In an era of smartphones, Americans don’t have to believe federal officials or journalists. They can watch what happened for themselves.
In an era of smartphones, there are times people don’t have to believe federal officials or journalists or anyone else.
They can watch what happened themselves.
A half-dozen citizen videos that chronicled the shooting of Alex Pretti on a freezing street in Minneapolis Jan. 24 may well turn out to be a pivot point for President Donald Trump, the deployment of thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents on the streets of U.S. cities, the debate over the constitutional right to protest and more.
Shot from various angles, some shaky and just seconds long, they can be stitched together to depict an unfolding of events at direct odds with the account by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other top administration officials.
«Your eyes don’t lie», Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said on NBC’s «Meet the Press.»
The contrast between what Noem claimed and what millions of Americans watched means the past weekend could turn out to be a crucial passage that pressured the president to adjust course − or pay a political price − and emboldened congressional critics to confront him.
Already the repercussions are threatening a fragile agreement for the Senate to approve a bipartisan spending package that happens to include $10 billion for ICE. «I can’t vote for a bill that includes ICE funding under these circumstances», Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said on CBS’ «Face the Nation», though that could mean a partial government shutdown on Friday.
Even Rep. James Comer, a staunch Republican from Kentucky who chairs the House Oversight Committee, suggested on Fox’s «Sunday Morning Futures» that Trump remove ICE agents from Minneapolis and send them somewhere else, if «there’s a chance of losing more innocent lives or whatever.» Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana called in a statement for a «full joint federal and state investigation» into the shooting.
