ICE - Paramilitary Police - State Assassins

 The federal agency known as ICE has been at the center of intense controversy and has gained significant attention recently, especially after incidents in which U.S. citizens were shot and killed during police interventions. These events have reignited debates about legality, accountability, and potential threats to civil rights.

Despite the renewed attention, ICE is not a new institution. Created in 2003, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The agency was established by then‑President George W. Bush in the post‑9/11 context, with the official mission of combating cross‑border crime and illegal immigration considered a threat to national and public security.

Currently, ICE is led by Todd Lyons, who reports to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, who in turn reports to President Donald Trump.

In recent months, harsher criticism has emerged, with some observers warning of risks of authoritarian drift and measures resembling a “state of martial law.”

One of the most recent cases occurred on January 24 in Minnesota, involving the death of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37‑year‑old nurse. Federal authorities claimed that Pretti was armed, but surveillance footage released later raised significant doubts about that version. The state’s governor, Tim Walz, requested an independent investigation conducted by local authorities.

Small lies that some media outlets and the Trump administration spread:

Alex Pretti had a gun.

False.

He did have a permit to carry a firearm, but at the moment of the protests he was NOT CARRYING ANY WEAPON. There is surveillance footage, analyzed by the Associated Press.

He is holding his phone in his right hand and raises his left hand, empty, above his head while trying to protect the woman whom ICE had just pushed to the ground — all of this while being hit with pepper spray.

Weeks earlier, on January 7, ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good, also 37 and a mother of three. The agents claimed she had tried to run over an officer, but the available footage shows her attempting to flee by car, with the agent positioned beside the vehicle and not directly in front of it.

These incidents triggered protests in several cities, bringing thousands of people to the streets to demand transparency, accountability, and deep reforms in the agency’s practices.

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Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Saturday that the party will block the allocation of additional federal funds to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. immigration services. Link Here

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