Defame the Victims

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | Feb. 21, 2026

Politicians and their followers have always played loosely with the facts, puffing up any successes and blaming failures on others. It’s been that way for a long time.

Sixty years ago we were lied to about the Vietnam War, ignoring our futility and growing losses and wildly inflating enemy casualties and the prognosis for success. This century we were told real whoppers about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which turned out to be the fever dreams of neoconservatives like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld who fantasized about turning the Middle East into a western-style democracy. We would be greeted with flowers, we were told, but instead were greeted with improvised explosive devices (IED). There would be no democratization of the region.

But the current administration has taken this dishonesty to an industrial-strength level. The president and his minions act as if they will go into anaphylactic shock should the truth escape their lips. We have excellent examples after some bloodshed in Minnesota.

Renee Nicole Good found herself in the middle of an ICE operation in Minneapolis. It isn’t clear, and never will be, if she did so intentionally or accidentally ended up where she didn’t belong. Agents told her, loudly, to both leave the area and to get out of her vehicle, and she could not do both. As she started to drive off, an ICE agent shot through her front windshield and then fired two additional rounds through the driver side window. Good was killed.

That’s when the lying started. Kristi Noem, our Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Vice President JD Vance both said Good was a “domestic terrorist.” Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol boss on the ground, said Good had “weaponized” her vehicle in an attempt to “viciously run over” agents.

We know none of that was true because, thankfully, citizens were recording on their ubiquitous phones. There is no evidence Good was involved in any terrorist activities, and the videos clearly showed she did not attempt to run over anybody because there was nobody in front of her vehicle to run over. Noem, Vance, and Bovino all defamed Good, but they were far from done.

Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the local VA center and a legal protester in Minneapolis, was shot and killed just 17 days later. The misinformation again started immediately. Noem said he was “brandishing a 9 mm handgun.” The White House released a statement saying, “An individual arrived on scene to inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement.” That wasn't quite enough so they added, “Officers attempted to disarm this individual but the armed suspect reacted violently ... an agent fired defensive shots.”

Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who looks and acts like every villain from every movie ever made, called Pretti a “would-be assassin.”

The only assassination was Pretti’s character. Again, thank goodness for citizens with phones who captured the entire ugly scene. Pretti, who is legally licensed to carry a firearm, was attempting to aid a pepper-sprayed woman and did not “brandish” anything but informed officers he was armed and they removed the gun without incident. Pretti did not react “violently” but was treated that way. On his knees with his hands in the air, Pretti was shot 10 times, eight times in the back, by Customs and Border Protection Agents.

He was not a terrorist, threatened no one, and was unarmed when shot to death.

Then there is Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen who ran afoul of ICE in Chicago. Labeled a “threat” by ICE because of her social media posts, Martinez was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent, though she miraculously survived.

The lie this time was straightforward; Bovino, speaking for the Border Patrol, said Martinez had “rammed” agents’ cars and they fired in self-defense. The dashcam showed exactly the opposite; the Border Patrol vehicle intentionally rammed the Martinez vehicle, and the agent immediately opened fire. The agent who shot her was pretty proud of his work, texting his pals, “I fired 5 shots and she had 7 holes, put that in your book boys!” All charges against Martinez were dropped but none have been filed against the agent who tried to kill her.

Those are just the highlights. Altogether, the New York Times reports at least nine people have been shot during the current surge (since September). Regrettably, there is little reason to believe our government’s stories on any of the shootings or deaths. While the actual shooters may ultimately be forced to account for their actions, they’ve thus far been held harmless.

The government officials who were so quick to wrongfully accuse and condemn the victims? No correcting their lies, no retracting their defamation, no apologies, and absolutely no consequences of any kind.

Shoot first, make up some lies, defame the victim, move along. Next!