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Josh Pierce

@jdpierce1.bsky.social
81 followers 146 following 2 posts
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Reposted by Josh Pierce
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
By this same logic, Donald Trump bears direct personal responsibility for the murder of Melissa Hortman, the assault on Paul Pelosi, the guy who showed up armed at the Obamas, the attempted pipe bombing of several prominent Democrats, the January 6th rioters who assaulted cops, and many many more.
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Andrew Weinstein @andrewjweinstein.com · 28/02/2026
Remember: Donald Trump created this crisis. He walked away from the Iran nuclear deal that was working, promising a "better deal." He didn't deliver. He escalated, abandoned real diplomacy, and has now led us into a conflict that puts us all at risk.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Donald Trump in 2012:
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
We killed 85 schoolgirls. We are not the good guys.
france24.com
US-Israeli strike on girls' school kills at least 85 students, Iran's judiciary says
At least 85 students have been killed in US-Israeli strikes that hit an Iranian girls' school in Hormozgan province, Iran's judiciary said on Saturday. Washington has not commented on the reported str...
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Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
I will never get used to the disdain our country holds for brown and Black children. From Palestine to Iran to Sudan, we normalize the destruction of schools and hospitals and daycares. We reduce children to death tolls and their futures to rubble with no consequence or second thought.
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Zander🚈🔰 @kohiwonomu.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
if you read nothing else from rodger sherman in your entire life please read these paragraphs from the end of his newsletter, possibly the most important paragraphs anyone has ever written about Team USA
Throughout these Olympics, people asked me why I was cheering for Team USA at this bleak moment in American history. I get it! Our government is a nightmare, causing endless harm internationally and at home. Abroad, they’re picking needless fights with our closest allies — remember what I said about Donald Trump reposting AI-generated videos of himself punching imaginary Canadians in the face? And domestically, they’re building camps for immigrants, and sending masked goons to brutalize and occasionally murder our neighbors in our streets.

So yeah. It felt weird being patriotic during these Olympics. Many Team USA athletes said so themselves. 

But America is so much bigger than Donald Trump and his evil government.  

The flag that flies when an American athlete wins a gold medal isn’t Donald Trump’s flag. It’s ours. The anthem that plays isn’t Donald Trump’s song. It’s ours. If we refuse to celebrate what’s great about our country because of the people trying to ruin it, they’ve already succeeded.

There’s a reason Trump and his administration didn’t celebrate most of Team USA’s wins. (Except the men’s hockey team. I wonder why...) The bigots in charge of our country like to claim that our diversity makes us weaker. Every two years, Team USA proves otherwise at the Olympics. Americans of every race, every background, and every orientation show that they can work together to become the best in the world. There’s a reason Trump and his administration didn’t celebrate most of Team USA’s wins. (Except the men’s hockey team. I wonder why...) The bigots in charge of our country like to claim that our diversity makes us weaker. Every two years, Team USA proves otherwise at the Olympics. Americans of every race, every background, and every orientation show that they can work together to become the best in the world. 

This year’s Team USA featured all sorts of Americans this administration hates. While this administration tries to demonize immigrants and forcibly remove them from our country, nearly one-fifth of Team USA were immigrants or the children of immigrants, like naturalized citizen Kaillie Humphries and first-generation American Alysa Liu. While this administration cracks down on LGBTQ+ rights, Team USA had Hilary Knight getting engaged to Brittany Bowe before winning a gold medal. While this administration tries to reimagine America as a white ethnostate, Team USA had Black gold medalists like Elana Meyers Taylor and Laila Edwards. I could keep going. 

Watching Team USA have their best Winter Olympics ever was a much-needed reminder of all the reasons we can’t give up on this whole America thing. The Trump administration is the worst of us. Team USA is the best of us. Why on earth would we let the worst thing about our country dampen our love for the best things about our country?
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The Onion @theonion.com · 09/02/2026
Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad Bunny Performance theonion.com/terrified-conservative…
Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad Bunny Performance
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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
We’re gonna win they’re gonna lose
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Holly Anderson 🍇 @hollyanderson.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
they believe in nothing, they love nothing but their own power, and they have no moves that don't involve spamming the hate button
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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
time and time again, MAGA Republicans are more excited to target and root against American athletes who have spoken out against them (or, in this case, merely expressed ambivalence) than they actually are to celebrate winning American athletes
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BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL AKA PRESIDENT FOOTBALL @edsbs.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
I would pay every dollar I have to watch the President eat shit on a downhill course
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
This was from October and boy does it feel like the stakes have increased since then. Looking forward to this.
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Brian Phillips @brianphillips.lol · 04/02/2026
Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
The fact that both are quite experienced—8 years and 12 years with CBP—is yet more evidence that CBP should be abolished and all of its agents fired. There's no way to "reform" or "retrain" that, it's just a violent gang with badges.
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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
People say we can't compare this to the Third Reich because of the atrocities but we only found out about the atrocities after the fact when it was all said and done and we're not done with this yet so I am sure the worst stomach churning shit has yet to be revealed.
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Emma Berquist @emmaberquist.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
do not listen to anyone who says they need more training
Ochoa is a Border Patrol agent who joined CBP in 2018. Gutierrez joined in 2014 and works for CBP’s Office of Field Operations. He is assigned to a special response team, which conducts high-risk operations like those of police SWAT units. Records show both men are from South Texas.
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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 30/01/2026
❤️
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 30/01/2026
FOUR journalists were arrested. Proving again that this administration isn’t “pivoting” or “turning down the temperature.” By targeting independent journalists instead of the murderers of Pretti and Good, this is ramping up. Not winding down. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
nbcnews.com
Don Lemon arrested by federal authorities after protest at Minnesota church service
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Friday post on X that Lemon was arrested alongside three others "in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota."
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WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 30/01/2026
You can find ways to support families and pets in Minnesota, as well as organizations working to defend and advance the rights and opportunities of immigrants below campsite.bio/wrdsmm
a small tan dog with a graying face sits on a white sofa and looks up at you with large brown eyes. his ears stick out on either side of his head like airplane wings.
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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
This isn’t about convicting Don Lemon. It’s unlikely that will happen. It’s about intimidating journalists & making them censure themselves out of fear of consequences. It’s about eroding the free press because the administration can’t afford the criticism.
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
I know all eyes are on Minneapolis, but there's a fast-approaching nightmare in Springfield, Ohio. Trump is revoking protected status for tens of thousands of Haitians living there on Feb. 3. Reportedly, on Feb. 4, 1000 ICE agents are arriving to remove this population. Ethnic cleansing.
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Havoc @havoc147.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
This is the BEST explanation I have seen so far.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
That's a brave human being.
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
They gave a bunch of roided up thugs weapons and made them immune from legal consequences. You can't really tinker around the edges of something like that, you have to end it
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Matt McDermott @mattmfm.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Video from this morning shows ICE agents deploying tear gas outside a Minneapolis preschool as parents shout, “This is a preschool! There’s kids here!”
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 27/01/2026
Something important to understand about ICE thugs in the Twin Cities is that they're harassing innocent kids and parents at bus stops and schools every single day. Even after the Pretti shooting. It's terrorism.
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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Immigration is a net good. It improves the lives of the people who immigrate and the people in the areas the immigrate to. Supporting immigration is both morally and economically sound and a good government would encourage and facilitate it instead of making it as difficult as possible
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.” That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
The Washington Post published a clear video of federal agents removing Alex Pretti's handgun moments before he was fatally shot. There's nothing in the video to suggest Pretti even reached for his weapon. wapo.st/49Zqv1L
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Doug Mack @douglasmack.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
It's the PTO moms and spreadsheet dads and other random-ass Minnesotans concerned for their neighbors. There is no one central organizing org, just a ton of people who give a shit. It's both beautiful that it's happening and laughable that anyone thinks there's some broader apparatus at work.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
I am trying not to post on these events in this state of mind but: I hope people understand what the observers are doing is brave and dangerous.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Imagine what’s happening in the camps.
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Molly Knight @mollyknight.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
If they are doing this to white people in broad daylight imagine what they are doing to non-white people in detention facilities.
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Josh Pierce @jdpierce1.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
standwithminnesota.com
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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Pam Bondi just sent a letter to Minnesota officials saying ICE will leave if the state turns over its voter database to Trump. Guess what? This has never been about safety or immigration. It’s a pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states.
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Jeff Rueter @jeffrueter.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti. "Please get the truth out about our son."
Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti
Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti

“We are heartbroken but also very angry.

Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact.

I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. 

Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.
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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 25/01/2026
“Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me.”
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.
1. I am a resident of the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am over 18 years of age. I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting.
2. On Saturday, January 24, 2026, at about 8:50 am, I was getting ready to go to work when I heard whistles outside. I knew the whistles meant that ICE agents were in the area, so I decided to check it out on my way to work. I've been involved in observing in my community because it is so important to document what ICE is doing to my neighbors. Connecting to your local community and knowing who your neighbors are is something I profoundly value.
3. I drove to Nicollet Ave. and 26th where I could hear the whistles coming from. I turned south onto Nicollet. There were already several ICE agents there and they'd set up a sort of vehicle convoy on Nicollet and 28th. There were also about 15 observers there, recording and observing ICE.
4. I saw ICE agents surrounding cars and punching car windows. I also saw them stopping vehicles further down Nicollet, so I backed up because I didn't feel safe continuing on.
5. I noticed a man sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly. He helped me find a place to park. I got out with my whistle and my camera. I went over to him and said something like, "I'm going to film and use my whistle."
6. It seemed like most ICE activity was happening a little farther down the street from us, near 27th. Someone was being thrown to the ground.7. I started recording. There was an agent by a car across the street. Two observers were a few feet away from the agent, blowing their whistles. One was wearing a backpack.
8. I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man's hand recording a video.
9. An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk.
10. The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun.
11. Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him.
12. Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. All three of the observers looked to have been badly affected by the pepper spray. I could feel the pepper spray in my eyes.13. The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn't see him touch any of them-he wasn't even turned toward them. It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.
14.1 don't know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him.
15. The video I recorded of what happened accurately depicts the events leading up to the agents shooting him and several minutes afterwards. The video is attached as Exhibit 1.
16. I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong. The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.
17. I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they're not telling the truth about what happened. I've heard that other witnesses might have been arrested and taken to the Whipple Building.
18. I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbors and my state. I keep alternating between crying and feeling determined it is important to remember the value of documenting injustice. We show up for the people who need us to bearwitness, because it can't just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny. This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy, those things are on the line. He lost his life for those values.
I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct.

Dated and signed on Jan 24, 2026 in Hennepin County, State of Minnesota.
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