Badia Ugar-Sargon: I find Secretary Noem’s comments about Alex Pretty inexcusable. Everything I’ve heard about this man indicates that he was an amazing person and desecrating the dead like this is completely and completely unjustified. I don’t understand how a man can be allowed to continue to hold public office after lying so blatantly to the American people.
Now, having said that, it’s clear that the president has a very different position. He declined to express support for the shooting by ICE agents until we have more information. He wanted to know what was in the video, and so did I. I hope this comes to light.
That said, Alex Pretty was clearly not murdered. He got into a tailspin that ended with a bad shot. I think this is a moment where we should all, as Americans, try to find our way back to each other and get out of this. I really hope we can find common ground here, because I think this is really a moment where the president himself said, we’ve gone too far in our own corners and we have to find a way to work together. I enjoyed hearing him have these great conversations with Frey and Waltz.
Abby Phillip: I think I heard what you said about Norm, but on that last point where you said he wasn’t murdered, I think a lot of people disagree. I think a big problem that many Americans have with how to deal with this issue is that they believe that the actions of ICE agents can be chalked up to error and have no consequences.
CARI CHAMPION: Yeah, but that’s not the case—
Philip: So what are the lessons for other people in this situation? I think there are probably a lot of people out there who would say this is more than just a bug. There were a lot of bad decisions, maybe even negligent ones. That should be——
Champion: He can’t walk back. He, as president, cannot go back to what he has done, to your previous point, what he actually started. They have lost the plot. The conspiracy was deportation. The conspiracy is to get rid of violent immigrants who are taking away jobs, hurting people in this country, and so on. The plot was not to kill American citizens. He was murdered. This is not a fight.
He was murdered. We have to start using this word –
UNGAR-SARGON: You did just see the altercation.
Champion: No.
UNGAR-SARGON: We all watched it. Champion: We see him trying to protect another woman. While he was trying to protect another protester—
UNGAR-SARGON: He was shot and killed while being arrested because –
Champion: So, I’m not going to argue with you on that. But the point is I don’t – we don’t do that. We didn’t lie. We didn’t lie. We didn’t lie.
ESPAILLAT: It’s a manifestation of—
Champion: We didn’t lie today. Wait a moment. They lost –
(crosstalk)
Champion: I’m still talking. I’m still talking.
Philip: Let me let Kari finish her thoughts.
Champion: The reality is that we have lost our way. He said the things they would have done, the things these ICE agents were supposed to do, they didn’t do. They’re scaring people. They are scaring people. They bully others because they are told to do so. Norm stood up and lied. Bundy sent a ransom note. We’ll talk about all this later. Everyone does what they are told. It’s the result of what they were told to do.
Philip: To that extent, it’s also a result of Donald Trump’s policies.
Champion: Of course, that’s what we said.
Philip: No matter what Donald Trump is doing and saying now, they are following his orders. If he didn’t give the order, who did? He is the president.
Champion: He can’t say he doesn’t know.
Philip: There are 3,000 federal agents in a city of less than half a million people, compared to Chicago’s population of 3 million. Currently, Minneapolis has more ICE agents than anywhere in the continental United States.
Champion: They lost the plot.
Philip: That particular thing is happening.
