Anti-ICE March in Minneapolis, MN

The situation in Minnesota seems out of control. ICE agents, who are federal law enforcement agents on a mission in Minneapolis to secure the arrests of illegal immigrants, most of whom ICE claims have significant criminal records, have received no assistance from local law enforcement in Minneapolis. Because of this, ICE is having to go almost door to door to arrest these immigrants where their intelligence says they can be found. The citizens of Minneapolis, convinced that ICE is on a mission to arrest and deport all illegal immigrants, regardless of their status as violent criminals or peaceful, hard-working people, are actively participating in efforts to thwart ICE’s mission. The citizens of Minneapolis are using their cars as barricades to slow down ICE’s progress, are using their cars to ram ICE vehicles in hope of disabling them, are putting their bodies in harm’s way to act as human obstacles between ICE and the immigrants, and yesterday, it seems, one man approached ICE agents armed and with the apparent intent of inflicting harm on those agents. Recently, a letter was delivered to the office of the Sonoma County Republican Party in northern California calling for a “war” against ICE, and encouraging the deployment of home made bombs for the purpose of sending ICE agents “home in a body bag.” Kris Mayes, Attorney General for Arizona, publicly stated that, under Arizona’s “stand your ground” laws, people could shoot ICE agents who are wearing masks and cannot be readily identified as law enforcement. At the same time, ICE agents have been widely accused of using unnecessary force and deadly tactics in their efforts to secure the arrests of illegals.

Three people in Minneapolis have been shot, two of them killed. Renee Good, as everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows by now, was shot and killed by an ICE agent when, directed by her partner, she refused to get out of her car when ordered to by an ICE agent (she was using her car to block ICE’s path down a street) and began driving off, apparently with ICE agent Jonathan Ross immediately in her path. Ross, saying he was defending himself against a protester trying to run him down with her car, shot Good in the head, killing her instantly. A few days later, ICE agents were carrying out a stop when Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezualen native, took off in his car, crashed it, then ran on foot. Agents pursued and Sosa-Celis and an ICE agent got into a scuffle. Two other men from a nearby apartment, with no known relation with Sosa-Celis (perhaps they saw a brown man scuffling with an ICE agent and they chose to help) came out and also attacked the ICE agent with a broom handle and a shovel. The ICE agent shot Sosa-Celis in the leg. He was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Finally, early Saturday morning, while ICE agents were carrying out a mission to arrest an illegal immigrant with a criminal record of violent assault, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who works at the local VA hospital, placed himself in the middle of that situation, and he was carrying a gun and a couple of magazines. He got into it with ICE agents who attempted to arrest Pretti. Pretti fought back and, on the video that has gone viral, you can see at one point where all of the ICE agents surrounding Pretti back off at the same time, and one pulls out his handgun and shoots Pretti. EMS was called, and Pretti was declared dead at the scene.

I have to say, the actions of the people of Minneapolis, especially of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, strike me as strange. They acted as if they could intrude are even attempt to stop the mission of federal law enforcement agents, and to do so with impunity. In Pretti’s case, he even brought a gun with him when he confronted ICE. It seems clear that they expected to walk away from these confrontations with no consequences for their actions. Who does that? Who approaches or attempts to prevent law enforcement agents from doing their job, from carrying out their mission, and expects to walk away unscathed? Renee Good attempted to flee the scene when she was given a legitimate order by and ICE agent to exit her vehicle. Her partner shouted, “Drive, baby, drive!” and Good drove off. I doubt that she intended to run down the ICE agent who was in front of her car, or even that she noticed that he was there. Still, he did suffer some internal bleeding because of the collision with Good’s car. I think most objective jurors would see that he had no way of knowing Good’s intentions, but that he saw a car move toward him about to hit him, so he shot what he sincerely thought was a defensive shot. Sadly, Good was fatally hit and died immediately.

Even more astounding, and barring any further revelations, it seems that Alex Pretti went to the part of Minneapolis where ICE agents were attempting to arrest an illegal immigrant with a record of violent assault with the clear intention of confronting them – and he brought a gun with him! Needless to say, ICE intended to arrest Pretti. It isn’t known yet on what grounds, or even Pretti brandished his gun and that’s why ICE tried to arrest him. The bottom line is, when law enforcement is attempting to do its job and you get in the way, you’ll likely find yourself arrested. Pretti resisted arrest, another poor choice. At what point did Pretti pull out his gun, or did he ever pull out his gun, we don’t yet know. But I find it astounding that an intelligent man (Pretti was a nurse, after all) would expect to interfer with armed federal agents carrying out an arrest on a criminal and simply walk away from that confrontation without harm. I am equally astonished that the public in Minnesota, and apparently in other parts of the country, too, feel that ICE agents have no right to defend themselves. It’s as if the expectation is that ICE will stand down, even in the face of violence against them.

What is causing people to think this way? I wonder if television cop shows have anything to do with it, honestly. Though I’ve not watched in a few years, we used to watch “Criminal Minds” and “Blue Bloods” regularly. One of the aspects of both of those shows was how, when agents approached a suspect, or “unsub” in the case of “Criminal Minds,” who had pulled a gun on the agents, the first thing the agents would do is pull out their guns, point them at the subject, and begin talking with him in the effort to de-escalate the situation. Almost inevitably, of course, the suspect would see reason as the agent explained it to him, and he would lower his gun. I recall thinking that this scenario doesn’t match reality and that, in any situation where a suspect pulls a gun on a law enforcement agent, that suspect will be shot dead immediately. Police don’t generally wait for the suspect to shoot first, hoping he will miss. No, they fire immediately if a gun is pulled on them. Maybe the hesitation of law enforcement, as dramatized on television, and the priority on talking with people who have guns pointed at you, has created the false impression that law enforcement will or must attempt to talk you out of trying to kill them and others. Regardless, it is utterly unrealistic to approach law enforcement, ICE or otherwise, with a car or a gun and think you’re going to get out of this one with a little luck and a compassionate cop. Let me tell you a little secret: law enforcement agents, like most people, genuinely love their families and, like most people, desire greatly to return to their homes after each long shift. If you threaten them in any way, they are going to respond to that threat, and will use deadly force if they feel, in those seconds-to-make decision, that you are putting that possibility at risk.

How can the situation in Minnesota, and Minneapolis in particular, be resolved? First, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis need to take their rhetoric down a few notches, and stop encouraging ordinary citizens from interring with ICE operations. ICE isn’t always wrong, and ICE agents have a right to defend themselves against perceived threats and, since they’re armed, it’s not likely they’re going to employ the psychoanalysis therapy approach to someone with a gun pointed at them. Second, local authorities can arrange for the local police department to work with ICE in their mission of removing from the community criminal illegal immigrants, especially those with a record of violent crimes or drug activity. Minnesota needs to stop pretending that every immigrant on ICE’s list is their home country’s version of Ozzie Nelson or Ward Cleaver and work with ICE to get violent criminals out of the country. Why isn’t that everyone’s goal?

Trump went too far with his immigration policy. While campaigning, he promised that he would go after “the worst of the worst,” meaning violent criminals, murderers, rapists, gangbangers, members of drug cartels, and those here to game the system. Many of the illegal immigrants he went after fit that description. But he made the mistake of also going after anyone who had entered the country illegally, even if twenty years ago, even if brought here as a child by his or her parents. Every American, except those on the truly lunatic left, were only too happy to deport the criminals among illegal immigrants. But most Americans didn’t have a stomach for deporting, no questions asked, those who had come here to make their lives better and who were working hard to do just that. The statistics on who’s getting deported aren’t reliable, because each side has their own numbers and they push their stats like the truth doesn’t matter. So, if you ask a Republican, 90% of those who have been deported or self-deported have been violent criminals. If you ask a Democrat, 90% of those who have been deported have been hard-working immigrants who have committed no crimes, and throw in a handful of American citizens while you’re at it. Who’s telling the truth? I don’t know. We used to be able to use numbers to help us see issues clearly, to gauage the impact of a policy. No more. Now, each side has their own statistics and there’s no way of telling who’s telling the truth, if either.

I need to close out this post. I think we need to continue weeding out the criminal element among illegal immigrants and deport them sooner rather than later. I have no sympathy for drug lords, gang members, pimps, murderers, rapists, or cheats. Arrest them, process them according to their right to due process, then get them out of our country. As for those who came here to improve their lives, even if they came illegally, we need a system whereby these people can go before a judge and make his or her case for why they came and why they should be allowed to stay. If they make a good case, they can stay and be put on a process toward legal status. If they can’t make a good case, they are subject to being deported. We still get to vet them. That’s the only way I know how to treat people with dignity who have come here illegally hoping to build a better life.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.