The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) has released a statement in response to the recent killing of Alex Pretti, a VA intensive care nurse and union member, by federal agents in Minneapolis. The organization’s officers—President Steve Beatty, Vice President Petal Robertson, and Secretary-Treasurer Tina Dare—condemned the incident and described it as part of an ongoing pattern of violence by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Today, federal agents occupying Minneapolis murdered Alex Pretti, a VA intensive care nurse, union member and U.S. citizen. This is part of a terrifying pattern of wanton violence and cruelty by ICE that includes the earlier murder of Renee Good and the indefensible arrest of a five-year-old child, among untold other atrocities. We will not stand by while our own government murders our citizens, arrests our children and terrorizes our communities,” the statement reads.
The NJEA leadership emphasized their refusal to remain silent amid what they describe as government violence targeting protestors: “We are at a point in American history where silence equals complicity. We will not be silent while armed, masked federal agents bring death, fear and chaos to American cities, neighborhoods and school communities. Responding to peaceful citizen protest with lethal violence is a hallmark of an anti-democratic authoritarian regime. Democracies protect dissent. They do not meet grief and outrage with tear gas and bullets.”
Expressing support for those protesting across the country as well as immigrant communities living in fear due to ICE actions, NJEA stated: “We stand in full solidarity with all those across our nation who are horrified at the carnage that the federal government is inflicting on American communities and with the millions who are exercising their First Amendment right to protest this terror campaign being waged by this administration.
“We also stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors, in New Jersey and across America, who are living in fear of ICE violence. And we stand in solidarity with students who fear for their safety, fear for their families, and fear for their lives.”
The association called on Congress to intervene: “We call on Congress to fulfill its constitutional duty to be a check on this horrific abuse of power by the executive branch. This is not a matter of party politics. This is, quite literally, a matter of life and death, and the blood being shed in Minneapolis is on the hands of every elected official who continues to support or defend these indefensible policies and actions.”
They concluded: “We will keep teaching, organizing, marching, protesting and speaking truth to power until our students are safe, our neighbors are secure, and our democracy is defended. Silence is complicity. We will not be silent.”
