Via Stulti

I was in the United States Navy for over twelve years.
February 2008 to July 2020.

In that time, I traveled to 39 countries across multiple deployments.

I’ve seen other ways of life.
I’ve seen what real instability looks like.
I’ve seen atrocities no human being should ever have to endure.

But I saw them over there.

Far away.
In places Americans are taught to pity, bomb, or “stabilize.”

Places where we reassure ourselves: this could never happen here.

I believed that too.

That belief wasn’t evil. It was naïve.
And it wasn’t true.

This country has done things like this before.

To Black communities, to labor organizers, to Native Americans, to civil rights leaders, to protesters, to “undesirables.”

I just wasn’t paying attention.
I was insulated by uniform, distance, and the comforting myth that American power only turns ugly when it’s exported.

Over the last decade, that illusion has collapsed.

Because what I’ve watched isn’t a sudden breakdown.

It’s a trend.
A normalization.

A steady erosion of what we claim are American ideals. especially the one we won’t shut up about: freedom from state tyranny.

So when I watched ICE agents execute an innocent U.S. citizen for the second time in less than two weeks, “concern” didn’t quite cover it.

Revolutionary fury might.

---

What Happened

The videos came first.

Multiple angles.
Multiple phones.
Live footage.

A protestor Alex Pretti is approached aggressively by ICE agents.

Nearby, other agents are assaulting and pepper-spraying a woman.

Pretti tries to help the woman.
Six agents swarm him.
They slam him to the pavement.
They beat his head.

One agent removes Pretti’s legally carried firearm from its holster and runs off with it.

Moments later, shots ring out.

Pretti is dead on the pavement.

Another video shows an ICE agent clapping immediately after the shooting.

I’ve seen footage like that before.
From Afghanistan.
From places where armed groups execute civilians in the street to send a message.

Seeing it happen on American pavement, by federal agents, hits different.

But nothing, nothing, prepared me for what came next.

---

The Lie Machine Spins Up

Within hours, before any investigation, before facts, before forensics, government officials flooded the airwaves with a single, coordinated story.

Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin:

“The officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect resisted. This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

White House Senior Advisor Stephen Miller:

“A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement.”

When someone pointed out that the gun was never drawn, that it remained holstered until an agent removed it, Miller doubled down:

“An assassin tried to murder federal agents and this is your response.”

Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino:

“Pretti approached agents with a handgun, intending to massacre law enforcement.”

When asked when the gun came out:

“This situation is evolving. This is under investigation.”

Yes. It was evolving.
Just not in the direction they hoped.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem:

“Fearing for his life and for the lives of officers, an agent fired defensive shots.”

DHS’s official X account:

“An individual approached Border Patrol Officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.”

That was a lie.
The videos proved the agents approached Pretti.
And the weapon he was holding?

A cell phone.

The government fears two weapons above all else:

1. Cameras
2. People who won’t look away

Pretti’s legally carried firearm was properly holstered, never drawn, never pointed.

Yet DHS effectively argued that exercising our Second Amendment right is itself grounds for summary execution.

No trial.
No warning.
No due process.

They even escalated to calling Pretti a “terrorist.”

Sound familiar?

---

Words That Kill

This wasn’t an accident.
This was language deployed as a weapon.

Because the Patriot Act is still active.

And under that framework, once the state labels you a terrorist, they can strip habeas corpus, erase constitutional protections, and justify almost anything.

This is not left vs right.
Not red vs blue.
Not Democrat vs Republican.

This is liberty vs submission.

Those who are comfortable with tyranny as long as it targets the “right” people
versus
those who still believe the Constitution applies even when it’s inconvenient.

And after officials spoke, the propaganda wing activated.

Libs of TikTok labeled Pretti a “lunatic assassin.”
Alexander Muse told his 680,000 followers Pretti was “expecting a firefight.”
Nick Sortor to his 1.4 million followers falsely claimed Pretti was an illegal alien who tried to pull a gun on agents.

All lies.
All provably false.
All amplified anyway.

Then the President of the United States joined in.

Donald Trump posted an image of Pretti’s legally owned firearm on his Truth Social account:

“This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with 2 additional full magazines!), and ready to go. What is that all about?”

What it’s about is the Second Amendment, the same one politicians wrap themselves in when it’s politically useful.

But here, Trump made the quiet part loud:
If the state decides you’re a threat, your rights become evidence against you.

He then blamed Democrats and argued ICE should be able to do their jobs without interference, regardless of how those duties are carried out.

Execution included.

---

1984 Wasn’t a Warning. It Was Training Material.

All of this happened within hours after the shooting.

No investigation.
No established facts.
Just a unified narrative.

Despite video evidence.
Despite eyewitness footage.
Despite reality itself.

This is the state telling you:

What you saw didn’t happen.
What you heard wasn’t real.
Trust us, not your own senses.

George Orwell saw this coming with terrifying clarity:

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.
It was their final, most essential command.”

1984 was supposed to be a warning.

Instead, it became the playbook.

And once a government learns it can execute citizens in public, lie immediately, label the dead a terrorist, and still retain power?

It doesn’t unlearn that lesson.

It perfects it.