What happens before our eyes is the truth

Chhabed Sathee

When the state says, “Trust us,”
and the camera says, “Look with your own eyes,”
America’s moral future today stands between these two.

A photograph taken in Minneapolis shows a man lying face down on the ground, two agents pressing down on him, while a third empties pepper spray into his face. This image is no longer just a photograph. It is a document. It is a naked confession of the state’s use of force.

Then come the videos. The detention of a five-year-old child. The chase of a teenager. And finally, nurse Alex Pretti. Pepper spray. Shoving. The apparent removal of a weapon. Then bullet after bullet fired into a body lying on the ground.

The White House calls this death “self-defense.”
They call him a “would-be assassin.”
The video says: false.

In this age, repression is no longer carried out only with batons or guns. It is done with narratives. With manufactured videos. With altered images. The administration wants footage that fits its story. And what does not fit is reshaped.

But in Minneapolis, there are people who are not creating stories. They are simply holding cameras. Even when shots are fired. Even amid screams. Because they know: without evidence, truth dies.

Alex Pretti did not die only from bullets. He died while trying to capture the truth.

And the video of his death has now become a question:
Will you believe the state—or your own eyes?

A photograph taken by Richard Tsong-Taatarii in Minneapolis has already become one of the defining images of recent American history. It shows an unidentified protester lying face down, two Border Patrol agents pinning him down, while a third sprays pepper spray into his face from inches away. Published on the front page of The Minnesota Star Tribune on Friday, the image starkly exposes the brutal reality of ICE’s ongoing operations in Minneapolis.

This is not the only such image. Across the city are more. A photograph of a five-year-old child detained outside his home. A video of a teenager being chased through the snow, shouting in Spanish, “I’m legal.” And finally, the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital. The video shows him being pepper-sprayed, knocked to the ground, apparently disarmed, and then shot again and again while lying face down.

Many aspects of this case are still under investigation. But the basic facts cannot be denied. Pretti was helping a woman. He did not have a weapon in his hand. Over the past 18 days, federal agents in Minneapolis have used excessive force against numerous people and killed two—first Renee Good, and then Pretti.

We know about this violence because ordinary citizens took risks to keep their cameras running. Tsong-Taatarii has said that volunteer observers are using Signal groups to track the movements of agents so they can reach scenes and document what is happening. This citizen documentation has become the most powerful evidence of reality against the state’s narrative.

Because the gap between reality and official statements is terrifying. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Pretti “wanted to carry out a massacre.” A senior White House official called him a “would-be assassin.” Yet the video shows a phone in his hand, not a gun. He was shot after he was already on the ground.

In Minneapolis now, it is not only a battle in the streets—it is an information war. The administration is urging ICE to produce videos for social media. The president himself is demanding that names, faces, and numbers be “shown.” And when reality does not serve their cause, images are altered without hesitation.

The cruel irony of our time is this: there is no shortage of evidence, yet lies are the most organized force. Still, the videos of Pretti’s death have pierced the noise and shaken public conscience—because the images are unmistakably clear.

The people of Minneapolis are risking their lives to document what is happening to their city. In Pretti’s case, that price was his life. That is why today, more than ever, one thing must be remembered:

Believe your eyes.

History teaches us that the day people reject what they can see with their own eyes is the day power becomes unstoppable.

So the moral position at this moment is simple:
Believe your eyes. Believe the camera. And stand with those who are recording the truth.

Chhabed Sathee: US-based writer, journalist and American political analyst. Editor, Bangla Press.

(*This report is produced by Bangla Press. Reprinting of our content, images or broadcasts in any other media without permission is strictly prohibited).

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