Mr. McGoo could have seen this one coming. Putting thousands of heavily armed and untrained soldiers on civilian streets with no rules of engagement and no accountability for mistakes, whose only mission was to harass and torment all who got in their way, was a clear recipe for what happened. Arguing that some of these masked soldiers had military or even police backgrounds doesn’t mean they are trained or vetted to safely perform the task at hand.
These individuals are getting up to $50k signing bonuses, up to $60k student loan forgiveness, and other financial incentives being paid out of DHS funding increases. While all officers get some basic law enforcement training, only 450 officers get SRT (Special Response Team) training similar to SWAT. Homeland Security has added over 12,000 new agents in the last year more than doubling the number of officers.
ICE has noted some instances of training attrition when recruits are disqualified for not passing an exam on the Fourth Amendment. Since this amendment addresses unreasonable searches and seizures as well as the right to privacy, it appears that certain recruits may not fully understand these principles. Given recent events, it would be interesting to hear what Homeland Security thinks is really in the Fourth Amendment. It would also be interesting to know what sort of deescalation training agents receive, if any.
Over the past year, ICE reported 32 deaths in custody, marking the highest rate in more than two decades. In 2025, over 30 shootings by ICE agents led to 8 fatalities. So far this year, at least eight individuals have died during interactions with ICE. Additionally, federal officers have fired at people in vehicles at least nine times within the last four months. These incidents often include cases of medical neglect after the shootings. Although these numbers vary by source, any mistake that leads to death or serious injury is unacceptable.
In one of the most flagrant violations of human rights, Alex Pretti was shot three times in the back while on the ground in police custody. He was shot at ten times within five seconds. Some of those shots were fired after he was lying motionless on the ground. Federal agents denied state investigators any access to the shooting scene while they worked on how they would spin their version of events.
Never one to wait until the facts are in, the Trump administration quickly branded this ICU nurse, “a domestic terrorist who was brandishing a firearm and endangering officers.” The top DHS official in Minnesota, Greg Bovino, claimed that Pretti was there trying to “massacre law enforcement.” The fact that he was CARRYING a legal concealed firearm and was BRANDISHING a cellphone, are just minor distinctions to an administration rarely concerned with reality. They aren’t even concerned that there is video evidence of the entire incident that shows that they are lying. An officer (on video) was seen disarming Pretti before agents opened fire.
It seems that merely calling someone a “domestic terrorist” is an excuse for murder. No proof of domestic terrorism is necessary, just utter those words and public execution is OK. All will be forgiven.
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