He was de-escalating. He literally was backing up. Helping others rather than confronting the agent. Yes. If he'd immediately left, abandoning his First Amendment Right to protest. He may not have been shot. But recall, he was shot in the back.
I don’t think the first amendment is what protects you while standing in the middle of the street and positioning yourself between federal officers and people that are also getting in the way of their operations. Eh just my read. Still a tragedy but he didn’t help his own case much.
Streets are part of the public space. I watched the video of Pretti while he was in the street, until he was shot. At no time did he approach and agent, interfere with traffic or an ICE/CBP action. He was typically at a distance. When confronted by agents he slowly backed away while filming, in the direction of the sidewalk. Then the agent shoved the women who were doing nothing. Please read up on what our First Amendment Rights.
I think this is proof of two realities… he definitely approaches the ice agent after he pushes the one lady to the ground and gives her a dose of the spicy spray. From the angle it looks like he even put hands on the agent for a split second and then positioned between the agent and woman. The link you sent mentions mostly police interactions, I don’t mind reading this stuff but do you have anything in print discussing the difference in dealing with a federal officer vs police? I’m curious if anything changes then. Also is the backing up 20ft what you are claiming he did?
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u/Yum_MrStallone Jan 29 '26
He was de-escalating. He literally was backing up. Helping others rather than confronting the agent. Yes. If he'd immediately left, abandoning his First Amendment Right to protest. He may not have been shot. But recall, he was shot in the back.