Preserving American Values

Thomas Paine famously wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls,” when writing about the American Revolution.  One could say that every week of Trump’s second administration has been such a time for much of the country.

One of the most important questions of the moment is: Was the ICE agent who shot Renee Good guilty of excessive use of force or murder, or was he acting in self-defense because Good was attempting to run him over, as claimed by the Trump administration?  Local police and other Minneapolis authorities dispute the government’s version of the events.

There are several videos of the incident, none of which support the government’s version of what happened.  As is frequently the case, Trump news/speak is fake news. Here is what the videos show:

1. The Honda driven by Renee Good was stopped crosswise in the street.
2. One ICE agent arrives at the scene. While he is walking around the car, 2 other ICE agents approach the car and tell her to get out of the car, using an expletive, and one tries to open the door..
3. The Honda backs up a few feet.
4. The Honda starts moving forward turning to the right.
5. The first ICE agent who is now at the front side of the car says, “whoa.”
6. As the car passes the agent, he fires 3 shots at point blank range, 1 through the windshield and 2 through the open driver’s side window and calls her a “F***ing B*****.”. One video shows clearly that when he fired the first shot through the windshield, the car was passing him, not coming towards him.
7. The Honda crashes into a parked car.

This all happened in 20 seconds.

The videos make clear that Renee Good was not attempting to run the ICE agent over, but was attempting to get out of the scene.  (If that had that been the case, had she not turned to the right, he would have been run over.). 

Department of Justice policy states that police can use a gun only when they feel their life or others is in imminent danger. They cannot use a gun merely to stop someone from fleeing the site. 

Even though she had no intent to run him over, things happened so quickly that the agent will try to argue that he felt his life was in danger. But the fact that even when he took the first shot, the car was already passing him belies that assertion. And the fact that he kept shooting as the car moved past him and clearly was no longer in danger would argue that the shooting had nothing to do with self-defense and was just an excessive, improper, use of deadly force.

Also, why didn’t he just shoot the tires of the car to stop her? Why did he choose to shoot her at point blank range 3 times? This was not some tyro with a rifle but a person with combat experience and years of experience with guns.

That the government is still claiming self-defense and not allowing the local police to be involved in the investigation is emblematic of the administration’s practice of controlling and distorting facts.  They have no interest in the truth; they just want a justification for their actions.

Most recently, Trump has indicated that the fact that Renee Good spoke disrespectfully to the ICE agents was grounds enough for the shooting. This runs counter to all established policy on the use of deadly force by police.

Regardless of your view of illegal immigrants, Trump’s deportation policies, and the man himself, all Americans should be outraged by the excessive use of force by quasi-military personnel against American citizens as well as illegal immigrants and Trump’s defense of their ignoring our “right to life and liberty.” This is not an isolated incident but a pattern of disrespect that we have seen frequently in the aggressive actions of ICE, even towards a Congressman. 

Americans should show that outrage through massive peaceful demonstrations.  Yes, several thousand showed up at a protest in New York City, but the number should have been much more—hundreds of thousands.

This is not a minor matter. It is reminiscent of several of the abuses of power cited by the Founders in writing the Declaration of Independence: 

• “He has sent swarms of officers to harass our people.”
• “He has in times of peace sent Standing Armies among us without the consent of our legislatures.”
• “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.”

These offenses are in addition to all the other things Trump has done that are destroying American democracy, the structure that the Founders designed to ensure that in the United States no one person would ever be able to abuse his power as the British king had done. To prevent such abuse, including not respecting the legislative process and making the judiciary dependent on his will, the Founders set up America’s distinctive balance of power with 3 independent branches: legislative, executive, and judicial—each responsible for reigning in any excesses of the other.

Every American who values the freedom and rights that our democracy has provided us should rise up and peacefully demonstrate. Not a voice should remain still.  Jefferson believed strongly that we had to protect our rights: “The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold of us.”

Why are massive demonstrations important? They show the country and the silent majority of people who are either concerned or questioning about this issue that there are massive numbers of fellow citizens that are concerned and raising their voices.

Our country needs a groundswell of voices speaking out against the tyranny of Trump. Go to local organizations and schools and encourage them to have programs, discussions, about this issue. And everyone should let their representatives in Congress know their feelings.

Finally, Trump was elected fairly by a majority of the American voters. But he has abused and expanded the power that the Constitution gives the President.

In our system, the way to free ourselves from a Donald Trump is through the ballot box and through our voices. There are elections coming up this November that will determine whether Republicans or Democrats control and House and Senate. If Democrats regain control of Congress, that will resurrect the balance of power that the Founders sought to ensure, the current Republican-controlled Congress having almost totally deferred to Trump’s demands.

If we do not protect our rights, there is a distinct possibility given the current political dynamic that we will lose them.