Whose Rights Tomorrow?

Alex Pretti was shot ten times by a pair of CBP agents as he lay on the side of a street in Minneapolis. Mr. Pretti was observing ICE actions in that city and had his cellphone in his hand. He was armed. His gun was holstered. At no point did he reach for or touch his gun. Following his murder, there were multiple attempts by the administration to justify the shooting, including the spread of misinformation about Mr. Pretti and how the incident unfolded.

Mr. Pretti was exercising the right to keep and bear arms, a provision of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The President stated: “You can’t walk in with guns, you can’t do that. But it’s a very unfortunate incident.” The administration continued to reinforce this idea that Mr. Pretti’s death was a result of his carrying a gun which he had a permit for, at a protest.

The president’s words are a clear distortion of the Second Amendment right which the President affirmed on 7 February 2025 with the passage of Executive Order 14206: Preserving Second Amendment Rights which stated: “The Second Amendment is an indispensable safeguard of security and liberty. It has preserved the right of the American people to protect ourselves, our families, and our freedoms since the founding of our great Nation. Because it is foundational to maintaining all other rights held by Americans, the right to keep and bear arms must not be infringed.”

In the past months, there have been violations of the constitutional rights of the people. This is the latest. The First Amendment guarantees the right to protest and free speech, yet there have been overtures to quell protests. The right to peaceful protest and free speech are guaranteed under Article 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” and “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association” respectively.

The recent arrest of journalists has further compounded the violations of First Amendment Rights. Reporting the news and being present in places where events are deemed newsworthy has been understood to be a part of responsible journalism. With the arrests of journalist, responsible in their own way for truth telling, with jobs that are dependent on freedom of speech, the rights of all are further threatened.

ICE officers have been blatantly trampling the Fourth Amendment for months, breaking down the doors of private residences and invading homes without judicial warrants. Recently, a whistleblower revealed that the protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure were undone by a secret memo circulated within ICE.

The Fourteenth Amendment has also been targeted with Executive Order 14160: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship. Add to the list the Executive Orders presenting challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion, the LGBTQIA community, indigenous peoples, women, climate, and immigrants and one has to wonder whose rights are being upheld in this age of rampant injustice, rule by executive order, and the lack of accountability evident in the compromise of a primarily Republican Congress and a conservative Supreme Court. Who will guarantee that civil rights are upheld?

Advocacy for justice is complicated when the rights of individuals we do not align ourselves with are compromised. If the rights of one group can be rolled back with ease and defiance of the rule of law, then the rights of all are threatened in the same way. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Injustices and inequity manifest themselves in many ways including civil and human rights violations, prejudice and bias which cause one group to be prioritized over other, and access to the tools and services necessary to thrive. The faith community is called to do justice for all. In these times of tyranny, division is the tool of oppression. Building coalitions and providing care and attention for the rights of all and the flourishing of all creation means standing in solidarity with new partners to ensure rights are retained and not violated or rolled back.