{"id":46342,"date":"2026-01-27T13:02:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T21:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46342"},"modified":"2026-01-27T13:02:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T21:02:54","slug":"moral-and-political-debacle-right-wing-media-ceos-urge-trump-to-stop-deadly-ice-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/27\/moral-and-political-debacle-right-wing-media-ceos-urge-trump-to-stop-deadly-ice-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Moral and Political Debacle\u2019: Right-Wing Media, CEOs Urge Trump to Stop Deadly ICE Crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An image of Alex Pretti is seen at a makeshift memorial in the area where he was shot dead by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 24, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Roberto Schmidt\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe American people didn\u2019t vote for these scenes and you can\u2019t continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes,\u201d the New York Post editorial board wrote.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan 26, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Trump administration<\/a> spin on this simply isn\u2019t believable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what the editorial board of the right-wing<\/a> Wall Street<\/a> Journal<\/em> wrote<\/a> Sunday calling for a \u201cpause\u201d in Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement\u2019s (ICE) anti-immigrant blitz following Saturday\u2019s killing of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Petti\u2014who was disarmed before being shot by federal agents in Minneapolis\u2014and top administration officials\u2019 claims that the man who helped save US military<\/a> veterans<\/a>\u2019 lives was a \u201cdomestic terrorist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sign<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fucking Insane\u2019: Journalist Finds at Least 2,300 Illegal ICE Detentions Since July<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"US-POLITICS-PROTEST\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A Surrender to Trump\u2019s Lawlessness\u2019: Democrats Warned Against Giving ICE More Money<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Journal<\/em>\u2018s editors called Pretti\u2019s killing \u201cthe worst incident to date in what is becoming a moral and political debacle\u201d for President Donald Trump<\/a> and his administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Journal<\/em> wasn\u2019t alone. Other right-wing outlets owned by the Murdoch media empire, including the New York Post<\/em>, published editorials calling for a suspension of Trump\u2019s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, during which dozens of people have died <\/a>in ICE custody and federal enforcers have killed two Americans. Even staunchly pro-Trump Fox News<\/em> challenged<\/a> administration officials over the shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to de-escalate in Minneapolis, Mr. President,\u201d the Post<\/em>\u2018s editorial board wrote Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot because you\u2019re wrong to enforce immigration law, nor to go after fraudsters who\u2019ve stolen billions in federal funds\u2014but because these enforcement tactics won\u2019t turn the tide, and instead are backfiring,\u201d the editors clarified. \u201cSwing voters\u2014Hispanics and independents who turned to you at the last election\u2014see US citizens dying at federal agents\u2019 hands, and recoil in horror.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe hasty and misleading rhetoric coming out of the administration needs to stop,\u201d the\u00a0Post<\/em>\u00a0said. \u201cAnd while Pretti was horribly misguided, there is no evidence he was a \u2018terrorist\u2019 intent on a \u2018massacre\u2019 of law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/moorehn\/status\/2015811427995382054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2015811427995382054%7Ctwgr%5Efcef220dec6e33148ffe6e966207407d97ccdf7c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fconservative-pushback-alex-pretti<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they did with Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother and poet who was shot dead<\/a> by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month, Trump and some of his senior officials accused Pretti of being a \u201cdomestic terrorist\u201d\u2014a move in line with the administration\u2019s designation<\/a> of left-wing activism<\/a> as terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said<\/a> that it looked like Pretti\u2014who eyewitnesses said died while trying to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed by ICE\u2014\u201cwanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House<\/a> Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller<\/a> attempted to smear<\/a> Pretti as an \u201cassassin\u201d who \u201ctried to murder federal agents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused<\/a> Pretti of \u201cdomestic terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u2018s editors put it, \u201cAlex Pretti made a mistake, but he wasn\u2019t a \u2018domestic terrorist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVideos of an event aren\u2019t always definitive, but this is how it looks to us,\u201d they wrote. \u201cPretti attempted, foolishly, to assist a woman who had been pepper-sprayed by agents. Multiple agents then tackled Pretti, and he had a phone in one hand as he lay on the ground. An agent discovered a concealed gun on Pretti, and disarmed him. An agent then shot Pretti, and multiple shots followed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Post<\/em> editors concluded, \u201cMr. President, the American people didn\u2019t vote for these scenes, and you can\u2019t continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies including Target, Best Buy, UnitedHealth, 3M, and General Mills published an open letter<\/a> Sunday calling for \u201can immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local, and federal officials to work together to find real solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gun rights groups including the National Rifle Association have called for a full investigation of Pretti\u2019s killing. The NRA<\/a> pushed back against arguments that Pretti should not have brought a gun\u2014which he was legally carrying\u2014to a protest<\/a>, calling<\/a><\/a> such assertions \u201cdangerous and wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cResponsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens,\u201d added the NRA, which was criticized for its initial silence following the killing of Philando Castile, a Black man who was legally carrying a gun when he was shot dead by police<\/a> in front of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter during a 2016 traffic stop in suburban Minneapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Republican lawmakers who support Trump have expressed their dismay over Pretti\u2019s killing, with Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana calling<\/a> the incident \u201cincredibly disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Madel, an attorney who provided legal counsel to Jonathan Ross\u2014the ICE agent who killed Good\u2014was, until Monday, also a Republican candidate for Minnesota governor. However, Madel said that he dropped out of the race and implied that he would quit the GOP<\/a> because he \u201ccannot support the national Republicans\u2019 stated retribution on the citizens of our state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I am ending my campaign for Minnesota Governor. I describe why in the below video. Please watch until the end. (It is 10 minutes, 52 seconds.)

Thank you,
Chris pic.twitter.com\/2nfyAyTzNZ<\/a><\/p>— Chris Madel (@CWMadel) January 26, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>