Most of us remember a time when we had certain freedoms no matter who was president of the United States. Those rights are found in our Bill of Rights. Now, we are not so sure what we have the right to do without standing up to the president and his minions, who seem never to have read what those rights are.
Recently, people in Minnesota and beyond have discovered that rights such as assembly, a free press, religion, association and petitioning the government are no longer guaranteed as they were taught in school. Still, they are willing to do what is necessary to bring those rights back and to the attention of those now governing with not the slightest idea of what those rights are. Minnesotans and those protesting alongside them are reminding officials what those rights mean.
Just over the past few weeks, we’ve looked closely at what has happened in Minnesota, but Minnesota is not the only place where we must keep our eyes and ears open, with a plan for what we are prepared to do to stop the madness.
On Jan. 7, Renée Good was simply parked in an area where others were assembled when she was shot in the face as she tried to move her car. A bystander doctor attempted to do what doctors are trained and sworn to do after Good was shot but was abruptly stopped by federal agents who blocked him from providing medical care.
Seventeen days later, Alex Pretti, a nurse, was killed as he tried to help a woman who had been manhandled and brutally knocked to the ground by federal immigration agents. For that, he was attacked by agents, thrown to the ground, beaten and shot several times. He was murdered in cold blood by agents who falsely claimed he had brandished a gun. Video shows he was holding his phone. While Pretti did have a legally permitted firearm, it was in his pocket, not in his hand. Federal agents tried to hoodwink the entire world, yet no gun was visible in his hand.
Veteran journalist Don Lemon recently had his home invaded with an arrest warrant and was arrested while working as a member of the press — exercising his right to freedom of the press.
Georgia Fort, another member of the press, was arrested at her home in what many see as a violation of her rights as a journalist. We watched federal agents sneak around her house, look through her windows and attempt to arrest her with no regard for the children inside.
This is not just Minnesota’s fight; it belongs to all of us, and we must be determined to find ways to stop the evil acts against our people.
These are our rights we are being asked to protect. Think about what it means for you and your family when you consider the cold-blooded killings of Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti and how the people of Minnesota are responding. Then consider what action you are willing and able to take if something similar were happening to your family.
Join people across the country who are legally protesting to show former President Donald Trump that they stand in solidarity against the tyrannical government we now face. We are Americans, and our families fought to secure the freedoms the Constitution guarantees us, and we “ain’t gonna let nobody take them away.”
E. Faye Williams is president of The Dick Gregory Society.