← Deadline: White House
Deadline: White House
“Remembering Alex Pretti”
00:44:07
Nicolle Wallace covers the tragic death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen who was killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis over the weekend. Pretti was an ICU nurse who cared for veterans, and he died protecting a fellow protestor from being assaulted by ICE. The Trump administration has since called Pretti a “domestic terrorist.”
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- [00:00]
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Radio Host Nicole
Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster? I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires. I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end.
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This is very strange, Angie.
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Radio Host Nicole
Hi there everybody. It's four o' clock in a snowy New York City. When the history of this moment, this time, is studied, an epicenter of this moment will undoubtedly be the city and the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The people there were pushed to the brink over the weekend again in the wake of another killing of a non violent bystander by ICE agents in Minneapolis. This time it was 37 year old Alex Preddy, an ICU nurse who cared for veterans. Donald Trump and his cabinet, his administration are demanding once again that you not believe your eyes and ears. Fortunately, for the sake of our country and our democracy, Americans in large numbers today are choosing to reject Donald Trump's lies and his administration's lies and reject a smear campaign by Donald Trump and his administration that is intended to somehow justify the unjustifiable, a state sanctioned act of brutality on the streets of an American city. First, the facts as we understand them, as we can see them with our own eyes. Video evidence from the scene shows that Preddy got between a woman who'd been pepper sprayed and a federal agent who was pepper spraying her. Preddy is then pepper sprayed himself. He continues to try to protect her, but he's tackled and restrained before ICE agents open fire on him again and again and again and again and again. Not a single shred of video evidence shows him drawing his gun, which he had a legal permit to carry legally. Now, in the face of those facts that you just saw with your own eyes, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called Preddy a, quote, domestic terrorist. She and the officials who work for an administration that pardoned Violent and armed insurrectionists who assaulted police officers officers at the US Capitol on January 6th. They are now today, without any sense of irony or shame, claiming that by virtue of having a gun, Freddie had a gun which he never brandished at any point in the interaction with ICE agents that somehow ICE shooting him over and over again was justifiable.
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Legal/Political Analyst
This individual showed up to impede a law enforcement operation and assaulted our officers. They responded according to their training and took action to defend officer's life and those of the public around him. And I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign. This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.
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Radio Host Nicole
You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want.
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It's that simple.
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I am sorry that this gentleman is dead, but he did bring a 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapon with two cartridges to.
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Angie.com Advertiser
What was supposed to be a peaceful protest. I've been to a protest. Guess what?
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Radio Host Nicole
I didn't bring a gun. I brought a billboard. A, I actually don't believe that, but B, quote, I don't know of any protester who shows up with a gun. We know they have the names of hundreds of them because they pardoned them. All of this flies in the face of the facts as we can see them with our own eyes and the law as we understand it. Our colleague Carol Lanig is reporting this. Quote, multiple seasoned law enforcement officers told msnow that they have been unable to see the justification for the shooting. Here's Minneapolis police chief Brian o'. Hara.
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Angie.com Advertiser
This is an individual that was a city resident. It appears that he was present exercising his first amendment rights to record law enforcement activity and also exercising his second amendment rights to lawfully be armed in a public space in the city. So I think very obviously there are serious questions that are being raised. I have seen different experts and people analyzing the video that have made statements about that I cannot speculate. But I don't have any, any evidence that I've seen that suggests that the weapon was brandished.
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Radio Host Nicole
In a statement, the parents of Alex Preddy say this, quote, we are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kind hearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Hospital. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you. That plea from a grieving mom and dad, to quote, please get the truth out about our son is part of what is fueling fact finding mission and frankly, a backlash. It's taking many shapes and forms right now. On the legal front, the state of Minnesota has gone to court to seek an order ending ICE's deployment. In the city of Minneapolis, a judge sharply questioning lawyers for the Justice Department. She asked whether a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding an end to sanctuary policies and for the state to hand over the voter rolls, the voter rolls in exchange for an end to ICE operations was a form of coercion. A ruling on that could come down at any point. The pushback to the Trump administration intent on spreading lies and disinformation in the wake of another deadly shooting by ICE agents is where we begin today with senior contributing editor and Minneapolis native Michelle Norris. And our reporter Alex Tabet is back on the ground for us in Minneapolis. Alex, I feel like the roller coaster, the whiplash that you and I and our viewers have been on from when we were together over two hours on Friday for that incredible protest. And then this news Saturday. Just before you get into your reporting today, take me through, Take me back to the moment when you found out about the shooting.
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Just like how our team found out about the shooting of Renee Good 17 days prior to the shooting and killing of Alex Paredy, we found out via an ICE observer, somebody who's dedicated their lives, their free time to hold these officers accountable. So we rushed to the scene. But we weren't the only ones who rushed to the scene, Nicole. Thousands of members of this community found out that yet another person was shot and killed by a federal officer here in Minneapolis. And instead of staying home and learning about what was going on on their television or scrolling on their phones and anxiously, they got into their cars and they came towards the danger. To hold these federal officers accountable and to be there for their community. One man named Greg Ketter, 70 years old, said he couldn't stay home. And I want you to watch his moment of catharsis.
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Community Member Greg Ketter
No, you stop.
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Radio Host Nicole
Look out.
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Community Member Greg Ketter
Damn. Just chill, okay?
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Radio Host Nicole
I'm fine.
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Community Member Greg Ketter
I didn't breathe anything.
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Radio Host Nicole
I'm just angry. I'm sad. Seven years old.
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Political Commentator
I agree.
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Radio Host Nicole
We just caught up with Greg and we asked him to contextualize this moment that his city, that his community is going through in the grander context of his life. I want you to hear what he had to say.
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Community Member Greg Ketter
Well, it's a shameful period in American history. I saw a person after any good was killed, a person who must, he must have been about my age. And he was, he was in tears too. And he just said, I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of all of this. This is not my America. And that's the way I feel. It's just not what we're about. Having our, our own, I don't have to pick it up, police or whatever you want to call it, okay, Come after us, come after Americans, it's just not right. And come after immigrants. The immigrants are an integral part of our community.
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Radio Host Nicole
You've got the federal government with a presence that just so greatly outsizes what the state and the city is able to defend its population from. Under those circumstances, where do you find this hope?
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Community Member Greg Ketter
There are a lot more of us than there are of them. I mean, if they're going to start killing people randomly, then it's going to cause a lot of fear and panic. But a lot of people are going to step up. I just know they will. There's always the adage that, you know, the right has the guns and the left has snowballs or whatever it's going to be, but we're, you don't want to see a civil war. It's not going to be like the Civil War, 1800s, because it's, it's our neighbors, it's our, our friends. We disagree and we should be able to disagree, but we should be able to disagree with, with, I don't know, with some respect for each other. And there's just none of that left. Nobody seems to respect their neighbors anymore.
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Radio Host Nicole
And Nicole, it wasn't just in the moments after the fatal shooting of Al Alex Preddy that people rush to the scene. It's been every moment since then. We've been here at the crack of dawn, we've been here at midnight, we've been here in sub zero temperatures that can induce frostbite. And every time we come here, you will see what you can see right behind me right now, which is a community morning. Just like they did three weeks ago for Renee Goode. Just like they did last week after a five year old boy was detained by federal agents and sent to Texas, a community in almost perpetual mourning right now.
- [11:57]
Nicole, Michelle, I want to pull you into this and I want to ask you honestly, what is it? Because since you were on my air on election night, I've sometimes struggled to find people, people like all of us, right, people that cover these moments who are unafraid to come on and say what they think or Talk about the moment. Where does it come from in Minneapolis that they watch a woman after drop off protecting her neighbors from ice, get shot three times in the head by a person filming with one hands, who calls her an effing bitch after shooting and then goes back into the streets? And what is it that gets people to hear about another shooting, this time of an ICU nurse who literally dies reaching to protect another person, another member of his community, from pepper spray? What is it? Why are they different? What has them fearless in the face of not just the psychological fear and intimidation of the rhetoric, but the actual physical violence being carried out against them? American citizens on the streets of Minneapolis.
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Legal/Political Analyst
You know, I think what makes the people that are doing this even more extraordinary is that they're not fearless. They are afraid. And they're still doing it. They're facing down their fears, and they're still showing up to protest. They're still showing up to work as constitutional observers. They're still showing up to blow whistles. They're still showing up to deliver food. And you ask, where does this come from? In the spirit of Minnesota, it's a constant of several things. Part of it is just the history of a state that was founded by people who came from distant lands and had a strong sort of humanitarian sense in their form of government. You know, those who came particularly from Nordic countries, people who were part of first nations culture there, but also the history of union organizing and protests that have happened in the state going back to almost the 1800s. I mean, all of that is part of the fabric here. And as you look at what's happening, I think it's also important to understand, Nicole, that people are pushing back against what they feel is an assault on their safety, on their neighbors, on their way of life. But they're also not just fighting against something, they're fighting for something. They're fighting to try to preserve a way of life. They're trying to fight against the idea that the militarization of our law enforcement would be something that would become normalized and acceptable, and once it becomes normalized, then could be weaponized, not just in Minnesota, but beyond those borders. And they're fighting against the idea that the people who are supposed to be on the ground to enforce the law themselves don't seem to understand or be willing to live within the bounds of the law. And that's when I hear it over and over and over again that that's why people feel that they feel duty bound to do this. That at this point, you know, we're now three weeks into this, that resistance has become routine for a lot of people. It's not just a one day on a Friday or a one day march or one day of showing up after Alex Preddy lost his life. But now this is woven into their lives. This is how they respond. And they're willing to do this for as long as it takes.
- [15:25]
Radio Host Nicole
Michel, I want to read you from a sworn affidavit of a witness to the killing of Alex Preddy, to your point of bearing witness becoming part of their lives. So a witness had to offer her testimony. A sworn affidavit. It's actually being used in the case to oust ICE from the city. But let me read it to you. The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn't see him touch any of them. He wasn't even turned toward them. It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times. I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbors and my state. I keep alternating between crying and feeling determined. It is important to remember the value of documenting injustice. We show up for the people who need us to bear witness because it can't just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny. This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy. Those things are on the line. He lost his life for those values. These have almost become meaningless words, I feel like, because we're so distant from it. But these people are living this. And I wonder if you could just say a little bit more about the trauma.
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Legal/Political Analyst
I'm glad you read from the affidavit. First of all, the affidavit itself is extraordinary. This is something that they entered into the record because they were afraid that the investigation might not include the testimony from the doctor who saw it from the window and some of the other witnesses there who were there to document it. And the notion of bearing witness is such an important thing to come back to in this moment, because that's what many of the people are doing. The people who are described, described in the White House briefing today as liberal leftists who are trying to impede the work of immigration officials. What they're trying to do in many cases is try to document the work. And they've been encouraged by Governor Tim Walls. He's telling people to bring their phones with them and to document this for posterity, but also so they have a record of it. And if they're going to build cases in the future, that they will have pictures of this. And the other thing that is important about that testimony from that witness is if you read that and I invite people to do it, it's really interesting reading and it helps you understand the moment. She wasn't going to eat street where this happened to be part of a protest. She says she was on her way to do something else, and she heard the whistles and the horns and then got out and decided to document this. Alex Preddy has been described as someone who went there with a certain kind of intent. And people in the administration are saying this with a good deal of courage, that he was there to participate. We don't know that. They don't know that. What's is these immigration events are happening all over the city, that people just happen upon them. I happened upon one when I was in Minneapolis. It just happened right in front of me. And so sometimes the people who are documenting this are accidental observers. They were going to do something else, and they happened just to capture this. And so the idea of taking these pictures, we're used to a culture where people are always pulling out their cameras to take selfies of themselves or to capture the moment. You go to a concert and no one's even watching the performer. They're so busy capturing it on their phone. This is very different. This is a case where people are documenting this because they know that they are living in a history that we will be trying to understand for years to come. And they know that they're documenting things that are, if not beyond the edge of the law, are right at the edge of it, and it does not feel right to them. And so they feel, again, duty bound. The people who are participating in this, and I've talked to many of them, they feel a sense of duty. They're not just out there taking selfies or capturing videos that they're gonna keep in the cloud storage. They're actually in many cases sending them to the government where there's a repository where they capt these videos and they will be used to understand this moment. And if we have trials and hearings, which we probably will have in a, you know, working democracy, that's what we would have, and investigations, and then the trials that we might see from this, these videos that are being captured by citizens will be a part of that adjudication.
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Radio Host Nicole
Such an important point, but it's just such a extraordinary presence of mind. And I think it's making every single person stop and wonder, what would I do? What would I do? Alex, your reporting is extraordinary. Please wave your arms and come back if you have anything else over the next two hours. Michelle sticks around a little bit longer. When we come back, attorneys for the state of Minnesota saying in court earlier this afternoon that putting an end to the government Operation Metro surge cannot wait one more day. What the judge had to say is just ahead. Plus, from the sports world to Hollywood to business, leaders from across society are following the people of Minneapolis who in some instances are paying the ultimate price. And they are finally speaking out about ice and about the treatment of innocent citizens on the streets of American cities. We'll look at whether they this breakthrough will last. And later in the show, the utter hypocrisy on the right coming face to face with the GOP's long held governing philosophy that exercising Second Amendment rights is absolute. It stands out in sharp relief. And we'll talk about it in the aftermath of the shooting of Alex Preddy. All those stories and much more when Deadline White House continues after a quick break. Stay with us.
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- [21:29]
Radio Host Nicole
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Radio Host Nicole
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Radio Host Nicole
CTNC's 21 plus, sponsored by Jumbo Casino. As we mentioned at the top of the hour this afternoon, a federal judge in Minnesota heard arguments over whether to pause ICE operations in the state, potentially permanently, indefinitely and to block ice's activity or allow DHS agents to continue its work, which has brought terror to the people in Minneapolis and that community and left two of their residents dead in 17 days. That hearing comes on the heels of a call that Donald Trump and Governor Tim Walz had today. Walz's office said that Trump agreed to speak to the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that, quote, state investigators are able to conduct independent investigations into the federal officers shootings of Alex Preddy and Renee. Nicole Goode joining our coverage from Minneapolis, our reporter David Noriega. Michelle is still here. David, tell us what you're reporting.
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Bubba Wallace / Chumba Casino Advertiser
Well, Nicole, in that lawsuit, the plaintiffs were arguing that these federal immigration enforcement tactics by the Trump administration have been violating the constitutional rights of Minnesotans. The argument is that these indiscriminate and unconstitutional stops and arrests, of course, the use of force that we've seen, they argue, also violates constitutional rights, including the killings of Renee Goode and Alex Preddy. They were arguing furthermore that the judge should rule essentially immediately. And they were asking for an immediate pause as the litigation proceeds on Operation Metro Surge. But in the hearing today, it didn't seem clear that the judge was actually willing to act as quickly as the plaintiffs want her to. And she also expressed some wariness that this was her decision to make. She expressed some, some, some trepidation over wading into what she described as a policy dispute over immigration enforcement between a state and the federal government. Of course, we're also dealing with a pretty rapidly shifting political situation right now in the sense that we've been hearing a pretty markedly different tune from Donald Trump himself than we heard over the weekend from key figures in his administration. In the after of the Alex Preddy killing, Trump is sending Tom Homan, the borders are here to Minnesota apparently to replace Border Patrol Chief Greg Bevino. You know, just context for our viewers, the types of tactics that we've been seeing, these types of tactics that, that critics describe as reckless and dangerous and which my reporting and, and many other people's reporting shows have, you know, resulted in. And you know, I should say, for example, former DHS high level DHS officials who are career people, not political appointees have told me that these operations in urban environment in American cities put not only the people of these cities in dangerous positions, but also the DHS agents involved. Those tactics could be changing in the coming days here in Minnesota if, in fact, the Trump administration, who, who, you know, Trump also having had this call with Governor Walz, is signaling the possibility of a de escalation or even potentially a withdrawal of federal agents from the city. I've spoken to some local and state officials here to get their reactions to what appears to be this change in the political winds. They say that, you know, these are empty promises until they're fulfilled and until they see ICE and CBP leave their city, they're not going to be satisfied.
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Radio Host Nicole
Nicole, let me play for all of you, and I should say we've been joined by Kristi Greenberg to help us wade through all the legal aspects of this. She's, of course, a former criminal division deputy chief at SDNY. She's also the host of the YouTube show Courtside. Let me play for all of you what Senator Klobuchar and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian o' Hara said on the impact of this federal force on the ground. There have been three killings in Minneapolis.
- [26:01]
Legal/Political Analyst
Since the beginning of the year, and.
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Radio Host Nicole
Two have been committed by federal agents, one ICE and the other border control. That's what we're dealing with here.
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Legal/Political Analyst
And they're also, of course, in the suburbs and the rural areas. There's 3000 of them outnumbering our local police. In Minneapolis, St. Paul, there are only 1100 sworn officers.
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People have had enough. This is the third shooting now in less than three weeks. The Minneapolis Police Department went the entire year last year, recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds and hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone. And now this is the second American citizen that's been killed. It's the third shooting within three weeks.
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Radio Host Nicole
Christy greenberg, Donald Trump is the disorder for which law and order is needed to contain. And law and order is represented by the Minneapolis police chief there, who is articulating, I think, with a lot of restraint, especially from law enforcement, that, quote, people have had enough. Donald Trump's immigration agents have carried out two thirds of the deadly shootings in that city.
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Political Commentator
Absolutely. I mean, and people have had enough. I think not just in Minneapolis. People have had enough across the country. And that's why you are seeing what appear to be at least some, you know, some changes in the tone from Donald Trump, where he is, is talking about potentially reducing the number of agents in Minneapolis, where he is talking about potentially, you know, having cooperation between federal and state law enforcement and having evidence shared with state law enforcement. This is a dramatic change from what he had said before. And I think it's because what they are doing is so outrageous. I mean, people can see with their own eyes what is happening here. These are protesters who are peaceful. They are not assassins. As Stephen Miller said, this is not somebody who is looking to murder someone. Neither Renee Goode or Mr. Preddy fit in that description. And so when people can see that government officials are lying to them and that this force is beyond excessive, this is, you know, this is something where people are really upset, apolitical people are upset. And, you know, it needs, there needs to be a real change here. And I think that's why you're seeing a change in tone. There was a hearing this morning about ISIS presence in Minnesota. And you see from the judge just the real concern about the fact that, you know, the attorney general sent a letter to the governor of Minnesota saying, well, essentially this is a quid pro quo. If you go along with our sanctuary policies, then we'll reduce our operation in your state. And that kind of coercion, that kind of, you know, bullying, I mean, it is, is so out of the norm and so not what you would expect from our political officials. It's beyond troubling. And I think that's why you're seeing the outrage that you are. And I think that's why you're seeing even a judge saying, what is going on here? What are you doing? You cannot possibly mean that. What you cannot accomplish through your lawsuits, you want to accomplish through force. That is not the way things work in this country.
- [29:28]
Radio Host Nicole
Michelle. As with every Trump story though, I mean, their lies are showing. I mean, he, Bondi asked for the voter rolls. The child separation policy that Donald Trump found so heinous he reversed it in the first presidency is full steam ahead. Liam Ramos is the name of the five year old that we were talking about in the first block. I believe he remains separated from his family. In Minneapolis, a 2 year old was also essentially abducted, is now in the custody of these same people. I mean, Greg Bovino may not be holding the two year old or the five year old, but the people that do are just down the chain of command from that guy, that is, who is taking children as young as 2 and 5 out of homes, out of schools in American cities.
- [30:24]
Legal/Political Analyst
Well, you know, the document that you were just talking about from Pam Bondi, one of the people I talked to in Minnesota, said not only did she say the quiet part out loud, she wrote it down and put it in a memo and sent it to the governor of Minnesota that, you know, just underscoring how this has never really solely been about immigration, that obviously there is another agenda at work. Because if it really was about catching the worst of the worst, that's who they would go after. If it really was about rooting out fraud, they would send forensic accountants. There is another agenda at work and that's one of the things that has inflamed the people of Minnesota. Someone else I talked to today said that it feels like the people of Minnesota are locked in an abusive relationship with the federal government. And that sounds like a hyperbolic statement perhaps, but that's the way a lot of people in the state feel right now.
- [31:18]
Radio Host Nicole
It's amazing. It's really, really extraordinary stuff. David Noriega, thank you for your reporting. Christy G.R. greenberg, thank you for breaking it down for us. Michelle sticks around. After the break, we'll tell you more about who Alex Preddy was and the very, very large, gaping hole he has left in his family, in his workplace and in his community. Next.
- [31:46]
Political Commentator
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- [32:42]
Legal/Political Analyst
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- [33:11]
Radio Host Nicole
Today we remember that freedom is not free. You have to work at it, nurture it, protect it, and even sacrifice for it. May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom. So in this moment, we remember and give thanks for their dedication and selfless service to our nation in the cause of our freedom. In this solemn hour, we render our honor and our gratitude.
- [33:39]
That's the person we're talking about. That there is, in his own words, in his own voice, Alex Preddy. In that clip, he was reading the final salute for one of his patients at the Veterans affairs hospital where he worked. And the reason we have it is because the son of his patient posted it online on social media in the wake of Alex's death with the caption, quote, my father's final words to me was, continue to fight the good fight. He would be honored in Alex's sacrifice and ashamed of this current administration, end quote. It was one of the many spontaneous tributes to Alex that were shared publicly in the aftermath of his killing, as those who knew him best forcefully lifted him up and sought to push back against the Trump administration's attempts to somehow blame Alex for his own death. His fellow healthcare workers shared stories about his extraordinary compassion. One of them told the New York Times this quote, he wanted to be helpful, to help humanity and have a career that was a force of good in the world. Another posted this on social media, quote, I loved working with him. He was a good, kind person who lived to help, and these effers executed him. White hot rage. Another wrote this quote, alex was a nurse I worked with at the Veterans affairs in the icu. He used to tell people off when they made sexist comments to female physicians. He bought me coffee when I had a really bad day as an intern and saved my mental health. More than once while he was there for a month, I laughed alongside him daily. He made a point to teach medical residents without judgment, but with a smile on his face and a joke. Photos from today show him as he will rest in power, a healer, a defender and a fierce protector of humanity. In the wake of Alex's death, Mary Turner, the head of the National Nurses United, as well as an ICU nurse in Minneapolis, posted this call to Action Watch that day.
- [35:45]
Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United
He was just doing like what every nurse does, care for the patients and care for the people. And that's what he was doing when he was murdered. Nurses across this country, we, we need to stand up and say enough is enough. We need to fight back because these are our patients and these are the people and that's who we care about. This is who we care for. And so we have to do everything in our Power to fight, fight ICE and get them out of our communities. We need to make our patients and our people safe again.
- [36:24]
Radio Host Nicole
I want to bring in to our coverage president of National Nurses United, Mary Turner. She's a registered NURS currently working in the Minneapolis area. Michelle's still here. Mary, thank you so much for being here with us.
- [36:37]
Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United
Thank you very much for having me.
- [36:39]
Radio Host Nicole
Tell me how you're doing, how your city's doing and how your community and family of nurses are doing today.
- [36:49]
Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United
You know that Friday we started off, 50,000 people joined together and it was, was almost a joyous event in the sense that showing our resistance to this atrocity that has descended on our state and then Saturday morning that was all, that was all destroyed as once again Alec Preddy, he was the next victim. And you know, this time around you ask how, how, how our community is doing but how the nurses community is doing is what I'd like to address first. You know, they picked ice, picked the wrong profession this time because it doesn't matter if you're a union nurse or a non union or what kind of nurse nursing you do. An injury to one is an injury to all 3 million nurses across this country. And all 3 million nurses are reflecting on this in anger and sadness. National Nurses United is going to be having vigils all across the country all week long in honor of this fallen nurse. That's how much it means when something like this happens to one of our own.
- [38:18]
Radio Host Nicole
It's clear from every angle of every video that Alex ends up there.
- [38:27]
Legal/Political Analyst
To.
- [38:28]
Radio Host Nicole
Put his body between a woman who's been sprayed and the person who sprayed her. And even as he falls to the ground, he seems to be trying to protect others. Can you, you know, I asked this question about Minneapolis at the beginning, but I want to ask it about nurses. You know, what is it about a nurse that wires you, hardwires you to protect others?
- [38:56]
Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United
Because that's what we do on a day to day basis. And the fact that he wasn't in the hospital setting and he was out on the streets doing this, this is what we do instinctively because we are like you want to say, hardwired to advocate, defend, stand alongside and protect if we need to. This is just who we are as a profession. This is why, you know, we are the caretakers of society and the number one trusted profession year after year. And it's because of this devotion that we have to our patients. But not only our patients, the people.
- [39:43]
Radio Host Nicole
Mary, you're calling for a general, for a strike. Just tell us what your Call to action is about just to clarify that.
- [39:53]
Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United
Strike that is supposed to, you know, has been advertised for this coming Friday that is not sanctioned by National Nurses United. That is not sanctioned by Minnesota Nurses Association.
- [40:04]
Legal/Political Analyst
So.
- [40:06]
Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United
That'S what I can tell you about that. What I can tell you is that.
- [40:11]
Radio Host Nicole
Go ahead. No, I wanted to understand what the call is for and what the response has been and why that, in your view, would be a good next step.
- [40:25]
Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United
Okay. Like I said, that strike that is supposed to happen, I saw the flyer. It was for Friday, 30th January. None of our nursing organizations are calling for that strike, neither Minnesota Nurses association or National Nurses United. What National Nurses United is calling for is that the Senate, that everyone across this country call their senators to say no to the Homeland Security appropriations bill that is supposed to come up for a vote because not one more dollar, the nurses are saying that one more dollar goes to ice. Okay. So that is what we're calling for.
- [41:07]
Radio Host Nicole
Thank you for clarifying that for us, Mary. Thank you. I think anyone that has been in a hospital setting or had a loved one there knows that it is the nurses who come in and take care of you, who take care of your loved one. And so to see you all hurting and to see you all grieving the loss of a member of that nursing family is a loss I'm so sorry for. And I appreciate you coming on to talk about it.
- [41:38]
Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United
Thank you very much, Nicole.
- [41:40]
Radio Host Nicole
Thank you. A quick break. When we come back, there's breaking news on Greg Bevino and his role right now in Minneapolis. We'll tell you about it on the other side of a short. There's a development in the story to tell you about. It's being reported by the Wall Street Journal, which cites multiple administration officials in reporting that Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino will imminently leave Minnesota along with some of his agents. That's according to Trump administration officials. Bovino had emerged as the this is the Wall Street Journal's reporting, quote. Bovino had emerged as a public face of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement activity in the state, accompanying agents on operations, quote, following the fatal shooting over the weekend of Alex Preddy by a Border Patrol agent, Trump has signaled a willingness to wind down some of the administration's operations there. Also in the Wall Street Journal, quote, on Monday, the president said Tom Homan, his border czar, would travel to the state. Michelle Norris is still with us. Michelle. Importantly, Gregory Bovino had been the subject of a judge's injunction to stop using tear g protesters. That judge saying that it was unconstitutional. A subsequent judge stayed that order, but he has been, at least by that judge, recognized as using tactics that denied U.S. citizens and others their rights. And now he is leaving Minneapolis. My sense is that this will be good news to a degree, but that as long as he's out there terrorizing other communities, no one will rest easy.
- [43:32]
Legal/Political Analyst
It's interesting, I think we're showing pictures of them where he actually hurled a canister of this chemical irritant into a crowd himself after the judge had told him that this was out of bounds. And you would think that after something like that, he might pull back. You know, an action like that, he might not participate in something like that. He's become the face of something that is very unpopular, not just in the state of Minnesota, but throughout the. The entire country. What we really need to watch closely is this just changing the leadership at the top of this operation, or does it portend a change in tactical operations when he leaves? Well, a large number of the CPB agents leave with him. The officials who normally are engaged in a much more pugilistic kind of enforcement at the border because they're dealing, in that case, with cartels and with traffickers. That kind of enforcement doesn't really have a place in urban America where you're doing interior operations. So will we see a change in procedures that follows a change in leadership? I know that that's what people in Minnesota are hoping for, but I'm not exactly certain of whether that's gonna happen now that Homan comes, because Homan has been engaged in some pretty pugilistic rhetoric himself, and he, like Bovino, likes to be out in the field, out with the agents as they're involved in these actions. We've seen that in other places. Will he pull back and perhaps try to work more closely with the city, and will he be willing to work more local law enforcement? And that's another big question that people are going to be watching very carefully. Will he work with the law enforcement in Minneapolis St. Paul, the surrounding suburbs, and the rural areas where these ICE operations and Border Patrol operations are taking place?
- [45:18]
Radio Host Nicole
Michel, it's amazing to me, though, that the laws of relativity hold when a community and a country are terrorized. Right? Only Greg Bovino makes Tom Homan a good news story. Tom Homan, the subject of some incredible reporting, including from our colleagues, about a $50,000 bag of cash, an investigation under the Department of Justice, under two administrations reported to have been called off the change of administrations, from President Biden to President Trump, and someone who in an interview with our colleague Jacob Soborough said, quote, people will die. In talking about the ICE activity in Los Angeles.
- [45:57]
Legal/Political Analyst
You know, when you. I was speaking to someone in law enforcement, and they made a really interesting point about morale within the ranks. There may be an assumption that the people who are involved in the aggressive immigration enforcement in Minnesota may be doing this with a certain degree of bravado or gusto, but this is. They're in a tough spot. They're in a place where people don't want them honking horns and blowing whistles and not necessarily impeding them, but recording them as we talked about and making it clear, everywhere they go, you know, they see ICE outside, they see profanity. You know, get the hell out of here. The person at the top is responsible to a great degree for the morale within the ranks of a law enforcement organization. And that is a. If you're dealing in a volatile moment, you want the right person in that position. And, you know, Greg Bovino, it's not clear that he was the right person. You know, now that he's leaving, it's not clear that Tom Holman is the right person. But having the right person there would go a long way toward creating a degree of sanity and stability in a state that really, really needs it right now.
- [47:05]
Radio Host Nicole
Michelle, thank you so much for spending this hour with us, my friend.
- [47:10]
Legal/Political Analyst
Good to be with you, Nicole.
- [47:12]
Radio Host Nicole
When we come back, leaders from across sports and entertainment and Main street and Wall street finally saying that what is happening on the streets of some American cities must end. We'll bring it to you now.
- [47:25]
Community Member Greg Ketter
Next.
- [47:31]
Legal/Political Analyst
Why have I asked my h vac guy I found on Angie.com to.
- [47:34]
Radio Host Nicole
Change my grandpa's trachea tube?
- [47:36]
Legal/Political Analyst
Because I was so amazed by how quickly he replaced our air ducts. I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pop's tube while I was on vacation.
- [47:43]
Radio Host Nicole
Make it quick, young man. A see, Pop Pop trusts you.
- [47:49]
Bubba Wallace / Chumba Casino Advertiser
I think we should call it a doctor.
- [47:51]
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