I returned from Minneapolis to Dallas Friday night. I expected the next piece I’d write for Baptist News Global would be about my experience participating in the clergy actions on Friday. Those reflections will have to wait.
When I saw the first video of Alex Pretti’s murder, I sat in stunned silence.
Mara Richards Bim
The video made its way to social media quickly — before the major news media had picked it up. At about the same time, I started getting messages from the organizers of the clergy action I’d been a part of, confirming that an observer had been shot by federal agents.
As more and more videos were released from bystanders, I received word from several folks on the ground in Minneapolis that DHS had taken many of those witnesses at the scene to Whipple — the ICE field office outside Minneapolis. There was a collective hope that these witnesses already had uploaded their videos to the cloud so the government wouldn’t destroy evidence.
This is the world we’re living in now: The government puts out propaganda and attempts to destroy evidence to maintain its lies.
“This is the world we’re living in now: The government puts out propaganda and attempts to destroy evidence to maintain its lies.”
Much like with the murder of Renee Good on Jan. 7, the government has been quick to slander Alex Pretti rather than take accountability for its actions.
News media is reporting he’s a licensed gun owner in a state that allows open carry. The videos of his murder show as he was tackled by agents, one removed his gun from the holster on his back. He never had the gun in his hand.
Even though the agent who secured the gun turned to walk away, another shot Alex. Once and then 11 more times.
If you listen to the audio, you can hear 12 shots were fired into his body as he lay on the frozen ground.
(Screencap via Drop Site News on X)
This is the world we’re living in now: The government openly executes U.S. citizens in broad daylight.
While I was in Minneapolis last week, I did a ride along with two teen brothers who are part of a rapid response there. I reached out to them to find out if they were OK and if they had been at the scene of the murder. They arrived at the same time the ambulance did and captured footage of the aftermath.
After executing Alex, a U.S. citizen, on the street in broad daylight, the government turned its full fear and wrath on the bystanders who were screaming and crying at what they had just seen. The brothers, Sam and Ben Luhmann, captured the scene in two sequential videos (here and here). Both are worth watching in their entirety.
This is the world we’re living in now: The government is openly terrorizing U.S. citizens without restraint or accountability.
If social media is any indication, the population seems to be reacting to what is unfolding in three different ways.
Some folks see the videos of the state violence and cheer it on. One can only surmise the motivations of this group. A generous reading might be they are entirely consumed by the evils of resentment (Matthew 5:21-26). The government has provided them with enough scapegoats (immigrants, people who oppose the government’s actions) to allow them to avoid taking any responsibility for their own failings in life (job, marriage, morality).
Another group sees the videos of state violence and, while not cheering it on, either justifies it or simply looks the other way. Those who justify it echo the language of abusers in saying, “If only she hadn’t been there” or “If only he hadn’t been filming agents.” A generous reading of this group’s actions — those who look away and those who justify it — might be they are living in denial at what they are seeing. If they can simply ignore what is happening or, even worse, justify it in some way, then maybe they will be safe from the state violence. These folks are so consumed by fear of the state they have abandoned God’s vision for justice (Matthew 25:31-46).
“People of color have been living with state violence for centuries.”
The third group sees the videos of state violence and acts. They are in the streets with whistles notifying people when federal immigration agents show up. They are taking to the streets in protest. They are using their voices and purchasing power to try to gum up the machine of the state. But some within this group who are primarily white Americans are only now waking up to state violence because it is coming for them. People of color have been living with state violence for centuries.
I count myself as part of this group who are motivated to step in and stop the state violence. I maintain now is not the time to parse out the history of state violence and how some of us have failed to recognized it when it occurred in the past. There will be time for this, but right now, the house is on fire.
I’m self-aware enough to recognize this point of view might be caused by the speck in my own eye. I also am cognizant those of us who adhere to the prophet’s call to “do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8) risk leaning into the “doing justice” part and leaving out the “walking humbly with God” part. Perhaps these are our sins.
With that in mind, I’d suggest if we are to turn the tide and stop the state violence, we must build bridges with people we disagree with. We no longer can rely on ideological purity tests to build coalitions. State violence is coming for all of us. Minneapolis is evidence of that.
We may not agree on everything, but on this we must agree: The rise of federal force in the streets of our cities is a momentous threat to democracy and to all our communities.
Mara Richards Bim serves as a Clemons Fellow with BNG and as the first Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas where she recently was ordained to the gospel ministry. She earned the master of divinity degree and a certificate in spiritual direction from Perkins School of Theology at SMU. She also is an award-winning theater artist and founder of the nationally acclaimed Cry Havoc Theater Company, which operated in Dallas from 2014 to 2023.
Related articles:
On the ground in Minneapolis: It’s an occupation | Analysis by Mara Richards Bim
The TheoBros are getting the war they want in Minnesota | Opinion by Rick Pidcock
Your government is lying to you | Opinion by Brent Newberry