On January 24th, armed federal agents piled on top of a 37-year-old man, shot him, and killed him. Later identified as Alex Pretti, he was an ICU nurse who worked at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System. This killing comes only weeks after the shooting on January 7th, when ICE officers in Minnesota shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in her car.
However, the most disturbing part of the situation is not the killings themselves. Rather, it is the response of key officials in the Trump administration. The response undermines the accountability for law enforcement and weakens due process.
Shortly after Good was killed, President Trump posted to TruthSocial a video of the incident claiming that Good was “very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer.” Trump continued by saying that the ICE officer was “ran over” and that he shot Good in “self defense.” Even more concerningly, Trump states that “it is hard to believe he is alive,” despite the ICE officer clearly still standing unharmed.
In this brief interaction with the public, we see that the video the President posted contradicts his own account of the events. By doing this, Trump tries convincing people to believe what he says over what they can see with their own eyes.
The next day, in a press briefing at the White House, Vice President JD Vance defended the ICE officer who killed Good by claiming he was “protected by absolute immunity” for “doing his job.”
After Pretti was shot by ICE officers, several members of the Trump administration claimed Pretti intended to kill federal law enforcement officers. Using the evidence that Pretti was carrying a gun, although he was legally allowed to have one, the Department of Homeland Security posted on X that, “this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
But videos of the incident show that the post was, at best, an incorrect assumption, and, at worst, an intentional lie.
Comments like these exemplify how the Trump administration plans to defend the actions of the ICE officers involved. When Trump and Vance publicly defend law enforcement before a proper investigation can take place, it becomes extremely difficult to hold those officials accountable. This is not how the government should be going about investigating misconduct by its officials.
As president, Trump should not weigh in on a situation before a proper investigation has taken place or before all the information has been gathered. Presidents before Trump have often avoided making a declaration of guilt or innocence in similar situations because that is what should be expected in our system that prides itself on an “innocent until proven guilty” mentality.
The Trump administration appears to be more concerned about standing steadfast behind its ICE officers by justifying their choices than allowing the proper procedures to take place. By making a blanket statement that federal law enforcement officials have “absolute immunity,” Vance opened the door for other officials to act recklessly. And that is exactly what we saw happen to Pretti.
These comments also serve to give law enforcement permission to act more freely in using force. If Border Patrol agents believe that the President and Vice President will proclaim their innocence regardless of their actions, and that the justice system will not challenge them, they may act more reckless resulting in greater harm to innocent people.
Empowering undertrained federal officers to freely use violence will likely result in more excessive uses of force. This appears to be acceptable conduct by the Trump administration. Instilling fear into a city that is not politically aligned with the President is seemingly more important to Trump than having effective law enforcement.
We cannot allow this behavior to become normalized. Immediately making a police shooting political only causes tensions to flare and people to pick sides. While the role of a President is an inherently political position, Trump, in this role, is also supposed to be a uniting figure for the U.S. public. But when his law enforcement officials kill two people in the span of weeks, it becomes clear that we must demand that a thorough, nonpartisan, and fair investigation takes place.
Every person in this country is entitled to due process, including the ICE officers who violate the rights of others.
Due process is one of the most important rights we have; we must protect it at all costs. When due process disintegrates, so does our liberty. Liberty should not be taken lightly, so we must remain vigilant to protect it. Martin Luther King once said that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Whether that threat be from local police, politicians we agree or disagree with, or the President of the United States, we must protect the rights that we hold so dear.
