Roughly 24 hours after federal immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, FBI Director Kash Patel walked into a constitutional problem he should have seen coming. Appearing on Fox News, the former podcast personality said of the victim, “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple.”
As Second Amendment advocates were quick to note, that isn’t exactly true. Plenty of conservative activists have brought loaded guns and magazines to a wide variety of public protests — and none of them were shot or killed by federal agents.
A day later, the hapless bureau director decided to make matters noticeably worse, shifting his attention from the Second Amendment to the First. NBC News reported:
FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday that he had opened an investigation into the Signal group text chats that Minnesota residents are using to share information about federal immigration agents’ movements, launching a new front in the Trump administration’s conflict there with potential free speech implications.
During an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Patel said the FBI investigation is examining Minnesotans who have shared federal agents’ license plate numbers and locations.
The Trump administration’s track record on Americans engaging in legal protests is rather dreadful. Not only has Donald Trump personally and repeatedly floated ridiculous conspiracy theories about “paid protesters,” but in May the president also said Americans “are allowed to protest” but only in ways he deems “reasonable.” A month later, the Republican announced that anyone who dared to protest a military parade he was excited about would be met with “very heavy force.”
Responding to a conservative reporter who said in September that antiwar protesters near the White House “still have their First Amendment right,” the president replied, “Yeah, well, I’m not so sure.”
Patel’s approach to protests in Minnesota takes a page from the same script. As federal immigration officers terrorize communities in the state, locals haven’t just gotten organized, they’ve been coordinating their efforts to protect their neighbors and neighborhoods. In the Twin Cities, that’s led to the creation of Signal group chats.
The FBI director believes such efforts entitle federal law enforcement to scrutinize Americans’ private communications. That’s a tough sell.
“There are legitimate reasons to share such information, including enabling members of the public to observe and document law enforcement activity and to hold officials accountable for misconduct,” Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told NBC News.
On Monday night, Patel returned to Fox News to assure viewers, “We’re not going after people and infringing on their freedom of speech.”
No, of course not. This is simply a situation in which the FBI is probing the private communications of Americans who are engaged in legal protests. Who said anything about infringing on anyone’s freedom of speech?
