I want to point out how quickly Noem came out after the shooting to lie to the public. No investigation. Just lies to blame the innocent citizen.
There will be no one held accountable for the slaughter of an innocent citizen of this country. There were many bullets to take the last breath from Alex Pretti.
I also take issue with the Minnesota state law inhibiting the right to assemble. I believe the law is unconstitutional.
The Minnesota law that seeks to inhibit the First Amendment Right to Assemble assumes a criminal threshold that simply doesn’t exist. The law was well intentioned, but, incorrect.
The Minnesota law that wants to stop organized crime (I believe that may have been part of the process of writing the law) assumes the assembly of human beings will actually commit a crime or crimes. That is an inaccurate and fatal aspect of the law.
To begin it is a state law and one can argue State’s Rights. But, in arguing State’s Rights Minnesota would have to prove what specifically is unique about Minnesota that would allow such impingement of the First Amendment.
That said, I will provide an example to illustrate my argument.
After September 11, 2001 the Former FBI Director Robert Mueller had a near impossible task to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. There were no real laws on the books that would give permission to preempt attacks within the borders of this sovereign country. It would involve invasion of privacy and atypical information and evidence gathering. He settled on a particular method that proved constitutional in the courts. He did indeed impede terrorists within the USA that planned attacks on citizens.
In the methodology an FBI agent would join a group of men (no discrimination, there just weren’t women involved) seeking to kill Americans within the communities of the USA. That agent would help plan and execute the violent act right up to the point where it was going to occur. Then the agent would be with the terrorists when the FBI arrived to interrupt that violent act. One of the interrupted acts of violence involved a missile. The FBI delivered on the agent’s promise to the terrorists to procure a missile that would be used as a bomb. The interventions by the FBI were quite elaborate, but, it wasn’t entrapment. The prosecutions held up.
The reason the prosecution held up was because the would be terrorists could obtain help from others if not the FBI. After all, Osama bin Laden was successful in the attacks of September 11th within the sovereign borders of the USA. The 19 terrorists were successful within sovereign borders because the FBI, while suspicious, was hampered by then current law. They were inching up on them to the point where Zacarias Moussaoui was sidelined from participating with the other 19 in fear the FBI were on their trail.
So what is the point in this case?
Mueller was brilliant in ending those attacks because his methods went beyond conversation to the point where solid proof was at the threshold of success. The terrorists actually had the concrete plans that would be successful. There was NO DOUBT left to the violent actions to be carried out. Where the terrorists didn’t have the materials, the materials were provided to a certain goal. If, with the materials the plan went forward the evidence was obvious.
Mueller’s agents literally became terrorists to end the possibility of any other entity from stepping in to supply materials and have certain success. It is my opinion the Minnesota law does not do that.
It is one thing to gather with the right of the First Amendment to talk and plan. It is quite different to actually move forward in those plans to carry out violence. As the saying goes, “Talk is cheap.” Who is to say a rocket club cannot gather because the hobby can be misdirected? Who is to say, a group of people who want to demonstrate to end the violent occupation of Gregory Bovino’s ICE agents are actually breaking the law? They are not.
These are peaceful demonstrators in a community quite disgusted with the presence of ICE agents acting like military occupiers. These ICE agents hide their identity and carry military weaponry to the peaceful streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota. These ICE agents are scaring children and gather where children cross streets to go to and from school. These ICE agents are disruptive in their demeanor and methodology. Basically, these ICE agents are directly assaulting the peaceful lives of Americans.
Alex Pretti, no different than Renee Good, was unlawfully killed by ICE agents armed to the teeth with weapons of a battlefield. The Minnesota laws impinging upon the Right to Assemble might be on the books by well meaning legislators, but, unfortunately are unconstitutional.
Families are now in disarray and faced with an empty chair at a family gathering.