By Sam Robinson
Michigan Chronicle
https://michiganchronicle.com/
Michigan Democrats across the state expressed anger and demanded accountability after the latest shooting death of a protestor in Minneapolis by ICE agents.
Registered nurse Alex Pretti was shot multiple times by a federal immigration agent, after he was pepper sprayed, tackled to the ground and disarmed, before being shot several times.
Despite the incident being captured on video by a number of bystanders who said Pretti never engaged ICE agents, Department of Homeland Security statements allege, without evidence, Pretti was trying to harm the agents who eventually killed him.
“We are witnessing unacceptable violations of Americans’ safety, rights, and freedoms,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a post to social media Saturday. “No one should accept this. The violence must stop. Michiganders stand with Minnesotans as they exercise their First Amendment right to protest and make their voices heard peacefully.”
The killing of Pretti, 37, follows the shooting death of Renee Good, who was also 37-years-old when she was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who has not faced any criminal charges for killing Good as she drove away from an officer.
The killings amid President Donald Trump’s ramped up deportation efforts are angering Democrats and even some Republicans in Michigan and across the nation.
Secretary of State and Democratic candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson said in a post she watched the video of “masked government agents taking another innocent life again with horror. This is not normal. This is not acceptable.”
Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield posted a statement through City of Detroit social media channels saying what we are witnessing in Minnesota “raises serious concerns about Americans’ safety, rights, and freedoms.”
While Republicans either stayed quiet or sided with the federal agent, whose identity is yet to be reported, former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, an independent candidate in Michigan’s race for governor, joined Democrats in condemning the violence.
“This isn’t about left or right,” Duggan said. “It’s about right and wrong.”
Detroit Democrat Donavan McKinney, running for Congress in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, posted a video to social media Monday challenging his Democratic primary opponent for previously supporting ICE.
“Yet again ICE has murdered another American citizen… One thing is crystal clear: Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown is a failed experiment. This is not a political issue, it’s a human one,” McKinney said. “America is a society founded on a belief, that when government becomes an oppressor, we have the right and a responsibility to respond. IF that same gov responds by killing those speaking out, then the foundation of our country has been broken. That has what has been done to people of color, and especially Black people in this country for centuries. And now, our white allies are under attack.”
McKinney in his video pointed to his opponent, U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, who voted for a resolution thanking ICE last summer.
“Now he’s saying we should abolish ICE because he sees the way the political winds are blowing,” McKinney said of Thanedar. “We must not only abolish ICE, but we also must ensure the conditions that gave rise to this cruelty and aggression is gone from our politics.”
Thanedar on Jan. 15 introduced the Abolish ICE Act that would dismantle the agency, saying Americans are being terrorized and racially profiled by the agency.
In the upper chamber of Congress, both of Michigan’s Senators say they will vote against any upcoming bill that includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which ICE and CBP report to.
“I will be voting no on the DHS funding bill because it lacks necessary reforms to immigration enforcement,” Peters said. “DHS’ current immigration enforcement operations are not protecting our homeland security or making American communities safer. They are causing chaos and fear. They are violating Americans’ constitutional rights. We need stronger guardrails and accountability.”
Slotkin didn’t shy away from criticizing the presidnet in her statement: “This is what President Trump meant when he said he wanted to go after ‘the enemy within…’ This is part of a continued, coordinated assault on our Constitutional rights — with specific focus on individuals and groups who disagree with this President. I will be voting against the Dept. of Homeland Security funding bill this week. As all Americans can see with their own eyes, ICE and those under their command are not acting as responsible law enforcement agencies. They are recklessly inciting violence at the whims of the President. And they must be reined in before there is more killing.”
