We all watched it.

We saw a man trying to help someone who had just been shoved to the ground. We saw him pepper-sprayed.  We saw him taken down. We saw him shot.

Again

 

 

 

 

Again

 

 

 

 

Again

Again

Again  

Again

Again

Again

 

 

 

 

We watched a masked man with no name or agency identification shoot an American citizen in the head on the streets of an American city in broad daylight.

We watched a state-sanctioned execution.

We all saw it with our own eyes.

But the Trump administration wants to gaslight us.

Don’t Believe Your Own Eyes

For the Trump Administration, the truth in Minneapolis is what they say it is. Trump’s message has always been- Don’t believe what you see with your own eyes.

Without waiting for facts, the spokespeople have offered their own hasty narratives to justify each killing and demonize the victims. Both Renee Good and Alex Pretti were callously and immediately vilified, and their killings justified.  

Spin the truth, rinse. Repeat.

The speed of their spin disparaging the victims rather than the perpetrators has made my head spin. And that’s the point

They are counting on our confusion.  They are counting on people not watching the video. They are counting on people skimming headlines and accepting the official lie.

 

Alex Pretti was a domestic terrorist intent on doing serious harm to federal officers. He approached officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic gun. Steven   Miller characterized this ICU nurse as “ an assassin who tried  to murder federal agents.”  Kristi Nom claimed Alex was  “brandishing a gun,”  and Border Patrol Commander Gregory  Bovino claimed he was “aiming to massacre law enforcement.”

We saw it with our own eyes. 

We saw Jonathon Ross fire through the window of Renee Good’s car. We saw the glove box filled with stuffed animals. MAGA had to counter the images to show us that Good was not a nice white lady. She was a woman who stepped out of line. Renee Good was a domestic terrorist who “viciously ran over the ICE officer.”

So the smear began.  She was a lesbian. She wasn’t living with two of her children. Had pronouns in her bio!

But their versions collided with bystanders’ videos watched by millions, who did not see what they were told.

Trump and his sycophants wanted us to believe what they told us, not what we saw.

Gaslighting 101

 

This is gaslighting, pure and simple.

I know gaslighting when I see it. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, gaslighting comes with the territory.  Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse where a person or group makes someone question their sanity, perception of reality, or memories.

Trump is an abuser.

He can spin all he wants.

But the world is watching.

They are seeing the murder, they are hearing the whistles and screams from the videos.

They are watching footage of another protester being killed in the United States. Federal agencies can close ranks.  They can call Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist. The US government can try to bury it

But it can’t be hidden.

The whole world is watching.