VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti was murdered by immigration agents in Minneapolis yesterday. This video is graphic and disturbing. It shows several agents surrounding one man. They wrestle him to the ground. He’s on his knees when they fire multiple shots. DHS claims he shot first. But that’s a lie. At 0:18 you can see the agent in the gray jacket reach to pull Pretti’s legally carried firearm from its holster, and turn away with it in-hand. The first shot is fired at 0:19. Another angle (slowed down with events labeled) shows him being pepper-sprayed first as he defends another civilian. At 0:56 you can see an agent reach to pull Pretti’s gun from its holster on his hip. At 1:04 you see another agent point his gun at Pretti’s back. The first shot is fired at at 1:10. Several more shots ring, as he lays lifeless on the ground. Once again, state investigators have not been allowed to analyze the scene.

Geraldo Lunas Campos was murdered in a detention center in Texas, strangled to death. His death was ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner. Witnesses were given deportation orders, which were then blocked by a judge.

According to DHS news releases, six people have died in ICE detention facilities already this year, setting a pace that would more than double last year’s record if continued.

Reporting this month indicates that ICE has shot at 11 people since September, mostly firing into vehicles. Make that 12, as of yesterday morning, that we know of.

They are taking children, including 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, and using them as bait. After apprehending Liam and his dad in their driveway in a Minneapolis suburb, they instructed him to knock on his front door to see if anyone else was inside. Liam has been sent to a detention center in Texas, rather than allowed to stay with another adult who lives at the home. DHS lied, claiming they detained him for his own safety. He’s the fourth child to be taken from his town in recent weeks.

A memo from last Spring shows DHS instructing ICE to violate our fourth amendment rights by forcing entry into homes without a warrant signed by a judge. We already knew they were doing this; it has been widely observed. But the directive from DHS highlights how little this administration cares about even the appearance of a free United States.

The House passed an appropriations bill which approves funding for ICE, among many other things, to avoid another government shutdown. The bill, facing a vote in the Senate this week, holds the ICE budget flat, while earmarking funds for bodycams and de-escalation training. It also reduces removal operations and detention beds. ICE already exceeds capacity at many of its centers consistently. And we haven’t seen video footage prevent DHS from lying, yet. Jonathan Ross filmed his murder of Renee Good on his own cellphone and they acted like it exonerated him.

Since Maduro was abducted, the Trump Administration has coordinated with Maduro’s Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, even after Trump met with opposition leader Machado, collecting her Nobel Peace Prize. This coordination is based on coercion to allow US control over Venezuelan oil despite hesitation from US investors. We have continued to murder people on small boats and seize oil tankers in the waters off the coast of Venezuela.

We’ve witnessed yet another TACO as Trump pulls back not only on threats of tariffs against European countries that don’t support US ownership of Greenland, but also on taking the island by force. Instead, Trump claims to have made an agreement framework with the NATO chief for “total access” to the island. Denmark said we could expand our military bases there, which we already had the ability to do under a 1951 treaty. It’s unclear what else the “deal” may entail. Greenlandic Prime Minister Nielsen hadn’t be informed of any details.

Jared Kushner spoke at the economic forum in Davos, boasting that Gaza would be rebuilt, complete with high-rise tourist cities and a port in the Mediterranean, within three years. The UN Office for Project Services says it’ll take more than seven years just to clear the rubble. Meanwhile, Israel has violated the so-called ceasefire hundreds of times since October, near daily, killing hundreds of Palestinians. Still, US envoys are encouraging war criminal Netanyahu to move into the next phase of this “ceasefire” by opening the Rafah crossing which Israel has occupied for years, refusing to allow aid or evacuation through the Southern border. Israel is also a member on Trump’s Board of “Peace” (quotation mine).

Emergency Protest planned by PSL - Central IL
Monday January 26 5:00PM
Champaign County Courthouse

Zoom Trainings by Springfield Immigrant Advocacy Network
Know Your Rights Monday January 26 6:00PM (every Monday)
Migra Watch Wednesday January 28 6:00PM (every Wednesday)

View this post on the webpage to comment about events happening near you!

If you live in a rural area, as always, consider driving to the nearest city where events are taking place. Alternatively, you may be able to work with the orgs planning those events, as well as your neighbors, to spread the activities into your area.

If you’re not local to Central IL and you’re struggling to find events near you, please visit the webpage to comment where you’re from and I’ll try to include events closer to you next month.

Keep an eye on generalstrike.us (also linked above). It is currently in the base organizing phase. Thousands of people have signed strike cards in the last 24 hours. We need millions. As more people commit, the coalitions will move through the planned phases to hash out mutual aid and specific demands.

Track ongoing national boycotts here. You can also start or join your own boycotts closer to home! Don’t wait for national efforts; join or lead local ones, too!

WeResistNow provides ideas and some resources for ways to resist in our every-day personal and professional lives.