An old-time cop once told me that the only government official who could quickly reduce crime was not the governor, mayor, or police chief. It was the weatherman. Sound silly?

For all their grand pronouncements and executive orders, coupled with profane exclamations, mayors, governors, tough-on-crime prosecutors, and cops all seem to fail at cutting the crime rate.

I know the nation’s crime is down and that may be due to demographics, not government policy.

The old cop explained it this way. Crooks are lazy. When it is pouring rain or as cold as it can be, they stay home rather than going out to rob and steal. In a way, he made sense.

But last week, the old weatherman may have changed the course of our nation. And so did the smartphone you have in your pocket.

On Jan. 24, a 37-year-old VA intensive care nurse was shot and killed by federal ICE agents in Minneapolis as citizens stood by and filmed the incident on their smartphones.

Almost immediately, HSS Secretary Kristi Noem and federal lawmen stood before the TV cameras and said ICE enforcement agents were attempting to arrest an illegal alien whose criminal record included domestic assault, disorderly conduct, and driving without a license.

She said during the incident, a violent suspect, a domestic terrorist, approached the agents with a 9 mm handgun. The agents, fearing for their lives, fired defensively. Within an hour or so, TV networks and social media posts showed us dozens of smartphone videos of the tragic incident.

Next, as the weatherman predicted, a massive blizzard moved through the Midwest on the way to the East Coast. The storm forced much of the nation to stay home, where they watched TV. Ordinary folks studied the videos, and they seemed to contradict the official version.

Much of America (by some accounts, 80%) watched the slaying videos over and over and over again. They showed a bunch of masked agents wrestle down a man going to the aid of a woman. He was holding a cell phone, not a pistol. And the video showed two agents firing as many as 10 shots into his back and body.

Despite the freezing temperatures and packed snow, the slaying of the nurse, Alex Pretti, and an earlier killing of a mother, Renee Good, triggered large protests in Minnesota and much of the nation.

I know many of us do not follow the daily news, and we ignore the pronouncements from the president, senators, governors and mayors.

When we turn on the TV news, we usually see stories of house fires, car smashups, and domestic shootings. Political news comes in snippets between the house fires and the "miracle cures” ads that pay the bills.

Most of us don’t know and frankly don’t care about the ins and outs of the big shots who ride the Washington Merry-Go-Round. But this time, the Minneapolis slayings seemed different. We watched videos of alleged “domestic terrorists” being thrown into the street, shoved around, and tear gassed when they interfered with official agents' actions because they, get this, were taking videos and blowing whistles.  

My old cop pal would’ve said the “domestic terrorists” committed a major offense, contempt of cop. And the cops reacted.

Those of us who can still remember the Vietnam/civil rights protests of the 1960s recall how the officials described the protesters as outside agitators, troublemakers, bad guys. They were the others, folks who were not like real Americans.

But last week, as we stayed home, while ginning up the courage to attack the piles of snow, we watched videos of protesters wearing puffer jackets and watch caps who looked like the very folks we see every day at the market, the Y, or at Sunday services. They didn’t look like “others.” They looked like our neighbors. They looked like us.

We watched them being pulled out of their cars, wrestled out of their homes, and sprayed with tear gas. We heard them described as dangerous criminals whose rap sheets included domestic abuse, disorderly conduct, and driving without a license, not murder, sex abuse, and worse.

How many viewers asked themselves this question: If the government agents could do that to folks who look like ordinary Americans, could they do it to me, if I forgot to carry my driver’s license?

If you believe the polls, pundits and politicians, most Americans don't like the ICE tactics.

The White House gang seems to be backing down. Soon, they will be ensnarled in the Epstein files while seeking to blame someone else for their actions.

Maybe they will attack a third-world nation, or threaten to take over Greenland. Or was it Iceland? Or maybe Graceland?

But I’ll bet no one will blame the old weatherman who gave us the time to watch videos of government agents murdering two Americans.

Two Americans, who look just like us.
 
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