I’m glad that that the National Rifle Association and many Second Amendment advocates are outraged over Alex Pretti’s recent killing by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. However, their underlying logic for this rage is mistaken. Pretti was not killed because he was legally carrying a gun. He was pepper-sprayed, knocked to the ground and beaten by federal agents before they realized he had a gun. The gun was safely removed prior to his killing. He was attacked and killed by federal agents for exercising his constitutionally protected right to protest government actions.
I would feel much more solidarity with the NRA, as well as the posers displaying the “Live Free or Die” flag, if they expressed the same outrage over the killing of Renee Good who was similarly exercising her right to protest, even though she was not carrying a gun.
— Peter Okkema, La Grange
ICE an embarrassment
I am really getting tired of people trying to spin the senseless loss of life that happened in Minneapolis at the hands of federal agents. During the course of my career, I graduated from two police academies and had countless hours of training regarding use of force. This training continued into the private sector when I managed executive protection for a major corporation.
There was absolutely no justification for the use of deadly force in this situation — none. If Alex Pretti was breaking the law, agents should and could have arrested him and had him charged. Instead, they shot and killed him.
These are poorly trained men, and they must be held accountable for their actions. The entire organization should be disbanded and reorganized and its agents retrained. They cannot continue to be allowed to act with impunity.
There is an absolute need for immigration enforcement, but it must be held to the same constitutional standards as any other law enforcement agency in this country. What is happening with these fools is painful and unnecessary, and U.S. citizens are being sacrificed over the incompetence.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is an embarrassment to law enforcement, and it must end.
— Richard Williams, Highland Park
Kimmel’s narrative
On Monday, I was heartened to see late-night host Jimmy Kimmel pay tribute to Alex Pretti, tragically killed by federal agents. Yet what about Rachel Morin, Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray — U.S. citizens killed by undocumented immigrants?
Recognizing all victims would offer a fuller picture, but apparently, that doesn’t fit neatly into his narrative.
— David Tulanian, Henderson, Nevada
Recall Rittenhouse
I have two words in response to Loren Monsess’ letter (“Alex Pretti’s judgment,” Jan. 28) chastising Alex Pretti for having a loaded pistol on him while protesting the brutalities of federal agents: Kyle Rittenhouse. Does Monsess remember him? He was the 17-year-old who paraded the streets of Kenosha during protests of a police shooting. He openly brandished a long gun and killed two men and wounded a third.
— Paula J. Schneiderman, Chicago
Believe the science
I listened to a fascinating NPR podcast last Sunday, “Challenger at 40: Lessons from a tragedy,” about the engineers who tried to keep their bosses and NASA from launching the space shuttle in too-cold weather, and the guilt they felt the rest of their lives because their warnings were ignored.
Contrast that with the report this week that the Donald Trump administration has secretly taken an ax to safety regulations for the construction and operation of new nuclear plants. Or proposed rollbacks of Environmental Protection Agency standards for air toxin standards for power plants.
Political pressure to launch brought about the Challenger disaster, watched in real time by school kids, among others. I guess President Trump and his deregulators figure they’ll be long off the scene before the first “accident” or before radiation is detected in public water supplies or mercury in children’s bones.
But, yes, instead of listening to politicians who swear it will be all right till it all goes wrong, maybe we should go back to believing the science we have learned over recent decades.
— John Podulka, Wolverine, Michigan
SNAP requirements
Both Chicago newspapers reported on the same man, Kenneth Robinson, who finds his Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits imperiled with the requirement that recipients either work or volunteer so many hours a month. He speaks of his past as a hindrance to employment, but he is not required to work to receive benefits. He can take classes or volunteer.
It is not good public policy to just give people money on an ongoing basis. It’s demeaning and discourages independence.
Congress was right to expect at least something from SNAP recipients.
— Larry Craig, Wilmette
Call your senators
The not-so-Big Beautiful Bill is about to cause hunger to skyrocket and millions to lose their health care (“SNAP work requirements set to go into effect Sunday,” Jan. 27). This is a policy decision by the current president and the majority party in Congress.
The people of America don’t want to see their neighbors go hungry, lose their homes or be sick without health insurance. Why not call those who represent you, 202-224-3121, and tell them to turn around these catastrophic policy decisions?
There is no need for the world’s wealthiest country not to care for all citizens, not just the rich.
— Willie Dickerson, Snohomish, Washington
Reality of policies
Imagine how it must feel to be a die-hard Donald Trump fan and wake up to realize that everything his opponents have been saying is, in fact, true.
Trump’s tariffs (really, taxes, which we all pay for) have caused inflation to remain high. Meanwhile, China announced a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus for 2025. While the U.S. started trade wars, China struck deals with Canada and the European Union, among others, to sell electric cars, and India and the EU just announced “the mother of all trade deals.” We’re left on the sidelines.
Trump cut research to U.S. universities and prevented the best foreign students from attending them. Now, worldwide rankings show a drop in the rankings of U.S. universities. Schools that have seen the greatest increases include Chinese universities, as their “best and brightest” stay home.
Meanwhile at home, we have a K-shaped economy. Despite what Trump tells them, the Trump base — mostly rural and working class — struggles due to inflation and increasing housing and medical costs. Farmers and ranchers must accept government handouts to offset the inability to sell their crops and cattle to foreign countries. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Americans enjoy Trump’s tax cuts, which are creating massive deficits as our national debt skyrockets.
And now these Trump supporters must certainly realize, in light of the video evidence of the killing of innocent U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, that the Trump administration is, in fact, lying to them and that the federal agents in these cities are, in fact, goons.
“America First”? Hardly. Thanks to Trump’s policies, America at home and abroad, and its future, has been severely, perhaps irrevocably, damaged. Have the Trump supporters woken up to this reality yet?
— Frank Kern, Chicago
Age cutoff for leaders
I no longer have any faith in voters. This thinking that voters should be the ones deciding age cutoffs is the same rhetoric we heard last year: Don’t try to stop Donald Trump from running again; let the voters decide.
Well, we can see how that played out.
Politicians need to retire at a reasonable age to ensure new and younger candidates can step up. These politicians who are in their 80s and now 90s continuing to run for office is absurd. They’re out of touch in their bubble; they are no longer effective.
— Margaret Melville, Cedarburg, Wisconsin
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