Don’t Let Them Weasel Out of This One

Don't trust the White House's response to Alex Pretti's murder.

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Trump’s White House is in full-blown panic mode, flailing left and right with PR plays to ease the political and legal shitstorm they’ve walked themselves into after the chaos, the violence, and the death in Minneapolis these last few weeks.

To the average bystander—or to the media types who treat politics like sports, calling balls and strikes—it might look like Trump and his advisors are finally taking the death of Alex Pretti seriously. But we know better. This is just PR. Rearranging deck chairs on the goddamn Titanic.

They’re leaking against Kristi Noem, setting her up as the scapegoat. They’ve shoved Greg Bovino into early retirement. They’re whispering that Stephen Miller—Trump’s golden boy—is “losing influence” and “increasingly isolated” in the West Wing.

I don’t buy a single bit of it.

At best, we’ll get a temporary pause. A little strategic restraint to keep Republicans in Congress from jumping ship. But there won’t be real reform. No accountability for Alex Pretti’s death. None for Renee Good’s. None for the ICE agents who choked a man to death in Texas.

And Stephen Miller? Please. That little weasel is still at the center of it all. Vance, Trump, Fox News, the whole damn lot of them idolize him. Tom Homan, the man running ICE operations in Minnesota now, thinks the guy is a genius.

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Speaking of Homan—he’s no better than Bovino, now that he’s been handed the reins in Minneapolis and likely more authority as part of Trump’s broader, brutal agenda: sending out unqualified ICE and CBP agents to kidnap people and terrorize immigrant communities.

This administration is desperate. They’re seeing the same poll numbers we are. Back in 2018, Americans barely had an opinion on ICE. Earlier this year, disapproval crept into the low single digits. Now? It’s nearly 30% negative—and that was before the public had fully processed the execution of Alex Pretti, broad daylight and all.

We can’t let this end with a few bullshit PR stunts meant to tamp down the flames and buy time until the next crisis. We can’t get distracted by whatever nonsense Trump throws out next—be it Greenland, Epstein, or the next sideshow.

Democrats need to step the hell up. Use every ounce of power they have, even in the minority, to stop this from getting worse. That means blocking the appropriations bill in the Senate. It means unified “no” votes in the House. It means leaning hard into oversight. And if there’s a confirmation hearing to replace Noem, Democrats need to throw sand in the gears and force Republicans to ram it through—just like they did with Pete Hegseth, a move that burned them politically.

Ask Thom Tillis why he’s retiring. He’ll point right to that.

We have to keep demanding accountability.

What keeps me up at night—even more than the awful, graphic footage of Alex Pretti’s murder—is the next one. Because this thing is snowballing. Fast.

Trump pardoned the January 6th insurrectionists to send a message: “If you’re on my team, I’ve got your back.” So when the ICE agent who murdered Renee Good sees JD Vance saying agents have total immunity, that’s what leads us to what happened on Saturday.

A gang of untrained, unqualified, masked men—many of whom couldn’t pass a background check or a drug test—pretending to be law enforcement, doing whatever the hell they want. And they believe, with good reason, that Trump will pardon them. That Vance will shield them. That Pam Bondi’s DOJ won’t even investigate, let alone prosecute.

They’ll do what they did after Alex Pretti’s murder—pluck the agent out of state, move him somewhere else, bury his name, stonewall local investigators. Have his back.

And that tells every one of these guys: Next time, go even further.

They managed to spin their way out of Renee Good’s murder for some Americans. “She was impeding an investigation.” “She might’ve hit him with her car.” Total horseshit. You and I know that.

But Alex Pretti? That was a straight-up execution. Caught on tape. He did nothing wrong. He was filming. He was helping a woman shoved to the ground by an ICE agent—for doing nothing.

And for that, they pepper-sprayed him. Beat him. Shot him in the back. He’s gone.

His friends, his family, his community—wrecked. A wound that won’t heal.

And still, no signs of real accountability. Just political theater, with Trump playing checkers while the media nods along. But I’m not playing along. I won’t.

Yeah, Greg Bovino is gone. I hope he enjoys his fruity drinks in retirement, probably already working on his MAGA podcast debut by the end of February.

But nothing’s changed on the ground. People are still being kidnapped, assaulted, harassed for the color of their skin.

The fight goes on. The cause endures.

We can acknowledge the minor movement—but don’t mistake it for progress. I don’t believe it’s real.

We have to keep speaking up. Showing up. Defending our neighbors. Making calls. Dropping off meals. Coordinating school pickup. Doing the work. Finding your lane.

Like I said yesterday: stay in the fight. And please—take care of yourself. It’s been a brutal few days. Log off. Drink some water. Take a nap. Hug your kids. Whatever you need—just take care.

We need you here.

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