DEAR EDITOR:

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell, “1984.”

We’ve had another tragedy in Minnesota with the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents. The current administration’s response was immediate and predictable: Alex was a “domestic terrorist” who was “brandishing a weapon” to intimidate and harm ICE officials.

This administration, which is a master of spin and propaganda, did not wait for an investigation or details to start the spin that this couldn’t be the fault of ICE agents or the administration’s policy.

How easily they lie to us! How little they must think of the American people that these lies will be enough to counter what is plain on the videos! How stupid they must think we are that falsehoods and spin with no backing in fact will make us OK with our fellow citizens being slayed by government agents!

I pray for all of my fellow citizens to watch the videos of the incident. I pray that we all use our eyes and ears to see the truth of what happened, and to compare to the propaganda immediately spun by the administration. Don’t let those in power bamboozle you into a false reality. And if you watch the videos and can trust your own eyes on this, think of all the other things this administration has told you that don’t line up with what you know in your heart is happening. Affordability continues to be an issue. The American-led world order of peace is good for us and our allies are worth supporting. Nonviolent civil disobedience, even if annoying, is not an excuse for our government to kill our fellow citizens!

To paraphrase a friend reaching across the aisle: We can have differences in opinion on policy. It is OK for those who voted for and supported this administration coming in, especially because things were not going great for the average person leading into the election. But it is also OK to say that this administration has crossed a line. That what has come before was OK but what is happening now is too much. That executing citizens for demonstrating their First and Second Amendment rights is not OK, and that we don’t have to retreat to our team-based “own the other side” brand of politics. We can come together for a better America and a more accountable government. Power derives from the governed, and we have more common needs than differences.

I pray we can come together to make a better America before it is too late.

ANTHONY CASACCHIA

Green Township