On January 24th, 2026, a man named Alex saw another man shove someone off their feet and onto the ground on a snowy road. He walked over to block the woman from being attacked further. In response, the other man began to pepper spray him, and, as Alex was trying to help the woman up, he and several other of his friends gathered around and grabbed the first man, who was on the ground.

As he was immobilized with at least four other men on him, Alex was shot multiple times in the back by one of the other men.

When written like that, it sounds like what it was: an execution. The fact that the ‘other men’ were ICE agents does not change this for the better. It makes it worse because those are federal agents executing a man who did nothing wrong.

Alex Pretti was shot yesterday, and the immediate response from the White House was to claim he was attempting to commit acts of domestic terrorism. That he had a gun in his hand. He did not; he had a camera and there are videos which can show you exactly what is going on. He was restrained and they shot him dead, not because anyone was in fear for their life, but because they knew they could kill him without repercussions.

Earlier this month, a woman called Renee Good was in a car when an ICE agent was arguing with her. Again, on video, you can see her turn the wheels of her car away from him as she prepares to drive off before he shoots her multiple times. She wasn’t in danger. But before this, her partner DID commit the heinous and unforgivable act of insulting the ICE agent. I believe the exact words were ‘why don’t you get yourself some lunch, big boy?’ Moments later he shot Renee.

I’m relating this other story like this because I don’t think there’s a fair narrative to be made that the ICE agent thought he was in danger from Renee’s car. He was not in danger when he shot her. It’s my personal belief that he shot her because he couldn’t take an insult, because Renee and her wife were gay, and because he thought he could get away with it. After all, he was wearing a mask. Just like the other ICE agents who killed Alex. And neither the man who killed Renee, nor the one who killed Alex were charged by the federal government, in fact, the White House is blocking attempts to investigate the murders at all.

This is all by design. When you show someone that there are no consequences for their actions, it makes it so much easier for someone to do what they really want to. If there were no consequences for killing someone…well, that’s the breakdown of law itself. Only, in this case, it’s one-sided. ICE gets to murder who they want and that makes anyone who wants to protest or exercise their free speech afraid for their lives. And that’s the playbook of tyrants and authoritarianism.

Let’s be clear: Alex did nothing wrong in that video. He tries to help a woman up and places himself between her and a man shoving her to the frozen ground and for that he is pepper sprayed, dogpiled, and then shot. Yes, he had a gun holstered on his hip. I suggest, if you love gun rights, that should not be an excuse to unload a magazine into him. Not one shot, not two, but pulling that trigger again and again until he’s dead. They shot Alex because he made them mad, just like the agent who shot Renee was angry and there was nothing to stop them. No laws, no accountability. That’s what happens when you have no laws.

It was an execution today, it was an execution of Renee Good, and if you do believe the official narrative from the White House that these ICE agents feared for their lives, I think you’re willingly lying to yourself because you just want to see ‘the other side’ dead. If so, I doubt there’s anything I can say to you except that when they come for you for being too well-armed, for saying just the wrong thing or having a single drop of the wrong blood, well…don’t be in a car, don’t have a gun, and you’ll probably still be shot.

To everyone else, especially if you saw that video and were disturbed? Let me simply say this. When a storm comes to your city, you stockpile fuel and food. But you should also reach out to neighbors, especially because they might be in need, and knowing you’re a friendly door might mean if their power goes out they can come to you. Know your neighbors and community. We prepare for storms like the one sweeping America right now.

ICE is a storm and it will come. It’s starting with Minnesota. When it does, you should be ready and the one thing that I’ve seen that’s clear is this:

The White House is not on your side. They’ll lie about why you died. But the neighbors of Renee and Alex and the entire city were on the streets, trying to halt the clear cruelty of masked men who are too afraid to show their faces.

Cowards wear masks to hide what they do. Please be safe and be aware of what is going on. If you object to what I’m writing, I encourage you to watch those videos without commentary or someone telling you what to think. If you still can stare at a man and woman dying without a moment of regret or horror or questioning the government…how did you find my story and enjoy it? Do you trust this faceless government to avoid you when you’re caught in their grinder?

Making people afraid to get out and protest is the first step. Then they’ll come for anyone writing things they don’t like. Free speech is the first liberty to go and when it goes, the rest follows fast. Thanks for reading,

–pirateaba