When Rights Are Real, They Protect Everyone
A letter to the editor from a resident of Milton.
Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis - a caregiver who spent his days tending to the sick, easing pain, and helping veterans who had already given so much for this country. He was a former research scientist, an avid outdoorsman, and someone who cared deeply about people and community. He was also licensed to legally conceal-carry in Minnesota.
Saturday morning, Alex, a United States citizen, was murdered during an immigration enforcement action.
Video evidence backs up eyewitness testimony that Alex was neither brandishing a firearm nor acting aggressively. He was recording with his cell phone and protecting a woman who was being pushed to the ground. From all accounts, he was legally carrying a firearm, as permitted by law, and was not accused of any crime at the scene. Whatever disagreements may exist about the circumstances, the outcome is clear: a law-abiding citizen exercising his rights did not go home that day.
We have long argued that as Americans, we have a right to speak up and protect ourselves, and that the government cannot and should not decide who lives or dies based on suspicion or convenience. The First Amendment is one of our most cherished rights, and Alex was acting on it when he was repeatedly shot in the back while unarmed.
This is not about immigration policy. We can disagree about enforcement, borders, and federal authority. What we cannot disagree about is this: government agents do not get to decide who lives and who dies on the spot. This principle is what keeps our freedoms real and consistent.
All Americans should be demanding justice for Alex Pretti, especially those who support and defend the Second Amendment. This should trouble everyone, regardless of politics or opinion about immigration. It cannot be ignored, and it cannot be accepted. The people responsible must answer for what happened. Rights that are only recognized when convenient are rights in name only.
Respectfully,
Stokes Reagan of Milton, NC
