The power of the cellphone citizen journalist

Shamefully, it’s happened again!

Another innocent American life has been taken under the color of questionable federal law enforcement in Minnesota, and once again, cellphone cameras were Johnny-on-the-spot to capture the truth for all the world to see.

And it’s a good thing too. The videos of the fateful encounter between Minneapolis Veteran Affairs ICU nurse Alex Pretti and half dozen federal Border Patrol officers were in the media news ether just in time to counter the bold-faced lies of President Donald Trump and U.S. Dept of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem about the cold-blooded killing (please remember my professional policy of not labeling something a “murder” before a court of law has had a chance to make an official legal determination, though from what I’ve seen of the various videotape angles here, this was as straight-up a senseless dispatch of an innocent life as I’ve ever seen).

So now, for the second time this month, cellphone citizen journalists are on the front lines fighting back against the feckless lies of a disgusting administration by capturing the true story to stand against the over-the-top propaganda issued by our government.

Something must be said about these cellphone citizen journalists who love their country so much, they’re willing to defy illegal commands to step back or step away when they see police injustice, and know that they and their cellphones are the only conduits to the truth for the rest of us.

Please keep in mind that these folks are indeed citizens, and have First Amendment rights to both be at police scenes and record what they see. They are rightfully restricted, just like professional press, from getting in the way of, or getting involved in law enforcement activity.

No, cellphone citizen journalists don’t write for newspapers (except maybe a blog or two). But those snazzy little mini-computers they carry have the ability to capture sharp pictures and great video/audio that tell the story better than any written words can, provided they’re in the right place at the right time with the right angle. And what has become most gratifying lately is that more times than not, when something newsworthy is happening, someone is there to record it for the rest of the world to see.

When something in you makes you want to document the facts and share them with the world, that “something” is the journalist in you! And without you, we may never know the truth. That’s what makes cellphone citizen journalists so special.

Particularly those folks in Minneapolis, whose city and state have been targeted by the Trump Administration with bogus claims of having murderers and rapists roaming their streets, making their communities unsafe. Thus the initial "justification" for sending over 3,000 federal agents into the area under the auspices of cracking down on "out-of-control crime," purportedly from the Somali community.

True, Minnesota had a very bad problem of late with the theft of federal funds by some in the Somali community that Gov. Tim Walz has taken responsibility for not knowing about. But none of that is reason enough for armed, undisciplined, warrantless masked men in khakis to roam the streets, grabbing and brutalizing people without so much as a wink towards their constitutional rights.

So when cellphone citizen journalists see what’s happening on their streets, and boldly decide to document it, they are creating a vital record of constitutional violations for all of us to see and respond to.

Make no mistake - every time an ICE or Border Patrol agent illegally puts his hands on anyone, it’s in the name of the people of the United States, which means we ALL have a say about what we’re seeing, and whether or not we approve of it or the way it is being done.

And no, we shouldn't fund ICE or Border Patrol anymore until they're straightened out enough to be law-abiding.

Back in the day before cellphones, if the cops beat some poor black kid to a pulp, or worse, shot him to death, there usually was no witness. And if there was, it was their word against the officer’s, and we were all conditioned to take the officer’s word for it no matter what, because he was the “good guy.” He stood for what was "right" in the community, and put his life on the line everyday to keep us safe.

Whoever the deceased black victim was, the powers-that-be dug into his background, and would always "find" something they could blowup into a justification for the officer extinguishing the victim’s “worthless” life. So at the end of the day, the cop was always exonerated, because his word had the force of law, and no one contradicted him.

And then came Rodney King, and the police beating video that literally changed the world.

It was March 3, 1991, when black motorist Rodney King was stopped for speeding in Los Angeles after a high speed chase. When L.A. police caught up with King, they beat him mercilessly with metal batons on the side of the road and further subdued him with stun guns. When it was all over, King had a fractured skull, broken bones in his face and ankle, and brain damage. The police story for his injuries was that he attacked them, so they had to "defend" themselves. But little did the L.A. officers know that their brutal actions were captured on tape by a man with an old-fashioned video camera from the upper balcony of his apartment building just across the street.

The rest is history.

The Rodney King video was certainly the first of its kind, calling into question how many police abuse cases of black people we really didn't know the truth about. And yet, when the King case went to court a year later, the four white officers were inexplicably acquitted of all charges. The city of Los Angeles was literally torched and ripped to shreds because people couldn't understand how anyone couldn't see the unmistakable police brutality for themselves, and not punish the four officers for it.

However, years later, as more people began using iPhones and other personal video devices, more and more of these police brutality incidents came to light, calling into question the conduct of some law enforcement officers in communities of color across the country.

No one will ever forget the horrific police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, captured by a cellphone citizen journalist who knew what she was seeing was wrong, as a police officer crushed the helpless black man’s head to the street with his knee to his neck until Mr. Floyd couldn't breathe. The young black man cried out for his mother, as his life was being cruelly squeezed out of him.

 And we all saw it! The world was shocked! That officer is rightfully still in prison, convicted of murder!

It wasn’t long before law enforcement began wearing body-cams, so that they could maintain their own video record of contentious encounters with the public, and essentially protect themselves against allegations of brutality. Problem is not all police agencies use body-cams, or if they have them, don't require their officers to always have them on while on patrol. So when something horrific happens, like the January 7th ICE fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, the only honest video record we can count on comes from the citizen journalists on the scene with their cellphones.

Ironically in the tragic case of Renee Good - whose death has now been officially ruled a homicide - the best cellphone video was taken by the very ICE agent who ultimately shot her to death. He was holding it in his hand, taping, until he had to reach for his gun.

And yet, I find it fascinating that despite all of that video evidence, Trump, Noem and the heads of ICE and the Border Patrol, think they’re doing yeoman’s work by lying their despicable -sees off defending the offending predatory federal agents, and smearing their innocent victims after death.

Even before this latest fatal federal shooting, the White House was caught redhanded issuing a false AI generated picture of a local Minneapolis protesting minister/civil rights attorney  “crying” as she was being led away in handcuffs. In fact, actual video of her arrest never shows the woman shedding a tear, but rather, looking defiant and strong as she was being led away. Proof that Trump’s minions see all of this as part of one big disgusting propaganda game.

In the case of Mr. Pretti, even though he had a registered gun on him and a concealed carry permit, videos taken of the incident show he NEVER brandished it to threaten anybody the day he died. The best civilian video evidence shows Pretti being wrestled to the ground on all fours by several Border Patrol agents, at least one of them seeing Pretti’s gun still in his waistband, warning other officers about it, then grabbing it and WALKING AWAY WITH IT.

It’s then that we immediately hear a shot, agents backup off of Pretti, and randomly fire at him as he lay on his back in the street though HE HAD NO WEAPON AT THIS POINT to harm anyone with. You hear nine to ten shots, three reportedly in Pretti's  back.

 A Customs and Border Patrol internal report to Congress Tuesday stated that only two of at least six to seven Border Patrol agents involved shot Pretti with their Glocks, according to an official examination of bodycam footage. That report made no mention of Pretti brandishing a weapon or threatening officers, contradicting Kristi Noem and the White House.

From what I saw on the videos, I find it hard to believe only two agents discharged their weapons into the man. Those two agents have now been placed on administrative leave.

 A new video of a violent encounter between Pretti and Border Patrol agents eleven days prior has emerged that shows him kicking out a taillight of their vehicle, spitting on it and getting roughed up pretty good afterwards. He's wearing pretty much the same clothing and does have his gun in its holster that is seen in the video, but interestingly, the agents do not see it then. Was that earlier skirmish a factor in why his was killed?

 Shot to death like a sick dog in the street. No doubt by the time we see any of that body cam footage, if ever, it may be drastically altered. We'll see. A federal judge has ordered the government not to mess with any of the evidence in this case. Understandably, Minnesota authorities want access to do a proper investigation, though the feds are blocking them.

It’s a hard video to watch. It’s made harder when you realize Mr. Pretti died for nothing. He did nothing to deserve what many people are calling a "lynching." Like Renee Good, there will be no federal civil rights probe into whether his rights were violated.

This is truly an American tragedy.

 And yet, DHS Sec. Noem has declared her officers innocent of any wrongdoing, and portrayed Mr. Pretti as the "domestic terrorist" aggressor who deserved to die. And behind all of that, Noem, who should be impeached and shown the door forever, says her agency will investigate its own officers in this fiasco. Senators Tillis and Murkoski have called for Noem to resign. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wants Noem gone too, and a growing number of Republicans want an "independent" investigation. 

Trump says he's keeping Noem. 

By the way, White House aide and lead white supremacist Stephen Miller, hoping to claim the narrative, disgustingly called ICU nurse Alex Pretti after his death,  a "would-be assassin," thus also justifying the tragedy. 

 We should all be reassured that our president has such principled intellectual talent surrounding him to give needed sage advice and counsel. Water simply doesn't boil hot enough to punish deranged miscreants like Miller.

 None of this is happenstance. The Washington Post reports that Noem's masked goons "...have fired shots during enforcement arrests or at people protesting their operations at least 16 times since last July....," killing three. In each case, The WP further reports, DHS or the White House have claimed that the shootings were all justified before an investigation. At least ten people have been struck by bullets, four were U.S. citizens.

Telling us what we should see and think whether or not we have reliable evidence from cellphone video journalists apparently doesn't work very well for these people, does it?

 Trump apparently has decided not to climb out on this limb with Noem and Miller now, and seems open to turning down the political volume, even talking with Gov. Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey constructively, and ordering the Border Patrol commander, Bovino, replaced, with a  number of federal officers there also to be cut to get the tragedy off the front pages. 

 My Lord!

 And I'd be remiss if I didn't note how citizen cellphones and C-Span were rolling Tuesday night when Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was cowardly and outrageously physically attacked by some sick MAGA creature who sprayed her with a "strong smelling" liquid from a syringe (which fortunately turned out only to be apple cider vinegar) while she was holding a constituent town hall meeting about abolishing ICE and canning Sec. Noem. Fortunately, Rep. Omar, who was born in Somalia, was not harmed, and insisted on carrying on with her remarks.

  I was so glad to see her security and the police haul the attacker's Trump-loving lookin' -ss away, to throw him in jail and charge him with third-degree assault! There should be a  federal charge in there too, for attacking a sitting member of Congress.

True to form, Trump, showing no empathy for her safety at all,  told ABC News afterwards, "I think she’s a fraud...She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”

 This clown can''t help himself, can he?

 Former President Obama and his wife, Michelle, were compelled to issue a statement after seeing the video of Alex Pretti’s killing:

"And yet rather than trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they’ve deployed, the President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation – and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence… This has to stop."

The NAACP also weighed in.

       "We are watching a crisis of accountability and humanity unfold in real time," said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. "We need mobilization and action from every background, every race, every socioeconomic status, every political party, and every religion. If you believe in dignity, if you believe in justice, if you believe America must live up to its creed — then you cannot sit this one out. We must show up, speak up, and organize with urgency to demand accountability and protect our communities."

If not for the many cellphone citizen journalists on the scene, we would have nothing to counter the official Trump Administration BS with. And thanks to them, major news organizations like CNN, The Washington Post,The NY Times and others with the resources, were able to dissect those videos and discover the truth of what really happened last Saturday in Minneapolis, and again on January 7th.

 But ponder this for a moment - brave and bold citizens with cellphones can't be everywhere all of the time. In Minneapolis, for instance, there are but so many of them, and over 3,000 federal officers on the ground, the majority of whom we haven't seen and never will. Renee Good and Alex Pretti happened to be two white Americans. But what about all of the Somali, Venezuelan, Honduran, Mexican and other victims of ICE/Border Patrol we've heard or seen absolutely nothing about? Where are the cellphone citizen videos documenting how many of them are being killed or hurt by the hateful, undisciplined and illegal actions  of Trump's rogue stormtroopers? 

 Add to all of that the troubling ICE agent fatal shooting of Keith Proctor in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve, and the outrageous shooting, five-times, of American teaching assistant Marimar Martinez by a Border Patrol agent last October in Chicago. She is petitioning the federal court to release the bodycam footage of her attack.

 I pray that justice is ultimately done in the case of Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Good and whomever else is victimized by the bloodthirsty tyranny of the Trump regime. And just like the videos from the January 6th U.S. Capitol insurrection tell the true story of that disturbing day in American history despite Republican attempts to the contrary, I pray that citizen journalists with cellphones all across this nation realize just how valuable they are in the fight to reclaim our country from what can only be called the evil police state mentality of the Trump Administration.

GOD BLESS THEM!!! GOD BLESS US ALL!!!