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Yesterday (Jan. 24), 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti was fatally shot by United States Border Patrol<\/a> amid ongoing anti-ICE protests in the area. It was the third ICE-related shooting in the city this month, and since then, numerous rockers have reacted to the incident in relation to the overarching political climate regarding ICE.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot <\/em>to know about yesterday\u2019s protests and the killing of Alex Pretti. But, suffice it to say here that \u2013 as NBC<\/a> reported yesterday \u2013 Pretti was an \u201cICU nurse\u201d who \u201cserved at a Veterans Affairs facility\u201d\u00a0 and who was \u201cshot just before 9 a.m. after a heated confrontation between agents and protesters who opposed the government\u2019s immigration enforcement tactics, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O\u2019Hara said at a news conference.\u201d<\/p>\n Understandably, the incident \u2013 which follows the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Ren\u00e9e Good<\/a> and the Jan. 14 non-fatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis<\/a>, both also in Minneapolis \u2013 has gotten the attention of numerous rock and metal artists over the past day.<\/p>\n For instance, God Forbid<\/a>\/Snot<\/a>\/ex-Bad Wolves<\/a> guitarist Doc Coyle<\/a> has posted over a dozen tweets in response to the Pretti shooting (and the Trump administration) since yesterday.<\/p>\n He replied to someone by posting photos of Martin Luther King Jr. in jail <\/a>while\u00a0commenting: \u201cProtest and civil disobedience go hand in hand. Learn some history. Why do you think MLK, Malcolm X, Medger Evers, Gandhi were killed? Because they obeyed all the rules. You can\u2019t change things without disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, he replied to the same person (who suggested that \u201ccivil disobedience\u201d will result in \u201cmore casualties\u201d) by clarifying:<\/p>\n If ICE had arrested the 2 people they shot to death the last couple of weeks, it\u2019s not news. I showed you a picture of MLK in JAIL. Not in a fucking coffin. You can arrest people for civil disobedience. But you shouldn\u2019t kill them. Unless there are extreme circumstances. But doesn\u2019t affect you, right? They fucked around and found out, right? You\u2019re a real humanist.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n During the same exchange, Coyle also asked the other X user: \u201cSerious question, when you see protests in other countries on news, do you just always assume those people are dumb and have no good reason to protest?\u201d<\/p>\n Around the same time, he tweeted a lengthier explanation of his views:<\/p>\n What really is interesting\/confounding to me is how we attempt to understand and judge these killings that are caught on camera.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like we instinctively understand that there is some spectrum or scale between 1-10, where a killing is completely justified like some hatchet wielding psychopath or a literal shootout with an assailant at one end and the other is like a cop shooting a kid with an ice cream cone he thought was a gun.<\/p>\n But the incidents that become these big stories are usually more up to interpretation. It\u2019s somewhere between 4-6 on the scale. And then we rip it apart frame by frame like a replay on play from sports.<\/p>\n And people decide if it\u2019s 1 inch over the line in one direction it\u2019s either vicious, evil murder 187 or 100% justified, self defense, no other choice.<\/p>\n And morality just can\u2019t work that way even if the law does. If there is a god, you think he\u2019s playing the game tape at the pearly gates to see what Inch you are in the direction of? Hell or heaven by an inch? That doesn’t make sense.<\/p>\n I imagine a cop might kill someone who totally deserved but still is wrought with guilt. Like Superman killing Zod at the end of Man of Steel.<\/p>\n And I think that should be our societal reckoning. That violent killing of any kind is tragic. But this administration has removed any humanity from this. They are always 100% right the dead American is terrorist, psycho, killer, and their death should be celebrated.<\/p>\n This is mass moral decay. We shouldn\u2019t accept this. A moral, decent society would try to avoid violently killing anyone. Even if it has to happen now and again.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He also retweeted footage of an ICE agent claiming that he\u2019s photographing someone\u2019s car to put them in \u201ca nice little database\u201d of \u201cdomestic terrorist[s],\u201d asserting: \u201cThey don\u2019t kill you because you\u2019re a terrorist. They call you terrorist so they can kill you. Yeah, it\u2019s like that other stupid slogan, except this one is actually true.\u201d<\/p>\n Lastly, Coyle posted the famous \u201cTank Man\u201d photo<\/a> from the 1989 protests in Beijing\u2019s Tiananmen Square, captioning: \u201cJust comply and you won\u2019t\u2019 have any trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Journey<\/a> guitarist Neal Schon<\/a> shared a photo of Pretti\u2019s confrontation with an agent, writing: \u201cThis is fucking insane and it all needs to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly thereafter, Schon replied to Stephen King<\/a>\u2019s tweet that \u201cICE is the American Gestapo\u201d by simply stating: \u201cHired thugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Silent Planet<\/a> vocalist Garrett Russell<\/a> first posted about the Pretti shooting by retweeting an October 2025 post by Homeland Security that showed a picture from the Halo<\/em> video game series with Homeland Security remarking: \u201cFinishing this fight.\u201d Russell\u2019s retweet also included him asking, \u201cI mean who could\u2019ve seen this coming tho.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, Russell tweeted, \u201ci\u2019m getting word that all ten ICE agents that took part in today\u2019s curbside execution have been taken to the hospital for internal bleeding\u201d and \u201ci just know J.D. Vance is currently listening to Nikki Minaj while he applies his Door-to-Door Diva\u2122\ufe0f eyeshadow, thinking about how to spin today\u2019s execution into reasons why more civil liberties should be taken away from us\u201d<\/p>\n Also, All That Remains<\/a> lead singer Phil Labonte<\/a> retweeted a video of Pretti\u2019s altercation with agents, writing: \u201cthe more videos i see the more it looks like the god damned Sig<\/a> caused the shooting. this escalated WICKED fast and it\u2019s a total shitshow.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, outspoken guitarist Tom Morello<\/a> replied to someone claiming that he \u201csupport[s] white men with guns\u201d by retorting: \u201cYou support masked federal government secret police murdering US citizens now. Got it. (PS\u2014ur likely a paid MAGA troll bot living in S. East Asia, but anyway).\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: ICE Recruitment Ads No Longer Running on Spotify Following Artist Backlash<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Since yesterday, Morello has also been retweeting similar sentiments by other X accounts.<\/p>\n For example, he retweeted author Zito Madu<\/a>\u2019s response to footage of the killing: \u201cSo all of it started because they decided to push the woman, and when the dude stepped in to stop them from assaulting her, they killed him. Insane.\u201d<\/p>\n He also reposted The Airborne Toxic Event<\/a> singer Mikel Jollett saying: \u201cAll of these \u2018right to carry\u2019 dipshits who have been screaming about tyranny for 100 years are suddenly weak scared little bootlicking fucks when confronted with actual tyranny.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat Happened to Alex Pretti + What Have Rockers Said?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Tom Morello\u2019s Retweets<\/strong><\/h3>\n