On Monday, the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt held the first briefing since fatal shooting of Alex Pretti at nearly 1:30PM ET. I, like many others watched the press conference live online, to see what they had to say for themselves. When Leavitt mentioned the letter from Pam Bondi including the three demands, I did not hear her mention the final demand of electoral information from the state of Minnesota. She also tripled down, that the protestors are “agitators” and “this tragedy occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota,”.

When did being so far removed from humanity become the new norm for government rhetoric? Or are there no words of empathy because it somehow implies to the governments culpability?

We have seen behaviour such as this exhibited from The Conservative Party during their 14-year-hold on British democracy. Remember Partygate? A perfect example being during the Covid-19 pandemic, Downing Street officials flouted the rules that was expected of the rest of the country and had a jolly old time doing so. Officials attended press conferences laughing, denying the party happened, only for evidence to emerge during Sue Gray’s report that multiple parties actually occurred. What was the rest of the country getting? Fines, for doing the exact same thing. It is the same behaviour exhibited from those who create their own rules. It’s the attitude we receive when the the ruling class have no respect for the job. Our officials are expected to act in good faith, it shouldn’t be lies and untruths until the report, as though the lack of current established findings is providing them with somewhat of a shelter that allows them to hide behind, until the investigation is concluded and the findings are final and indisputable. That’s when the resignations come.

Like clockwork. It’s all just a well-oiled machine. Sure, it’s working – just not for those who it needs to work for.

Consider the fact that last January, over 1,500 Capitol riot defendants were pardoned by Trump on his second day in office. According to Justice Department figures approximately 1,583 defendants have been charged with crimes associated with the riot. More than 600 have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing law enforcement, including around 175 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. What did President Trump say about them, you may wonder? “These were great people”.

In April 2020, armed men entered the Michigan State Capitol building to protest Gov. Whitmer’s stay-at-home order during the pandemic. In response to the protest, Trump issued a social media post, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN.”. During a White House press briefing, Trump said, “They seem to be very responsible people to me.”

It seems as though your rights differ, depending on whether you’re a Trump supporter or a Trump protestor; therefore, acting in accordance with nationalist values will guarantee your side of the favoured.

Second Amendment

This has become one of the conversations surrounding the death of Alex Pretti. During an interview on Fox News on Sunday, FBI Director Kash Patel stated “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence,”. We know that Mr. Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry as is the law in Minnesota, with local officials confirming he was a nurse with no criminal record.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has joined other US gun lobby groups in calling for a “full investigation” by the Trump administration into the killing of Alex Pretti in Minnesota. A statement made by the NRA is as follows, “Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalisations and demonising law-abiding citizens,”.

In a separate statement made by Gun Owners of America, they asserted “The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting – a right the federal government must not infringe upon.”. Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus stated in a press release “Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms—including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights. These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed, and they must be respected and protected at all times.”.

Whilst analysing the current discussion regarding second amendment rights, through the eyes of the Supreme Court and court precedence: Unprecedented cases and elements of cases we can consider are cases such as Kyle Rittenhouse. He attended a protest with a gun on his person and killed two people, with Mr Rittenhouse’s defence attorney Mark Richards referencing the Blake shooting stating: “Other people in this community have shot people seven times and it’s been found to be OK, and my client did it four times in three-quarters of a second to protect his life.” Whereas, prosecutors argued to show the victim was not a threat at that time, a similar comparison in Mr.Pretti’s case, as per footage analysis carried out by The New York Times and many other outlets. As reported by the BBC, “A day before closing arguments in the Rittenhouse trial, Judge Bruce Schroeder ordered that one of the charges – that Mr Rittenhouse violated a state law prohibiting a person under 18 from possessing a “dangerous weapon” – be dropped because the rifle Mr Rittenhouse was carrying wasn’t prohibited to him.”. I cannot see the law essentially allowing Mr Rittenhouse to be dropped of state charges that pertain to possessing a dangerous weapon because it wasn’t legally prohibited to him. A technicality. Mr. Pretti was registered, living in a carry and conceal state: which is what he was doing at the time. The government can’t have it two ways. The same argument for the domestic terrorist’s concerning Jan 6th acquitted by Trump, compared to the treatment of protestors named domestic terrorists without crime, trial and conviction, yet it was enough for Renee Good and Alex Pretti to lose their lives over. The only difference is how Trump supporters are treated compared to non-Trump supporters.

Another case we can consider, Mark and Patricia McCloskey who pointed guns at BLM protestors. Both were originally charged with felony misuse of a weapon, pleaded guilty to charges of fourth-degree assault for him and misdemeanour harassment for her last month, and were fined $750 and $2,000. They were actually pardoned in 2021 by Republican Missouri Governor Mike Parson – not only pardoned, but the couple now have their guns and rifles back. What is the one main similarity between this couple, Kyle Rittenhouse and the Jan 6th domestic terrorists? All support Donald Trump. All have been pardoned by the Republicans.

The First Amendment

Another conversation is regarding mobile phone footage, due to the fact that footage shows moments before Alex Pretti lost his life, he was recording on his mobile phone. I think we can all agree, if there wasn’t footage, we wouldn’t have transparency on the altercation that lead to the death of a citizen. Not all I.C.E officers wear bodycams, which feels counterproductive to the efforts of Minnesota police who all wear bodycam as per state regulations. Then again, the police don’t wear masks or balaclavas. Last year, The Trump administration, has been accused of slow-walking a pilot program that would rollout ICE officers body cameras, urging Congress in June to cut the funding by 75% and bucking a nationwide trend of cameras for law enforcement. Not only were officials last year placed on paid leave, nearly all staff working for three internal watchdogs conducting oversight of immigration agencies, undermining the capacity to investigate abuses and ability to affirm the rights of American citizens. With all of this in mind, it is exactly as nefarious as it sounds.

What is truly jaw-dropping is that some American officials have actually claimed that the citizens are the ones escalating tensions due to the filming of I.C.E agents. It makes a mockery of being able to judge a situation with our own eyes and ears.

Just one example, is a video circulating social media of I.C.E agent saying “we have a nice little database, and now you’re considered a domestic terrorist” whilst taking photos of a legal observer’s car. However, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin, denied such a database exists. It’s actually hard to take in what is happening and another thing to accept the monstrous behaviour that has been exhibited and unleashed on the streets of Minneapolis. Naturally, with the confirmation that the database does not in fact exist, why was the officer trying to further intimidate the citizen and mislead with untruthful, threatening statements?