Here’s the preface question: For all the complaints we’ve been subjected to over the years about how Jan. 6 was an insurrection (for the record, it wasn’t), how is what we are now seeing in Minneapolis not an insurrection?
At the center of this mess right now, you have someone who showed up to the “protest” with a gun and a couple of clips, clearly intending to use that gun against federal law enforcement. True, he had been granted a carry permit, but he was not carrying either his ID or his carry permit as required by law. I’m seeing reports that the man shot by ICE, Alex Pretti, was part of a Signal group targeting ICE.
This is not about the Second Amendment as many of the supporters of those anti-ICE rioters claim. (Yes, I said rioter. It’s not a protest when you are actively attacking federal officers.)
Even absent any Second Amendment discussion, rule number one here seems a purely logical point. It’s one that seems to be getting ignored by many: You simply do not pull a loaded gun on a federal officer doing his duty enforcing the law and expect to survive.