“All we want here in Minneapolis is justice and the truth,” asserted Mayor Jacob Frey at a news conference last week following the fatal shooting of trained “ICE Watch Warrior” Renee Nicole Good. However, that appears to be a tall order these days, with so many interested parties warring with one another, as well as the mainstream media, which can’t stop itself from hyping the controversy. Later in the week, two additional protesters were shot – but not killed – by ICE agents in Portland, OR. Predictably, Portland erupted in a mob of demonstrators in what appears to be a carbon copy of the situation in Minneapolis. So, down the well-traveled bunny hole we go. One would think we’ve had enough of the histrionics and apply lessons learned from past tragedies – but that doesn’t seem to be the case once again.
Hands Up Don’t Shoot
Many readers remember the demise of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, when this protest slogan was repeated ad infinitum. “Hands up, don’t shoot,” were supposedly Brown’s last words of surrender to authorities – only they weren’t. Much later, after all the vitriol had burned out, evidence did not support the assertion that Mr. Brown ever uttered these words. As factually.co reported, “[F]orensic evidence and credible witness statements did not corroborate the surrender claim, leading to the conclusion that the popular account was not factually established.”
Let us also not forget the myth of the Haitian migrant whipping that supposedly occurred while border patrol agents were on horseback. For days and days, a video was replayed across the internet and on cable tv that made it look like government authorities were using reins to whip immigrants who were trying to cross the border via the Rio Grande. “It’s outrageous,” President Biden intoned at the time. “I promise you those people will pay. There will be an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences.” Several of the agents endured character assassinations during the aftermath of the video event. It was a convenient leftist narrative, and seemingly everyone bought it, except for the fact that it wasn’t true.
As Chronicles Magazine recalled, “A nearly 10-month-long inquiry found that while the Border Patrol agents did not use whips to corral the Haitian migrants at the border, and that Border Patrol does not even have whips as part of its equipment, the agents must face internal punishment anyway.”
Then there is the George Floyd incident, in which a smartphone video was used as the judge and jury in the case of Mr. Floyd’s death. In that holy mess, we learned that all videos are not created equal and that the officers’ bodycam footage “added important context to the incident,” as Liberty Nation News reported. Floyd was seen as wildly non-compliant and in medical distress even before the knee to the neck occurred. This is not to say it was a justified shooting, but there certainly were many nuances that should have been considered in this tragic affair.
In the aftermath of the Floyd debacle, police took 78 days before releasing their video to the public – and they paid for this mistake dearly. This time, authorities learned the lesson of publicizing their bodycam right away, and lo and behold, it adds additional context to the shooting as it appears to show the ICE agent being hit by the vehicle before opening fire. This critical piece of evidence alters the narrative that leftist protesters have been propagating.
ICE Cold
Each of these cases sparked civil unrest, much of which ended in violence against innocent people and property. Thus we should not be surprised that the left is using the current tragedies in Minneapolis and Portland as a cudgel to beat ICE authorities and make a public spectacle of it. At this point, one can stipulate that it is unclear whether the shooting of Ms. Good was justified or not. Much of her story and sad ending is being uncovered as of this writing. The New York Post has reported that Good was a professionally trained protester who was involved with an anti-ICE group “who worked to ‘document and resist’ the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota.”
In Portland, the situation is a bit different. The two who were fired upon were suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang, according to a Homeland Security X post. The man and woman who were shot and injured are Venezuelan nationals who came to the US during the Biden administration. Much like in Minneapolis, authorities maintain that they weaponized their vehicle by trying to run over ICE agents. Portland – considered to be one of the most left-leaning cities in the US – didn’t wait a nanosecond to, as some would say, send in the clowns, sparking protests around the country.
Thus far, the outcome of this mob mentality has led to only one action on the part of government authorities: They have doubled down and are sending 1,000 more ICE agents to Minneapolis. In the cases of Good, Floyd, and Brown, the situation spiraled out of control when the victims refused to follow the orders of the authorities. Why these individuals felt it unnecessary to listen to government authorities is beyond comprehension. Ignoring commands such as “stop” or “get out of the car” and not complying with them is an immediate setup for trouble. Perhaps these leftist organizations that train their faithful disruptors should mention that it’s never a good idea to ignore a government authority that carries a lethal weapon.
The power of civil unrest can be a mighty sword, but it rarely brings about positive change and should not be wantonly used. Cooler heads must prevail for justice to be done because we’ve seen this film before, and it doesn’t end well.
