I have been writing here about the organized resistance to the efforts of federal officers to enforce immigration law in the Twin Cities. The object of the resistance is obstruction of law enforcement. It is covert and illegal. It is covert because it is illegal. It’s a big story that has received almost no local coverage.
Yesterday videos emerged of a previous confrontation between Alex Pretti and federal agents. This encounter took place on January 13, eleven days before Pretti’s fatal encounter with border patrol officers in south Minneapolis. A family representative confirmed to the Guardian that it was Pretti in the footage posted yesterday.
Minneapolis attorney Steve Schleicher represents the Pretti family. The Guardian quotes Schleicher: “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street – despite posing no threat to anyone – he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing.” It’s certainly true that nothing that happened a full week before could have justified Pretti’s kiling, but you otherwise have to wonder what Schleicher was talking about.
Schleicher, by the way, was probably the most capable attorney representing the state in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin. The prosecution was Goliath in a David versus Goliath case conducted in a lynch mob atmosphere. By my count, Schleicher’s team included a total of some 26 attorneys. Chauvin, meantime, was represented by a single attorney assisted by a young associate.
Schleicher also represented Said Shafii Farah in the first Feeding Our Future fraud trial. His client was guilty as sin and knew it. That’s why Farah arranged to bribe juror number 52 just before closing arguments in the case. He lacked faith in Schleicher’s powers of persuasion under the circumstances.
The videos posted yesterday seem to me to suport the inference that Pretti was a member of the organized resistance. That would explain why he was on the scene on January 13. That would be explain why he was on the scene on January 24. Even if true — perhaps the Signal chats will provide a more definitive answer — that would not justify Pretti’s killing either, but it helps explain what is happening here. It adds context and it is part of the story.
