The ICE Killing In Houston Is Starting To Look Like Another Murder

The number of shooting by ICE agents is now in the double digits. The latest one was in Houston a few days ago. The victim (pictured) was Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

Mr. Salgado was not a documented immigrant, but he had lived in Houston for 35 years, and had created his own construction business. He paid taxes and had no criminal record. In other words, he was a valuable asset to the Houston community - until he was killed by an ICE agent.

Here are a few facts about the killing:

* Delgado was not the person ICE was after. Evidently, this was another ICE blunder.

* Delgado was unarmed and on his way to work (at one of his construction sites).

* The ICE agents who tried to stop Delgado were driving unmarked vehicles and none were wearing uniforms. There was no way he could have known they were law enforcement of any kind.

* NONE of the ICE vehicles had dashboard cameras, and none of the agents were wearing body cameras (WHY?).

* ICE claimed Delgado had rammed one of their vehicles and "weaponized" his vehicle to go after an agent, so they shot into his vehicle in self-defense. But a video shot after the incident showed no damage to the "rammed" ICE vehicle.

* The incident is being investigated ONLY by the federal government, and access to all information and evidence has been denied to local law enforcement.

* Witnesses to the shooting have been detained by ICE, and ICE is trying to pressure them into signing papers to be deported.

This is starting to smell like another ICE murder - just like the ones they tried to cover up in Wisconsin. Why won't local agencies be allowed to investigate? If ICE did nothing wrong, an investigation by local authorities would show that.

ICE hasn't been in the news recently, but evidently they haven't changed. They are still a lawless agency who thinks they have the right to murder at will.

THEY MUST BE STOPPED!

ICE Murders Another American Citizen In Minnesota

ICE agents have killed another Minnesota citizen. This time it was ICU nurse Alex Pretti.

In a news segment soon after the murder, ICE officials said Pretti had approached them brandishing a weapon (a 9mm pistol) and was trying to massacre ICE officers. That is an outrageous LIE!

Video showed that Pretti had nothing but a phone in his hand, and he was not being aggressive toward ICE agents. What he was doing is trying to help up another citizen who had been brutally shoved down by an ICE agent. As he was helping the person to their feet, he was attacked and thrown to the ground by several ICE agents. As the photo above shows, they had him on the ground with his hands behind his back.

It was then that they discovered he had a gun on him (which he was legally permitted to carry by Minnesota law), and an agent called out gun. Another agent then shot Pretti in an overreaction - even though he was on the ground and posed no real threat. 

DHS officials then said they would be the only agency investigating the shooting - even though they had already held a news conference saying the shooting was justified. They evidently are worried that a real investigation would find something wrong with the shooting. When a department investigates its own actions, it is very likely they are just trying to cover up what happened.

Once again, ICE has murdered an innocent American citizen. This has to stop. Unfortunately, Trump doesn't want it to stop. He wants to use it to impose the Insurrection Act and bring in federal troops to make the situation even worse - and the Republican Congress is either complicit or too cowardly to stop him.

Trump Is Using The FBI To Sweep The Murder By An Ice Agent Under The Rug

 

After viewing the video of the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent, most Americans want a thorough and non-biased investigation. That investigation should include all the ares law enforcement agencies - local police, Minnesota state police, and the FBI. But Donald Trump doesn't want that.

The FBI (headed by Trump sycophant Kash Patel) is shutting out all other law enforcement agencies from the investigation. They, and they alone, will investigate the shooting. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what they will find. The shooter will be exonerated.

Patel is already on thin ice with Trump for his misuse of FBI agents, funds, and property. He's going to make sure the investigation report reads exactly like Trump wants it to read.

In other words, the truth will be swept under the rug.

Americans are spreading unhappy with the thuggery of Trump, Noem, and their ICE agents. The coming coverup of the killing of Good will not satisfy the public. It will just make matters worse to know that agents can violate the law and even kill innocent people - and they can get away with it.

This is not right. Everyone must be subject to the same laws - even ICE agents. 

The Unnecessary And Illegal Murder Of An American Citizen

As someone who worked nearly 30 years in various aspects of law enforcement, I am sickened by the killing of Renee Good by federal agents. It was unnecessary and illegal. The agent who fired the shots should be arrested and tried in a Minnesota court (to avoid a pardon by Donald Trump).

The following description of the incident is by Heather Cox Richardson (at Letters From An American):

A federal agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good as she was driving away from ICE agents on a residential street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to Minneapolis leaders, Good was a legal observer: a volunteer trained to observe police conduct in case of future legal action.

Three videos taken at the scene show a maroon SUV perpendicular on a snowy street. A silver SUV driving up the street stops. Two officers wearing badges that say “police” and body armor get out of the vehicle and walk toward the maroon car.

One of them says, “Get out of the f*cking car,” and the other reaches through the open driver’s side window while trying to open the door. The driver backs up the vehicle, and straightens the wheel as if making a three-point turn. Then she starts slowly to accelerate along the street.

A third officer who has been standing on the side of the road pulls out a gun as the car is turning away. He shoots three times. The maroon car does not hit anyone as it rolls up the street, hitting another vehicle and then a utility pole. The shooter walks briskly away, apparently uninjured.

Seen in slow motion, a video shows the wheels of the maroon vehicle were fully turned away from the shooting officer, who made no effort to jump away, clearly suggesting he did not feel as if he were in danger. His first shot went through the windshield; the next two went through the driver’s side window as the car moved past him. An onlooker shouted “What the f*ck?!”

Video taken by another eyewitness shows ICE agents refusing to allow a self-identified physician to tend to the victim and telling him to back up. Although there is no one tending the clearly visible woman in the car, an agent says: “We have medics on scene. We have our own medics.” When another bystander screams: “Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY?!” an agent tells her, “Relax.” “How can I relax?” she shouts. “You just killed my f*cking neighbor.”

Trump Statement On Reiner Murders Shows A Lack Of Character And Decency

 

The Second Boat Strike Is Moot Because The First Was Illegal

We have heard a lot about the second strike against an alleged narcotics-carrying boat on September 2nd. Congress want the full tapes of the bombings released, and Secretary Hegseth is refusing to release them. The question seems to be whether a war crime was committed - the execution of helpless shipwrecked victims.

I believe that whole question is a moot one for two reasons. First, we are not at war. Second, the first strike was illegal.

What would we think if Border Patrol officers blew up a vehicle trying to enter the U.S. and killed everyone in it because it was suspected that the vehicle contained illegal drugs?

What would we think if the DEA/Police blew up a suspected drug dealers house/apartment killing everyone in it?

The answer is obvious. The officers would be arrested and charged with murder. We operate under the rule of law in this country. We arrest suspected criminals, give them a fair trial respecting due process protections, and let a jury decide their guilt or innocence. Labeling them as "narco-terrorists" would not change that.

Why then would we think it's different in international waters? They are suspected criminals - not terrorists or enemy soldiers. Calling the bombings an act of war and labeling the victims as terrorists changes nothing.

Our Navy and Coast Guard are fully capable of seizing and searching the boats, and if contraband is discovered, arresting the people on the boats. They would than be given a fair trial and either convicted or found innocent. That is the law. That is what has always been done. Killing them with a trial and proof of their guilt is illegal - it is murder. 

And that is true even if ordered done by a president.

Even Republicans Are Beginning To Balk At The Trump/Hegseth Murders

 

The following post is by Steve Benen at MS NOW:

After three months of deadly U.S. military strikes against civilian boats in international waters, the Trump administration has generated a great many questions, though a simple one has hovered near the top of the list: Are these operations legal?

A great many experts have argued that the White House policy of extrajudicial killings is plainly illegal. Evidently, the senior military lawyer for the combatant command overseeing the lethal strikes came to the same conclusion, as did a variety of other legal voices within the administration.

These questions grew considerably louder late last week, with striking reporting from The Washington Post. In an article published on the day after Thanksgiving, the Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive to military personnel to kill everybody on a vessel carrying 11 people. From the piece:

A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt: Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack … ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water.

The Post’s report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, emphasized the fact that the men targeted in the second strike posed “no imminent threat of attack” and were not in an “armed conflict” with the United States. . . .

Todd Huntley, a former military lawyer who advised special operations forces for seven years at the height of the U.S. counterterrorism campaign, told the Post that this second deadly strike “amounts to murder.” This is not an uncommon reaction to the allegations.

Ryan Goodman, a former special counsel at the Pentagon, described the allegations as a “textbook” example of a war crime. Jack Goldsmith, who led the Office of Legal Counsel under George W. Bush, added that if the Post’s reporting is accurate, “it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder.” A group of former military lawyers issued a joint statement that concluded that the allegations raised in the Post’s report “constitute war crimes, murder, or both.”

This, among other things, also adds fresh context to the hyperaggressive response to Democratic veterans who advised service members not to follow illegal orders.

Complicating matters for the White House, some congressional Republicans have raised related concerns.

Late Friday, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement with Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the panel’s ranking member, noting that the committee was aware of the reporting and adding, “we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”

A day later, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, issued a related statement with Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the panel’s ranking member, which added, “This committee is committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean. We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question.”

Appearing on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, also said, “Obviously if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that that would be an illegal act.”

For the administration, this is not good news. Donald Trump has grown accustomed to GOP lawmakers simply turning the other way in response to scandalous allegations. That the bipartisan leadership of the Armed Services committees, in both chambers, plan to put these allegations under the microscope will lead to scrutiny the White House would likely prefer to avoid.

Trump Has Executed 43 People Without Arrest Or Trial

Robert Reich tells the truth about Donald Trump's murder spree:

The United States is now executing people on the high seas whom Trump calls “enemy combatants.” He’s doing so without a declaration of war, without input from Congress, and without any findings that they pose a threat to the United States.

 

At this moment, Secretary of Defense (or Secretary of War, as Trump prefers) Pete Hegseth is positioning warships, including an aircraft carrier, and planes in waters off Latin America.

Hegseth has already bombed 10 boats, eight of them in the Caribbean and two others this week in the eastern Pacific. 

So far, the death toll is 43.

Neither Trump nor Hegseth has offered any evidence to support their claims that the vessels have been smuggling drugs to the United States or were “operated by” Tren de Aragua, a group that Trump has designated as a terrorist organization.

It is illegal, under domestic and international law, to deliberately target civilians who are not directly participating in hostilities — even if they are suspected criminals.

Before Trump, the United States dealt with suspected maritime drug smuggling by using the Coast Guard, sometimes assisted by the Navy. If the suspicions proved accurate, the boat’s crews were arrested. They might then stand trial. The penalty for being convicted of drug trafficking was prison time. 

Now, Trump is summarily executing people suspected of being drug dealers, without any proof. 

Trump claims that the attacks are not murder because he has “determined” that the boats are smuggling drugs, that they are being run by drug cartels, that drug trafficking by cartels constitutes an armed attack on the United States, and that the United States is now engaged in a formal armed conflict with the cartels. 

As a result, he reasons, the boat crews are “enemy combatants” and can be executed. 

Every step in this so-called logic is questionable. 

It’s also dangerous. What if Trump “determines” that anyone he dislikes — immigrants, Democrats, student protesters — is an “enemy combatant?” 

He has already referred to the “enemy within” the United States — in characterizing domestic political opponents, including government officials, critics, activists, and protesters. 

In his September 30 speech to the U.S. military’s top brass, Trump discussed using the military against this so-called “enemy from within.” 

Who’s the “enemy within?” He told members of the Navy and Marines to “take care of this little gnat on our shoulder called the Democrats.” He has called Democrats “vermin,” “scum,” and, yes, “the enemy within.” 

Trump has sent troops into Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago — whose inhabitants overwhelmingly vote for Democrats — and he’s done so over the objections of mayors and governors. He plans to send more troops into more cities. He claims he’s doing it to deal with crime or to protect ICE agents or to protect ICE facilities. Again, the evidence is flimsy or nonexistent. 

ICE now holds 59,762 people in detention. Some of those detained have been American citizens. ICE made a mass arrest of 15 New York state elected officials. It has arrested members of Congress, active-duty firefighters, a child it accused of being a convicted adult in the MS-13 gang, a disabled military veteran, and a United States marshal — all of whom were shown to be U.S. citizens wrongfully held by ICE. 

Trump’s Justice Department is now prosecuting people Trump has ordered it to prosecute — people who have tried to hold him legally accountable, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey. 

Put it all together. Let me ask you, honestly: How close are we to Trump ordering the execution of Americans he considers his political opponents? 

Trump Is Murdering "Drug Transporters" - Who Will Be Next?

 The following post is by Robert Reich:

Actions now being taken by Trump and his regime may seem far-removed from your daily life or the lives of people you care about. But they’re not. 

The U.S. military has attacked three boats in the Caribbean Sea suspected of smuggling drugs, killing at least 17 people.

Why should you worry?

Because Trump’s claims that the Constitution gives him the right to kill anyone he believes to be transporting drugs into the United States could be used to justify murdering you or your loved ones. 

No judge or jury found that these 17 people did anything illegal. We’re taking Trump’s word for it that they were smuggling drugs into the United States. 

We don’t know for sure that they were foreign nationals; they could have been Americans. Hell, we don’t even know that the number was 17; it could have been far more. 

What if Trump decides you’re involved in transporting drugs into the United States? Or he doesn’t like you and wants to get rid of you, and uses this as an excuse?

Let me put this as directly as I can. The current occupant of the Oval Office is a thin-skinned sociopath who cannot tolerate criticism and who lies like most people breathe. Do you trust him with the power to murder anyone he says is transporting drugs to America?

It’s much the same with grabbing people from their homes who are legally in the United States and then whisking them off to prison because they’ve engaged in speech that Trump doesn’t like.

This is what happened to Mahmoud Khalil, who graduated from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in December, who was in the United States legally on a green card as well as a student visa, and whose wife is an American citizen.

On March 8, immigration agents appeared at Khalil’s apartment building and told him he was being detained. They then revoked Khalil’s green card and student visa and held him at a Louisiana detention facility for 104 days before a federal judge ordered him released.

Khalil has never been charged with a crime. (In September, a Louisiana judge ordered him to be deported to either Syria or Algeria for allegedly failing to disclose information on his green card application. That decision is being appealed.)

Khalil was one of the leaders of last year’s peaceful pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. He expressed his political point of view nonviolently and non-threateningly. That’s supposed to be permitted — dare I say even encouraged? — in a democracy.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump conceded Khalil was snatched up and sent off because of his politics. “This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump wrote. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.”

Nearly 13 million people in the United States hold green cards. Tens of thousands more are here temporarily as foreign students and professors. All are now in danger of being arrested if they speak their minds.

I am not blaming the ICE agents who are merely carrying out Trump’s “crackdown,” and there is absolutely no justification for political violence targeted at them or at anyone else.

 

My point is that, if you accept the legality of what is happening, nothing can stop Trump from arresting you or someone you care about for supporting any cause Trump doesn’t like — such as, say, replacing Republicans in Congress in 2026 and putting a Democrat in the White House in 2028.

I say this not to frighten you but to warn you of the implications of what is occurring. 

Trump’s bombing of three ships — killing at least 17 civilians — on the basis of unproven allegations that they were sending drugs into the United States, and his ICE raids arresting permanent residents on the basis of unproven allegations they are engaged in “anti-American activity,” endangers every one of us.

It’s not just that Trump is nuts. It’s that he’s unilaterally acting as judge and jury in deciding who’s guilty of actions that are being punished with deportation, prison, or murder. 

These moves personally and directly threaten the freedoms you and I take for granted. We must resist them. October 18 provides one opportunity (see here).

This Was NOT Law Enforcement - It Was Murder!

On Tuesday, the Trump administration blew up a boat in international waters and killed its 11-member crew. The administration claimed it was gang members carrying drugs from Venezuela that were destined for the United States. But they have provided no proof of that. And Secretary of State Rubio said it would happen again in the future.

The Trump administration claimed the attack was justified because the people on the boat were "terrorists". But that's a pathetic excuse for the illegal action. Drug dealers (if that's what they were) may be criminals, but they are not terrorists - and calling them terrorists does not make them that.

Even if we ignore the fact that the attack happened in international waters, and assume that those on the boat were indeed trying to smuggle drugs into the United States, murdering them was still wrong - and it was murder. According to U.S. law, criminals should be arrested, detained, and given a fair trial.

How would this be any different than killing those found smuggling drugs across our southern border, or killing those found selling drugs on American streets? 

I am not trying to defend criminal behavior. But our democracy has laws, and the government violating those laws is no better than the criminals doing it. In fact, it may be worse because when the government violates our laws then we no longer have a system based on the rule of law.

Trump seems to think he has the power to do whatever he wants, including labeling people as terrorists and murdering them. He doesn't. And decent people in this country must make it clear that our laws matter.

Two Young Israelis Were Murdered - Was It Antisemitism?

On Wednesday night, two young employees of the Israeli embassy were shot and killed as they exited an event at the Jewish Museum in Washington. 

It was a violent criminal act that should never have happened, and I'm thankful the perpetrator was apprehended. I hope he's convicted and serves a very long sentence in prison.

But one thing that has bothered me is that the media was instantly calling it antisemitism. It might have been, but we first have to know why it occurred.

If the gunman shot these young people simply because they were Jewish, then it would definitely be antisemitism. But if they were shot because they worked for a government committing violent crimes against the people of Gaza, it would be political terrorism - but not antisemitism.

Too often these days, people (especially politicians) are quick to label any speech or action against Israel as antisemitism. But people have the right to oppose actions by the Israeli government - just like they would against the actions of any other government. It is NOT antisemitism to oppose the Israeli government!

Violence (except in self-defense) is always wrong, but it is not always antisemitic.

POLL: College Students Respect The Murderer More Than The Insurance Executive

 

The charts above are from the Generation Lab Poll -- done between December 19th and 23rd of a nationwide sample of 1,026 college students, and has a 3.4 point margin of error.

Trump Was Wrong (Again) - Here Is The Truth About The New Orleans Attacker

Donald Trump was quick to assume the attacker in New Orleans was an immigrant because he had dark skin and a foreign-sounding name. He wasn't. It was just another Trump lie!

Here, from The Daily Beast, are real facts about the attacker:

Federal authorities named the suspect as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Born in Beaumont, Texas.

He studied for two years at Georgia State University between 2015 and 2017, the school confirmed Wednesday, and graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration.

Has a record of minor offenses in Katy, Texas including misdemeanor theft in 2002 and driving with a suspended or invalid license in 2005.

Jabbar spent ten years in the military as a human resources and IT specialist and also worked as a realtor in Houston.

Jabbar, an American citizen, is understood to have served from 2007 to 2015 in the U.S. military. He deployed to Afghanistan before transitioning to the Army Reserve, where he served until 2020.

An ISIS flag-carrying U.S. Army veteran who converted to Islam.

Authorities had recovered other writings tying him to the Middle-East based terror group (ISIS).

Records show that Jabbar was married twice, with his first marriage ending in 2012. The suspect filed a court document in August 2022 as part of further divorce proceedings that said he said he worked at the time for the accounting firm Deloitte and made about $120,000 a year.

He said he owed more than $27,000 in late payments on his house and was facing foreclosure.

His ex-wife earlier went to court to get a restraining order against him during the Covid-19 pandemic.