Instigating – January 26, 2026

Who is instigating who? 

Before we dive into the question for this conversation, we should start off with a heavy heart and acknowledge that it has been an extremely tough month or so for the people of Minnesota, and by extension impact on all of us across this nation watching this with so many concerns. 

How, and perhaps also why, the Trump Administration targeted the state was destined to get things started entirely on the wrong foot.  

It was tough enough to watch all the videos of Renee Good being shot and killed by an ICE Officer on January 7th. No matter your take on this, supporting DHS and ICE activities in the state going after those here illegally or supporting those protesting all this, we should be able to agree on a real tragedy for a family now without a mother. One of her kids is only 6 years old, keep that age in mind for a moment.  

Good’s intention to strike Jonathan Ross or not will never be known, who she was there with and what was said up to the moments of gunfire makes this problematic, and we have to inquire did Ross do everything by federal policy for all agents in the field on dealing with a fleeing vehicle driven by someone unarmed. Already flooded with political spin ultimately we may never know it all, but the videos will haunt. 

It appears she was just trying to get away, and it appears Ross decided to place himself at the front of her car to prevent that, confusing and conflicting demands from other agents who approached the car, I could go on. A mess that requires an impartial investigation we may never get.

Whatever the case, Good ended up shot multiple times and very rapidly by Ross, up close and very personal. The result being Ross saying “fucking bitch” as an uncontrollable vehicle with an unconscious and dying Good accelerating down the street for some distance until stopped by parked cars. Those on scene refused to allow someone to at least attempt medical assistance, crowd control via threats was their next move.  

Faster than social media could circulate multiple videos from all sorts of angles, the Trump Administration rushed to a very early “(this was) an act of domestic terrorism” as an official statement. Immediately just about everyone but Ross became investigatory targets of the FBI and DOJ. 

It could be argued that shooting, those videos showing the horrifying imagery we all have seen, became a watershed moment in the debate on which ideology is in the right on dealing with immigration enforcement.

We will expand on that point a bit later on for this conversation. 

Only a few weeks later we see videos and images of a 5 year old, and that resurfaced reminders of a young 6 year old Elián González from about 27 ‘ish years ago. We all remember the story. A little boy rescued at sea fleeing Cuba, his mom lost at sea, dad still in Cuba wanting him back, and a prize winning photograph impossible to forget. 

A federal raid in Miami. Elián in the arms of the very man that pulled him from the Gulf, one of those involved at least, Donato Dalrymple with a Federal Officer pointing a weapon at them both. Full gear, full Clinton Administration motivation by AG Janet Reno, clear the structure and capture that boy, H&K MP5 submachine gun pointed at them. Later it was reported the gun was set to safety, finger on the trigger guard, as if anyone that weapon was pointed at knew it. 

Dad won that debate and Elián returned to Cuba, ended up educated and doing well all things considered. That image of sheer terror remains, keep that in mind for a moment as well. 

This time it is a young 5 year old Liam Conejo Ramos. By some accounts used by Federal Agents as bait to capture his dad Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. A whole lot of force, a whole lot of protesting, an awkward chain of events, even more “illegal alien” and “what else are we to do” rhetoric from the Trump Administration, and in the end both ended up captured. Off to a Detention Center in Texas, conclusion and ultimate destination entirely unknown. 

And finally, and just recently, yet another shot and killed by a Federal Agent, this time Alex Pretti who happened to be an ICU nurse at a local VA hospital, seemingly there to video DHS activities yet another quick claim of “domestic terrorism” by the Trump Administration even though legally armed and by all accounts a decent human being. At least to everyone but Kristi Noem, Karoline Leavitt, and the like.

Reports are already conflicting, but after six or seven Federal Agents scuffled with Pretti and one other who was caught up in the melee, one of those Federal Agents decided to end the debate and shot Pretti multiple times. 10 times, perhaps more, unarmed but a “risk” to 6 or more Federal Agents somehow in fear for their lives. Viewing the clip, others agree that Pretti’s last act was to help the other caught up in this. Federal Agents seemingly upset that someone else had the audacity to have a phone recording. 

Stills of these videos and other photos are circulating showing one of those Agents holding a weapon to the back of Pretti’s head as he looked down seemingly for the last time. Another image shows Pretti was already disarmed, before being shot to death.

More shocking imagery driving home one potential conclusion that no one is safe, no matter who approaches who, no matter what was said, etc. 

But, another dead on Minneapolis streets at the hand of Federal Agents, Officers, whatever.

A not so good Anniversary

In the view of the majority, polling and so forth well supporting, the Trump Administration has not had much to celebrate as Trump passes the one year mark of his 2nd term. Numbers are down, support is down, Republican faithful remain.

Law enforcement via military engagement in Venezuela while leaving behind most of Maduro’s close allies, intentions to “buy” under threat Greenland at least for now, most of nations who used to be our closest allies still on edge, extorting money from other nations to join a “Board of Peace,” HHS seems hell-bent on bringing back polio and other things we used to have under vaccine driven control, same HHS flipping the Food Pyramid on its head, seems the SSA gave too much of our data to Musk and team to unknown conclusions and in unknown hands currently, and of course the DHS with supporting agencies in the news for all the worst reasons killing people in the streets of Minneapolis. 

We will have a conversation on economics at another time, too much for this subject. Perhaps one question, what is the real motivation behind all this activity? 

Where we stand

If we listen to the Trump Administration, various Republicans on the hill, and their supporting cast of right leaning media commentators the argument boils down to a general theme that we should tolerate some ugliness and collateral damage in the pursuit of “rapists, murders, and drug dealers.” That also includes the capture of plenty of that do not fall into those categories, but I digress.   

There is a deeper concern and another question, how many of our Constitutional Rights should be suspended? 

It could be argued that looking out for your neighborhood, recording Federal assets are on the move hunting people, looking to protect the next 5 year old that could be used to bait a parent here illegally, even just holding up a phone and recording is all now “domestic terrorism.” 

Being concerned about Federal assets going into schools, or going into a house without a judicial order but relying on administrative warrants (this was recently leaked internal Trump Administration authorization,) is now considered violent opposition to Trump. 

That puts stress on the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments… at least. 

Or, how about the Trump Administration all the way down to FoxNews commentary suggesting that Alex Pretti should not have had his weapon on him, even though legally capable of having the weapon in a state arguably leaning Second Amendment. (For the record gun advocates are all over the place with shifting “grades” depending on who advocates for what.) Where is the NRA, or where are Republicans who used to champion Kyle Rittenhouse taking an “assault-style” rifle to what would become a mess of a protest and ultimately see three people shot. Two of them died. (And yes, I have to say Rittenhouse was found innocent in criminal court, but still faces civil suits.)

So, why again is Pretti held to one standard and Rittenhouse to another? 

While we let that settle for a moment it appears Pretti did not even draw his weapon, does not appear he motioned for it, might not have even been on him when shot by Federal Agents but Rittenhouse at 17 years old was running around Kenosha with a weapon in hand looking to “protect.” 

Speaking of the NRA, they finally did say something, “dangerous and wrong” for the Trump Administration to suggest people who carry guns risk being “lawfully shot” by officers. Some context here, Kash Patel said something about carrying a loaded weapon to a protest that he may regret later given where gun advocates tend to throw their political support.

Sum it all up and nearly half of the Bill of Rights is under question if not threat by this Trump Administration, at one time Republicans used to be for these things. Only a matter of time before the Sixth and Seventh Amendments become something to put aside as well, at least for those politically opposed to Trump Administration activities one way or another. 

Question, is government respect for rights subject to political alignment?

The answer may be muddied by the already muddy lines between protesting, civil disobedience, and “wrong and illegal obstruction.” Perhaps even based on what party champions your move, or opposes it.

With thousands of Federal assets running around Minnesota, you read that right, and the threat of the military being called in as well in support of, the potential for more government pointing more weapons at people is only going up. The potential for someone protesting via recording and voicing opposition seeing Federal Agents engaging that person for the purpose of physical harm, if not death, is also sadly going up.

We can supplement our question on exactly who is instigating who with another question. To what end? 

One Potential Conclusion

One could argue this is all a necessary evil, repeating some line of rhetoric from plenty within the Trump Administration, that hand was forced by inactivity under the Biden Administration and a similar tone about Governor Walz as well. Even if you agree that Trump is doing the right thing cleaning up other’s inactivity on this subject, are we okay with these methods? 

Very possible to agree with a political position on a matter but disagree with the method deployed to deal with that matter. But in the bubbles of both Republicans and Democrats these days, agreeing on position means the method has to be excused. Perhaps outwardly supported.

Where this goes off the rails are the Constitutional questions surrounding all of these actions and also rhetoric, even if you find yourself in the camp of wanting those here illegally dangerous or not to be deported it becomes a leap to say the ends justify the means.

We might be answering the initial question. 

Not unreasonable to question the validity of the Trump Administration statements that this is entirely about immigration enforcement and safety. 

It is already known the DHS deploys imagery and themes of wartime like recruitment strategy, applied concepts of dehumanizing people (in this case immigrants here legally or not) taken from multiple sources, as their own goals for new recruits is in the thousands of additional help.

Subject to gross generalization to say all eggs in the basket are rotten, too naive to suggest they are all good and law abiding either.

The One Big Beautiful Bill made additional funding available for all this despite the pending next Federal Government shut down due to budget shenanigans on the hill, and the backlash includes future DHS funding. Squarely in question. Are we being instigated by the Trump Administration to defend our own rights?

Is the response from political opposition a stepping-stone to something else? 

An alternative, or supplemental, potential conclusion

The other consideration is the politics and recent history of the immigration debate. 

Compared to the 2020 Election, immigration as a political issue became one of the top items discussed throughout the 2024 Election cycle. Usually very negative, became polarizing (as just about everything else is these days,) but the subject of Biden and immigration numbers was a talking point. Completely accurate or wildly off the mark the impact made. For voters overall this was not quite in the top 3 issues of importance but by various accounts it was Naturalized Citizens and Hispanic Voters especially that Trump made gains on from 2020 to 2024 (roughly 21 and 14 point gains respectively.) 

Trump even picked up several points with Asian American Voters from 2020 to 2024 using anti-DEI type rhetoric. You may remember several stories regarding college recruitment numbers and methods, a Congressional hearing or two going after university leadership, perhaps a few court cases too. 

Arguably the combined themes and political rhetoric allowed Trump to eat into usual Democratic voter groups.  

Anyway, no matter if you agree with Trump characterizing the issue as a “critical threat” to the nation or the voters flipping to Republican over general economic and border security concerns, at the end of the day the empowerment behind all of this was the voter. 

Very recent history, there is a trend.

Just as Hillary Clinton lost key districts in key States to Trump in 2016, areas that Obama won handedly and twice, we also saw the Biden disaster of a handoff to Harris result in her losing the entire so-called “Blue Wall” of States giving Trump in 2024 both the Electoral College vote and the Popular Vote. The looks on the faces of commentators from ABC News to CNN was nothing short of awkward, but how many who voted for Trump saw these recent events coming?  

Way too crass to call the voter the instigator, it is both rude and inaccurate, and we have way too much evidence from recent polling that swing-voters, independents, and non-loyalists to either Republicans or Democrats who did vote for Trump did not have the news events of today in mind. 

At least, quite a few of them did not, by the numbers of course. And for Trump and Republicans many are going the wrong direction with the midterm campaign season not that far away from picking up steam.

With Trump’s approval numbers already down, and we’ll have a conversation about the shitshow in Congress another time, we have perhaps more reason to consider the Trump Administration as the instigator. 

Trump is now a lame-duck President. Arguably, as some either are joking or worse plotting about a 3rd Trump term. Trump is also likely facing a “shellacking” not unlike what Obama faced with his first midterm Congress result. The “retribution” on the other side of the midterms can only be limited by the next Congress assuming a few things. 

The current Congress, majority Republican, and majority enablers.

So here we are today, a President only bound by his “morality and mind” and a slew of Constitutional concerns for us to digest.

While it is clearly unsafe to engage in your rights in Minnesota, it may also be unsafe in any other area that is a potential, if not already realized, political “retribution” style target of the Trump Administration. Get out of the way style Executive Authority or be crushed is starting to blur into record our acts of authority and be crushed anyway. Alert a neighbor and it gets worse.

If you do a little soft research on your own, sources you trust as they will vary, Minnesota is not even in the top 20 states for unauthorized immigrants. Speaking off, near half of them are in three states. California, Texas, and Florida. When you get into crimes committed by those here unauthorized by state you’ll find similar results in that Minnesota is not really our issue either.  

So why all this effort in Minnesota? 

Should we at least consider the possibility that all of this action in Minnesota is about Governor Walz, Harris’ running mate in 2024, and “retribution.” 

Immigration as a subject, as a possible weapon against this state, was already an issue with some rather inflammatory rhetoric being used across the board by plenty of Republicans all over the 2024 campaign. “Liberals” and “sanctuary city or state” achieved social media meme level status.

On that note of political rhetoric Trump did say of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio “they’re eating the dogs… they’re eating the cats.” The nature of the speech suggests not just gross generalizations but real underlying prejudices on display for a willing and listening audience.  

Trump is also known for going after Ilhan Omar. House Representative, Democrat, from… wait for it… 5th District of Minnesota. Questioning her “skyrocketing” wealth (there is some irony.) He has outright called for her to be jailed, accusing Omar of being in on the ‘Great Big Minnesota Scam” involving welfare fraud. I guess we can skip over the trial part, another Constitutional concern. And Trump continues to bring up the debunked conspiracy theory that Omar married her own brother and is here illegally. Some of this again recently.

Question, are you seeing this sum up to something? 

At least 2 shot dead by DHS and supporting department Agents in Minnesota, others wounded to various severity, at least one 5 year old kid in the news terrified and used as bait, schools with kids in them stalked by Federal Agents, Kristi Noem claims over 10,000 apprehensions in Minnesota, Constitutional concerns across the board on methods, an Administration that rushes to call both Good and Pretti “domestic terrorists” with Noem claiming Pretti was there to kill agents, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt being misleading on what the people want and blaming Democrats for anything and everything. 

Now really ask yourself… who is instigating who?

And while you are at it consider how much weight you give to “retribution” as the motive, and at what cost to our Constitution.