Chapter 1: What incident sparked the discussion in this episode?
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Don Lemon Show. Good evening to you. The reason our guest is up right away is because we want to get as much of Rick Wilson as possible. Rick, I know that you and I on these particular issues often have very similar stances and ideas and opinions and views. On this one, it is... I'll save my ire because I used so many F-bombs this morning.
I think that my audience is probably... It is outrageous. Luckily, I am the national reservoir. I'm the strategic reserve of F-bombs for the country. It just keeps getting worse. Welcome, Rick Wilson. By the way, congratulations on your new marriage. Very happy for you, newlywed. Thank you very much. It was delightful. Rick, as you saw what happened this weekend,
And then the response from the administration as it unfolds. Were you as outraged and angry as I was and am? Don, I've tried to teach myself over the last decade that as low as they go, they can always go lower. But the fact that this wasn't even a video that was, there wasn't even a shadow of a doubt. He did not have a gun in his hand.
They mobbed him, pepper sprayed him, knocked him down, took the gun that was legally being carried in his holster, in his trousers, and then shot him eight times in the back. And then sat there, instead of giving him CPR, counted the bullet holes and high-fived each other and thought, hey, we're heroes. And this administration that immediately rolls out, domestic terrorists, domestic terrorists,
Everything we know about Alex Pretty has made it even harder to take, that this was a good man, that this was a man who did good work in his community, that was protecting someone when this occurred. I was both enraged and heartbroken by this story. And we have to look at it in the eye and call it what it is. This is a public execution. This is a public execution by American secret police.
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Chapter 2: How is the MAGA response characterized in the episode?
And there's nothing this administration can do right now to make up for this at all, except take every one of these people out of every American city. They're not about immigration anymore. They're about abusing and killing American citizens. Yep. That's what they're about. And I don't know what the answer is, Rick, because...
If the state has any recourse, but the number of federal agents outnumber the local police force. They are even, look at this, this is ridiculous. You can see that they attacked this man. He was not the aggressor here. There's so many angles of this video. But they outnumber the police force. They're blocking them from investigating this.
They're blocking them from even getting close to the scene. This is going to end badly. It's sadly it's going to get worse. And I don't want that to happen. But, Rick, it is going to get worse. And what happens? I said, God forbid. What happens if there is one of these goons and they get killed? That is going to it's going to be turmoil.
Don, I wrote a piece yesterday evening sort of imagining what happens when ice fires into a crowd for the first time. It kills more than one person at a time when they move from killing retail to killing wholesale. And if they do that, I think this country is at that point kind of lost. I think we're in a civil war at that point. I think that these people in the Trump administration want it.
I think they want that level of violence against Americans because they want to scare people. They want to control people. And, you know, even today, you've got people in the White House, Insurrection Act, Insurrection Act.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of Alex Pretti's death?
Now, that's probably Stephen Miller off the record. But none of this... is America. This is not the rule of law. This is not the Constitution. This is not civil rights or civil liberties. This is a mad, angry bunch of men who have been sent there with no training, no discipline, and no values to assault and attack American citizens. And if Chuck Schumer doesn't stop this damn CR this week,
then ICE is going to get $75 billion more to do more of this to us. Oh, boy. Speaking of Stephen Miller, Stephen Miller was addressed at the White House briefing this afternoon. Caroline Levitt, sorry, I hate to do this to you. I'm going to play a Caroline Levitt set. I'm sorry to you, Rick, and I'm sorry to the audience. Caroline Levitt. Things what? The things I do. I know.
Stephen Miller has won't say if Stephen Miller has apologized to the pretty family for calling him a domestic terrorist and among other things. Here it is.
On Stephen Miller's comments, will Stephen Miller be apologizing to the family of Alex Pretty for calling him, quote, an assassin who tried to murder federal agents despite, as you say, this is still under investigation?
Look, again, this incident remains under investigation and nobody here at the White House, including the President of the United States, wants to see Americans hurt or killed and losing their lives in American streets. And we mourn for the parents. As a mother myself, of course, I cannot imagine the loss of life, especially losing one's child.
And that same empathy from the president goes for the parents of angel families, parents of victims of illegal alien crime across our country as well. And that's exactly why the president continues to be wholeheartedly committed to deporting the worst of the worst criminals from our country.
This woman is the worst. She didn't answer the question.
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Chapter 4: What views are expressed about federal agents and local police?
She is fucking out of her mind. And why didn't anybody – why did no one challenge her in that moment to say, answer the goddamn question? Donna, your guess is as good as mine, brother, because I watch these White House press briefings. I'm like, okay, and the obvious follow-on question from whatever reporter is always left on the table. She gets up. She lies her ass off.
And 99% of the time, the reporter's then like – Does the president plan to go golfing this weekend? What the fuck? This is, you know, asking if Stephen Miller or Kristi Noem will apologize to the family of Alex Preddy is a fundamental question. They both lied and defamed him. And the only up note of this is both Miller and
and Nome, and a lot of other people around this administration, I really hope the Pretty family gets a defamation lawyer and takes them to the goddamn cleaners. Because this is a civil matter. This is defamation. They are not protected by their White House job. They are not pardonable by Donald Trump. And calling someone a domestic terrorist That's a clearly, utterly defamatory statement.
And in both of these cases, in both the pretty case and the good case, these are people who have been publicly executed by Donald Trump's forces. They were not terrorists. They were victims of state-sanctioned murder. So Stephen Miller called the man an assassin. Yeah. Kristi Noem called him a domestic terrorist. Caroline Levitt was asked about that, dodged again. Here it is. regarding Minnesota.
On Saturday the Department of Homeland Security posted that Freddie looks like he wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement. Stephen Miller on Saturday posted that or called Freddie a would-be assassin.
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Chapter 5: How does the episode frame the concept of accountability?
Why did administration officials jump to conclusions before an investigation had even been conducted?
Well, look, this has obviously been a very fluid and fast-moving situation throughout the weekend. As for President Trump, whom I speak for, he has said that he wants to let the investigation continue and let the facts lead in this case.
You know, you've got Kash Patel also making accusations on this. You've got an entire administration giving its marching orders because every day they put out talking points to all their little MAGA influencer minions. And they have an opposition research firm. I have been told this reliably by someone in that orbit.
They've got an oppo firm digging into Alex Preddy's life to find something that they can attack him on. And I'm sorry, that administration, they have no empathy and they have no mercy and they have no sense of honor or dignity.
Wait, hang on one second.
The administration has hired an oppo firm?
Sure.
It's being paid for by the RNC, but I've been told by a Republican. Sorry to cut you off. Okay. No, I've been told by a Republican source that there's an oppo firm digging into this guy right now. What the fuck? No, this is how soulless they are, Don. This is how soulless they are. This is how shitty these people are. They're the worst human beings in the world.
And it's, I lost Don, but I'll keep talking. No, I'm here. They are the worst human beings in the world, and they take pride in the gaslighting. They take pride in the lying. They take pride in all of their bullshit of inverting all the values they used to say that they believed in. Oh, we're First Amendment absolutists, except when you want to criticize Eisen Trump.
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Chapter 6: What criticisms are made regarding the Trump administration's actions?
They, they, they, they think that the constitution is like a fucking Chinese menu. They can pick the ones they want and the ones they don't want. That ain't how it works. I know. I know. Trust me. I had to calm myself down all day. Actually, all weekend after this happened, just listening to Kristi Noem. And did you see that Greg Bovino interview with Dana Bash yesterday? Oh, yeah. Outrageous.
Unbelievable. Unbelievable. So is this a... Because now they're calling someone who had the right to carry. The Second Amendment supposedly to them is sacrosanct. Correct. So are they saying that all people who are carrying legally, are they domestic terrorists? It seems like that's what they're saying. All critics of Trump and ICE are domestic terrorists if they carry a weapon or drive a car.
And you know... I've been living under death threats for a decade now. I carry. I have a concealed carry. Well, Florida used to have a concealed carry. I used to have it. You don't need one anymore in Florida. But I'm trained. I put more rounds downrange at the range every year than most of these ICE agents will in their lives.
And the thought of the fact that they would presume that someone who's a critic of theirs who's carrying a gun legally –
Chapter 7: What are the proposed actions for Democrats in response to the situation?
under the second amendment and state law is automatically a terrorist. I mean, if that's the kind of presumption they're going to make, then, then every ice agent should be automatically considered a murderer. So they don't believe in any of it though. All of it is, is there's two tracks for them. There are supporters who have all the rights and critics who have none.
Then what is Kyle Rittenhouse then? Kyle Rittenhouse is a national hero of the highest order. He is a bold avenger of justice or whatever the fuck it is this week. He's a creepy little weirdo. Watch this, watch this, and then we'll talk more.
As he left the scene that night, was Rittenhouse a trigger-happy far-right teenager or just a patriot trying to stop mob violence? Even at the time when we were in Kenosha after the shooting, Rittenhouse was dividing opinion.
His defenders said he had every right to open fire.
Kyle Rittenhouse is the hero of Kenosha.
That argument continues tonight as the uncle of Jacob Blake spoke to reporters.
We deserve the respect of this country. We deserve to walk the streets of this country. We deserve to march and rally peacefully without having our supporters murdered in the streets.
Although a small crowd is gathered outside the courthouse, there is no sign of any further trouble in the town. But what this case has highlighted is the polarizing role of vigilantes and militias in American life. Who exactly are you? I'm an American.
Emboldened in the Trump years, as we saw for ourselves in multiple states, the verdict today will be seen by them as a vindication of their right to carry weapons on the streets of American cities and to interpret self-defense in broad terms.
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Chapter 8: What future consequences are discussed regarding the current political climate?
Did you see all of those arms in the video? Oh, I saw the whole thing. Okay. I'm just wondering. And Scott Besant, Scott Besson is, to my mind, the thirstiest mofo in this administration trying to always be in the cool kid table.
But to get back to Rittenhouse for a second, to get back to these three percenters and oath keepers and all those guys who show up at public protests strapped all the time, carrying their AR-15s, carrying their sidearms, wearing their body armor, wearing their masks, all that stuff. You know, when they showed up inside the statehouse in Michigan, they were heroic people.
Even though some of them later found out that they were going to try to kidnap the governor. They're called heroic. When those three percenters, note keepers, are out there with guns, they're called heroic. When Rittenhouse is in the street. And look, that was not self-defense. He provoked it. They provoked it.
If you're out there, if I walk out in the street and I'm like waving a gun around and other people see that, that's a provocation. That's an attractive nuisance. I'm all for self-defense. You draw on me and I'm going to do my best to defend myself.
But in this case of Kyle Rittenhouse and in the case of these people, the provocation that they're allowed to do, they're allowed to bring entire formations of armed people to events and under the second amendment and under the law, as long as they're peaceful and lawful.
But Alex Pretty, who has got a permit to carry it, does not remove the gun, does not put his hand on the gun, does not threaten to use the gun, is pepper sprayed, beaten, clubbed over the head. Then one of the ICE agents takes his firearm away from his holster and And then they shoot him eight times in the back. That is a public execution by the state.
And it is, you know, I told my conservative friends, you used to always be afraid of overpowerful state, the government being too powerful. If the government can shoot you eight times in the back of the street and the president's entire administration laughs it off and defends it, you don't live in a free country.
The hypocrisy of it for me, that's why I had to show that Rittenhouse, just to show them, because they're all saying he was armed, he should not have had a gun there. And it's like, what about these goons who were standing on public streets with their guns openly defying law enforcement and saying that they were going to kill protesters and how Rittenhouse gets away with it.
But the other gentleman, who was really a gentleman, Loses his life. Loses his life. Look, if the Second Amendment only applies to friends of Trump and fans of Trump, you don't have a Second Amendment. If the First Amendment only applies to friends of Trump and fans of Trump, you don't have a First Amendment.
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