«At some point we will leave. We did, they did a phenomenal job,” he says Donald Trump in a 5 minute telephone interview Wall Street Journal on the tragic events in Minneapolis. A statement in true Trump style. He does not publicly acknowledge any errors, but suggests, albeit very vaguely, a way out. By declaring “mission accomplished” Trump could soon extract himself from what is now becoming his internal Vietnam, the violent intervention of agents in the streets of Minneapolis of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), the federal agency responsible for immigration control, to which Trump has given free rein.
The intervention of ICE agents in the metropolitan area of Minneapolis and Saint Paul (defined as the Twin Cities) to combat illegal immigration (especially Somali immigration, detested by Trump) he is leaving behind a trail of blood and abuse. Nothing but “phenomenal work”.
Those of Renee Good (killed on January 7) and of Alex Pretti (murdered on January 24) are not two accidental deaths, they are two executions, as documented by the videos shot in the streets of the Minnesota city and the photographic sequences.
Renée Good wasn’t trying to run over an officer with her car during an argument, yet she was shot through the window. Alex Pretti indeed owned a properly licensed gun, yet he did not use it either to defend himself or to make threats. When he was killed in the street, Pretti was “armed” only with his smartphone with which he was filming the abuses carried out by federal agents. In Minneapolis, ICE squads not only killed. They arrested and deported children, sprayed pepper spray a few centimeters from the faces of demonstrators pinned to the ground, dragged half-naked people out of their homes into the snowy streets.
Flowers and candles on the site where Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents trying to arrest him, in Minneapolis, last Saturday
(REUTERS)
These are methods that outrage not only former Democratic presidents such as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama (“many of our fundamental values as a nation are increasingly under attack”), but now also members of the Republican party. Finally the voices of those who are not only shocked by the murderous fury of the ICE squads, but also by the manipulation of reality are being heard. After the tragedy, we go on the offensive, demonizing the victim and distorting the facts. Trump himself, his internal security advisor, did it Stephen Miller and the security secretary Kristi Noem, always dressed up like a model parading in sheriff’s clothes.
Pressed on the killing of Alex Pretti from the Wall Street Journal (conservative and not prejudicially hostile newspaper) Trump concedes that “we are examining, we are evaluating everything and we will come to a conclusion.” Vague words that deny a reality that is now evident.
“I think the death of Americans, what we see on TV, is causing deep concerns about federal tactics and accountability,” Oklahoma’s Republican governor said Kevin Stitt to the program Face the Nation of CBS. “Americans don’t like what they’re seeing right now.”
Asked whether federal immigration agents should be withdrawn from Minnesota, Stitt, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, responded: “I think the president has to answer that question. … And he’s getting bad advice right now.”
The Republican senator from Alaska Lisa Murkowski says the incident “should raise serious questions within the administration about the adequacy of immigration enforcement training and instructions provided to agents.” “The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing,” admits Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy.
Trump also managed to unleash the wrath of the powerful, influential and friendly firearms lobby, represented by the NRA (National Rifle Association). The criticisms aimed at Alex Pretti the fact that he legally possessed a gun led the NRA to consider it “dangerous and wrong” to imply that shooting an individual because he was armed was justified.
Tension is also growing with Democratic governors who, faced with the abuses of federal ICE agents, are thinking of mobilizing National Guard agents, who act under their orders, to support the local police. The streets of American cities risk becoming even more inflamed, with disturbing scenarios of possible civil wars. A nightmare in view of the mid-term elections scheduled for November.
