Venture capitalist and political commentator David Sacks said the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis were the result of organized efforts to obstruct federal immigration enforcement, accusing local officials and the media of misrepresenting the circumstances and creating a dangerous environment for law enforcement.

Speaking about recent incidents tied to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, Sacks said the fatalities should be viewed alongside other victims killed by criminal illegal aliens and argued that the Trump administration’s immigration policies reflect the will of the American people.

“First, let me say the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti are regrettable and and tragic. So are the deaths of Laken Riley, Jocelyn, Nungaray, Rachel Moran, Victoria Harwell, Ivory Smith, and too many others to mention, who are murdered by criminal illegal aliens. And the media won’t ever tell you their names, but President Trump was hired by the American people to do a job, which is to seal the border and deport criminal aliens, so that more of these strategies do not occur in the future,” Sacks said.

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Sacks said polling data shows broad public support for deportation, particularly of criminals, and argued that enforcement efforts have contributed to a significant decline in violent crime.

“And this is a popular policy. Over 55% of the American people say they want all illegal aliens deported, and over 90% want criminal aliens removed. And by criminal aliens are referring to the ones who commit additional crimes after they enter the country illegally. Now this policy is working. Murders were down 21% last year. It’s one of the best years in record,” he said.

According to Sacks, ICE operations generally proceed without incident in states where local authorities cooperate with federal agents, but he said Minneapolis has chosen a confrontational approach.

“And in most states, the process is smooth and doesn’t make national news. And the reason for that is because local authorities are cooperating with ICE but Minneapolis has taken a different approach. They’ve engaged in a campaign of, quote, massive resistance to federal authorities,” Sacks said.

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He rejected characterizations of the activity in Minneapolis as peaceful protest, describing it instead as coordinated efforts designed to block arrests.

“I think the first thing to understand is that what’s happening is much more than just protests, and obviously I have no problem with people peacefully protesting and making their opinions known, but that’s not what’s going on here. These are Antifa style operations designed to thwart the enforcement of federal immigration law. They’re highly organized. They’re communicating in encrypted chat groups. There’s stock and Docs, ICE agents. They follow them around town. They surround them at their hotels. They use their cars to block roads, and they use bull horns and whistles to alert criminals who are about to be arrested,” Sacks said.

He emphasized that ICE agents were executing lawful warrants and said interference by activists increased the risk to both officers and civilians.

“Remember, ICE is a law enforcement agency. They have warrants to arrest known criminal aliens. Despite this rhetoric of them being like the Gestapo, they are going after specific, named individuals for whom they have warrants to arrest. These are dangerous missions, and these agitators are interfering and making these missions even more dangerous,” he said.

Sacks criticized media coverage of Good and Pretti, disputing portrayals of them as innocent bystanders.

“Now, the media has tried to portray Good and Pretti as simply innocent bystanders or people who are peacefully protesting ICE policies. They weren’t. They were foot soldiers in these Antifa style operations, and most importantly, they brought deadly weapons to the fight,” he said.

He said Good struck an officer with her vehicle, which he noted meets the legal standard for deadly force under Minnesota law.

“So Renee Good hit an officer with her SUV, which under a Minnesota law signed by Tim Walz himself in 2020 justifies the use of deadly force by an officer to defend himself,” Sacks said.

Sacks also described Pretti’s actions as aggressive and reckless.

“And Alex Pretti was even more reckless. I think we’ve probably all seen the video by now, where he sought confrontation with ICE officials. He was kicking the car. He was in a rage. This wasn’t his first time doing this,” he said.

Sacks said experienced gun owners understand the risks of confronting law enforcement while armed and accused the media of withholding key details.

“And any experienced gun owner will tell you that if you’re armed and you’re dealing with law enforcement, you have to be the world’s biggest pacifist, because you’re putting your life in danger by making them fear that their lives are in danger, and I think the mainstream media didn’t tell people these facts. They just presented highly selective camera angles. They even airbrushed and face tuned Pretti to make him appear to be a more, I guess, handsome victim, which is truly sick,” he said.

He placed responsibility on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and local leadership for limiting police involvement during ICE operations.

“The local police in Minneapolis should have been allowed to keep conditions safe on the street by creating a perimeter and keeping protesters away from ICE officers who were executing lawful warrants of arrest, but the police were told not to, and then the agitators stepped in, and they took advantage of this sort of vacuum of authority to physically intervene,” Sacks said.

Sacks argued that the confrontations were the foreseeable result of policy decisions that prevented police from maintaining order.

“So I think it was almost inevitable that some sort of tragedy was going to result from this abdication of public safety,” he said.

He said Democratic leaders have political motivations for opposing deportations, including deflecting attention from alleged fraud and protecting their electoral advantages.

“First, they are desperate to change the subject from the billions of dollars of fraud that they allow to occur on their watch,” Sacks said, referencing previous discussions about large-scale fraud in Minnesota.

Sacks said the broader motivation involves preserving population counts that affect congressional representation.

“But I think there’s a second and bigger reason that applies, and I think it applies to national Democrats, which is they want to thwart mass deportations, because illegal immigrants are a vital part of their power base,” he said.

Sacks concluded by framing the issue as political strategy rather than principle.

“So look, this is not about principle. This is bare knuckle politics. The Democrats are playing for keeps. They don’t really care how many innocent Americans get hurt or killed in the process. This is about thwarting a popular policy of deportations and sealing the border, which the American people voted for. So don’t let the media fool you,” he said.

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