The Dems and the Media are Manipulating the Minnesota Narrative

This is part three of our take on what’s happening in Minnesota. We’ve previously written about the circumstances surrounding the death of Renee Good as well as the likelihood of there being an actual insurrection occurring in Minnesota. This article is about how the mainstream media, social media, and liberal politicians have successfully managed to create a sympathetic, yet completely erroneous narrative.

They are vilifying heroes, glorifying villains, and entirely ignoring or intentionally downplaying critical context. An exquisite example of this was on display yesterday morning on the floor of the US Senate. Senator Dick Durbin used an artificial intelligence generated image that falsely repositioned federal agents (from where they actually were at the scene) to support his claim of protester Alex Pretti being “assassinated” by ICE.

We begin with a crucial definition (because words matter) – all illegal aliens in the US, every single one, is by definition a criminal illegal alien. Entering the US illegally is a federal crime (8 U.S.C. § 1325). In addition to eventual deportation, this crime is punishable by a fine, up to six months in prison, or both (for the first offense). We’ll refer to these individuals as group 1. A subset of group 1, which we’ll call group 2, are those illegal aliens who have committed additional crimes ranging from theft to murder, and worse. What could be worse than murder? Several of these illegal aliens have been arrested (in Minnesota and elsewhere) for sexual molestation of children. This is unconscionable.

President Trump’s border “czar”, Tom Homan, has prioritized the capture and deportation of group 2 as the first phase of the overall removal operation. This has been the focus of ICE in every one of their missions thus far to various states, including Minnesota. Because some of those in group 1 tend to co-locate with those in group 2, a raid targeted for group 2 aliens may also end up apprehending some in group 1 who were proximate. All those apprehended are then subject to deportation following the appropriate legal processes.

In Minnesota, the governor (Tim Walz), attorney general (Keith Ellison), and mayor of Minneapolis (Jacob Frey) have all publicly stated that their state will not enforce immigration law and will provide safe “sanctuary” for all illegal aliens. They do not distinguish between groups 1 and 2. They do not want any illegal aliens removed and are very vocal about wanting ICE to be withdrawn from their state.

These statements were made prior to any violent protests or any protester being killed. While their statements may sound bold and forceful, the only practical effect they can have is a refusal to assist the federal government with apprehending illegal aliens within the state. They cannot legally stop the federal government from apprehending illegal aliens within Minnesota. Nor can they take any action to impede the operations of ICE and the Border Patrol within the state.

It is a federal crime (18 U.S.C. § 111) for anyone – protesters, politicians, local police, etc., to, assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with any federal officer while they are engaged in their official duties. This fact has been largely absent from all the reporting on Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the two protesters killed in Minneapolis. Both of them committed this federal crime just before they were killed. If either had survived, they would have, if convicted, been removed from society and placed in federal prison for a long time (up to 20 years according to the statute). They are far from innocent victims.

The reporting on the unfortunate death of Alex Pretti is a prime example of a heavily biased narrative created by excluding critical context. Pretti is repeatedly described in the media as a lawful observer, innocent bystander, and upstanding healthcare worker concerned for his community. Of course, if that is all the context you know, he certainly appears to be a victim.

However, facts about Pretti that are not being widely reported paint a different picture entirely. First, the event that ended in his death was not the first time he engaged with federal officers. He confronted federal authorities just one week earlier where there is video of him spitting on an officer and then damaging a federal vehicle. Also, the gun Pretti was carrying was not just your average self-protection weapon. It was a Sig Sauer P320 AXG semi-automatic combat pistol. This is a civilian version of the same gun used by the US armed forces and elite military units around the world. Pretti had 63 rounds of ammunition for this gun on his person.

What on earth was he planning to do with all that ammunition? Don’t you think these rather significant facts should have been included in the mainstream news reporting about Pretti? They weren’t. The reason is because it would fly in the face of the “innocent victim” impression being created for your consumption.

The media has focused on various cell phone videos of the events leading to Pretti’s death, none of which have a clear view of important details. However, there is virtually no focus on what is already well known about the choices Pretti made and his judgement. Much like with Renee Good, Alex Pretti made the decision to be where he was, to obstruct a federal operation, to physically engage with federal officers, and to resist arrest.

Those decisions placed him squarely in the middle of a highly unpredictable, volatile, and fast-moving situation where any outcome was possible. In that respect, it was nearly identical to the events/decisions that led to the death of Renee Good. He could have made a different decision at any point during that day to either de-escalate his actions or remove himself entirely from the situation. Either of these choices would likely have resulted in him being alive today. Instead, he chose to roll the dice and engage in a chaotic, highly dangerous scenario.  Did he think his moral outrage would protect him from the harm that he invited?

Trump and Homan cannot take their foot off the gas. Our sincere hope is that the President does not back away from his original purpose in sending ICE to Minnesota in the first place. That would be a rare broken promise from Trump and an atypical sign of weakness. It would further embolden other blue state fanatics to start and encourage riotous protests in their own states to achieve the same sanctuary “victory” Minnesota is trying to claim. Look no further than what is already happening in Maine, Philadelphia, and Virginia.

Anti-ICE protesters and the state government officials supporting them proclaim that their overarching goal is to ‘save” democracy. They’ve got it completely backwards. Democracy was in full bloom in the last election when a clear majority of more than 77 million people (including half of Minnesotans) voted for Donald Trump to become President. Those votes were primarily based on his promise to remove all illegal aliens from the US.

Federal immigration law specifically states that the federal government, not state governments, has authority and primacy over immigration matters. ICE and the Border Patrol are carrying out the will of the people by executing removal operations. That is true democracy in action.