OP-ED: I Support Mass Deportations. That’s Why I Don’t Support Murder.

By Adam Reuter

Two 37-year-old Americans. Two federal bullets. Zero accountability.

Let’s start with a hard truth that many in this country seem to have forgotten: You cannot fight the federal government in the street and expect to win. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are conducting a lawful operation, the public has a moral and civic duty to let them do their job. Surrounding a police van, screaming at agents, or physically interfering with an arrest isn’t “activism”—it is an invitation to chaos. If you don’t like the immigration laws, you fight them at the ballot box. If you don’t like the enforcement, you fight it in a courtroom. But you do not fight it on a sidewalk while agents are doing their duty.

I have zero patience for the performative outrage of those who think “direct action” is a substitute for the legal process. We are a nation of laws, and a functioning society requires order. When you insert yourself into a federal investigation, you are creating a volatile, high-stakes environment where adrenaline runs high and logic runs low. You are not a hero for obstructing justice; you are a liability. I want to see a border that is an iron wall and an immigration system that functions without interference from the mob.

However, the requirement for order goes both ways. Just as we expect citizens to respect the authority of the badge, we demand that the people wearing that badge respect the sanctity of human life. Compliance is mandatory, but execution is not the penalty for confusion. And that is where the defense of the Minneapolis incident falls apart. Because while I despise the chaos of the protests, I despise the incompetence of a panic-induced shooting even more.

After my recent reporting on the execution of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents, some of my readers seem confused. Because I am demanding accountability for badge-wearing killers, some of you have mistaken me for a bleeding-heart progressive.

Let me clear the air so we can get back to reality.

I am not a Communist leftist. I am not an open-borders advocate. I fully support the mission of ICE and CBP. I believe that if you are in this country illegally, you should be sent home. If you are a violent child abusing criminal alien, I don’t just want you deported; I want you detained offshore—far away from our borders—so you can’t slip back in to exact revenge on the communities you terrorized.

I want a border that is an iron wall. I want immigration laws that are enforced with a sledgehammer.

But here is the part that seems to break the brains of the tribalists on both sides: I can support the mission of Federal Law Enforcement while simultaneously despising the agents who disgrace it.

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

If you cannot separate the mission (national security) from the mistake (shooting an unarmed nurse in the back), then you aren’t a patriot. You are just a cheerleader.

I saw the same videos you did. I saw Alex Pretti—an American citizen, a Veterans Affairs nurse and a legal gun owner—kneeling on the pavement. I saw a federal agent strip his weapon away. And then I saw another agent execute him.

The Second Warning: Renee Good

If Pretti wasn’t enough, look at Renee Good. On January 7, ICE Agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed this 37-year-old mother on the streets of Minneapolis. Secretary Noem called her a “domestic terrorist” who tried to run agents over. The autopsy proves that was a lie. Renee Good was shot in the side of the head and the arm. You don’t get shot in the side of the head if you are charging at an agent. You get shot in the side of the head if you are driving past them, trying to escape. Like Pretti, she was a citizen. Like Pretti, she was painted as a monster to cover up a panic shooting. And like Pretti, her killer is still free.

The Fall of Kristi Noem

This tribal blindness is rotting our leadership, too. During the COVID-19 era, I respected Governor Kristi Noem. When the rest of the country was busy lighting the economy on fire and shredding the Constitution to run away from an airborne virus, she held the line. She treated her citizens like adults. She respected our rights when it was politically dangerous to do so.

Watching that same woman stand at a DHS podium two days ago and lie to the American people is tragic. To watch her defend panic-induced murders as “heroism” is disgusting. She has traded her principles for a cabinet position. She used to fight for the Constitution; now she is shredding the Fourth Amendment to cover for bad employees.

A Note on the “Statute of Limitations”

To the agents involved in the Pretti and Good shootings, and to the bureaucrats protecting them: You might feel safe right now. You have the Secretary of DHS on TV calling your victims “terrorists.” You have the Department of Justice refusing to indict you. You think you got away with it.

You should check the U.S. Code. Under 18 U.S.C. § 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law), there is no statute of limitations for a federal crime that results in death. None. Political administrations change. Presidents leave office. Cabinet Secretaries get fired. But the law remains. You can be indicted for these murders five years from now. Ten years from now. Twenty years from now.

So enjoy your “Qualified Immunity” while it lasts. Because unlike your political cover, the statute of limitations on murder never expires!