To the editor: I live in Los Angeles now, but I spent more than two decades in Minnesota, attending college, building a career and raising my children in South Minneapolis (“Federal agents’ killing of another protester roils Minneapolis,” Jan. 24). The city shaped my adult life.
What I’m struggling with isn’t just grief and horror over what happened over the weekend. It’s the expectation that we all simply carry on as usual — go to work, do our laundry and pick up the kids — while lives are lost and basic rights are called into question. The dissonance is impossible to ignore. Doing these seemingly “normal” activities and nothing more sends a message that this is acceptable. Silence becomes a form of consent.
As Angelenos, we may be far from Minneapolis, but we are not powerless. We can demand oversight from our elected officials, support independent investigations and refuse to normalize harm by staying quiet.
Jen Scully, La Crescenta
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To the editor: This article describes a nightmare: the killing of ICU nurse and U.S. citizen Alex Pretti. Federal agencies are operating with lethal impunity on our streets.
Outrage is a feeling; defunding is the solution. Democrats must stop issuing tepid statements and start raising hell. They should immediately propose a bill defunding ICE and Border Patrol operations in Minnesota and refuse cloture on all legislation until it receives a vote.
Though the GOP controls Congress, it could stop this violence today if it chose. Democrats must force that choice by demanding a repeal of the $75-billion ICE budget, pushing for a Watergate-style investigation and amending the Insurrection Act. By forcing these debates and relentlessly calling out GOP obstruction, Democrats can strip away their cover and show America exactly who is enabling this brutality.
Tim Peacock, Encinitas
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To the editor: I’m old enough to remember the Watts riots, the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Rodney King beating, the Sept. 11 attacks, the killing of George Floyd and, of course, Jan. 6, 2021. I remember the impact that Bull Connor’s fire hose and dogs had on my middle-class family, as I heard about it many times.
I have personally watched the footage of Good’s killing and now that of Pretti, both shot by masked “officers” of the federal government. I have heard the relentless verbiage forthcoming from the official sources, doing their repetitive best to convince regular Americans like me that our eyes are deceiving us, as they have continuously, clumsily done with the abhorrent videos of Jan. 6.
My question to these contortionist spinners is the same as before: Are we “great” yet? Whatever we are hurtling toward becoming, it’s abundantly clear it does not involve greatness. It is long past time for regular people to speak up and speak out about and against this lunacy.
Blaise Jackson, Escondido
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To the editor: Alex Jeffrey Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry who was fatally shot by federal agents while exercising his 1st Amendment rights in Minneapolis.
Where are our 2nd Amendment advocates who claim we need our firearms to protect us from an oppressive government? MAGA may not want to take away your guns, but it doesn’t mind using your possession of one as a pretext for shooting you.
Terry Keelan, Culver City
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To the editor: Isn’t it ironic and hypocritical that while President Trump threatens to attack Iran if its government continues to kill protesters, all his administration says about the killings of demonstrators in Minneapolis are excuses to make them justifiable?
Christopher Clark, Arroyo Grande
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To the editor: “Agents’ killing of another protester roils Minneapolis” is the understatement of the year. Just Minneapolis? Even my cousins in Italy are worried about what’s happening here in the U.S.
Laura Owen, Marina del Rey
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To the editor: I am at a loss for words. It’s not only because of what has been happening in Minneapolis, but what has been happening ever since the future divider-in-chief came down that escalator in 2015 to announce his presidential campaign.
I do have one question for those who have voted for him three times, those in Congress who voted not to impeach or convict him, and those on the Supreme Court who voted that he should be legally immune for any action he takes while in office: Is this what you voted for?
If it is, then it’s a shame on you. If it’s not (and I know Trump voters who didn’t vote for this), then tell your representatives. Tell them there are three branches of government, but they are acting like there is only one.
How sad that our president seemingly has no one in his life who cares for him enough to challenge all the lies and hate he spews, all the division and chaos he creates.
John Saville, Corona
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To the editor: While campaigning for the presidency in 2016, Trump made the now-infamous statement, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters.” Trump characterized the remark as proof of the unwavering loyalty of his supporters, who stood firmly in his corner despite his questioning of John McCain’s war hero status, his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States and his mockery of a disabled news reporter.
A decade later, that campaign rhetoric has morphed into the governing philosophy of a sitting president. Trump’s embrace of law enforcement impunity — a condition where federal agents are exempt from punishment or accountability — is center stage following the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. This executive shielding of federal agents represents a profound threat to the rule of law and must not be allowed to stand.
Jane Larkin, Tampa, Fla.
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To the editor: The Kent State killings occurred in 1970. That tragedy was a catalyst for enormous grassroots social change in America.
Will the same happen after what occurred in Minnesota? I hope so.
Matts Hirschler, Placentia