I had a whole other post planned for today. A fun one. One talking about our favorite seafood restaurant in Atlanta. It was written, scheduled, and ready to go.
And yesterday morning cos-playing ICE thugs murdered another American citizen.
This time a man. A nurse. 37 years old. A good man. His parents told him last night to “be safe” but do what he felt was right.
He tried to put himself between an ICE thug – I refuse to call them officers – and a woman they were pushing around. He had his phone in his right hand. He raised his left hand in the air in a “whoa” or “stop” motion.
They pepper sprayed him, threw him to the ground, and shot him in the back while he was on his hands and knees.
They shot him 10 times.
And then, again, they lied. They said he pulled a gun. That he approached them “aggressively.” That he was a threat. Kristi Noem said in her press briefing that he was committing an act of “domestic terrorism”. Bovino claimed that he was going to “assassinate” federal agents.
Video shows – proves – that he wasn’t. That he was trying to defuse a situation, not instigate one.
I’m Angry
I’m incandescently, furiously, ragingly angry.
I had to walk away from social media for a bit yesterday. I made soup. I baked cookies. I put focaccia on to rise. I soaked some beans for red beans and rice.
I needed to do something productive. Something not just to feed our bodies, but comfort food to help assuage the pain in our hearts and souls.
It partially worked, I guess.
What I’m Doing
Before I sat down last night to write this post, I wrote letters, emails, and online messages to my two Senators (Ossoff and Warnock) and to my Representative (McCormick).
You can find the text of the letters/emails on Bites of Reality. Feel free to copy any parts of it that speak to you and send them to your own electeds.
Don’t copy the whole thing word-for-word. Getting the exact same letter from different people makes it less effective. But take what resonates with you and use it.
What Else Can We Do?
I don’t know what else we can do.
The people of Minneapolis are putting their bodies on the line – literally. And ICE is murdering them.
I feel helpless so far away, but I’m doing what I can.
I’m asking y’all to do the same.
Write your Senators. Write your Representative. Tell them this is unacceptable. Tell them ICE is out of control. Tell them American citizens are being murdered in the streets by federal agents who face no consequences.
Tell them you’re paying attention. Tell them you vote.
Make them hear you.
Edited to add this gift link to the NY Times article: Alex Jeffrey Pretti Knew He Wanted To Help Others
I’ll Be Back
Later I’ll post about The Optimist. About good food and celebrating someone I love. About the things that make life worth living.
But today? Today I’m angry. And I’m not going to pretend I’m not.
For more information and the full text of my letters to my elected officials, visit Bites of Reality.