The more I think about it the more appalled and pissed off I get. Look, I’ll be the first to say sometimes things happen in a split second. LE sees someone whip out a gun or reach for one when they have credible reason to think an actual suspect is armed. That was NOT the case with either of the two shootings this month in Minneapolis that resulted in the death of two people. It’s my belief that jacked-up agents bent on displaying force went out of control. They ignored training/procedure standard in every LE department/agency, as well as the context/circumstances just prior to their opening fire. Now, two people that shouldn’t be dead ARE dead – at the hands of federal agents.
Infuriatingly, despite early video evidence to the contrary in both cases Team Trump wasted no time in branding both victims “domestic terrorists.” In the last 24 hours that has mostly continued although some mealy-mouthed comments to the effect that the situations are being ‘looked at’ have been made. The problem is that it’s clear the agents who fired their weapons are NOT being investigated. DHS, with the approval of AG Bondi and the DOJ aren’t about to allow that. Instead DHS, not the FBI which has investigated virtually every other federal shooting since forever has stood down. Who IS being investigated are the two people shot and killed by ICE Barbie’s storm troopers!
At least there is pushback from the public and even some journalists and pundits. An article from The Daily Express notes that among other things Border Patrol Honcho Greg Bovino was called a “scumbag” by viewers of a CNN piece showing him spouting his lies. Yes, Herr Field Marshal Bovino (who’s nights are filled with wet-dreams of commanding Nazi level Concentration/’Re-Education Camps for non-Trump worshipers) again dumped a truckload of bullshit. Given a choice between what I can see with my own eyes and what Bovino and other Trumpies (both in the govt. and unofficial -so far-State Media Fox News) tell us I’m going with what I see with my own freaking eyes. And can hear in some of that video.
Well, I’m not going to dive into Bovino’s Bullshit here – you can check out the linked article. I only cite it because there is one thing he and others bring up about having to make instant decisions ‘in the moment’ and yes that’s an important thing everyone should take into consideration. In fact, given the consequences which as we know sometimes go WAY beyond a shooter (from LE) and a person(s) they shoot, and even their families/loved ones there is SPECIFIC training on making those split-second decisions. I don’t know what it’s called now but back in my day it was called “Shoot-Don’t Shoot” Through the use of flashing of large photos, short film clips and even with people designated (or brought in) to role play possible threats.
Some four decades ago when returning to post after a shift on guard duty at OPNAV Security in the Pentagon the guys were raving about what had happened earlier. A simulator had been developed in the back of a tractor trailer that could project realistic imagery on the walls, putting one in the middle of shoot-don’t shoot situations! It had made a stop at Ft. Myer and Henderson Hall (the then two posts, one Army and one Marine were separated by a chain link fence). Everyone on duty and a lot of off-duty MPs who could be reached got a turn in the thing. Except for those of us grunts attached to PMO on duty at the Pentagon. It was state-of-the-art for the time. I’m sure even better simulators have been made.
My point is that even without fancy 3-D simulators training modules to teach making split second decisions on whether LE of any type should shoot have been a standard part of training. Hell, even basic Hunter Education includes such training to help reduce the number of hunting accidents! LE versions are just more intense. Given how so many thousands of new agents are in the field now having had less than half the normal training at FLETC, and also when was the last time more experienced agents went through refresher training (as with so many jobs yes, there is annual refresher and even formal re-certification for numerous things) and that’s a question Congressional Oversight should ask.
Adrenaline is an interesting thing. Especially when you get a “jolt” of it. Some people find themselves able to marshal what’s going on in their body and use the heightened senses and often even physical capability to advantage. Sometimes great advantage. Many an athlete/former athlete including me can describe how sometimes things seem to slow down around you and you’re able to more easily perform. Alas, some people flat out “lose their sh*t’ to put it bluntly. THAT is what training is for. To plant scenarios in LE’s minds, and when possible provide training that can partially kick in a small dose of adrenaline so they can be better prepared when potential life and death situations come up for real.
In Pretti’s case, it was clear he had nothing more than a CELL PHONE in his hand. No gun was visible, and he didn’t make any “sudden” or “suspicious” movements when agents saw him recording goings on and calmly approached him. They didn’t like that their actions were being recorded and chose to initiate a confrontation to try and bully him into stopping. THAT is how all this got started before the agents escalated things to the point where everything went to hell. No amount of bullshit from Team Trump can change that.
I could go on and on but I do want to raise an important point you should watch for. We’ve seen footage and commentary of the agent who came up behind Pretti who was being restrained and pummeled by the swarm of federal THUGS. His hands were empty when he reached in and we see him back out holding a handgun that looks like the one the feds later showed and said belonged to Pretti. Who, lest we forget was licensed to carry it. And never in the encounter that led to his death reached for it.
There is also commentary that the word GUN was called out. This in fact is a standard thing that happens. If you discover a gun during an arrest that hadn’t been visible you call out “Gun!” to alert fellow LE. What matters is the TIMING of when that call-out was made, and when the actual shooting started. I haven’t counted the number of seconds Pretti was on the ground with a swarm of federal agents holding him down, getting in punches and kicks but he was under their physical control. Perhaps that agent in the gray coat was asked to come in and do a body frisk? We DO know he had stepped back with the gun and was spinning away when the first shot was fired into Pretti.
That will be an interesting thing to determine because in the end it all comes down to whether Pretti was an actual threat to the agents (or anyone else nearby) during all this. All the video evidence we’ve seen says no. Did the agents simply panic after hearing the word gun? Or, did they have darker hearts and knowing that even though they had Pretti under their control decide to execute him. After all, only 17 days earlier another agent had shot another civilian and gotten away with it. It quickly became clear the bosses would make damned sure NOTHING happened to Jonathan Ross. Hell, GoFundMe took in more than million dollars donated to him!
I don’t know about you but I can’t help but wonder about the mindset of those federal THUGS in Minneapolis. The guys who shot and killed Alex Pretti knew, they KNEW they’d be protected. Worse, if their names did get out like Ross, and Kyle Ratf*cker… er, Rittenhouse before that they were in for a big payday! Anyway it doesn’t take LE type training to, in broad daylight determine that a guy who for minutes held up a cell phone to record what was going on had an effing CELL PHONE and not a gun pointed at the agents. Or that after pepper spraying him then swarming him to the ground and gaining enough control they could start beating on him that even if (as it turned out) he happened to have a gun holstered in his belt around his back he was no threat to them.
From where I sit there are either serious holes in those agent’s training, or they in some part are out there looking for reasons to shoot people. Or both. At the very least some basic refresher training needs to happen with every DHS agent before they head out into the field again. Say a few pictures. One of a cell phone. Another of a handgun. And a big poster sized version of the title picture for this article.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
The best thing that has happened to further the truth, (the message of our side), is the prevalence of people recording video with the, by now, ubiquitous cell phone cameras.
They can ‘he-says/she says’ all they like, and pollute our ears with their monstrous mendacities, but the evidence is there in all those ‘show reality’ videos from numerous, different, unrehearsed viewpoints showing exactly what really happened.
And it’s clear to everyone that what they say are lies, pure and simple. And seemly the most egregious lie they’ve spouted is that Pretti was brandishing a gun when he clearly wasn’t and thus disarming him was worse than shooting him.
Well if we get the 2nd Amendment crowd on our side, I’m all for it, after all they don’t want to vote for a government running amok and taking their legally held guns – like they told themselves Kamala would. And Trump’s goons have.
The silver lining of having people on our side who equate gun confiscation as murder is that they’re on our side against the worst administration of The USA ever.
Dementia Donny’s goons are too stupid to keep their rickety coalition of support together on their side. Their over-reach is sinking them.
He looks like an actual Nazi. Hopefully, the picture posts, this time.
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