Oppose ICE Expansion in Atlanta and Condemn Excessive Force in Minneapolis

I am writing to express my strong opposition to Buddy Carter’s calls for expanded ICE operations in Atlanta and his defense of the federal immigration agents who killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. As a pharmacist, he took an oath to do no harm, yet his rhetoric surrounding immigration enforcement shows a troubling disregard for human life and civil liberties. Alex Pretti was a 37-year-old nurse and U.S. citizen who was filming an ICE operation when he was pepper-sprayed, surrounded by seven agents, and shot at least 10 times while on his knees and restrained. Video footage shows this occurred within 20 seconds of his intervention, after agents had already removed his legally carried firearm from his pocket. Federal officials provided no evidence to support their characterization of him as a "would-be assassin" beyond the confiscated gun. His statement that "ICE has every right to defend itself" fails to explain how agents were defending themselves when they killed a restrained man. His call for a similar "Operation Metro Surge" in Atlanta, a city he does not represent, is deeply concerning. He praised the "success of federal intervention" in Minneapolis one day before Pretti was killed there. Senator Ossoff correctly described these forces as "massively deployed and ill-trained" and operating with "reckless disregard for life and property." His resolution condemning protesters at a St. Paul church, where he called for "insurrectionists in handcuffs" for roughly three dozen demonstrators, further demonstrates an authoritarian approach that prioritizes political posturing over constituent safety. Even former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene recognized that legally carrying a firearm does not justify lethal force. I urge him to withdraw his resolution, cease calls for ICE expansion in Atlanta, and support accountability measures for immigration enforcement operations that result in civilian deaths. His constituents deserve representation that values all human life.