I want my campaign to be focused on the people of Illinois and on the need for Illinois in all of its beauty and strength to be preserved for future generations. Accordingly, I have resisted getting involved in discussions about national topics and national politics, but it seems inescapable to do so with regard to Minneapolis’s surge of immigration enforcement and the death of Alex Pretti, fatally shot by CBP agents on Saturday.

I do not believe that Pretti was “executed” or “murdered” or “gunned down” by the agents.  Those are inflammatory terms.  As far as I can tell, it is more likely than not that the agents shot because they believed, in chaotic circumstances, that he was going to shoot. Whether in those particular circumstances their belief was justifiable, according to either the established legal or ethical standards, I simply can’t say.

I do not believe that Pretti “got what was coming to him for bringing a gun to obstruct ICE.”  There is no evidence for this nor any information on what his intentions were in carrying the gun. Certainly, the government claim (now, I believe, indirectly walked back) that he intended to commit a massacre is equally inflammatory.

Was this a cascade of events that led to a tragic end, with everything from the empty holster, a handgun supposedly prone to misfiring, to the whistles and shouting preventing clear communication and elevating the agents’ perception of threat, playing a role?  Or is this all a rationalization of a situation which properly trained and skilled agents should have been able to navigate without fatal consequences?  We can replay the numerous videos online, image by image, but that too often produces a false belief that we can know what the agents perceived and gives a false confidence that the scenario could have been navigated more easily, as if re-playing a video game rather than real life.

To speak more generally of the enforcement actions and immigration policy, I’m afraid my sentiments won’t satisfy the extremes on either side, but that seems to be a place I find myself quite often, which is fine. In fact, I believe it is important to emphasize that there are more moderate voices that are often drowned out by the loud rhetoric of the extremes.

I believe that enforcing federal immigration law is important. Calls by progressive activists to abolish ICE and Border Control are as wrong as the calls by the same voices a few years back to defund the police. We need law enforcement if we are to be a nation bound by the rule of law. Controlling immigration and differentiating between lawful immigrants and illegal immigrants is a critical piece in this effort.

I support ICE and Border Control in their efforts to apprehend and deport criminal illegal aliens, and I call on local and state officials to cooperate with the federal government in making our communities safer. That said, I am concerned about some of the tactics used by federal law enforcement and encourage the officials overseeing these agencies to review their rules of engagement, even if they believe they are operating within their legal authority.

At the same time, I urge Democrats and progressive politicians to reflect on how their actions might have contributed to creating a toxic and volatile environment. Sending whistles to Minneapolis and encouraging activists to get in the way of law enforcement is wrong and dangerous. I will always defend everybody’s constitutional right to peacefully assemble, to protest, and to make their voices heard. But the manner in which anti-ICE activism is being conducted is irresponsible.

Lastly, when tragedies happen, I ask everyone to give space for investigations to take place. Premature and politically slanted statements, whether they come from the White House, from local politicians or from activists, only serve to further divide us.