Thanks. I missed that.
This story broke Legal Eagle.
I think it’s possible that after this week’s Polar Vortex slam is past, we may see organizing for something big, due to outrage over this latest murder.
As has been mentioned on this site before, there’s reputable research that says that when 3.5% of a population takes to the streets in peaceful protest, dictatorships fall. The outrage has built so much that when there’s less chance of frostbite, we could well see numbers that would surpass the No Kings and Hands Off protests of the past year by a substantial margin.
It was Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy that reacted to Bovino’s performance on Dana Bash’s show, today. He made some good points—Bovino, like some other Trumpites, is just bad at sticking to the party line. The line about Alex Pretti that Bovino tried to sell was ‘he inserted himself in a crime scene.’ Really nutty given that we can all see nothing happening of a criminal nature until one of the goons pushes down the female protester (that Pretti then tried to help).
Anyway, this is what CNN calls a “showcast” of today’s episode:
The “3.5%” theory is discussed in this excellent Ruth Ben-Ghiat article (not paywalled) :
Lastly: AI was brought up a ways upthread. I don’t think AI has advanced enough to have created the shooting-of-Alex-Pretti videos we’ve seen in so short a time----some of the videos went online with an hour of the incident, didn’t they?
It’s possible that the regime could AI-up a doctored video that shows Pretti holding a weapon as he stands there on the street—but even that small a change would take them some time.
Meanwhile, there are millions of instances of the undoctored videos available; as things stand the regime lacks enough control over the Internet to make them all go away.
But future AI developments, combined with greater regime control of the internet, could change those parameters. A shooting like that of Pretti could be entirely “disappeared” just the way the regime is “disappearing” non-whites.
Yes, worth watching. My. God.
I sent an inadquate donation to the National Lawyers Guild. Devin lists the organizations providing legal assistance to the demonstrators in the video comments.
I’d like to see someone actually bring a 2nd amendment case out of this. Pretti reportedly had a concealed-carry permit, he wasn’t brandishing it. Yet we have multiple talking heads such as Noem and Patel saying that you can’t bring a loaded gun to a protest. Are they saying you can’t exercise rights from different amendments at the same time? Do your civil rights have to take turns?
If we’re saying that it’s OK for police to federal agents to execute people just for lawfully carrying firearms, then we need to very loudly remind Republicans that at some point, someone other them will be in charge of the federal government.
I recall someone bringing a gun to a protest some time back.
I also heard somebody (Noem, maybe?) saying that Pretti didn’t have ID on him, and you have to carry ID if your carrying a firearm.
Funny, I don’t remember seeing the goons asking him for his ID before they executed him.
For what it’s worth, the NRA is siding with Pretti on this issue. Or at least calling for a full investigation into the incident.
The Gun Owners of America said in a statement: "The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting - a right the federal government must not infringe upon.”
Republican Thomas Massie said: “Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government.”
cough January 6th cough
What assholes they are.
I was a little surprised at this but it is true (at least it is in Minnesota). Both the carry permit and a government issued photo ID.
Of course, as mentioned, we saw no attempt to ask for an ID and, even if he did not have one with him it is not a death sentence to not have it. It likely would just result in a fine for a first offense (if that much).
ETA - Yup…first offense fine is practically nothing:
The fine for a first offense must not exceed $25. - SOURCE
cough Kyle Rittenhouse cough
What we DO see is the goons frisking Pretti’s fallen body*, rapidly and with great determination. I would say it’s more than likely that he did indeed have ID on him…but that evidence is now gone.
.
.
*I first typed “corpse,” but of course we don’t know when his actual death occurred.
I’m so tired of Trump and his goons doing obviously illegal shit and people calling for an “investigation.”
Everyone should be calling for the immediate arrest of several of those agents. Full stop. There’s more than enough evidence for that without any kind of “investigation.”
Minnesota National Guard members have arrived, at the Governor’s orders, and were directed to hand out donuts and hot beverages to protesters.
This is absolutely genius, IMO – ordering them to “protect Minnesotans from ICE”, or “protect protesters’ 1st amendment rights”, or similar, could have been feasibly seen as aggressive or escalatory… but hand out goodies and hang out with their fellow Minnesotans? That will protect them (to some degree, anyway) purely with their proximity, and couldn’t possibly be viewed as aggressive or escalatory by a court or the public.
A fine example of someone in a position of power doing something intelligent that will make the situation better.
I’d almost forgotten what competence looked like.
Oh, Trump is already on it and setting the groundwork to use the Insurrection Act:
“The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric! Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform, Social Truth.
Trump’s social media posts are utterly meaningless (in terms of what’s going on in the real world), and always have been. Look at what he does, not what he blathers.
Adding to this - it appears they are not armed.
Wondering when ICE will murder an unarmed Guardsman next.
Or they believe the January 6th event was because Good People did not opt to re-elect him that time.
MTG is siding with Pretti, I didn’t see that one coming.
