It is pretty clear to me that the time has run out on Donald Trump’s MAGA. In no respect has he and his two administrations made America Great. If anything, under his watch everything has gotten much worse. His bizarre and unpredictable tariffs have made everything more expensive. Each time Americans go shopping for groceries, they spend more money. He has turned our allies into enemies—the two countries to our north and south want little to do with us, and tourism has tanked. He has cozied up with the brutal war criminal Vladimir Putin and abandoned the heroic people of Ukraine. He has violated international law dozens of times by blasting boats out of the ocean without offering any proof that they are guilty of drug-running. Meanwhile, he has pardoned a former Honduran president who took many millions in bribes from drug cartels—a man unanimously convicted by a jury. He has not only threatened to invade only Greenland but wants Canada, maybe Mexico. He has invaded Venezuela and is extorting their oil—a theft that is sooner or later going to prompt Venezuelan resistance. And with the help of Kennedy, the con-man faux doctor, he is making us more sick.
Most recently, he has turned American streets into killing grounds for his out-of-control Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) army. So, in what world should we allow him to continue to claim “Make America Great Again” as his own? The fact is that we all have a heck of a lot of work ahead of us to undo some of the great damage he has done. He has tarnished and weakened and worsened us all, and he is now determined to make it less possible to defeat him in free and fair elections. He and his confederates, up to and including the Supreme Court, have trashed our Constitution and shredded the Bill of Rights. It is up to us to turn America back around. Ironically, if anyone is going to “Make America Great Again,” it is us, not them.
So, bear with me here. I can’t help wondering: If Renée Good had been wearing a red MAGA hat when she rolled her window down, would she still be alive?
Then suppose Alex Pretti, phone in hand while trying to direct traffic and videotaping, were wearing a red MAGA hat.
Then, as he helped those two women, shielding them from pepper spray, would the Border Patrol agents have treated Pretti differently if they had seen his red MAGA hat?
Maybe if he were wearing a red MAGA hat, one of the six agents who beat Alex Pretti and continued to pepper spray him might have called out to the others, “Wait a second, he’s one of us!” Maybe they would have thought Pretti had voted for Donald Trump, bought one of his bitcoins, or contributed to his campaign.
And do you think if Alex Pretti were wearing a red MAGA hat, the two who shot him might have recalled their once-cherished devotion to the right to bear arms, even to the right to concealed carry? Might their love of the Second Amendment have kept them from shooting him 10 times?
Is there a way—call it the Red Hat MAGA Method—to temporarily short-circuit the fierce hatred that seems to contaminate these ICE agents, that simmering anger just waiting to erupt, the built-up disgust of the folks they are convinced are illegal and, of course, of those they are sure want to protect and pamper them?
But what if those wielding cellphones were also wearing their $47 Make America Great Again caps? If for those crucial moments, they looked remarkably like a brother, a father, a sister, mother, aunt or uncle, a next-door neighbor? What if that seconds-long shock of recognition kept an agent from his pepper spray, stopped him from moving toward his holster, prevented him from pulling the trigger? Could those seconds block the rage long enough to rebuild the forgotten pathway to empathy, to commonality, to a shared experience, those times they met at school, the playground, at work, on the basketball court?
Now, as for those in charge, it seems to me that they have proven again and again they are beyond redemption. Put simply, they are the worst of us and they seem more than comfortable killing the best of us. How pathetically and stupidly evil they are. Ironically, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) boasts about their mission:
If only they were exercising integrity and acting with honor. If only their values were worth safeguarding. After witnessing the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, what would lead you to believe that Kristi Noem and her high-ranking buddies in the administration know the difference between the truth and the lies they so easily tell? How is it that in spite of all the existing video evidence and the testimony of multiple witnesses, they insist on duplicity, on blaming the victims of their out-of-control brutality:
So, yes, a picture of a gun on a car seat, without an evidence bag and with a dubious chain of custody, is now their excuse to declare guilt. But all it takes are the cellphone videos and the statements of eyewitnesses to know this DHS statement is an utter lie. I wonder if Kristi Noem knows how unconvincing she is? Does she even care?
Stephen Miller, of course, does not have a care in the world, having long ago sold his soul for his place at the White House and the privilege of whispering into Donald Trump’s ear. Miller, the architect of our largest purge of immigrants with or without papers, has set the stage for the killings. He has repeatedly denigrated local law enforcement while claiming the supremacy of ICE and the Border Patrol, no matter how ill equipped and untrained they are for interacting with an active and concerned community. Blameless as long as they are willing and able to act as Donald Trump’s domestic army:
Then, in service to his leader and their corrupt cause, he demeaned and lied about Pretti:
Forbes, the conservative news outlet, has put it this way: “How Trump Officials—Noem, Miller, Patel—Portrayed Pretti As Violent Despite Conflicting Evidence.” Forbes writes:
In trying to defend the killing of Alex Pretti on Saturday, Trump administration officials repeatedly tried to portray him as a violent domestic terrorist—even an ‘assassin’ —running counter to emerging video evidence and first-person accounts of the deadly encounter. Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital, was shot at least 10 times by Border Patrol agents in Minnesota on Saturday, after he appeared to intervene in an altercation between ICE agents and other observers.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed after Pretti’s death he had ‘violently resisted’ officers and that the incident ‘look[ed] like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.’ Similar claims have been made by top Trump officials, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claiming Pretti ‘attacked’ law enforcement while ‘brandishing’ a gun, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller describing Pretti as an ‘assassin [who] tried to murder federal agents’—with both said he appeared to be a domestic terrorist.
But video footage shows Pretti, a licensed gun owner who was carrying at the time, never took out his gun, and law enforcement took the firearm away before he was first shot.
Video evidence and sworn witness testimony indicate Pretti approached law enforcement during their altercation with other civilians, filming the incident on his phone but never taking out his gun or acting violently toward officers. ICE agents pepper-sprayed Pretti and the other civilians before tackling Pretti to the ground, with multiple agents then shooting him, evidence shows.
[Emphasis added.]
Still, the administration continues to emphasize the fact that Pretti was carrying a gun:
Then, Trump-appointed Bill Essayli, U.S. attorney from California, offered some advice which effectively contradicts all recent Republican interpretations of the Second Amendment:
Forbes continues:
President Donald Trump suggested Pretti’s death was the result of ‘Democrat run Sanctuary Cities and States that ‘are REFUSING to cooperate with ICE,’ issuing a Truth Social post Saturday that decried Democrats’ opposition to his immigration policies and claimed, ‘Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos.’ In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Trump did not say whether he believed the agents who shot Pretti acted appropriately, saying only, ‘We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination.’ The president also criticized Pretti for carrying a gun, saying, ‘I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it … But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.’
When asked Monday about other administration officials using the term ‘domestic terrorist’ to describe Pretti, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she had ‘not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way’ and claimed Trump ‘wants to let the facts and the investigation lead itself.’ …
Video of Pretti’s killing confirmed by The New York Times appears to show Pretti approaching federal border agents as they speak to civilians while a person is being detained. He is filming the scene. After border agents shove one of the civilians to the ground, Pretti appears to put himself between the civilians and law enforcement, still holding his phone to record. At no point does Pretti appear to be engaging in any violence toward law enforcement. The agents pepper spray the civilians and tackle Pretti to the ground, at which point The Times notes one agent struck Pretti with a pepper spray canister while another appeared to pull Pretti’s gun from him and remove it from the scene. While Pretti was on the ground being restrained, ICE agents then fired shots at Pretti, appearing to fire at least 10 shots within the span of five seconds, The Times notes.
And so it is that in their desperate attempt to blame the victim, to portray him as inherently dangerous, intent on inflicting violence, impeding their work, and brandishing his weapon, they are betraying a bedrock principle of conservative Republicanism, and indeed of the MAGA movement. There is indeed no evidence that he had drawn the gun he was legally entitled to conceal and carry:
As NBC News reports:
A number of pro-gun rights Republicans pushed back on the administration’s argument that Alex Pretti was dangerous because he had a gun. Pretti was legally licensed to carry one. A war of words over deeply held beliefs erupted on the political right in the hours after a federal agent shot and killed Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street Saturday, pitting top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration against Second Amendment defenders in his electoral base.
At the core of the debate is that Pretti — who was permitted to carry a gun in public in Minnesota — had a concealed firearm on his person that eyewitness videos show federal agents apparently discovering and removing during the altercation that led to his death. Videos do not appear to show Pretti holding the weapon during that confrontation.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sought to justify the killing by asserting at a news conference that Pretti ‘attacked those officers, had a weapon on him, and multiple dozens of rounds of ammunition, wishing to inflict harm on these officers coming, brandishing like that and impeding their work that they were doing.’ No evidence has been provided to back up this account.
Noem argued that his possession of a firearm demonstrated that he did not intend to remain peaceful. ‘I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,’ Noem said on Saturday.
On Sunday, when asked on Fox News if it is protocol to use deadly force on a disarmed person, Noem said, ‘That’s all part of this investigation.’ The attempt to explain Pretti’s killing by noting that he had a gun has also been mentioned by Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others.
In a few moments, Pretti’s killing turned some Trump supporters, including members of his administration, against generations of conservative orthodoxy on the Second Amendment. At the same time, it appeared to serve as a wake-up call for gun-rights activists that a Republican-run government, not just a Democratic-run one, could infringe on the Second Amendment …
And the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus took issue with Patel … ‘This is completely incorrect on Minnesota law. There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota,’ the caucus wrote on X. Asked about the concerns of gun-rights advocates, the White House referred NBC News to remarks made by Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino in a Sunday-morning interview with CNN. ‘We respect Second Amendment rights, but those rights don’t count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct and impede law enforcement officers,’ Bovino said.
Quite frankly, I think there are far too many guns in America. I am appalled at how easy it is for Americans to arm themselves. A dear friend of mine was murdered for no reason by a clearly mentally compromised student. If it were up to me, we would have strict gun control and civilians would be constrained from concealed carry.
Nevertheless, it is clear that Donald Trump’s need for an armed force under his control, exempt from any of the usual constitutional restrictions, overwhelms any allegiance to previous doctrine surrounding the Second Amendment.
The UK Guardian reports:
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has joined other gun lobbying and advocacy groups that are typically aligned with Donald Trump in calling for the Republican president’s administration to conduct a ‘full investigation’ into the killing of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse who was shot dead by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Pretti was reportedly legally permitted to carry a gun and is a citizen of the US, where there is a constitutional right to bear arms. Widely circulated video of his shooting death does not depict him ever holding a gun. It does show an officer reaching to Pretti’s lower back and stepping away with what appeared to be a pistol – and Pretti being subsequently shot to death.
The NRA waded into the national dialogue over Pretti’s killing after Bill Essayli – who was appointed by Trump to temporarily serve as a US attorney in California in 2025 – posted on social media: ‘If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.’
In response, the NRA posted: ‘This sentiment … is dangerous and wrong. Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.’
[Emphasis added.]
Aidan Johnston, the director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, posted this sarcastic response to Essayli on X: “This fancy government attorney writes a bad tweet and all of a sudden gun owners are domestic terrorists. That just PERFECTLY encapsulates what’s wrong with the federal government.” Then this exchange:
Essayli added in an additional post: “My advice stands. If you value your life, do not aggressively approach law enforcement while armed. If they reasonably perceive a threat and you fail to immediately disarm, they are legally permitted to use deadly force.”
I guess we can hope that the MAGA split over the Second Amendment might prompt significant Republican dissatisfaction with the increasing irrational and dictatorial Trump agenda.
Meanwhile, it is critical that we clearly see what is happening around us. In general, Americans have gotten used to mindless and pervasive gun violence. We have come to expect mass murder in our schools—the killing of kindergartners, high school students, college and university students. We are no longer surprised when crazed gunmen invade nightclubs and supermarkets and churches and synagogues. We are often told the shooter was just an ordinary teenager, a quiet, helpful neighbor, a depressed veteran, that there is really nothing we can do about the lethal combination of mental illness and easy access to semi-automatic weapons.
But what we have been experiencing recently is very different. In Minnesota, we have seen government-sponsored murder. President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, all led by Special Assistant to the President Stephen Miller, have approved of the murder of American citizens and immigrants in the process of claiming asylum. They have sanctioned dragging drivers and passengers out of smashed car windows, of busting down doors. They have openly defied court orders and insisted that their own DHS orders are sufficient to ignore the Fourth Amendment. They have unilaterally dispensed with the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, the right to peacefully assemble, the right to petition the government.
Minnesota Chief Federal Judge Patrick J. Schiltz included a list of nearly 100 instances where the federal government and DHS have ignored court orders to provide habeas corpus hearings for arrested migrants. Here is just a portion of that list:
Yes, we are talking about federal agents shooting us in the streets of America. The Washington Post reports that 16 people have been shot by DHS since July:
The Post writes:
Department of Homeland Security officers have fired shots during enforcement arrests or at people protesting their operations 16 times since July, and as in the recent shootings in Minneapolis, in each case the Trump administration has publicly declared their actions justified before waiting for investigations to be completed. Most of the incidents involve officers firing at drivers during enforcement stops in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago where DHS has surged federal immigration officers. At least 10 people have been struck by bullets — including four U.S. citizens. Three people have been killed.
The shootings have sparked alarm not only for their violence but also for the Trump administration’s response. Lawyers say officials have been quick to pursue felony charges against those fired at — though in four of 10 cases, prosecutors have either dropped charges or a judge has dismissed them after evidence emerged contradicting the government’s narrative of events. None of the officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol or Homeland Security Investigations has faced criminal charges in any of the shootings, nor has the administration announced any internal disciplinary measures against them.
I have a feeling that few people have actually read the statement of one of the people who witnessed the killing of Alex Pretti. This goes far beyond the video evidence to reveal how the Border Patrol agents betrayed their purported mission to round up the worst of the worse, and instead turned on their innocent fellow Americans. And it is a sign of the terror that Donald Trump has unleashed that the witness has chosen to remain anonymous:
1. I am a resident of the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am over 18 years of age. I am a children’s entertainer who specializes in face painting.
2. On Saturday, January 24, 2026, at about 8:50 am, I was getting ready to go to work when I heard whistles outside. I knew the whistles meant that ICE agents were in the area, so I decided to check it out on my way to work. I’ve been involved in observing in my community because it is so important to document what ICE is doing to my neighbors. Connecting to your local community and knowing who your neighbors are is something I profoundly value.
3. I drove to Nicollet Ave. and 26th where I could hear the whistles coming from. I turned south onto Nicollet. There were already several ICE agents there and they’d set up a sort of vehicle convoy on Nicollet and 28th- There were also about 15 observers there, recording and observing ICE.
4. I saw ICE agents surrounding cars and punching car windows. I also saw them stopping vehicles further down Nicollet, so I backed up because I didn’t feel safe continuing on.
5. I noticed a man sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly. He helped me find a place to park. I got out with my whistle and my camera. I went over to him and said something like, ‘I’m going to film and use my whistle.’
6. It seemed like most ICE activity was happening a little farther down the street from us, near 27th. Someone was being thrown to the ground.
7. I started recording. There was an agent by a car across the street. Two observers were a few feet away from the agent, blowing their whistles. One was wearing a backpack.
8. I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man’s hand recording a video.
9. An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk.
10. The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn’t see him reach for or hold a gun.
11. Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him.
12. Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. All three of the observers looked to have been badly affected by the pepper spray. I could feel the pepper spray in my eyes.
13. The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn’t see him touch any of them – he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times. 14. I don’t know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him.
15. The video I recorded of what happened accurately depicts the events leading up to the agents shooting him and several minutes afterward. The video is attached as Exhibit 1.
16. I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong. The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.
17. I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don’t feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don’t know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they’re not telling the truth about what happened. I’ve heard that other witnesses might have been arrested and taken to the Whipple Building.
18. I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbors and my state. I keep alternating between crying and feeling determined – it is important to remember the value of documenting injustice. We show up for the people who need us to bear witness, because it can’t just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny. This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy, those things are on the line. He lost his life for those values. I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct.
[Emphasis added.]
You might think I’m crazy, but I believe it is worth taking back from MAGA the task of making America better. They don’t deserve their slogan. Nor do very many of them deserve to wear the hat. I believe it is worth doing anything and everything to force the members of the ICE army to hesitate, to pause, to make them think, to make them remember, to force them to actually see those they have been taught to hate, to beat, to arrest, allowed lately to shoot. To recognize them as their neighbors. If wearing the red hat helps to do that, it is worth the $47. Even if the money goes to Trump. And, who knows, maybe the ACLU can get a discount for buying them in bulk. Most of all, I know we will do a far better job than they will of Making America Great Again.
