I need to step away from writing about North Carolina music for a moment. I know that’s why you’re here, but I can’t stay silent about what’s happening in our country right now.
Two Americans have been killed by federal agents in Minneapolis this month for the high crime of protesting their government. Renée Good, a mother and poet, was shot point-blank three times while behind the wheel of her car. Alex Pretti, a VA nurse, was killed after standing along a public street with his phone raised and filming, then helping a woman pushed to the ground by ICE officers.
Both were declared threats by federal officials before any investigation could happen. Both were labeled “domestic terrorists” immediately after their public executions.
This isn’t about immigration policy anymore. It’s state-sponsored terrorism, plain and simple, and we need to talk about it as such.
When Fascism Takes the Mask Off
Here’s a part of these murders that terrifies me: after killing Renée Good, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sought a warrant to investigate whether she was criminally liable for her own death. They wanted to search her car not to understand what happened, but to justify what they’d already declared was right. A federal judge rejected the warrant—something that almost never happens.
The DOJ announced it wouldn’t investigate the civil rights implications of Good’s shooting. Instead, they investigated Good’s widow for having ties to activist groups.
Think about that. A woman is killed by federal agents. The government’s response is to investigate her family.
In response, four senior leaders of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division resigned. Six veteran federal prosecutors in Minnesota walked away from their careers. An FBI supervisor quit. These weren’t political appointees. They all spent decades serving their country and left because they couldn’t be part of what was happening.
When an entire leadership team resigns in protest, when career prosecutors abandon cases they’ve spent years building, we need to pay attention. They’re telling us something has broken.
The Chaos is the Point
What happened in Minneapolis isn’t isolated there. ICE agents have deployed to Charlotte and Raleigh, too, treating entire neighborhoods like occupied territory. Over 3,300 North Carolinians were detained in the first 9 months of Trump’s second administration. Our neighbors have been afraid to leave their homes because people may demand to see their papers. And now, anyone who dares to watch gets labeled a threat.
This is how authoritarianism grows. Not with a sudden coup, but with the slow normalization of the unacceptable. You create chaos, instill fear, and punish anyone who bears witness. Victims and their families are to be investigated while perpetrators are protected. Oversight be damned when The Great Leader is the only authority that matters.
The federal government blocked state investigators from both shooting scenes, even when they arrived with court-signed warrants. They took control, excluded accountability, and then declared themselves justified.
When the state can kill with impunity and criminalize observation itself, we’ve crossed a line that defines whether we live in a free society or something else entirely.
Image credit: The Rialto
Fuck Your Party (and Mine, too)
I’d be foolish to think that everyone is 100% with me on this. Some of you may support stricter immigration enforcement. Hell, some of you might have voted for this administration. I’m not asking you to atone for the beliefs or values that led you to this moment. But I hope you can consider what you’re willing to accept in pursuit of those goals.
Are you willing to live in a country where federal agents can kill citizens without consequence?
Those with power are counting on us being so divided that we can’t see this for what it is. They want conservatives to see these victims as threats who got what they deserved, while progressives rage ineffectively at the status quo. Their control comes from us being too angry to notice what they’re building.
I’d bet most Americans, regardless of political leaning, don’t want to live under a government that kills its citizens and then labels them terrorists post-mortem. Most of us think there should be investigations before executions.
That common ground is what authoritarians fear most. That’s why they work so hard to destroy it.
Wait, Isn’t this a Music Blog?
Yeah, and I’m sorry if this comes off as preachy. It’s just that I can’t look at the damage being caused in other communities without picturing it happening in ours. I’ve built too many amazing connections with the artists, photographers, venue owners, show promoters, and concertgoers to risk seeing any one of them attacked like Renee Good, Alex Pretti, or anyone who has been detained by ICE.
I have to believe we can find our way back. Not by pretending we agree on everything, but by agreeing that, at the very least, the government should follow its own laws. This isn’t a partisan value; it’s the bare minimum for a society that calls itself “free.”
What’s happening in Minneapolis can happen in your town. Maybe it already is. The target today is immigrants and those who defend them. Tomorrow, it could be anyone the government decides is inconvenient or a pest. We have to decide whether we’re going to stand together for basic accountability and human dignity, or let ourselves be divided until there’s nothing left worth defending.
I believe most of us still share enough common ground to matter. We can be better than what this moment is asking us to become, but only if we choose to be. Only if we refuse to accept heinous acts and remember that our power comes from unity, not division.
Don’t let our spineless so-called leaders divide us. Don’t let fear make you cruel, or chaos become normal. Most importantly, don’t look away.
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