By: Ellie Simmers | Editor-in-Chief
A memorial sign for 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer on the morning of Jan. 24, 2026, is displayed during a vigil later that night, in Minneapolis. (Credit: AP Photo / Adam Gray)
On Saturday, January 24, Alex Pretti was legally observing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Witnesses describe him being brutally assaulted by a group of ICE agents before he was killed.
This was not an isolated incident. It follows a string of incidents of violence by ICE agents across the country, including the killings of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis and Keith Porter Jr. in Los Angeles.
So the question begs: are we making America great yet?
Is it great when people are killed and assaulted for protesting?
When they are leaving school?
When trying to drive away?
When they are hunted down in their homes?
I don’t feel sorry about feeling angry, not just at the unqualified ICE agents who pulled the triggers, but also at all of the people who voted for this. Before the 2020 election, I tried to cultivate empathy for those who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. I hoped that witnessing the damage of his first term would force reflection, accountability and change.
In 2026, I no longer feel empathy for those people who continue to support him and what he stands for.
But I do have empathy for those who change their minds.
It’s not too late to change your mind. It’s not too late to speak up. It’s not too late to admit that what is happening around us is morally, legally and humanly wrong. Changing your mind is not weakness; it is accountability.
What we need now are more people willing to speak up and acknowledge that this violence is not random or inevitable: it is the direct result of decisions made by an administration led by Donald Trump.
Your silence is not neutrality, but permission.
History does not solely judge the people who pull the triggers. It rightfully judges those who stay silent, those who look away and those who decided it wasn’t their problem.
If you once believed in what this administration said or what you believed it stood for, you are not beyond redemption. Redemption requires action. It requires speaking up now; not privately, not quietly but out loud to your friends, your family and your representatives. It’s time to withdraw your support, demand accountability and refuse to normalize what should never have been normal.
It’s not too late to change your mind, but history will remember who spoke up when it mattered, and who waited until it was safe.