@robdai.bsky.social

Yesterday we learned that a racist Trump supporter assaulted a nonwhite Democratic congressman. And it’s not even a big story. Meanwhile, Republicans drone on about ‘left-wing political violence’.

Trump goes all-in on the cover-up of DHS's latest murder of an American citizen, and accuses Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey of "inciting insurrection." Trump also attacks the victim's legal gun ownership, implying that gave agents the right to murder him... 1/2

Bild

Noem, Miller, Bovino, Trump, and Vance intentionally made false or misleading claims about Renee Good and/or Alex Pretti, labeling them criminals or terrorists; misrepresenting the circumstances of their deaths to justify, and aid in, the crime of murder. #3E #GoodvsEvil

Kristi Noem: “It was an act of domestic terrorism.”Stephen Miller: “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.”Greg Bovino: “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”JD Vance: “I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing that it’s a tragedy of her own making.”

A Utah plastic surgeon was on trial for falsifying COVID-19 vaccine cards. Then Pam Bondi stepped in. Bondi’s dismissal of the case signals the increasing clout of “medical freedom” activists and vaccine skeptics under the leadership of RFK Jr. With @sltrib.com

Pam Bondi Dismissed Charges Against a Surgeon Who Falsified Vaccine Cards. It Emboldened Others With Similar Cases.

A Utah surgeon’s victory in a vaccine fraud case has encouraged other “medical freedom” advocates to consider seeking leniency for similar charges. “This undermines every layer of the system that prot...

propublica.org

🚨 Breaking from the US Senator for Connecticut. 👇 There you have it. ICE has never been about immigration enforcement. It's a weapon used to brutalize Americans and stoke enough fear so that Trump can rig the elections and usher in dictatorship.

Bild

You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.

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.
14.1 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 afterwards. 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 bearwitness, 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.

Dated and signed on Jan 24, 2026 in Hennepin County, State of Minnesota.
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social · 6mo ago

JUST IN: Lawyers file declaration in federal court from first-hand witness to immigration agents' shooting of a US citizen onlookers today. Minneapolis Mayor Frey said details would be used to bolster case for ousting ICE from city. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Van Hollen: "They really think the American people are stupid. I mean, we can all see the video. We saw the video with Renee Good. We saw the video with Alex Pretti. The real domestic terrorists are in the White House right now."

Alex Pretti was an American hero. He saved lives. He protected people. He cared deeply about his community, unlike the murderous thugs who killed him. The very last thing he did was try to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed and violently shoved to the ground by ICE. 1/

Bild

BARTIROMO: But how was he threatening Border Patrol? How was he using a gun to threaten? He was filming it KASH PATEL: That's something I'll let DHS because they are investigating that case (Notable that even Bartiromo seems to be bothered by this!)

Utah police arrested a man who allegedly shouted that Rep. Maxwell Frost would be deported before punching him in the face at a Sundance Film Festival event, the Florida Democrat said. https://cnn.it/3ZwFbQU

Bild

Pam Bondi just sent a letter to Minnesota officials saying ICE will leave if the state turns over its voter database to Trump. Guess what? This has never been about safety or immigration. It’s a pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states.

🚨 NEW — Statement from the family of Alex Pretti: "We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital... 1/

"We are heartbroken but also very angry.
Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.
The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed.
Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man."Bild

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: "I just saw a video of more than 6 masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death. How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?"

Sayre: "My background is in international humanitarian response in conflict zones in Yemen, Haiti, Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine. What I've seen here is what I've seen there. A powerful entity violently and intentionally terrorizing people."

CNN put together a clip of JD Vance claiming ICE agents have "absolute immunity" followed by him two weeks later claiming "I didn't say that officers who engage in wrongdoing would enjoy immunity"

Initial report is that two observers got into a shoving match with eight agents, one observer was wrestled to the ground, and then an ICE agent pulled out a sidearm and shot the man on the ground five times.