A 37-year-old man is dead in Minneapolis after a confrontation with federal immigration officers. The details are still unfolding, but one thing is clear: this tragedy did not occur in a vacuum. It happened in an extremely hostile political environment created by Democratic officials and activists who have spent the past year encouraging opposition — including getting shot — to law enforcement.
But what’s even more disturbing is that instead of forcefully condemning the behavior that led to the fatal incident, a number of self-described Republicans are rushing to signal retreat.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt wondered on CNN whether deporting all illegal aliens is what Americans want, remarking, “I don’t think that’s what Americans want.”
Stitt added that the president “has to answer” the question whether ICE should be pulled out of Minnesota and that he needs to “bring this to conclusion.”
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the “tragedy and chaos the country is witnessing in Minneapolis is shocking” and “should raise serious questions within the administration about the adequacy of immigration-enforcement training and the instructions officers are given on carrying out their mission.”
Former Ohio Gov. and failed presidential hopeful John Kasich said “antics in Minnesota are waking up the whole country. You see it’s bothering us, because we don’t see justice and we don’t see fairness. And somehow the administration just doesn’t want to acknowledge this and they think they can just double down on what they’re doing.”
The responses aren’t merely spineless. They are dangerous because they teach the wrong lesson.
Petti’s death, like the shooting of Renee Good, happened in an environment deliberately conditioned by Democrats for violence. Over the past year alone, ICE agents have been physically attacked, firebombed, and ambushed. An ICE facility in Los Angeles was the near victim of a firebombing attack in December. ANTIFA targeted an ICE facility in Texas in July. And in September, a man with “ANTI-ICE” inscribed bullets fatally struck an ICE vehicle, leaving two detainees dead.
Such horrific violence is the result of Democrats’ and the left having spent years — particularly the last year — insisting that immigration enforcement is immoral and implying resistance by any means necessary is justified.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries compared “every single ICE agent who’s engaged in this aggressive overreach” to the “1930s” — a reference to Nazi Germany.
New York Rep. Dan Goldman compared ICE to the Gestapo, saying they are the “Secret police, who are masked, who are intimidating, who are scaring people … with these Gestapo-like tactics.”
Minnesota’s own Gov. Tim Walz said “Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the streets.”
In fact, grassroots activists “‘have suggested … what we really need to do is be willing to get shot’ when visiting ICE facilities or federal agencies, a third House Democrat told Axios” in a July report.
“Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough … [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public,” the unidentified lawmaker reportedly said, while another House Democrat told Axios that constituents said “civility isn’t working” and to prepare for “violence … to fight to protect our democracy.”
Meanwhile, the anti-ICE protests that have led to chaos, violence and illegal activity have been met with little pushback from local Democrat leaders.
That is the environment in which Petti and Good’s deaths occurred.
And what makes the moment worse is that some Republicans are validating Democrats’ efforts to create such an environment.They are reinforcing the idea that enough disorder, threats of violence, actual violence, and mob intimidation produces results — which is exactly how you incentivize more of it.
No serious country allows its immigration policy to be dictated by emotional mob blackmail and no serious country would even consider telling its law enforcement to stop enforcing federal law because activists might get upset. And no serious party would ever treat violence or threats of it as a legitimate political tool for shaping policy outcome.
Republicans’ message will not calm tensions but only escalate them. If Republicans want less chaos, they need to stop rewarding it.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
