Murder on the Mainland?

Kona Hawaii, January 25, 2026.

CAUTION: STRONG OPINION AHEAD.

It is rare that events in the news are able to distract me from enjoying the fruits of our travels. The death of 37 year old Alex Jeffrey Pretti at the hands of ICE officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota has done so.

Murder? An Execution? Justified? Those are questions that the United States Constitution says can only be answered with the exercise of Due Process of Law.

What is certain is that we have witnessed a homicide, defined as the killing of a human being by another human being. We have witnessed a death caused by an agent of the United States Government and the denial of Due Process of Law to the victim.

We have also witnessed an effort by the government to “get ahead of the story“, and without evidence vilify the victim by creating a narrative that stands in stark contradiction to what is clearly shown in the many videos of the killing.

Universally, American law enforcement officers swear an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution. The words “Law Enforcement” are not meaningless. Officers are commissioned to enforce the law, but not to act as judge, jury, and executioner. The laws that they enforce, and that they are also subject to, include the protections of the Constitution. These include: The Right to Assemble, Freedom of Speech, The Right to Bear Arms, Due Process of Law, and in the case of criminal prosecutions the presumption of innocence until found guilty in a court of law.

If Alex Jeffrey Pretti was breaking the law by unlawfully protesting, unlawfully carrying a gun, or unlawfully resisting arrest, then he had the right to have his guilt or innocence determined in a court of law. There was no justification for a summary execution.

If the ICE officers who shot Alex Jeffrey Pretti acted criminally or without legal justification, then that also is to be determined in a court of law based upon facts found in a full, fair and unbiased investigation. Those officers do not have immunity, they do not stand above the United States Constitution.

To hold otherwise would mean that we are also witnessing another death, the death of the United States Constitution.

Peace Everyone. Pete