ABOTA Calls for Investigation into the ICE Shootings and Withdrawal of Federal Agents in Minnesota

DALLAS, Jan. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In the 250th year of the Declaration of Independence, the shootings in Minneapolis test our nation's commitment to the inalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. On January 7, Renee Nicole Good was protesting the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in her neighborhood when she was fatally shot by a masked agent. On January 24, Alex Jeffrey Pretti was attending a protest rally when he was fatally shot by an ICE agent. These deaths strike at the core of our constitutional order. The rights to free speech and peaceful assembly lie at the heart of a functioning democracy, where the Rule of Law protects ordinary citizens who participate in the checks and balances of power. Those rights are imperiled when people fear that exercising their voice may cost them their lives.

The First Amendment stands at the very beginning of the Bill of Rights because it safeguards every other liberty that follows. It provides a lawful means to confront the precise danger now before us: the use of armed authority to suppress peaceful dissent. When the government responds to protest with excessive lethal force, it does not merely violate the First Amendment, it threatens to extinguish all constitutional rights. ABOTA's dedication to the Seventh Amendment and judicial independence is meaningless without a robust Rule of Law that restrains the arbitrary use of state power.

For this reason, none of us can remain silent while people are afraid to leave their homes and afraid to encounter armed agents acting under color of law in their own streets. As attorneys and officers of the court, we are bound by oath and conscience to defend the Constitution, to protect the powerless, and to insist that no one is above the law.

Safety and security are not achieved by dehumanizing the dead through false accusations, by normalizing arbitrary arrest and abduction, or by demanding silence in the face of excessive violence against ordinary citizens. These offenses against citizens cannot be obscured by censorship or justified by rhetoric; they must be confronted openly, investigated lawfully, and addressed justly.

To preserve our democracy, ABOTA petitions all branches to order a fair and independent investigation into these shootings, withdraw federal agents from Minnesota, and reaffirm constitutional accountability under the Rule of Law.

Sincerely,

William D. Shapiro
National President
American Board of Trial Advocates

American Board of Trial Advocates
ABOTA is an invitation-only national association of 7,000 highly experienced trial lawyers and judges dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to civil jury trials. ABOTA's primary goal is to educate the American public about the history and value of the right to trial by jury, and it is dedicated to elevating the standards of skill, integrity, honor, and courtesy in the legal profession.

For more information contact:
Brian Tyson, Executive Director
Cell: (214) 287-8351
[email protected]

SOURCE American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)