rules that encourage broad information sources. Regulations on the algorithms tech companies use. We need guardrails around AI. All this will be hard to accomplish. It still is a fight worth having. For now I am grateful to the Contrariens and new media for their efforts.
Reporters were 'embedded' with troops in Vietnam. Boy howdy did the American government learn that was a bad idea. Another correction was made when President's ceased having press coverage of caskets being returned to Dover AFB.
There was nothing like a Phantom jet blowing up a farmer behind a water buffalo to stir patriotism. And the conveyor belt of metal boxes was a real wake up as to the need for higher education.
I totally agree Jen! I've been outraged every time I see ICE break a car window and drag someone out or throw a crying mother to the ground. I cringe every time I hear a journalist say that they "killed an American citizen" as if that's somehow worse than killing someone without documents.
I think the Pretti's death resonated more than Good's for several reasons:
1) it was the second outrageous execution of a ICE observer.
2) The video in Good's death was less immediately clear about what happened--it was possible that she had bumped the agent with her car. It took several days to get to a conclusion. The video of Pretti's death was pretty clear.
3) Good was a poet and a lesbian, a bit counter-cultural in the eyes of some Americans.(Not me. Now we need the arts more than ever!) Pretti was a friggin VA ICU nurse. We've all had experiences with nurses and relied on them. I think that contributed to the collective outrage and the way his story has taken hold.
Pretty’s work as a VA nurse certainly made him more sympathetic to a wider American audience, altho that shouldn’t be the basic humanitarian premise.
— also people were more practiced at analyzing video surveillance etc. & jumped more quickly on that.
— and Noem et al with their ridiculous victim blaming sent us all into a ‘white rage’.
7 more DHS deaths already this year!
Keith Porter,
Heber Sanchaz Domínguez,
Victor Manuel Diaz,
Parady La,
Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz,
Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres,
Geraldo Lunas Campos.
All equally tragic, none receiving wide media coverage.
They all deserve remembrance and justice.
I agree with everything presented in this article. I would also like to add that I believe the fact that MSM was already focused on Minneapolis when the murders occurred helped to elevate the atrocities. Other attacks on people that occur in smaller communities or neighborhoods go unnoticed, not only because of the social class of the victims but also due to the lack of local journalism. We desperately need local reporting to bring more of these incidents to light. Sadly, that no longer exists in most of our country
True that. Outside of the local region, ICE's seizure and deportation of a father and family restaurant owner of 20 years in Staunton, Illinois (population 4,935) was hardly noticeable. If we had more local reporting like this, it would be much harder to say "it can't happen here." It does.
Great article! You certainly were spot on!