- cross-posted to:
- pravda_news@news.abolish.capital
- cross-posted to:
- pravda_news@news.abolish.capital
Overall, as someone who has been covering this for months, I am struck by how angry homeland security officers with their own agencies, and their blunt dismissal of the Washington leadership. All of the immigration officers I interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Sagging morale and declining standards are a constant theme I picked up, problems that these sources say have been festering long before the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good (and ones that very much contributed to these outcomes).
More than one ICE agent in particular complained about how Washington’s focus on labeling protestors as “impeding” federal functions (and thus breaking the law), and the vilification of “Antifa” and others labeled paid agitators, leftists, radicals, extremists, and terrorists is confusing the ranks while also distracting everyone from the immigration enforcement mission.
“I can go on and on but overall it’s been a ridiculous experience,” one ICE agent told me. He says that many agents on the ground are just going along with the expanded mission because they are more interested in their away-from-home per diem pay and collecting overtime than whatever the mission is.
Others express the cynicism typical of everyone who toils at the bottom of any bureaucratic food chain, pooh-poohing rapid expansion of the ICE army and shaking their heads over the ridiculous budget increases being fought for in Washington that will have no impact where they work.
“The brand new agents are idiots,” an experienced ICE agent assigned to homeland security investigations told me. This same sentiment was echoed by virtually everyone I talked to, with several conveying the view that Pretti’s death was the fault of some skittish young recruit who panicked when he heard the word “gun” (if that’s what happened).
Even one of the new ICE recruits agreed with the experienced agent’s low assessment of the Trump freshman class. “A lot of the guys,” he said, referring to the new ICE recruits he worked alongside, “are honestly pretty sketchy.”
The new ICE officer continued: “I thought federal agents were supposed to be clean cut but some of them pass around a flask as we are watching a suspect,” observing as well that the new guys “have some weird tattoos.”
Those tattoos, I’m told, are symbolic of the fact that the new recruits tend to be more ideologically motivated than those of the past. This problem is compounded by the fact, raised by several officers, that ICE is relying on volunteers to go to Minneapolis and other Democratic cities on these temporary deployments. This tends to favor new recruits and those who are chasing overtime pay.
It is unclear how these task forces are organized in cities like Minneapolis or indeed “who” is in charge and in control, but those who I interviewed agree that the tide is turning, that some agencies (like the FBI) are increasingly no shows in the field, and others are expressing a reluctance to participate in non-immigration missions.
“Last I heard,” says one ICE officer, “FBI didn’t want to help us out much anymore, especially in Minneapolis, due to the bad press.”
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“The brand new agents are idiots,” an experienced ICE agent assigned to homeland security investigations told me. This same sentiment was echoed by virtually everyone I talked to, with several conveying the view that Pretti’s death was the fault of some skittish young recruit who panicked when he heard the word “gun” (if that’s what happened).
What a load of shit. Johnathan Ross is a veteran agent of ICE.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-officer-jonathan-ross-veteran-spent-decade-dhs-rcna253254
Also according to Greg Bovino the guy that shot Alex Pretti is:
United States Border Patrol on-site commander Gregory Bovino said an officer who shot Pretti had been serving with the Border Patrol for eight years and had “extensive training as a Range Safety Officer”.
This entire piece sounds like an attempt to whitewash ICE and put the blame on nebulous “rookie” agents when it comes out that ICE has always been rotten.
The “if you don’t like it, leave” crowd is complaining and not leaving.
Just quit ffs
Every single one of them are bastards that deserve to be tried and hung. Do not shift blame to the new guys.
“The best they can do is shoot the guy in the back?” That’s not the voice of some liberal commentator. That’s what a homeland security officer told me this weekend, one of over half a dozen who have reached out to express their alarm over the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and beyond.
I’ve listened to the stories and the beefs of immigration officers in Minneapolis across the country, and to a person, they all blame the shooter, one of their own. The major media is stuck on framing the killing of Alex Pretti as some national and partisan battle, highlighting Republicans breaking ranks, the NRA protesting, MAGA wavering, and Chuck Schumer doing whatever he’s doing, but no one is really capturing what the federal law enforcement officers on the ground are thinking. The truth is that they’re fed up and have been for weeks.
They paint a picture that is more Police Academy (or even Reno 911!) than a Gestapo on the march. Yes, they agree that Washington is a huge problem and are uncomfortable with the mission creep that is taking them away from actual immigration enforcement. But internally? Theirs is also a story of gung-ho 19-year-olds, drunken stakeouts, and senior officers disappearing into meetings and all of a sudden needing time off.
…
An ICE agent was even more critical. “Yet another ‘justified’ fatal shooting … ten versus one and somehow they couldn’t find a way to subdue the guy or use a less than lethal [means],” the agent said. “They all carry belts and vests with 9,000 pieces of equipment on them and the best they can do is shoot a guy in the back?”
…
As the meetings are held, the ICE agents and others I’ve talked to say the government versus terrorists narrative is having a tangible (and negative) impact on the ground.
“Lots of people are freaking out,” one ICE agent told me. “Agents are getting seriously paranoid, afraid of being targeted by ‘retaliators.’”
Several agents described receiving briefings about retaliatory threats to ICE inspired by the Minneapolis shooting. “Guys take it really serious, like we are fighting insurgents,” as if Minneapolis is Baghdad, an ICE officer said.
Though all of the federal agents I’ve spoken to this weekend support immigration enforcement, they indeed see the Minneapolis operation as something else entirely — an open-ended counterinsurgency in a faraway land and under an out-of-touch leadership in Washington more concerned with optics than immigration.
“This is a no-win situation for agents on the ground or immigration enforcement overall,” a Border Patrol agent said in the private group chat shared with me.
He closed on a plaintive note: “I think it’s time to pull out of Minnesota, that battle is lost.”
Don’t fall for the “ice morale” propaganda. If they hate it, they will quit. But they don’t—they are just sad they can’t kill without reason and get away with it (except they can so far)
“The brand new agents are idiots,” an experienced ICE agent assigned to homeland security investigations told me. This same sentiment was echoed by virtually everyone I talked to, with several conveying the view that Pretti’s death was the fault of some skittish young recruit who panicked when he heard the word “gun”
Even one of the new ICE recruits agreed with the experienced agent’s low assessment of the Trump freshman class. “A lot of the guys,” he said, referring to the new ICE recruits he worked alongside, “are honestly pretty sketchy.”
The new ICE officer continued: “I thought federal agents were supposed to be clean cut but some of them pass around a flask as we are watching a suspect,” observing as well that the new guys “have some weird tattoos
I’m not sure if it’s safe to believe this is a case of ICE agents legitimately venting vs a case of ICE agents attempting to deliberately mislead and plant a narrative?
How could you really be that naive about what’s happening? Why assume the death of Pretti was due to a skittish young recruit when you know they appear to be hiring literal Nazis with their ideology spelled out by their tattoos?
No background check. Day drinking at work from a flask while you’re brandishing a weapon and taking people into custody. Covered in visible Nazi tattoos. Based on those 3 facts, what line of work do you think they were in before ICE hired them?
Even if the “skittish young recruit” narrative is legitimately the story being spread among ICE agents, do your skills as an experienced investigator for Homeland security not hear alarm bells when you learn somebody was shot 10 times by one person?
Its hard for me to write that off as just a skittish accident because it sounds like a hit. Like he was trying to make sure the guy wasn’t surviving because that’s the job he was being paid to do.
Was it ever really an “accident” the Trump administration via Stephen Miller put so much pressure on speeding up recruiting that people “accidentally” started slipping through without a background check?
Last I heard,” says one ICE officer, “FBI didn’t want to help us out much anymore, especially in Minneapolis, due to the bad press.”
Again, I have to ask, doesn’t this seem a bit misaligned with everything else you know about this administration? Kash Patel’s FBI is Trump’s FBI. Pam Bondi’s DOJ is Trump’s DOJ. Kristi Noem’s DHS under minister of Propaganda Miller, is Trump’s DHS and Trump’s propaganda.
Do you really not see that the Trump administration is intentionally trying to make the press you receive as negative as possible to agitate the public because they’re literally hoping to instigate retaliation or possibly even lay the groundwork for a more believable false flag? The FBI probably just wants to get the fuck out of dodge so they don’t end up as collateral.
I find the claim that Jonathan Ross didn’t set out to intentionally kill Good the day he shot her very difficult to believe. I find the claim that a single ICE agent shot an unarmed man 10 times because he was nervous, and according to a witness who provided medical care at the scene, counted the number of bullet holes in his body afterwards, impossible to believe.
