See below for video of Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11)’s interview yesterday with CNN, in which he talked about the murder of Alex Pretti yesterday in Minneapolis. A few key points:
- “It didn’t have to be inevitable. After Renee Good was killed, I did say the way that the Trump administration responded by declaring her falsely to be a domestic terrorist, by falsely claiming that federal agents have absolute immunity, I did say that that kind of rhetoric would lead to more death and more killing. And unfortunately, that’s what’s happened. I mean, look, Donald Trump has said he wants to go after the quote enemy within, and his enemies in his mind are anyone who won’t bend the knee to him – Democrats, protesters, people he doesn’t like. And today we saw one of them shot dead in the streets of Minnesota.”
- [“What do you make of the DHS saying that that this was a self-defense by the officer?”] “I’ve seen, I think, all of the videos that are available, and it’s a bald-faced lie. I mean, Greg Bovino stood before the American people and with a straight face lied through his teeth. There wasn’t a firearm being brandished. There wasn’t a threat to the officers. It’s just a lie. Alex Pretti was holding a cell phone. He was attempting to aid a woman who was being roughed up by these agents. He wasn’t threatening anyone with a gun. He wasn’t threatening anyone. And he was shot dead while he was on his knees. So Greg Bovino, he’s a lunatic and he’s a liar, as is most of the Trump administration leadership.”
- “Those folks who are engaged in that constitutionally protected work are true American patriots and history will remember them for it…history has to know what’s taking place in Minnesota. And those Minnesotans who are peacefully engaged in observing and recording this terrible, terrible episode are doing great service to our Republic.”
- “I’ll be totally honest with you – in the House I think there are two categories [of Republicans]. The biggest category are folks who…at this point, they are so connected to and wedded to Trump and Trumpism and MAGA that I just don’t think they can see reality anymore. That’s the largest chunk of Republicans in Congress. There is a smaller group who…maintain the ability to have an independent thought and think a critical thought of Donald Trump. They tend to find the courage to speak it publicly after they decide that they’re retiring from Congress and not running for reelection.”
- “There will not be a legitimate investigation conducted by the Trump administration. Look, they prevented local and state law enforcement from accessing the scene so that they can conduct a real investigation. They’ve taken the Department of Justice and the FBI out of it. We had one FBI agent who courageously was trying to move forward with a real investigation of Renee Good’s killing who resigned because she was blocked from doing that work. There will not be a real investigation under the Trump administration. However, President Trump won’t be the president forever. And Republicans will not control Congress forever. And one of the messages that I and my 27 colleagues who are in Minnesota last week sent is that there will be accountability for those who are violating the law. For those who are killing American citizens, for those who are violating constitutional and civil rights, there will be accountability. It might not be today. It might not be next week, but it will come. There will be accountability for this.”
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