by
Jane
Tyska/Digital
First
Media/East
Bay
Times
via
Getty
Images)
I
had
a
permit
to
carry
some
years
ago.
I
let
it
expire.
In
this
jurisdiction,
they
are
only
good
for
five
years,
and
I’m
not
the
kind
of
person
who
thinks
armed
thugs
who
want
to
murder
my
family
are
lurking
around
every
corner.
It
seemed
like
an
unnecessary
expense.
However,
I
reconsidered
this
position
when
it
became
apparent
that
Donald
Trump
was
headed
back
to
the
White
House.
As
anyone
who
is
not
a
total
moron
understands,
what
he
did
on
January
6
was
send
a
violent
mob
to
overthrow
democracy
based
on
blatant
lies.
I
was
confident
from
the
outset
that
during
Trump’s
second
term
armed
thugs
would
once
again
create
violent
chaos
under
the
umbrella
of
his
authority.
So,
I
took
the
requisite
class,
submitted
my
paperwork,
and
obtained
my
permit
to
carry
a
pistol.
I
don’t
pack
heat
often,
but
when
I’m
going
somewhere
that
seems
particularly
likely
to
draw
a
mass
shooter,
I
like
to
know
that
I’d
at
least
be
able
to
shoot
back.
Such
was
the
case
earlier
this
month
when
I
attended
an
anti-ICE
protest.
This
was
after
ICE
agent
Jonathan
Ross
murdered
Renee
Good,
but
before
a
gang
of
masked
federal
agents
murdered
Alex
Pretti.
I
really
debated
whether
to
bring
my
pistol
to
this
protest.
It
was
totally
legal
for
me
to
bring
it,
of
course,
and
a
protest
against
Trump
administration
policies
definitely
seemed
like
the
kind
of
thing
that
could
attract
dangerous
Kyle
Rittenhouse-esque
bootlickers.
Yet,
I
feared
that
if
the
masked,
badgeless
thugs
masquerading
as
law
enforcement
attacked
we
protesters,
simply
having
a
handgun
on
my
person
would
give
them
more
of
an
excuse
to
kill
me
than
they’d
had
with
Renee
Good.
Then
again,
it
didn’t
seem
like
they
needed
much
of
an
excuse
at
all
with
Good.
I
brought
the
pistol.
Fortunately,
ICE
stayed
away
from
this
particular
protest.
Nobody
even
knew
I
was
armed,
and
I
made
it
home
wholly
intact
at
the
end
of
a
bitterly
cold
Minnesota
day,
First
and
Second
Amendment
rights
thoroughly
exercised.
On
January
24,
I
woke
up
to
a
text
message
from
someone
who
cares
about
me
advising
me
to
stay
off
of
social
media
and
news
sites
for
a
while.
I
did,
just
long
enough
for
human
bedpan
Greg
Bovino
and
a
frozen-faced
Kristi
Noem
to
have
already
carelessly
smeared
Pretti
without
any
evidence
whatsoever,
and
for
their
incendiary
accusations
to
have
already
been
repeatedly
and
definitively
debunked.
Alex
Pretti
died
a
hero.
Not
only
had
he
done
nothing
wrong,
he
put
himself
in
harm’s
way
to
help
another
Minnesotan
who
was
being
needlessly
brutalized
by
an
unaccountable
secret
police
force
sent
to
invade
and
intimidate
Minneapolis.
Of
course,
I
thought
of
my
own
experience,
given
that
a
few
days
earlier
I
had
done
the
exact
same
thing
that
federal
authorities
tried
to
use
as
a
justification
for
murdering
Pretti.
They
lied
that
he’d
been
brandishing
his
legally
carried
weapon.
They
falsely
labeled
him
an
“assassin”
who
wanted
to
“massacre
law
enforcement”
solely
on
the
basis
of
legally
carrying
a
pistol
pursuant
to
his
permit
to
do
so.
They
called
him
a
“domestic
terrorist.”
Had
I
been
shot
by
ICE
that
day
I
went
out
to
protest,
the
only
difference
is
that
I
would
have
been
a
less
sympathetic
victim
because
I’m
a
lawyer
rather
than
an
intensive
care
nurse
at
a
freaking
veterans
hospital,
and
unlike
Pretti
I
have
a
criminal
record
(relax,
it’s
a
relatively
minor
one).
Make
no
mistake:
the
spectacularly
corrupt
officials
of
this
morally
bankrupt
administration
will
do
this
to
anyone
they
think
they
can
get
away
with
doing
it
to.
The
one
silver
lining
in
this
whole
tragic
month
in
Minnesota
is
that
I
do
not
believe
Good
and
Pretti
died
in
vain.
On
the
contrary,
the
two
of
them
made
the
ultimate
sacrifice
in
defense
of
the
civil
rights
of
other
Minneapolitans,
other
Minnesotans,
and,
when
it
comes
right
down
to
it,
all
Americans.
These
two
brave
souls
were
willing
to
put
themselves
in
harm’s
way
to
safeguard
our
freedoms
from
the
tyranny
of
this
debased
and
lawless
federal
government.
It
has
already
had
an
effect.
The
millions
inspired
by
Good
and
Pretti,
the
swelling
masses
enraged
by
their
outrageous
killings
at
the
hands
of
cowards
hiding
behind
masks,
will
carry
their
legacy
forward,
until
the
national
darkness
enveloping
our
people
is
finally
driven
back
by
the
light.
If
doing
the
exact
same
thing
that
Alex
Pretti
did
makes
me
a
domestic
terrorist
too,
count
me
in.
I
couldn’t
be
in
better
company.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].