The following is attributable to Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10):
“It is ironic that as we prepare to mark the 250th anniversary of our independence, we find our democracy slipping away before our eyes. The murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this month should horrify every American. In each case, federal agents not only used lethal force where it was not warranted, but demonstrated a level of brutality and remorselessness that is reminiscent of the security forces employed by the world’s most infamous totalitarian regimes, as seen most recently in Iran. It is hard to conceive that this is happening in the United States of America in 2026.
To make matters worse, the Trump Administration is refusing to cooperate with state and local law enforcement to undertake a thorough and objective investigation into the shootings. Instead, its disgraceful Homeland Security Secretary and various Justice Department deputies repeatedly lie about both killings, as if ample video evidence of the crimes do not clearly contradict their statements.
Meanwhile, senior Trump advisor and apparent architect of this campaign of lawlessness and terror, Steven Miller, loudly proclaims that these federal agents enjoy complete immunity, suggesting that they are somehow above the law, free to trample on our constitutional rights at will. That the Trump Administration – with the craven acquiescence of Congressional Republicans – may refuse to hold them to account is not the same as the law granting them the unfettered right to do whatever they want.
Historians will long debate how we got to this place. That is for another day. What matters now is how we find our way out of it. The agents in question need to be brought to justice. That starts with a full, unbiased investigation, which, under the circumstances, must include state and local law enforcement. At the same time, the Border Patrol must be strictly limited to what its name suggests: patrolling the border, not America’s cities. ICE must be removed from Minneapolis, and its mission needs to be refocused on finding undocumented aliens who have committed violent crimes, leaving law-abiding people – and, above all, children – alone. Finally, the agents of both the Border Patrol and ICE need to undergo better training, and the hiring practices of both agencies need to be reviewed, and reformed, as warranted.
Congress, and all of us who want July 4, 2026 to mean something, must demand no less.”
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