First things first: We here in our shop roundly reject the use of deadly force against peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. Of course, nothing like that has happened in the sanctuary state of Minnesota or anywhere else, and we commend our law enforcement officers for their remarkable restraint amid untold thousands of tension-filled encounters with not-so-peaceful provocateurs.

And because of this, we can say unequivocally: Had Renee Good and Alex Pretti been peaceful protesters rather than violent agitators obstructing federal law enforcement operations, they’d be alive today. Full stop.

The video of the Pretti shooting is grim, as shootings always are.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, “In the hours after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security alleged that Pretti ‘violently resisted’ disarmament until officers fired ‘defensive shots.’ But bystander footage … contradicts that version of events. The footage appears to show a federal officer pulling a handgun away from Pretti. Less than a second later, an agent fires several rounds.”

That’s a troubling assessment, to be sure, and it appears that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem got a bit out over her skis in her initial explanation of events. But prudent people, from President Donald Trump all the way down, are right to refrain from rendering a judgment until all the facts are in, all the officers involved have been interviewed, and all the video footage has been thoroughly reviewed.

“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” said the president yesterday during a five-minute phone interview with the Journal. “I don’t like any shooting. But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest, and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”

Minnesota is a right-to-carry state, and Pretti was indeed carrying — which he had every right to do. But one has to question the wisdom of wading into a tense law enforcement operation with a loaded weapon if your intent is merely to peacefully protest. In any case, it’s rather rich to see all these leftists suddenly finding their religion on Second Amendment rights.

As our Mark Alexander, himself a former law enforcement officer, notes, “In a confrontation with police, there is no obligation that they stop and ask about your carry permit. That’s a red herring. And it’s not clear whether, when resisting arrest, Pretti, at some point, reached for his weapon.”

If only Minnesota’s state and local law enforcement officials were working with their federal brothers rather than against them. To this point, President Trump took to ALL CAPS to say, “LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!” while adding that failed Governor Tim Walz and insurrectionist Mayor Jacob Frey “are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!”

In addition, Trump took to Truth Social to announce that he’s sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. “He has not been involved in that area,” said Trump, “but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.” Homan, as you’ll recall, is the career law-enforcement professional who was presented with the nation’s highest civil service award by none other than Barack Obama — and then promptly branded a Nazi when he answered Donald Trump’s call to service.

Speaking of Nazis, I give you Governor Walz, who disgracefully demagogued over the weekend, “We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s gonna write that children’s story about Minnesota.”

If only somebody would write a children’s story about the need for a civil society to enforce its laws. And about the difference between peaceful protest and violent insurrection.