There are times that a single act of a government can inspire people to stand up for themselves and fight tyranny as they see it. Stephen Biko, murdered in prison in South Africa under apartheid became a touchpoint for Black citizens and people around the world that led to the pressure that ended the discriminatory government in the country. Emmett Till's murder and the failure of the justice system to hold the murderers accountable gave more life to the early Civil Rights movement. A decade later, Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot by a state trooper while at a voting rights march. His death prompted the Selma to Montgomery march and was instrumental in the passing of the Voting Rights Act. George Floyd's murder by a police officer sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, while controversial because of some people engaging in violence at rallies, did shine a light on police tactics the seem to be used often with minority suspects. (I could make a long list here). There are new names being added to this list today.
Alex Pretti is dead because a person, hired by us, fired into his body several times, while he lay covered by law enforcement officers. While he did have a legal sidearm with him that day, he had been disarmed by a person I am not sure has been identified before the first shot was fired. Pretti, who was there to record the actions of ICE and Border Patrol in his city, was not violating the law. Officers pushed him, tackled him, held him down and shot him. Now the government officials, from those who have direct supervision over the killers to the President of the United States are openly lying about him and his actions. They are telling us not to believe our eyes, or witnesses, or local law enforcement who want to investigate this as a homicide, but to believe them. Meanwhile, the right wing noise machine is making up stories about Pretti, saying things about him that aren't true to smear his image. There have also been several social media posts, likely from right wing run bots, that ask why someone would bring a firearm to a protest. Like they never heard of Kyle Rittenhouse who they glossed a hero or any Proud Boys or Oath Keeper protest. Today, there was a long post about how the gun might have fired accidentally prompted the officer response. Like it was all some brutal accident and the fault of the victim. By tomorrow we will be told he was firing the guns like Yosemite Sam and had to be taken out. I expect a White House AI video soon.
While this has rocked many people, most in the center or the left politically, I am stunned by the hypocrisy on the right. Second Amendment absolutists are no where complaining the one of the reasons that is being floated is that he was armed, which I repeat, he was legally allowed to do. Decades ago when the NRA called ATF agents wrongly Jackbooted Thugs today are supporting the people who are acting like they once described. Those who complained about arrested made during the January 6th insurrection are not calling out the government for engaging, attempting to arrest and killing someone who was literally doing nothing illegal while they think the government should have left them alone after their clear illegal and anti-American activity on that day. The clear failure of principles on every level is stunning.
Peter Gabriel wrote a song dedicated to the story of Stephen Biko in 1980. A line from that song is "You can blow out a candle, but you can't blow out a fire. Once the flames begin to catch, the wind will blow it higher" It is time and maybe past time, for the flames to catch. This has never been about criminal immigrants or undocumented people. This has been able authoritarian rule and giving the current President a sense of power. I beg real Republicans and Patriots to stand up and do what is right. Call out the bad actors, the lies and criminal element that seems to permeate this administrations enforcement officers.
The world is watching the great American experiment being stressed to a potential breaking point, now is the time to save it.
