Peaceful Protestors Don’t Carry Loaded Pistols
It was hardly necessary to read the headlines Sunday morning to know that the corporate media, like Minnesota’s irresponsible governor Tim Walz, would effectively accuse federal immigration officers of brutally executing Alex Pretti. For example, a New York Times “analysis” fails to mention that Pretti was an anti-ICE activist who had just interfered with the apprehension of a criminal suspect, and was violently resisting arrest when the officers realized he was armed. The Times falsely claims, “An agent had already removed Mr. Pretti’s gun when two other agents opened fire, shooting him in the back as he lay on the ground.” No honest analysis of this episode could lead to this conclusion.
All of which brings us to the root cause of the Minneapolis insurrection — the desperate attempt by Tim Walz to distract the public from what may be the worst welfare fraud scandal in the nation’s history.
There were several videos taken of the altercation from various vantage points and they tell a far different story than the Gray Lady gives its readers. This clip, for example, belies the claim that Pretti was lying on the ground when he was shot. He was, in fact, on his knees and struggling to stand while reaching around toward a belt holster. At that point one of the officers shouted, “gun,” and he was shot. All of this happened within a few short seconds. One of the most moronic claims made by the Times is that Pretti had already been disarmed before “agents opened fire.” If true, it would have happened only a second or two earlier and the other officers couldn’t possibly have known if the still-struggling activist possessed other weapons. It’s important to recall that they are fired upon in most “sanctuary states” to which they are deployed.
Nonetheless, the usual media suspects echoed the party line. NPR, for example, advises its gullible readers that “Bystander videos contradict the accounts of federal officials about the shooting of a man in Minneapolis on Saturday.” The videos shown on NPR’s site are deceptively edited to remove what happened just before the federal agents tried to arrest him. They followed Pretti from across the street where he had interfered with officers who were questioning the target of the DHS operation, Jose Huerta Chuma, an illegal alien with numerous outstanding criminal warrants. In other words, NPR deliberately created the impression that the DPB agents initiated the confrontation. In reality, Alex Pretti had already accosted the officers.
Oddly, the crack reporters at NPR have no interest in why Alex Pretti would appear at a “peaceful protest” armed with a SIG Sauer P320 AXG, a high-capacity 9mm semi-automatic pistol equipped with a SIG Romeo optic. The optic, by the way, is a high-performance red dot sight engineered for rapid target acquisition. This device, in addition to a couple of magazines full of extra ammunition, suggests that Pretti was not planning to remain peaceful for very long. It’s passing strange that NPR has no interest in the fact that he was carrying this particular weapon. It is, of course, exactly the kind of firearm that all good “progressives” want to ban. Here’s a photo of the gun and Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino’s comments on it:
At 9:05 AM CT, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault, an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, seen here. The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted … Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID — this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
It’s impossible to discuss this debacle without noting that it’s author — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — continues to bray about the depredations of DHS. As legal scholar Jonathan Turley writes, “Gov. Walz is again inflaming the mob. He is effectively declaring this to be the murder of a citizen who had a permit to carry this weapon. He is saying that the state not the federal government will control the investigation. He does not have that authority.” Meanwhile, Walz has instructed his remaining supporters, “Quit referring to these people as law enforcement. They are not law enforcement. We have law enforcement who do an incredible job.” How the hell would he know? Neither he nor the mayor of Minneapolis will allow them to do their jobs.
All of which brings us to the root cause of the Minneapolis insurrection — the desperate attempt by Tim Walz to distract the public from what may be the worst welfare fraud scandal in the nation’s history. It had already caused Walz to drop his reelection campaign and it was about to result in his resignation when he decided to exploit the death of Renee Good, and now Alex Pretti, to change the subject. In a very real sense, these misguided people had to die in order to save Walz’s skin. Now he’s encouraging more naifs to do the same. The truly terrifying thing is that, absent the wisdom of the voters, this creature would now be Vice President.
READ MORE from David Catron:
Minnesota and the New Nullification Crisis