Snowflakes in Winter: A Moment in Minnesota

I am a day late to this conversation, but I believe in taking a moment to reflect, confirm, and assess before commenting on public matters. It took me a full day to be calm enough to properly respond to the events unfolding now.

For those who follow Vixen, you know that personal statements—particularly political statements—are rare here. Many small businesses are posting at this moment about how conventional wisdom says to keep politics out of business, so you don’t offend potential customers. I have never believed that. I think bringing our values and priorities into our work lives only increases the sense of community between small businesses and loyal customers. But we don’t often talk politics here because Vixen is an educational organization. We believe the job is to provide people with the informational framework to make their own decisions about policies and practices that affect them. To enhance critical thinking skills rather than handing out easy answers.

The mission of refraining from publicly posting personal views has become harder over the last few years. As news organizations abrogate their responsibilities to fact check, investigate and spotlight issues, finding information becomes trickier. Finding reliable information, trickier still. Discussion of policy has been replaced with screaming matches of flashpoint priorities and personal opinions.

Today is different.

An unarmed woman, exercising her First Amendment rights, was shoved. A man came to her aid, using his body to block her from her attackers, holding a camera to document her abuse. For this, he was pepper sprayed. He was beaten. He was pistol-whipped by a crowd of men, on his knees, blinded by chemical agents. During this assault his weapon (lawfully carried) became visible. He was disarmed. Then he was executed.

That man was Alex Pretti. The administration is calling him a domestic terrorist. He was a US citizen. He was an ICU nurse at the VA. He was a legal gun owner with a permit to carry a weapon – a weapon he never drew. He had no criminal record, except traffic tickets. He spent his life helping people, particularly veterans. He died attempting to protect a woman in danger. He was a fucking hero.

No.

Alex Pretti IS a hero. And horrifically, tragically, he is now a martyr.

Today is a tragedy. What today is not, unfortunately, is shocking.

Vixen was built with one simple mission: to empower those most vulnerable, those who are the least protected, who may have no choice but to rely on themselves.

Anyone who believes in justice, in rights, in liberty, in self-defense must be outraged by the events of the last year.

A woman was sitting in a parked car. She smiled pleasantly and spoke calmly. She waved traffic past her. She was given conflicting orders—both to move her vehicle and to exit her vehicle, impossible to achieve simultaneously. One man rushed her car and reached through her open window. Under physical assault, she tried to extricate herself from the situation, where she was surrounded by angry, armed men giving contradictory instructions. She was murdered.

That woman was Renee Good. She was a US citizen. She was a mother. She was a writer. She had no criminal record. But she was labelled a domestic terrorist for being in the way. For being unafraid, unapologetic. For attempting to leave. She was called a “fucking bitch”.

Just comply.

These are the words that have been presented over and over again for months, as civil rights are trampled, oversight eliminated and federal powers expanded. Just do as you are told and nothing bad will happen. Place your trust in the person threatening to harm you and hope to stay in their good graces. Just comply comes with an unspoken but critical second part—or else.

Comply or Die.

These words have no place in a free society. Stay home, stay quiet, stay silent, don’t protest, don’t argue, don’t question, don’t help, don’t defend. Allow those in power to do anything they like, take the indignities and violations and infringements, and maybe nothing bad will happen. Maybe you’ll be fine.

Or maybe your door will be kicked in and you’ll be dragged into the freezing cold in nothing but your undergarments on a mistaken identity. Maybe you’ll be detained at gunpoint at your place of work and dropped off miles away with no transportation home. Maybe you’ll have chemical agents thrown in your car and your children will be hospitalized.

Just Comply is the language of rapists.

Just Comply is the language of abusers.

Just Comply is the language of slavers.

Just Comply is an ultimatum handed out by those who cannot reason, cannot negotiate, cannot innovate and cannot gain power any other way because they have nothing to offer but violence.

Just Comply has no place in Minnesota. It has no place in the United States. It has no place in a nation of laws, a nation built and powered by indigenous and immigrant groups of every nationality, ethnicity, race and creed coming together to build something greater than the sum of our parts.

Rest in Power Renee. Rest in Power Alex. We see you and honor you and thank you. We mourn you.

ICE OUT.