9 hours ago (edited)
@SorenSongbird We don't have all the facts on the Pretti case yet. Until we do, I don't know which side is right, but I hope for a fair investigation based on evidence.
@SorenSongbird
9 hours ago
@john2001plus But the fact we do have is that the Trump administration 'instantly' jumped in and lied, that's the point. Taking away everything else, just focusing in on a single point. Both Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino stated directly that he approached wielding his firearm, which video evidence completely disproved even as they said it.
@john2001plus
9 hours ago
@SorenSongbird Did she lie or was she misinformed? Noem later defended her remarks by stating she was using the "best information we had at the time" from officers on the ground.
@SorenSongbird
9 hours ago
@john2001plus She made a hard, direct statement to press before she had sufficient information. She was under no obligation to give any direct answer, and in fact it is the 'most' politician thing she could have done to say that she didn't have the information yet. Instead, she said it firmly and directly hours after the videos had already circulated.
And if that's also the case, why then did Greg Bovino say the same thing? He was even more directly involved and would have known more of the information of what happened.
Noem is not in a position that allows her to do what she did, and in fact would not have stepped it back if there had not been video evidence. Whether she directly lied or spoke on the little info she had at the time, the end result is the same. From your Original comment, she tried to 'Spin' what happened before an actual investigation took place.
@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
@SorenSongbird I think people are jumping to conclusions based on confirmation bias before we have all the facts. I trust that there will be a valid investigation that will determine the truth.
It is a terrible idea to bring a gun to a situation where you are going to resist arrest and fight federal agents. It is a terrible idea to resist arrest when you have a gun on you. This could and probably did lead to a misunderstanding that got the person killed. It has been reported that when the federal agents saw the gun, one of them said, "Gun, gun, gun", which is probably what they are trained to do. I assume that this led to the misunderstanding that caused two federal agents to fear that he was a danger.
I think that it is unjust to say that Pretti was murdered. It maligns federal agents who were trying to defend themselves. Once again, don't resist arrest and fight back while carrying a gun.
The argument that he was disarmed is specious. We see an officer take the gun out of sight of some of the officers. Maybe he should have said something, and maybe he did. However, almost immediately Pretti was fired upon. These officers had very little time to react, although to be honest, I wish they had waited a moment.
In a video of a previous interaction, Pretti showed a willingness to be confrontational and violent, kicking out the tail light of a federal vehicle.
