Are You Okay?
Telling the Truth is Our Kryptonite Against Fascism
My sister sent the following to me this week and I hope it gets as wide a distribution as possible. It was written by Emily Solberg, author of the Substack Blog Shower Arguments, but in this case, posted on Facebook. It really captures why the Trump Administration is being forced to back down after the tragic and unnecessary deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
(Just how much they actually plan to back down is a real question - especially so since they are now replacing the reviled Greg Bovino, the lead ICE Agent in charge of Minnesota operations with “White House Border Czar” Tom Homan. Yes the same Tom Homan captured in an FBI sting video accepting $50,000 in bribe money in return for supposedly directing federal contracts to the undercover agents. I frankly will believe the administration has actually caved when Trump advisor Stephen Miller is removed.)
Lawrence O’Donnell, in his A-block commentary on MS NOW Monday night also referred to the words Pretti spoke shortly before he was shot to death by ICE agents. “Are you okay?” he said as he tried to help a woman who had just been shoved to the ground by an ICE agent for having the nerve to document his actions. For his empathy and attempts to help, both Pretti and the woman he was trying to assist got shot in the face repeatedly with pepper spray. Agents then gang tackled Pretti, and wound up shooting him multiple times. Then, as with Good, DHS head Kristi Noem immediately began flooding the mediasphere with lies: Pretti had brandished the licensed pistol he was legally licensed to carry (it was a phone he was holding, not the gun); he was a domestic terrorist bent on doing harm to ICE agents; he was a paid professional protestor.
The community, and America, pushed back and demanded the truth. They pushed back and protested, they pushed back and continued the organization that has helped their neighbors and laid bare the lies and smears coming from D.C. and from ICE agents on the ground.
Here is Emily’s message:
“Are you okay?” he asked.
His last words.
No, we are not okay.
By the logic of some, a registered nurse shouldn’t legally conceal carry when masked secret police are invading his city, but our teachers should be armed in classrooms with our children.
By the rationale of others, you’re “asking for it” if you show up to a protest with a gun, but Kyle Rittenhouse is a hero and January 6th was a peaceful demonstration of patriotism.
No, we are not okay.
A man was ex*cuted on the street for daring to intervene when a woman was being assaulted.
A woman was shot in the face and then called a “f*cking b*tch” for daring to anger a federal immigration agent.
A 5-year-old whose family entered the country through a legal entry point and was following protocol for asylum was abducted and used as bait, then thrown in a detainment facility in Texas.
A detainee was repeatedly r*ped for privileges by a detention officer.
A naturalized citizen was dragged from his home in his underwear and a robe, only to be released once agents discovered the man they mistook him for was already in prison.
Secret internal memos have been passed specifying that agents don’t need judicial warrants to enter our homes.
Americans are being told we will be added to a domestic terror*st database if we film and talk back.
No, we are not okay.
Alex Pretti was not okay, and yet his concern, his last words . . . were for the safety and well-being of someone else.
You didn’t see it covered widely in the news, but last week, two female observers detained in the back of an SUV rendered medical aid to an ICE agent when he was having a seizure.
His fellow agents did not recognize what was happening and did not appear to have any training in CPR or First Aid. When later asked why she helped, despite the fact that this agent had inflicted so much terror on her community, one of the women responded,
“I still see human, no matter what I look at and no matter who I look at.”
And that is the difference between us, and them.
We will always be helpers, even when it puts our own lives at risk.
And we still see human.
Look no further than the volunteers standing in sub-zero temperatures outside ICE facilities to help released detainees who are dropped off, often without proper clothes or a way to contact friends or family. The volunteers give them clothing, access to phones, and help get them home safely.
Look no further than the groups of neighbors walking children to and from school, transporting families to medical appointments, and delivering groceries.
Look no further than the tow truck company that is helping return the abandoned vehicles of people who have been taken by ICE to their families.
Look no further than the coffee shops acting as drop-off sites for donations and food drives, and the yarn store releasing patterns for protest hats with sales going directly to immigrant aid agencies.
Look no further than the churches opening their doors for volunteers to assemble “Shelter in Place” packs for families who can’t leave their homes.
Look no further than the restaurants offering specials with proceeds going directly to places like the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, or the salaries of employees who cannot work due to
ICE presence in their neighborhood.
Look no further than neighbors showing up for neighbors. Just like Mr. Rogers told us to.
So no, we are not okay.
But we are still helpers.
We still see human.
And that is why they will never win.