Above, an anti-ICE protest outside the South Bay Target drew hundreds of people in solidarity with the people of Minnesota on Friday, Jan. 23. Yawu Miller photo
Saturday’s cold-blooded murder of 37-year-old veterans’ ICU nurse Alex Pretti — executed by masked federal agents on the streets of Minneapolis— has unleashed a wave of outrage from a growing swath of Americans from across the political divide. And while there are a few hopeful indicators that the demands for resignations and a “reset” of enforcement tactics might ease the siege of Minnesota, there remains an authentic danger that many corners of this nation— ours included— could quickly descend into widespread civil disorder and chaos.
There’s no doubt from this vantage point that the aggressive, paramilitary nature of the federal deployment into the Twin Cities was devised to intimidate and cower Americans and immigrants alike into obedience and acquiescence to absolute Trumpian rule. That has failed in spectacular fashion, thanks to the tens of thousands of heroic Minnesotans who’ve peacefully resisted and protested and stood up for their targeted neighbors, including many fellow citizens who’ve been profiled, harassed, and even detained because of their skin color.
We join with Gov. Healey, AG Campbell, and members of our Congressional delegation in calling for the immediate termination or impeachment of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem, one of the architects of this catastrophic deployment. But, demoting ICE administrators like her or the buffoonish “ICE commander” Greg Bovino is not enough.
Stunningly, the names of thefederal agents who murdered Mr. Pretti are presently unknown to local authorities in Minnesota, who have been blocked from conducting a proper homicide investigation, just as they were deterred from probing the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good. Instead, these individuals— Bovino, Noem, Boston’s own Todd Lyons, et al.— arranged for the transfer of the killer agents from Minneapolis and have sought to keep hidden key evidence, including their identities, from police and prosecutors with rightful jurisdiction. For this, these same officials should themselves be investigated and — if warranted— charged with obstruction of justice.
Absent an orderly and transparent investigation by local authorities of what seem to be crimes, this country will remain frozen by the spectre of extrajudicial killings and the fallacy of “complete immunity” for the secret agents who have caused the deaths and other injuries. The rule of law must prevail or this republic — as we’ve known it— will soon be a past-tense proposition.
Here in Boston, we expect that our state’s constitutional officers, led by our former attorney general-turned-governor will not wait for Minneapolis-style atrocities to visit our communities. Gov. Healey and her administration should have at the ready a task force of state police, district attorneys, state prosecutors — supported by members of the National Guard, if necessary— to track, record, and prepare criminal prosecutions against federal agents and supervisors who may be deployed in this Commonwealth.
In Minnesota, much of that work has been left to private citizen observers, who have done us all a great service by documenting widespread and occasionally deadly federal abuses. At Healey’s direction, the state apparatus should reinforce that line of defense and stand ready to challenge, detain, arrest, and prosecute federal agents who unjustly accost or injure our fellow citizens or any resident of Massachusetts.
There can no longer be any equivocation from our state leaders about the stakes. Minnesota has shown us all the degree to which federal sponsors of aggression and overreach are prepared to go to violate the rights of US citizens. The Commonwealth must step up proactively to send a clear message to the White House and its Congressional lapdogs: In Massachusetts, you will be held accountable and punished to the fullest extent of our laws.
