Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams

Episode: The Killing of Alex Pretti and ICE’s Terror in Minnesota

Original Air Date: January 27, 2026
Host: Stacey Abrams
Guest: Erin Ryan (Writer, Political Commentator, Co-host of Crooked Media’s "Hysteria")

Main Theme Overview

This episode confronts the extrajudicial killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minnesota—a tragic flashpoint in the ongoing crisis of state-sanctioned violence against immigrants and perceived dissenters under the current Republican administration. Stacey Abrams and Erin Ryan break down the escalation of federal militarized enforcement, the psychological and community toll, and draw connections between immigrant rights, democratic values, and the broader agenda of ethno-nationalism. The episode encourages resistance and provides actionable steps listeners can take in defense of both neighbors and democracy.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Moral Framing: Faith, Silence, and Resistance

• Abrams opens with a biblical meditation (Mark 8:36): “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul?” ([03:06])
  • Not solely for the powerful (e.g., Greg Bevino, Kristi Noem, Trump, J.D. Vance), this challenge is for all Americans.
  • Recites the names of recent victims killed by ICE or Border Patrol—emphasizing mounting, unaccountable violence.
  • Highlights the moral cost of silence and compliance: “What will it profit us to have silence, but to lose our souls in this moment?” ([07:34])
  • Discusses extortionate demands from the Republican-controlled DOJ towards Minnesota—requiring the state to yield voting and social data in exchange for ceasing federal incursions ([08:55]).

2. Propaganda, Tactics, and the Importance of Witnessing

• Republicans and ICE are deploying classic authoritarian tactics ([10:40]):
  • Criminalize victims, blame-shifting, smearing organizers and media, spreading disinformation.
  • Stacy stresses: “Because of Alex Pretti we cannot put our phones down… We cannot think that we are safe just because the person is off duty, because we have an armed invasion of law enforcement under the guise of federalism that is stealing our souls.” ([12:09])
  • Calls for active documentation, community aid, and amplifying reliable organizers—“Save videos, save posts, save statements before they disappear.” ([13:36])
  • Urges listeners to decide the risk they can personally bear and to “do something that worries you just a little bit more.” ([15:04])

3. Personal Testimonies: On-the-Ground in Minnesota

• Erin Ryan’s Response:
  • Emphasizes the cumulative trauma and horror from “so much death captured on film.” ([21:43])
  • Highlights the ideological threat: “ICE and the Trump administration is perpetuating this idea...they get to do whatever they want to whomever they want... even if they're the most in group of, in groups in... the American hierarchy.”
  • Notes personal/family impacts: Her sister, an ESL teacher in St. Paul, is distributing food and supplies because immigrant families are too afraid to leave their homes—even when following legal pathways ([24:44]).
  • Raises the chilling effect: “In America, your presence is insufficient to preserve your life...There is no label and no costume...no qualification that protects you anymore.” ([27:26])

4. Resistance and Community Solidarity

• Erin Ryan recognizes two dynamics:
  1. Fear and demoralization.
  2. Rapid, instinctive neighborhood self-organization and mutual aid, even among typically private communities ([34:16]).
     • “These people almost instinctively have organized their neighborhoods... the administration underestimated these people. Their ability to organize and their ability to stand up.” ([34:59])
  • Notes how federal overreach in Minnesota strains its capacity, but also exposes the regime’s lack of ability to instill true control on a national scale ([28:44]).

5. Political Accountability and Legislative Cowardice

• Abrams laments the inadequate response from both Congress and local authorities ([41:55]):
  • Example: Rep. LaMonica McIver faces a 17-year sentence for oversight at a migrant detention center, while others in Congress quietly provide more ICE funding.
  • Urges officeholders to demonstrate “opposition for the sake of opposition” when the system itself is compromised.
• Ryan is blunt: “I think right now people are very frustrated and kind of tired of... political bullshitting... speeches are good, but... somebody needs to do something besides make speeches. Somebody who has the power.” ([42:13])

6. Wider Agenda: Reproductive Rights and Ethnofascism

• Transition to abortion rights: Abrams and Ryan contextualize immigration enforcement as part of a “proto-natalist, Christian nationalist” agenda ([44:42]).
  • Focus on March for Life rally, the shift in anti-abortion movement post-Roe—their new obsession: banning medication abortion ([47:46]).
  • Key quote: “Banning abortion does not end abortion...making abortion more difficult to get just inconveniences people...The total number of abortions has gone up in the country—up 30%.” (Ryan, [50:11])
• Discuss J.D. Vance’s duplicity: He touts cuts to social programs and restrictive policies as “pro-family” while undermining actual family welfare ([51:38]).
• The expansion of the Mexico City Rule now targets DEI initiatives and Planned Parenthood; a further erosion of international and domestic rights ([56:40]).

7. Empathy, Messaging, and the Path to Change

• Ryan stresses the need to underscore:
  • Lawmakers don’t understand medicine—lawyers shouldn’t be scripting healthcare policy ([63:51]).
  • Restrictive abortion laws endanger everyone, regardless of status.
  • The empathy argument: “What happens to them could happen to you, your sister, your mother, your best friend... Biology does not discriminate.” ([66:52])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Stacey Abrams [03:22]:
  “In less than a month into 2026, Republicans, not ICE, not Trump—Republicans—now have the blood of eight people on their hands. And the reason this matters is that this is now the legacy and the philosophy of any member of the Republican ruling party that does not denounce these deaths and demand their end.”

• Stacey Abrams [07:34]: “What will it profit us to have silence, but to lose our souls in this moment?”

• Erin Ryan [21:43]:
  “I don't think human beings... are meant to watch this much death captured on film... there is mass suffering, even beyond the families and communities that lost members in a horrific manner. We are all participating in completely unnecessary suffering.”

• Erin Ryan [24:42]:
  “[My sister] is a teacher. She teaches ESL, so her students are directly impacted... She’s witnessed people being taken from parking lots, from stores near where she lives. She’s witnessed just the overwhelming presence. Her school has organized...a supply drive...because they look like someone that ICE would arrest... ICE doesn't really care about precision. ICE just cares about numbers.”

• Erin Ryan [34:59]: “These people almost instinctively have organized their neighborhoods... the administration underestimated these people. Their ability to organize, and their ability to stand up.”

• Stacey Abrams [51:38]: “[JD Vance]... very proudly recounted the cuts to social programs, the restrictions they have been able to impose on abortion access... This administration has managed to ratchet up that hypocrisy.”

• Erin Ryan [69:45]: “If you feel that activation switching in, you let it switch on. Encourage [people]...When are we going? Let's go, let's make a sign...Just show up and be there...There are so many things to do.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening Reflection / Theme Set
  [03:06]—Stacey’s scripture reading & framing [07:34]—“What will it profit us to have silence...?” [08:55]—Pam Bondi’s DOJ extortion threat to Minnesota

• Guest Introduction / Breaking Down Events
  [18:52]—Erin Ryan joins, context for recording
  [21:43]—Erin’s emotional response to the trauma in Minnesota

• Personal Testimony & Community Impact
  [24:42]—Impact on Erin’s sister, stories from immigrant students
  [27:26]—Chilling loss of protection, “no label and no costume”

• Resistance & Organizing
  [34:16]—Neighborhood solidarity, organic organizing
  [36:52]—Abrams on the mismatch of force, need for psychic resistance

• Political Accountability
  [41:55]—Congress and LaMonica McIver’s prosecution
  [42:13]—Ryan critiques “political bullshitting”

• Abortion Rights & Broader Agenda
  [44:42]—Connecting immigration and abortion rights to authoritarian strategies
  [47:39]—ComicCon analogy for March for Life
  [50:11]—Medication abortion, facts versus propaganda
  [51:38]—J.D. Vance’s “pro-family” hypocrisy

• Activism & Empathy
  [63:51]—Lawmakers shouldn’t be writing medical policy
  [66:52]—“What happens to them could happen to you...Biology does not discriminate.”

• Calls to Action & Closing
  [69:45]—Erin Ryan: How to get involved, activism tips
  [71:32]—Abrams: Specific steps—call your senator, support local people, donate to disaster relief (Rebuild Us), amplify the podcast, subscribe & share

Actionable Advice

• Check on vulnerable neighbors, especially those at greatest risk.
• Amplify—not rumor, but local organizers and legal aid efforts.
• Document and save videos, posts, and eyewitness accounts.
• Support rapid response networks and mutual aid.
• Contact your Senator to block increased Homeland Security/ICE funding.
• Volunteer to help homebound neighbors—including arranging supplies.
• Donate to disaster-response organizations like Rebuild Us.
• Join, support, and empower existing accountability movements; “Just show up and be there.”

Tone, Language, and Structure

The tone throughout is urgent but empowering, rooted in both moral clarity and pragmatic activism. Abrams maintains a preacher’s rhetorical cadence, connecting scripture and civil rights legacy to contemporary resistance. Ryan interjects humor and personal insight, reflecting the blend of outrage and stamina required in sustained activism.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode is a searing, timely exploration of authoritarian violence, the erosion of personal and communal safety, and the limits of traditional political action. Abrams and Ryan lay out the stakes—life, freedom, the future of democratic society—and the “Faustian bargains” being offered to Americans. The episode moves from the most intimate (“my sister is delivering relief supplies and worried about her safety”) to the national (the strategic use of reproductive and immigration policy as levers of control). The conclusion is unambiguous: silence is complicity, and all are called to action—each according to their means but without retreat.

Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams: “We can't fix everything, everywhere, all at once; but we can each do something, somewhere, soon.”