Krystal And Saagar REACT: New Alex Pretti ICE Confrontation Video
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖A new video shows Alex Pretti engaging in violent and destructive behavior against ICE agents 11 days before his death, including spitting, yelling, and damaging a vehicle.
- ❖Despite Pretti's actions, the hosts assert that this behavior does not justify his subsequent execution by law enforcement.
- ❖ICE agents failed to arrest Pretti during the initial confrontation, instead physically assaulting him, which the hosts argue was a procedural failure that could have prevented his later death.
- ❖The video is being used by right-wing commentators to frame Pretti as a 'bad guy' who deserved his fate, drawing parallels to historical instances of demonizing victims like David Koresh or Randy Weaver.
- ❖There's concern that Pretti may have been tracked and targeted by ICE due to this prior hostile interaction, given known government databases of activists.
- ❖The administrative leave of the two agents involved in Pretti's shooting is seen as a tactical retreat by the administration, not a standard protocol for ICE, suggesting external pressure.
Insights
1Alex Pretti's Prior Hostile Confrontation with ICE
A video surfaced showing Alex Pretti, 11 days before his fatal shooting, in a hostile confrontation with ICE/CBP agents in Minneapolis. In the footage, Pretti is seen spitting at agents, yelling, and kicking out a tail light of their vehicle. The hosts describe his behavior as 'unhinged' and acknowledge he committed a crime by damaging property.
Saagar: 'You see him in the jacket... He spits at them. He yells at them and then he kicks out their tail light.' () Krystal: 'I think he looks unhinged in that. I He genuinely looks completely unhinged and he did commit a crime specifically whenever he knocked out the tail light.' ()
2Pretti's Prior Actions Do Not Justify His Killing
Despite Pretti's aggressive behavior in the earlier video, both hosts firmly state that it does not justify his subsequent shooting and killing by ICE agents. They argue that committing property damage or acting 'unhinged' does not merit execution, drawing comparisons to the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents where problematic figures were used to justify extreme government force.
Krystal: 'Did that mean that you should burn women and children alive in this in the compound at Waco? The answer is no.' () Saagar: 'This doesn't mean he deserved to get shot and killed.' () Krystal: 'A video of him doing something 11 days prior has literally nothing to do with the legal analysis of whether it was appropriate for them to execute him in the street.' ()
3ICE's Failure to Follow Proper Procedure
The hosts criticize the ICE agents for not arresting Pretti after the initial incident where he damaged their vehicle. Instead, they 'roughed him up and then ran away.' This failure to follow legal process, such as arrest for property damage, is seen as a missed opportunity to de-escalate and potentially prevent the later fatal encounter.
Krystal: 'Why did they not arrest him?... He should clearly have been arrested uh after this incident where he's spitting... Kicking a tail light like it's open and shut.' () Saagar: 'They should have just arrested him.' ()
4Weaponization of the Video by the Right
The new video is perceived as a 'rhetorical propaganda win' for right-wing narratives. It allows them to portray Pretti as a 'violent agitator' or 'bad guy' who 'had it coming,' thereby justifying the use of force against him and dismissing concerns about his death. This tactic is compared to the demonization of other controversial figures to excuse government actions.
Saagar: 'This will be kind of a rhetorical propaganda win I think for a lot of right-wingers because for them what they get most annoyed about... is that anytime there's a left shooting cause celeb they're a hero they've done absolutely nothing wrong and that's just usually not the case.' () Krystal: 'The reason why I think this video has become important to a lot of the psyche of the right is like let's be honest they've been since he was killed they've been looking for some way to say this was a bad guy and he he basically had it coming.' ()
5Potential Targeting Due to Activist Databases
Krystal raises the possibility that Pretti might have been tracked and targeted by ICE due to his prior hostile interaction, citing reports of activists being entered into various government databases. This suggests that the later fatal confrontation might not have been a random event but a consequence of prior surveillance and identification.
Krystal: 'We know that all of these activists are being entered into a variety of databases... it actually does make me wonder since he had had this prior hostile interaction with these agents if he wasn't tracked and in a sense targeted.' ()
6Inconsistent Application of Law and Order
The hosts highlight a lack of consistency in how 'law and order' is applied, particularly across political lines. They point out that individuals who assaulted Capitol police during January 6 were pardoned and treated as 'political prisoners' by the right, while left-wing protesters like Pretti are condemned, even when the circumstances of their deaths are questionable.
Krystal: 'You had people who genuinely assaulted Capitol police officers who were pardoned and, you know, treated like they were political prisoners um by the right because they were part of a movement that they support. So, you know, zero consistency.' () Saagar: 'We need to have some level of consistency here, folks. Uh it actually does matter.' ()
7Administrative Leave as a Tactical Retreat
The two agents involved in Pretti's shooting were placed on administrative leave, an action the administration claimed was standard protocol. However, the hosts argue that this is highly unusual for ICE, which has not done so in other controversial shootings. They interpret this as a 'tactical retreat' by DHS, likely due to significant public and political pressure.
Krystal: 'It wasn't just one guy who shot Alex Freddy. It was two... both of those agents have now been placed on administrative leave. Now, the administration is saying like, 'Oh, that's standard protocol.' Well, it should be standard protocol, but as far as we know, it hasn't happened in any of the other many ICE shootings.' () Saagar: 'I again I read that as part of the whole tactical retreat around DHS around funding.' ()
Lessons
- Challenge narratives that use a victim's past behavior to justify excessive force or state violence, focusing instead on the legality and proportionality of the force used in the specific incident.
- Advocate for consistent application of law enforcement protocols, including arrests for property damage, and administrative leave for officers involved in fatal shootings, regardless of the political context or the individuals involved.
- Support investigations into potential targeting of activists by government agencies, especially when prior interactions are known, to ensure accountability and prevent abuses of power.
- Recognize and call out the political weaponization of individual actions and character assassination, which often serves to distract from systemic issues of police brutality and government overreach.
Quotes
"I'm not defending Alex. Frankly, I think he looks unhinged in that. He genuinely looks completely unhinged and he did commit a crime specifically whenever he knocked out the tail light that does not merit execution."
"This doesn't mean he deserved to get shot and killed. This again just like Ruby Ridge, right? They're, 'Oh, Randy, well, actually, did you know he was a white supre?' Which, by the way, was a kind of a lie, but you know, they're like, 'Oh, he was actually a white supremacist.' I'm like, 'Look, the core question is, should you shoot the guy's wife and dog?' Period. End of story."
"A video of him doing something 11 days prior has literally nothing to do with the legal analysis of whether it was appropriate for them to execute him in the street. Zero to do with that."
"It actually does make me wonder since he had had this prior hostile interaction with these agents if he wasn't tracked and in a sense targeted."
"Law enforcement prof quote unquote professionals should be held to a higher standard for deescalation and professionalism than random citizens."
"This will be kind of a rhetorical propaganda win I think for a lot of right-wingers because for them what they get most annoyed about... is that anytime there's a left shooting cause celeb they're a hero they've done absolutely nothing wrong and that's just usually not the case."
Q&A
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