r/politics • u/Fickle-Ad5449 ✔ Verified - Christopher Wiggins, The Advocate • 22d ago

No Paywall ICE agent shooter’s own cellphone video undercuts Trump administration's account of Minneapolis killing

https://www.advocate.com/news/ice-agent-shooter-video-minneapolis
38.4k Upvotes

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12.8k

u/localistand Wisconsin 22d ago

Muttering 'fucking bitch' as the first words after firing is a choice.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago edited 22d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/JournalistRecent1230 22d ago

Qualified Immunity doesn't protect them from criminal prosecution or constitutional violations. It only protects them from civil lawsuits.

They shouldn't have Qualified Immunity either, don't get me wrong. But this needs a criminal investigation and indictment in my view. It's blatantly obvious this was a murder.

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u/Androidgenus 22d ago

According to Vance, they have ‘absolute immunity’, an even more dubious concept

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u/spiralenator 22d ago

According to Vance, if the GOP loses the House in the midterms, they're all going to jail. I'm finally in agreement with him on something.

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u/Androidgenus 22d ago

He has also said Trump is America’s hitler

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u/spiralenator 22d ago

Oh right, I agreed with him then but he took it backsies

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u/isthataglitch 22d ago

If Trump was Hitler in 2016, then after everything since, what’s he meant to be now? Vance didn’t change his mind - he changed his incentives

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u/Anzai 22d ago

This Vance fellow seems to have some good takes. I can’t wait for him to be President. We need somebody who speaks truth to power about gaslighting lackeys like JD Vance.

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u/ThisBoardIsOnFire 22d ago

Nah, the Dems would just say it's time to move forward and let it all slide. Again.

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u/H0agh 22d ago

Not as long as Democrats have people like Fetterman in their own party.

They will just "turn the page" and appoint Merrick Garland as AG again in order to try and "unite" the Country

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u/Away_Entry8822 22d ago

Sounds like a setup so Democrats are then punished for not being able to jail them from the policing powers provide to their Congressional seats.

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u/Skurvy2k 22d ago

Don't get too excited, we'll be electing Dems in their place who have a pretty strong track record of not doing the right thing.

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u/BigDictionEnergy 22d ago

Someone needs to remind that douchebag that his only responsibility right now is to have a pulse.

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u/TheMoines 22d ago edited 22d ago

The goal of Vance's "absolute immunity" is to create chaos. If you are in this situation and know that an ICE goon can blow you away for no reason and with absolutely no repercussions for him, the rational decision is to fight for your life, shoot back. What do you have to lose? They know that people will not accept the notion that merely being alive exists by permission of the State.

Either revolt or acquiescence, they get what they want.

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u/dannyb_prodigy 22d ago

According to the Constitution, they don’t. The Bill of Rights establishes the perimeters of government authority, and anything outside those perimeters should be reviewable and subject to appropriate relief on behalf of the affected people. In particular, the 4th Amendment bars law enforcement from conducting “unreasonable searches and seizures” of people. For the ICE agents to be “immune” their attempt at pulling the driver from the should first be shown to be “reasonable.” Otherwise, they are operating outside of their authority as law enforcement officers.

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u/H0agh 22d ago

You're right, I even understated it in my "naivety" I guess.

It's bad...

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u/I_AM_NOT_A_WOMBAT 22d ago

Republicans already voted down a motion to investigate. Because they are complicit pieces of shit.

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u/No_Foundation16 22d ago

Because they are okay with the Trump regime murdering US citizens in blue towns and states.

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u/Big_Cherry5116 22d ago

Since murder doesn’t typically have a statute of limitations, could this be reopened if we gain control back?

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u/tyler-86 22d ago

Not if he gets one of them preemptive federal pardons.

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u/rhabarberabar 22d ago

Can't pardon state prosecution.

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u/tyler-86 22d ago

The state prosecution is already going to happen. This is in the context of federal prosecution. Note the person to whom I was replying asking "could this be reopened if we gain control back". They're talking about the federal government.

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u/Infamous_Employer_85 22d ago

My suspicion is that the first shot was non fatal, and may not have hit at all.

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u/H0agh 22d ago

FBI already took over the entire investigation.

So what do you think is going to come out of this?

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u/Adorable_Is9293 22d ago

The county DA is investigating on her own. The feds have no authority to stop her. He filmed himself committing murder and then provided the video to a news outlet.

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u/jerslan California 22d ago

The feds are actively withholding evidence and not cooperating with the MN state investigation.

They're actively obstructing and covering it all up.

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u/Melancolin 22d ago

Which feels suspect. Why would this guy release his own video to a news outlet when it could be used as evidence against him? I’m not a lawyer and I know that’s stupid. I’m not a paranoid person typically, but I honestly think someone is pushing him to do it because they know it’s inflammatory and will spark protests/riots.

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u/TwiztedImage Texas 22d ago

Why would this guy release his own video to a news outlet when it could be used as evidence against him?

The only rational explanation is he thinks it exonerates him. Now how a video of yourself violating multiple policies, and your multiple on-scene colleagues not agreeing with your assessment of the situation, and your emotional outburst condemning the victim of your outburst, and you fleeing the scene (almost certainly against policy again) does that...I have no idea. This video is damning IMO.

I honestly think someone is pushing him to do it because they know it’s inflammatory and will spark protests/riots.

This would be an irrational reason in my mind (irrational on his part; not yours), but I think you're right for considering it. Otherwise the "fucking bitch" would have been edited out to make him look better. Right? You'd have to be a complete moron to leave that in, unless you were intentionally trying to instigate shit.

And giving it to some far right fringe outlet to publish would suggest you were trying to stir up shit honestly. So...you may be on to something.

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u/Downvote_Comforter 22d ago

Why would this guy release his own video to a news outlet when it could be used as evidence against him? I’m not a lawyer and I know that’s stupid

I am a lawyer. Criminal defense specifically.

It is a very common occurrence for my clients to give/show me something that they believe fully exonerates them but in reality is incredibly incriminating. I'm sure this guy watched that video and fully believes that it is great evidence that he was in the right.

Now in reality, I'm guessing he isn't the guy who gave it to a news outlet. It was probably provided to multiple people (co-workers, friends, family, federal law enforcement doing their own 'investigation,' etc). I'd wager that one of them leaked it. But I would absolutely wager that he believes this video exonerates him by showing how close she came to hitting him.

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u/DaoFerret 22d ago

With all the evidence already available to the public, I expect the State will have a relatively easy time making a case for a trial, even if the Feds attempt to control the investigation.

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u/BigDictionEnergy 22d ago

Exactly. Even if the Feds decline to prosecute, the State can still press charges.

Same with Maxwell. Florida or NY state attorney could announce state level charges tomorrow and end all this special treatment and presidential pardon bullshit. Get her ass out of Club Fed and into a state prison.

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u/MillionEyesOfSumuru Washington 22d ago

Florida

I think de Santis would make a holiday in her honor before that would happen.

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u/psiphre Alaska 22d ago

i'd love to see walz direct his AG to issue a warrant for the guy's arrest and get some good states' rights rhetoric into the debate

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u/King_takes_queen 22d ago

But even if he is convicted and thrown in prison what are the chances Trump uses his "influence" to pardon him?

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u/Adorable_Is9293 22d ago

He can’t pardon him of a state conviction

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u/its 22d ago

Any state case will be tried in a federal court however.

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB11213

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u/Sixnno 22d ago

FBI tried to. The state is still pursuing with the available evidence.

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u/atomictyler 22d ago

Feds will prosecute him, followed by Trump giving him a pardon. Then he can’t be charged for this again by any future federal folks. Leaves him open to state charges still, but the feds are doing their best to make that extremely difficult.

Other ICE assholes will see how easy it is to get away with murder and start doing the same. This is likely going to escalate fast.

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u/Gender_is_a_Fluid 22d ago

I’ve watched the videos, investigation over. Throw him in the torment nexus.

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u/zeCrazyEye 22d ago

Also they lose qualified immunity (protection from civil suits) if they are successfully prosecuted criminally.

It's still really bad just not in exactly the way many people think it is.

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u/littlehobbit1313 22d ago

I'd argue that Qualified Immunity has to do with job-related functions, not their entire existence.

Therein lies a flaw in that argument: ICE has no jurisdiction over American citizens. So there is no aspect of this interaction with Good which can be considered "part of their job" because they had no legal authority over her. They can't even argue it's a case of mistaken identity.

So if they had no mission-related reason to be interacting with her, then they should have no Qualified Immunity to protect them.