The Blind Rage Of Anti-ICE Protests: Delusional Activism In The Age Of Enforcement
Leftists’ irrational fury renders them incapable of processing irrefutable facts, videos, or evidence, making rational dialogue impossible as their hatred overrides any capacity for truth or reason.
Alex Ashe | January 30, 2026 www.americanthinker.com
In recent weeks, protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations have escalated across the country, particularly in Minneapolis, where mass deportations under President Donald Trump’s second administration have ignited widespread unrest. What began as demonstrations against what protesters call “inhumane” immigration policies has devolved, in many instances, into violent clashes with federal agents. Critics argue these actions stem from a deep-seated delusion, fueled by “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS)—a term describing an irrational hatred of Trump and his policies that blinds participants to facts, evidence, and reason.
Protesters, often portrayed by sympathetic media as peaceful advocates for justice, are accused of shielding criminal illegal immigrants, including rapists, pedophiles, and murderers, while following cues from Democrat leaders to obstruct lawful enforcement. This article examines key incidents highlighting this alleged disconnect from reality, drawing on eyewitness accounts, video evidence, and official reports to underscore how blind rage has overtaken rational discourse.
The Renee Good Incident: A “Mom” or a Menace?
One flashpoint is the January 7, 2026, shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Good “weaponized her vehicle” in an attempt to run over the officer, an act described as “domestic terrorism.” Video footage shows Good’s car lurching forward, followed by Ross firing three shots. Officials maintain she endangered the agent, who suffered internal bleeding and required hospitalization, but Good’s supporters, however, paint her as an innocent bystander who had just dropped off her child at daycare, intervening to protect immigrant neighbors from deportation.
This narrative divide exemplifies the delusion at play. Eyewitnesses and federal accounts describe Good laughing defiantly as she accelerated toward the agent, yet left-leaning voices ignore this, focusing instead on her role as a caring mother and poet. Even video evidence, which some outlets claim shows her turning away, is dismissed by skeptics as inconclusive amid the chaos of the scene. The result? Protesters rally around a sanitized version of events, unable to reconcile facts with their rage against ICE’s mission to remove threats from communities.
Alex Pretti: Nurse or Armed Agitator?
The January 24, 2026, killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old former ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital, has further inflamed tensions. Pretti was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents during a confrontation in Minneapolis, amid protests against “Operation Metro Surge,” Trump’s intensified deportation campaign. Officials, including White House advisor Stephen Miller, labeled him an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” citing his possession of a fully loaded 9mm handgun and aggressive behavior.
Days earlier, video allegedly showed Pretti spitting on agents, kicking out a taillight on a government vehicle, and resisting detention, resulting in a bruised rib for one officer. Detained briefly for destruction of property and assault, Pretti returned armed to another protest site, escalating what critics call a pattern of provocation. His defenders, however, hail him as a heroic RN “hunted down” by ICE while en route to save lives, ignoring the fight he initiated and the weapon he brandished. This selective vision—elevating his profession to “self-righteous high ground,” akin to the hero worship of union teachers during COVID—blinds activists to the reality: Pretti’s actions justified heightened caution from agents, turning a routine operation into a deadly standoff.
Video breakdowns reveal agents pepper-spraying, tackling, and disarming Pretti before shots were fired, yet protesters decry it as an execution of an unarmed man. Such denial fuels the cycle of rage, where facts are twisted to fit an anti-enforcement narrative.
Lexie Lawler: Free Speech or Fired for Fury?
Beyond the streets, the delusion extends to online activism, as seen in the case of Alexis “Lexie” Lawler, a Florida labor and delivery nurse fired from Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital. In a viral TikTok, Lawler wished a “fourth-degree tear” on pregnant White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, hoping she would “rip from bow to stern and never sh*t normally again.” Florida Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, issued an emergency suspension of her nursing license.
Lawler’s supporters frame her as a “freedom fighter” punished for political speech, launching GoFundMe campaigns and decrying retaliation. Yet, her words weren’t mere dissent—they were graphic threats of harm, far from protected expression. This mirrors the broader TDS phenomenon: edgy, violent rhetoric is recast as heroic resistance, even as it crosses into lunacy. Lawler herself dismissed backlash in profanity-laced rants, tying her firing to unrelated events like the Minneapolis shootings. Unable to see the truth, her allies elevate her to martyr status, ignoring how such vitriol erodes professional integrity.
Vigilantes and Democrat Directives: A Coordinated Assault?
These incidents aren’t isolated; they’re part of a pattern where highly organized vigilantes interfere with ICE to protect criminal elements. DHS reports a staggering 1,300% increase in assaults on officers, a 3,200% surge in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% rise in death threats since Trump’s inauguration. Protesters block vehicles, throw projectiles, and even bite agents—acts DHS attributes to “radical rhetoric” from sanctuary politicians. In Minneapolis, crowds have used tear gas and flash bangs against federal forces, turning protests violent.
Democrat leaders are accused of stoking this fire. Figures like Rep. Ilhan Omar call for abolishing ICE as the “bare minimum,” while former President Barack Obama praises “peaceful” protests that often aren’t. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have resisted cooperation, with Frey refusing database access amid welfare fraud probes. Critics argue this amounts to orders to “interfere, intervene, obstruct, and physically resist,” shielding criminals under the guise of compassion.
X posts reveal the grassroots fury: Users decry masked ICE agents as threats while ignoring protester violence, and some celebrate agitators as heroes. Yet, as ICE Director Tom Homan vows to stay until “the problem is gone,” deportations continue unabated.
Breaking the Cycle: Facts Over Fury
Attempts to reason with these protesters often fail; irrefutable videos and reports are dismissed as “lies.” This isn’t activism—it’s delusion, where rage eclipses reality. As DHS notes, such interference endangers agents and communities alike. Until protesters confront the facts—that ICE targets threats, not innocents—the cycle of violence will persist. In an era of renewed enforcement, blind hatred serves no one but the criminals it protects.
Image: Myotus, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.
