Alex Pretti, John Brown, And Nonviolent Resistance
Which path will we take ...
Long before we actually learned the names of the ICE agents who executed Alex Pretti, the Trump regime had begun his post-mortem prosecution. The more bloodthirsty MAGA cultists like Megyn Kelly and Matt Walsh are eager to sentence him to death in a court that would shame the most corrupt kangaroo.
Video footage emerged last week that showed Pretti in an altercation with ICE agents on January 13. This occurred in the South Minneapolis neighborhood of Powderhorn, where George Floyd was murdered in 2020. Agents were standing by two of SUVs — an obvious power play that declares a once-free city occupied territory.
Pretti shouted at agents, “What are you doing here?” He curses at them and spits in their direction as they get in their vehicles to leave. Then Pretti kicks at one of the SUV’s taillights, breaking it. A heavily armed agent then tackle Pretti to the ground as other officers watch. They could have arrested him for damaging federal property and classified the spitting as “assault.” They didn’t, but I’m not certain their motivations were entirely benign.
It’s interesting to see the “don’t tread on me” types suggesting that Pretti’s actions justified his death 11 days later, when was shot in the back. You can act like Clint Eastwood but only when the government is liberal.
Trump posted a lengthy social media rant on Thursday, calling Pretti a “an agitator” and possible “insurrectionist” whose “stock is down” now that the latest video was released. Of all deranged inhuman remarks Trump has made, that is one of them. Claiming that Pretti’s “stock is down” is good advice for anyone considering investing in human beings like they’re private equity. Of course, Pretti is dead so that limits his future trading potential.
Alex Pretti was angry that masked thugs invaded his city and terrorized his neighbors. This anger was reasonable, unlike the pouty rage January 6 rioters felt because their leader lost an election. It’s appalling that anyone would think that Pretti’s anger justifies shooting him dead in the street. Even John Brown got a trial.
Abolitionist John Brown was a white evangelical Christian but he was far from MAGA. He considered himself “an instrument of God” with a “sacred obligation” to help strike the “death blow” to slavery in the United States. He believed that peaceful methods had failed, and slavery would only end through actual violence. He was obviously proven correct, though he didn’t live to see it.
Brown led anti-slavery dismissed abolitionist pacifism: “These men are all talk,” he said. “What we need is action — action!” Brown led anti-slavery raids in the state-level civil war known as “Bleeding Kansas.” In 1859, Brown led a “rebellion” or “insurrection” (depending on who you ask) at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. His attempted slave revolt unfortunately failed, as his small group was eventually overwhelmed by federal troops under the command of Robert E. Lee. This is doubly ironic, as the Harper’s Ferry raid is considered one of the leading causes of the Civil War. However, of the two men, only Brown was tried and convicted for treason. He was the first person executed for treason in the United States.
I should clarify that while John Brown did receive a trial, it wasn’t a particularly fair one. The Evening Star wrote, “It was in many respects a most remarkable trial. Capital cases have been exceedingly few in the history of our country where trial and conviction have followed so quickly upon the commission of the offense. Within a fortnight from the time when Brown had struck what he believed to be a righteous blow against what he felt to be the greatest sin of the age he was a condemned felon, with only thirty days between his life and the hangman's noose.”
Seven people were killed at Harper’s Ferry and more than 10 were injured. Yet, Brown lived long enough to stand trial (even if he couldn’t literally stand) He delivered a final speech. (Watch the re-enactment below.)
John Brown responded violently to an inherently violent institution. I admire his courage. I still prefer a peaceful resolution to our current strife, but I fear that becomes increasingly less likely. For one, the regime doesn’t actually support true non-violent resistance. You’ll note that Trump and his sycophants in the media disparage protesters as “well-funded, well-organized revolutionaries” who have access to highly advanced sign-making technology — weapons of mass information.
Of course, nonviolent resistance requires organization and extensive training, neither of which are free. The civil rights movement was not a spontaneous demonstration, and remaining nonviolent in the face of sadistic cruelty requires tremendous discipline. Note that ICE agents can’t handle civilians jeering them or hurling loogies. They could never just sit still while racists hurled racial epithets or dumped food over them while they sat quietly at a lunch counter.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent philosophy had six key principles: He believed people could resist evil without becoming violent themselves. Nonviolent resistance sought to win the “friendship and understanding” of your opponent, not their humiliation. You should personally oppose evil but not the individuals committing evil acts. A commitment to nonviolence required a willing acceptance to suffer abuse, both verbal and physical, without retaliation. Thus, nonviolent resistance avoids “external physical violence” and “internal violence of spirit” as well. King wrote, “The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him.” Nonviolent resistance is ideally motivated by “understanding” or “redeeming good will for all men, and the nonviolent resister must have a “deep faith in the future” and the unwavering conviction that “the universe is on the side of justice.”
Dr. King had immense compassion and generosity of spirit, but he wasn’t naive. He understood the strategic value of nonviolence resistance. As much as humanely possible, deny your opponent the narrative they’d prefer. Besides, a violent conflict would cost more lives, harm the most vulnerable, and likely end in total defeat.
Civil rights activist Bruce Hartford taught tactical nonviolence at CORE, Non-Violent Action Committee (N-VAC), and SCLC training sessions. Tactical nonviolence was taught alongside the more lofty philosophical nonviolence. Hartford wrote, “The main purpose of training in tactical non-violence was to learn the practical techniques of participating in, organizing, and leading, nonviolent direct action demonstrations, — and how to protect yourself from being maimed or killed while doing so.”
Hartford made an interesting point about the necessity of discipline: “To be effective, a demonstration has to adhere to a code of self-discipline so that a clear and positive message is conveyed to the public and the press. When faced with violence, discipline is essential for the safety of everyone in the action. When a mob has you surrounded, or the cops are itching for an excuse to whip heads and bust you on felony charges, one person ‘doing his own thing’ can get a lot of folk hurt. But discipline does not come easy to the kind of people who protest against the way things are, which is why training in that discipline is so necessary.”
Stokely Carmichael (later known as Kwame Ture) succeeded John Lewis as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. However, he later observed, “Dr. King’s policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That’s very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none.”
I disagree that the United States had no conscience. Dr. King, John Lewis, and everyone at those lunch counters represented that conscience. Unfortunately, the United States chose to ignore it. I also wouldn’t recommend betting on Trump’s government possessing any whisper of conscience.
In his 1967, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Dr. King wrote, “We maintained the hope while transforming the hate of traditional revolutions into positive nonviolent power. As long as the hope was fulfilled there was little questioning of nonviolence. But when the hopes were blasted, when people came to see that in spite of progress their conditions were still insufferable … despair began to set in.”
It’s easy for despair to sit in these days. You can understand why Pretti kicked in a taillight. But Trump feeds on our rage and relishes our despair. Trump craves chaos but Pretti was killed because of his love for his community. I can’t predict how we’ll resolve our current crisis. However, nonviolence remains a powerful weapon against those who can’t comprehend compassion or mercy.
I think that more people are willing to stand up to save their neighbors because we finally see their humanity. These are people who would not usually say anything and just be glad that they aren’t the oppressed. But they also know that this regime will eventually oppress everyone if we don’t not stand up for those other someone’s.
Safety in numbers.
I will also tell you something else. Heard (will not get too detailed) of a liberal professor who is married to a 10 year ICE agent. He can’t get out and he can’t believe the direction the agency has turned. So his quiet resistance is to tip her off to upcoming events to share with her network and warn them.
Where there is one worm inside the apple, there’s more. Let’s hope that these quiet people bring about a slow death from within.
Well we know that we have to resist peacefully, especially since there's millions of Americans who bay for the blood of progressives.
Those are the tactical rules before us. But we mustn't give up the ship!