SOMETIMES GOOD COPS AND GOOD CIVILIANS DO BAD THINGS ... AND SOMETIMES PEOPLE IN HIGH PLACES MAKE STUPID STATEMENTS

By Howie Katz

 

 

A video shows the officer in the grey jacket emerging from the scrum, holding a firearm that appears to match Pretti’s weapon. 

 

Sometimes good cops do bad things. The shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti are good examples. Good was shot dead by an officer who positioned himself in front of her car as she was trying to get away from being arrested. Pretti was shot multiple times while he was on the ground after he had been disarmed by another officer.

Sometimes good civilians do bad things. People have the right to protest in our country, unlike in Iran where protesters are killed by the authorities. But protesters do not have the right to interfere with a law enforcement operation which is what Renee Good was doing and Alex Pretti may have been doing before they were shot.

But two wrongs do not make a right.

The officer who shot Good was doing a very stupid thing by positioning himself in front of her car during a conflict when she was trying to keep from being arrested. And he should have known that by shooting her it would not stop the car from coming at him. Good was not a dangerous criminal whose escape would have jeopardized the safety of the public. She should not have been shot.

Pretti was shot multiple times while he was on the ground underneath three or four officers after he had been disarmed by another officer. You can argue about why the gun-carry licensed Pretti was packing heat at a protest, but absent of any evidence that he was trying to shoot the officers, he should not have been shot.

Sometimes people in high places make stupid statements. President Trump's mouth is a goldmine of stupid statements.

The gunsmoke in the shooting of Renee Good had barely cleared the air when Department of Homeland Security Kristy Noem called her a "Domestic Terrorist" and said the officer who shot her was " following training." A domestic terrorist? How absurd!  Following training? Surely officers are not trained to position themselves in front of a car during a conflict with the driver.

Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said Pretti wanted to do "maximum damage and massacre law enforcement." His stupid statement is absolutely beyond the pale.

FBI Director Kash Patel blamed Pretti by saying, "You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple. You don't have a right to break the law." Patel clearly flunked Law 101. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution, Minnesota state laws or  Minneapolis city ordinances is it said that a person licensed to carry a gun is prohibited from binging it to a protest. 

 

Stupid statements made by Fbi Director Kash Patel, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino about the Pretti shooting bring into question whether they are fit to serve in their offices. 

 

Talk about really stupid statements, both Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller and Vice President JD Vance called Pretti an "assassin." 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made one of the few sane statements about the Pretti shooting. Abbot said: "In general, we need to have respect for law enforcement officers in the country. The White House needs to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that respect is going to be re-instilled."

The unjustified shootings of Good and Pretti have damaged the reputation of all law enforcement through out the country. And the stupid statements by Noem, Bovino and Patel bring into question whether they are fit to serve in their offices.