Veterans For Peace condemns the extrajudicial killings of civilians by militarized federal agents
Veterans For Peace is outraged at the murders of three civilians by ICE agents, the first being Keith Porter who was killed by an off-duty ICE agent, then Renee Good who was killed in her vehicle, and most recently Alex Pretti – a registered VA nurse – who was killed on the sidewalk for legally and lawfully expressing his Constitutionally protected first amendment right to film operations. ICE and other militarized federal agents have been allowed to act with impunity for over a year, and this has culminated in harassment, bloodshed, and summary executions of US citizens simply for exercising Constitutional rights. Let us be clear: ICE must be dismantled immediately, whether done by legislators or done by the people.
These systems of violence come as no surprise to us. We understand that black and indigenous communities have faced this same kind of oppression at the hands of militarized police forces, who also act with complete impunity. We understand the military, our police, Israeli forces, and now ICE/DHS agents, kill first and justify later. These tactics are inseparable from each other, as ICE and local police forces learn and trade tactics with Israeli forces. ICE, CBP, and DHS are an occupying army, mirroring Israel's brutal occupation model – from wide surveillance to militarized raids, to normalization of collective punishment. The violence we have allowed to occur in the occupied Palestinian territories has finally come home to roost.
While we are outraged at these most blatant examples of state violence, we must also acknowledge that dozens of known deaths have occurred in ICE detention under conditions that strongly suggest foul play and neglect. These people being targeted by ICE are members of our brown and black communities, and while these murders of civilians are the most visible and recent upsurges in ICE violence, they are most certainly not the first. ICE is racially profiling and oppressing communities that historically have faced state-sponsored oppression since the very foundation of the United States, and we should not be surprised at this escalation to murder in broad daylight in front of the witness of the entire country.
Veterans For Peace is dedicated to the struggle against this escalation of fascist tactics being used against civilians, to include the incredible leadership of Twin Cities Chapter 27 who are helping to lead the struggle in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our lawmakers have failed to take any meaningful actions to remove ICE from our streets and have enabled Trump's mobilization of the national guard – many of whom still remain in the streets of our city – and continued funding of Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people. We cannot trust these decision-makers to protect us, as they have already failed to protect Keith Porter, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti. We call on all people of conscience to resist. The time for words and bargains is past.
We encourage our members to:
Take to the streets. Lead or join protests on a regular basis.
Start or join ICE response networks locally. If our lawmakers refuse to protect our communities from ICE, we will do it ourselves.
Never normalize the occupation of our cities and communities – whether that is by ICE thugs, national guard, or even active duty military.
We are in dark times, but Veterans For Peace is no stranger to hard battles. As veterans, we know it is not only our right but it is our responsibility to continue fighting for our communities, for our neighbors, and for a better world.
Justice cannot be won without peace. Peace cannot be maintained without justice.
ICE out. Israel out of Palestine. Military off our streets.