LIVE Rep. Ro Khanna Interview From Alex Pretti Vigil in Minneapolis

What this episode is about

In Minneapolis, Congressman Ro Khanna addresses community concerns following the murder of Alex Pretti during a vigil, criticizing Trump's recent letter to Governor Walz as a form of coercion. He emphasizes the need for community restoration, plans to introduce a 10-point initiative to reform ICE, and praises the resilience of local residents amidst their grief.

Key takeaways

• In the midst of tragedy, Minneapolis rallies, showing grassroots compassion over federal apathy—real heroes in cold weather.
• Trump's 'hostage' tactics expose a disconnect; communities need restoration, not political maneuvering that prioritizes power over people.
• ICE's lack of accountability echoes a chilling reality: unchecked power invites chaos, undermining democracy and civil rights.
• The transformation from INS to DHS spurred impunity, proving that political expediency often trumps the principles of justice.
• Renee Good's resignation highlights a troubling trend: when accountability falters, justice becomes a casualty in political games.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Tina Desiree Berg (Host) · 6 min speaking
• Ro Khanna (Guest) · 14 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Alex Jeffrey Prey, Congressman Roana, ICE, Donald Trump
2. 3:00 – 6:00: ICE, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Department of Homeland Security, Epstein file
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Fourth Amendment, Second Amendment, Alex Jeffrey Prey
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Second Amendment, Epstein file, Congressman Thomas Massie
5. 12:00 – 15:00: Donald Trump, Epstein file, Congressman Thomas Massie
6. 15:00 – 18:00: Alex Jeffrey Prey, Congressman Roana
7. 18:00 – 20:00: Status Coup, Tina Desert Berg, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Midas Touch

Notable quotes from "LIVE Rep. Ro Khanna Interview From Alex Pretti Vigil in Minneapolis"

• For Status Coup in partnership with Midas Touch. We are actually on the ground right now live in Minneapolis at the site where Alex Prey was murdered just a few days ago. There's a vigil here that's been going 24 hours a day.

  about Alex Jeffrey Prey · at 0:08

• We need to restore the community here. And I am going to be introducing a 10-point plan, no new funding for ICE, repeal the 75 billion supplemental to ICE, and tear down this agency and put an agency under justice with oversight.

  about Congressman Roana · at 1:27

• So, Department of Homeland Security, for folks that don't know, that came about after 9/11. It always was sort of set up to be a little bit of what I would call politicized law enforcement. It sort of.

  about Department of Homeland Security · at 3:01

• Well, first of all, it's shameful. Pam Bondi is the one who needs to be impeached or resigned, not just because she's failed to release the Epstein files, but because of her actions.

  about Epstein file · at 5:04

• Are your thoughts on that? I think it's crossing a red line. Well, they don't vi they don't abide by the Fourth Amendment. They're going into people's houses and businesses and…

  about Fourth Amendment · at 8:18

• Believe that the Epstein class needs to go and be held accountable and Thomas Massie and I will achieve this. We're in federal court arguing for this. The survivors are in…

  about Congressman Thomas Massie · at 13:18

• I hope we have a deescalation. I'm glad that he President Trump and Governor Waltz had a conversation. I hope they it leads to the these ICE agents leaving.

  about Donald Trump · at 14:48

• Notification. And it's very cold out here. So, I'm going to sign out. Thank you for joining. Tina Desire reporting for Status Coup in partnership with Midas Touch.

  about Tina Desert Berg · at 19:28

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Alex Jeffrey Prey — Person · Victim referenced / subject of vigil · 3 mentions · first at 0:12
  Central figure of the on-location report; the segment is filmed at the vigil site where he was killed, and his death is used to argue federal overreach and constitutional-rights violations.
• Congressman Roana — Person · Main interview guest (U.S. Representative; identity unclear from transcript) · 2 mentions · first at 0:21
  Primary speaker responding to questions about ICE/DHS, civil-rights investigations, and the Epstein files; proposes a '10-point plan' and discusses working with Republicans.
• Donald Trump — Person · Referenced political leader (criticized/central antagonist) · 3 mentions · first at 0:37
  Discussed as directing pressure on Minnesota leadership, linked to escalation rhetoric (Insurrection Act speculation), and mentioned in connection with Epstein-file accountability claims.
• Tina Desert Berg — Person · Field reporter / host (on-location) · 2 mentions · first at 0:06
  Introduces the segment, conducts the interview, provides scene-setting from Minneapolis, and closes with a membership call-to-action for Status Coup.
• Attorney General Pam Bondi — Person · Referenced government official (criticized) · 2 mentions · first at 4:56
  Presented as a senior Justice Department figure allegedly influencing investigative priorities; criticized for not releasing Epstein files and for actions related to the Renee Good case.
  At Jonathan Ross for what he did. But the Washington folks, I'm going to guess Cash Patel, maybe Pam Bondi came in and said, No, we're not doing that. we're going to investigate Renee Good instead.
• Congressman Thomas Massie — Person · Referenced collaborator (cross-party) · 2 mentions · first at 11:05
  Cited as a Republican partner with whom the congressman is pursuing release of Epstein-related materials and framing issues as federal overreach.
• Tom Swisy — Person · Referenced lawmaker (example of vote regret) · 1 mention · first at 2:36
  Mentioned as a Democrat who voted for an ICE funding bill and later reportedly regretted it; used to argue for party unity against new ICE funding.
  No. Look, I think Tom Swisy has said that he regretted that vote and now he would vote no. I'm for let's make sure the party now unifies around an agenda. No new funding, repeal the 75.
• George Herbert Walker Bush — Person · Historical reference point · 1 mention · first at 3:35
  Referenced to mark the creation of DHS-era structure post-9/11 and contrast with earlier INS placement under the Justice Department.
  FBI, for example. So, well, look, we had the INS from Roosevelt 1940 until George W. Bush, and the difference was it operated under the Justice Department. So, you actually had…

Companies & orgs

• ICE — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at 1:23
  Central to the discussion about immigration enforcement and government overreach.
  We need to restore the community here. And I am going to be introducing a 10-point plan, no new funding for ICE, repeal the 75 billion supplemental to ICE, and tear down this agency and put an agency under justice with oversight.
• Department of Homeland Security — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 3:01
  Discussed in the context of its role in immigration enforcement and lack of accountability.
• Status Coup — Company · Business focus · 3 mentions · first at 0:06
  The reporting entity for the podcast, mentioned as the platform for the discussion.
  Rights which Roan also brought up a little bit. Also, I want to ask you guys to join as a member. If you're not a member of Status Coup, it is your membership that allows us to…
• Midas Touch — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at 0:08
  Mentioned as a partner in the reporting effort.
  Notification. And it's very cold out here. So, I'm going to sign out. Thank you for joining. Tina Desire reporting for Status Coup in partnership with Midas Touch.

Concepts & topics

• Fourth Amendment — Concept · Key argument · 3 mentions · first at 7:53
  Highlighted as being violated by ICE officers' actions.
• Epstein file — Concept · Core topic · 5 mentions · first at 0:32
  Discussed in the context of elite impunity and the need for accountability.
• Second Amendment — Concept · Key argument · 4 mentions · first at 8:27
  Discussed in the context of rights violations by law enforcement.
  Amendment. They're going into people's houses and businesses and arresting people. They don't abide by the Second Amendment. They're assassinating Alex Prey because he had a…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 How about I'll do this and then we'll do that. Of course, let's stick around and right after I'm I'm here.

0:06 Hi, I'm Tina Desiree Berg. I'm reporting for Status Coup in partnership with Midas Touch. We are actually on the ground right now live in Minneapolis at the site where Alex Prey was murdered just a few days ago. There's a vigil here that's been going 24 hours a day. I'm speaking with Congressman Roana who is here visiting uh the family, some of the victims of what's going on. We're going to talk to him a little bit about um obviously the breaking news and I'm going to ask you a little bit about the Epstein files as well since you've been first and foremost on that. But to start off, I wanted to read this to you because Trump has now pretty much sent a letter to Tim Waltz that is coming across as hostage taking in a way. He basically says um if they find a way to they will find a way to cooperate and pull back CPP if he turns over voting records, cooperates with ICE, all of these things seem like non-starters to

0:58 me. What are your thoughts on all that? Well, it's unacceptable and he needs to come here and talk to people. They just want their lives back. Motans are good people. They're hurting. They're grieving. The small businesses are closed. There's a welcoming community. They don't want federal agents on the streets shooting Americans, detaining immigrants with violating their human rights. Uh we need the ICE agents out. We need uh to restore the community here. And I am going to be introducing a 10-point plan, no new funding for ICE, repeal the 75 billion supplemental to ICE, and tear down this agency and put an agency under justice with oversight.

1:42 So, uh, I'm just here for some foremost to thank people in Minnesota. They are courageous. They are good people. They're loving people. They've been out here in the freezing cold. You know how cold it is. And someone told me it's too cold to snow. I hadn't heard that before. But, you know, it they're out here in freezing weather with the risk of ICE officers coming and they're out here standing up not for themselves, but for immigrant communities. Look at the groups. It's actually not many immigrants. They're here putting their lives at risk for immigrant communities.

2:13 They are heroes and I wanted to say thank you to them for being heroes to the country.

2:18 Um, speaking of which, I wanted to ask you, there was recently obviously the ICE funding bill that wound its way through the Congress. Um, there were some Democrats that voted in favor of that. What are your thoughts on those individuals? You're sort of from the more progressive wing of the Democratic party.

2:33 Well, we all should vote no. We shouldn't have vote no in the Senate. No. Look, I think Tom Swisy has said that he regretted that vote and now he would vote no. I'm for let's uh make sure the party now unifies around an agenda. No new funding, repeal the 75 billion, tear down the agency and start from scratch with an agency under justice. Let's come around those principles. Let's have a unified Democratic Party response. We owe it to the people here in Minnesota.

3:00 Uh yeah, indeed. Let's talk about that. So, Department of Homeland Security, for folks that don't know, that came about after 9/11. It always was sort of set up to be a little bit of what I would call politicized law enforcement. It sort of had that feeling to it from jump. Um, and I think we're sort of right now seeing the endgame of that. So, it's interesting that you say we need to get rid of it, scrap it, and build something better in its place. If we went back to the old model pre-Dhs, that would mean many of the things that um uh DHS is tasked with now used to belong to the FBI, for example. So,

3:32 well, look, we had the INS from Roosevelt 1940 until uh George W. Bush, and the difference was it operated under the Justice Department. So, you actually had training of the law enforcement agents. You had standards, you had accountability. Under DHS, there's no accountability. You basically have state execution and you have the vice president saying it's absolute immunity that they can kill any American with no consequence. That is crazy. That is not democracy. And so what I'm saying is of course we have to enforce our immigration laws but have the agency under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department where you have oversight and accountability like we did for decades.

4:14 Now, you need better law enforcement sharing because we had 9/11 and of course there were breakdowns in our sharing of intelligence, but that doesn't mean that you have an agency with total impunity like we currently have with ICE,

4:27 right? Um, I wanted to ask you about the Renee Good situation now. So, I think something happened on Friday that has very much flown under the political radar because of the news cycle being what it is currently, but one of the FBI agents here in the local min Minneapolis uh office resigned. Uh she was in charge of looking into the shooting. She had opened a civil rights case into looking at Jonathan Ross for what he did. But the Washington folks, I'm going to guess Cash Patel, maybe Pam Bondi came in and said, "No, we're not doing that. we're going to investigate Renee Good instead.

5:02 So, she's now resigned. Uh, what are your thoughts on all that? Well, first of all, it's shameful. Pam Bondi is the one who needs to be impeached or resigned, not just because she's failed to release the Epstein files, but because of her actions uh when it comes to Renee Good. I mean, to blame Renee Good when we all saw that you were shot is is just shameful. And the reality is you've had people from the Justice Department resign because they haven't opened up a civil rights investigation on the agent. I've said that the agent should be arrested and prosecuted. Now, it's up to a jury of how that plays out. Obviously, he has due process, but he needs to be arrested and prosecuted, and every single ICE officer who's committing these crimes needs to be arrested, needs to be prosecuted, needs to be hauled before Congress uh to explain themselves. There has to be accountability for the law. We

5:52 have an administration where there's elite impunity. No accountability. Yeah. No, it is a total impunity, I would say. Um, I want to re re kind of sort of pivot to border patrol for a second. You're from California. I'm from California. So, we're more familiar probably with their operations. I think, you know, they've now switched their definition of border to be 100 miles within any airport, which is why you're able to see border patrol across the country in just about every neighborhood. But they were operating this critical incident team for many years. I'm pretty sure it was shut down during the Biden administration. I don't know if it's coming back, but this was basically a team that would go in and cover up shootings that Border Patrol had engaged in. Um they were investigating themselves. They didn't have any sort of real internal affairs within. So I feel like Border Patrol always been has always been sort of a

6:41 paramililitary mindset. Is there a way to reform these guys? like what would the future of that look like for you?

6:49 Well, we should not have border patrol in the heartland in American cities. The job of border patrol is to keep the border safe. And when we're taking them away from the border, we're actually allowing for more terrorism, more drugs to come across the border, have border patrol do what we need. Everyone in America believes we need a secure border, but what we don't need is people killing Americans, going and harassing and and and assaulting immigrants or paying taxes or uh building their lives in a community that's it's wrecking havoc in this country. It's destroying a country that so many people love. This is not politics. You know, I'm a son of immigrants. My grandfather spent four years in jail as part of Gandhi's independence movement fighting for uh independence for India. My parents came here. I was born in Philadelphia by centenery. I grew up with a belief that this was an incredible multi-racial

7:45 democracy and they're destroying it with what they're doing with these ICE agents.

7:50 Yeah. Let's talk about the constitutional rights now of people. Fourth amendment. Um, you know, this is something that is sanctimonious to the country, to everybody that lives here, to our history, our founding powers, and now they're basically saying they don't need to abide by the Fourth Amendment, that they can invade somebody's home based on one of their administrative warrants, which are not issued by a judge. So, this is just paperwork that they issue themselves. They sign it themselves, and they've decided that they have suspicion to go do this. What are your thoughts on that? I think it's crossing a red line. Well, they don't vi they they don't abide by the Fourth Amendment. They're going into people's houses and businesses and arresting people. They don't abide by the Second Amendment. They're assassinating uh Alex Prey because he had a gun. That's a right under the Second Amendment. And

8:36 they don't abide by the First Amendment. They're shooting people for engaging engaging in the First Amendment right to peaceful protest. They are violating every aspect of our Bill of Rights. And that's again why I'm here in Minnesota because the people here in Minnesota in Minneapolis are standing up for all of us. They're standing up for our constitution. They're standing up for the first amendment. They're standing up for the second amendment, for the fourth amendment, and they deserve the thanks. And I just want them to know from my colleagues how much appreciation we have for them. How much this nation is grateful to them.

9:09 Indeed. So let's talk about the Second Amendment for a second. Uh here we have a situation where

9:16 there you go. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It is cold out. It's very cold out here, folks. It's very, very cold.

9:22 Thank you, ma'am. Um so Freddy had a gun on him. It was illegal gun. I don't from what I've seen from watching all these videos, I don't think that those agents would have known that he had a gun if they didn't have him on the floor and they were beating him. So it it seems that that became evident. He might have said, "I have a gun." at some point during that interaction. But the point is is he it was a legal gun. He never pointed it at any officer. He never pulled it or unholstered it.

9:47 Nothing he did violated anything that would be a second amendment protection. It was all legal. Um then you see another video where the officers walks away with the gun in his hand. It looks like it might have shot into the cement. I'm not really sure. It looks possibly that that's the case, but again nothing he did was illegal. And you have Christy Nome and others basically saying that he was showing up there to do what? Max, what does she call it? Maximum damage to

10:13 Yeah. She called him a terrorist. I mean, she's calling they're calling Renee Good and Alex Freddy terrorists when they are actually trying to protect immigrants. Alex Freddy was trying to protect a woman. Read the parents statement. And they're angry not just at the loss of their son. Think about this. They lose their son. And then they have the president and our administration calling him a criminal. I it it it has no shame,

10:39 right? So what so where are these guys at now? These are, you know, sort of traditionally right-wing values that you're allowed to carry a gun, own a gun, you should do that. Something that they would have um so this is something they would have defended, I think, if it was a right-wing guy on the ground, and the opposite was true. But they don't seem to be seeing how that's hypocrisy. Well, I'm talking to some of the Republicans who are making this point that they think this is a violation of the Second Amendment and they see this as government overreach. And you know, I cooperated with Thomas Massie on the Epstein files and worked with Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boowbert, Nancy M.

11:14 And I'm working with some Republicans to say, "Look, let's look at this not just as an immigration issue, as an issue of federal government overreach. You don't want federal law enforcement going after people for engaging in peaceful protest. You don't want them going after anyone who's carrying a gun. They're violating our freedoms.

11:31 Right. So Tom Hman is now coming to town. We're being told to act as what they intermediary for questioning, I believe. Um what are your thoughts on that?

11:42 I mean, I say what he is doing here. I mean, he's head of the border patrol. He he has no business here. There needs to be deescalation. They need to take the ICE officers out. And they've got to start uh rebuilding this community. And I appeal to the president on that because he's creating division and violence. This isn't good for him. So I don't I don't understand what bringing Tom Harman out here is going to do.

12:07 Yeah. His his uh popularity numbers are plummeting as we speak. I do think that we have maybe hit a red line that even the right-wing is like, "Yeah, this is a bridge too far."

12:17 The New York Post is saying this has gone too far. You know, it's gone too far.

12:22 Gone too far. are killing American citizens. I mean, no one signed up for this. No one who voted for him thought they would be killing a 37year-old American nurse,

12:31 right? Let's switch um a second here to the Epstein files. Um you brought that up with Tom Massie. You have been at the lead of getting these released. So, they promised they were going to release these documents. They've only released a small percentage of them. The ones they have released are heavily heavily redacted and they're now dragging their feet. Um, so a what's your thought on that? What's your next move in in regards to that? And then the second part of that is is this going to be the thing that gets the MAGA folks out of their cult?

13:01 Well, this again is about elite impunity, right? I mean, it's a group of people who raped underage girls from workingclass families who face no consequences. Now, you got ICE officers who are killing workingclass people facing no consequences. We need accountability in this country. I do believe that the Epstein class needs to go and be held accountable and Thomas Massie and I will achieve this. We're in federal court arguing for this. The survivors are in federal court. I've talked to the survivors lawyers. Our actions now are forcing some further releases that will take place over the next two weeks. Uh and we're going to keep at it to get the survivors statements uh where they talk about the other rich and powerful men who raped them. uh to get the statements uh of uh who else was involved. I mean, the American people are going to be horrified when it comes out that powerful politicians, powerful

13:52 financeers raped underage girls. It's horrific, including Trump. Is this the dog wagging its tail? Is this him trying to try to form some sort of distraction from I mean, what we're seeing right now here in Minneapolis, is it a form of distraction from that? Well, look, I don't want to engage in speculation and what happened here is is terrible in its own right. But what I'll say that links that with the Epstein files is this sense that the elites have a different set of rules that they can get away with a different set of justice. And this country has to have justice. You know, in Deuteronomy 16, it says justice, justice thou shalt have. We need justice in this country.

14:32 Insur insurrection act. Is this a prelude to that? We've heard Trump sort of threaten that multiple times now in various circumstances. Are we inching closer to that? Is that the endgame?

14:45 Some people are speculating that that is the end game. What are your thoughts? I hope we have a deescalation. I'm glad that he uh President Trump and Governor Waltz had a conversation. I hope they it leads to the these ICE agents leaving. Uh there is no justification for an insurrection. Look at the streets in Minneapolis. Does this look like an insurrection? I mean, you know, people should come here and meet the people. There is no insurrection going on. It's a patently absurd thing. I wouldn't fly in to Minneapolis uh if there was some kind of insurrection. I mean, come on.

15:15 Yeah, they do tend to exaggerate. Um I'm sorry. That's fine. Okay. Sorry folks. Um, so one something in your wheelhouse has been constantly talking about how income inequality uh is something that the Democratic party should be addressing. I want to sort of tie that into what's going on right now with the Trump administration. I think one of the biggest drivers of what we're seeing of some of the increase in fascism is because people are struggling financially. We did not give them what I would call a left exit to income inequality in the country. So they turned to this right populist demagogue on the right who is not delivering on anything he promised.

16:05 Let's be clear. So how does all of that get fixed? This is something I think you've talked a lot about.

16:09 Well, I call for a new economic patriotism. What does that mean? We need a Marshall plan for America. Good paying jobs everywhere that are either new advanced factory jobs, new technology jobs, new jobs in the care economy. We need a living wage. We need Medicare for all. The health care costs are out of control. We need childare at $10 a day. We need the billionaires and the ultra wealthy playing tax so that we can make sure every American has a chance at the American dream. We need an FDR like moment, a bold new economic vision where people actually get to participate and have success in uh in life. And we've seen the kind of anti-immigrant sentiment before. During the Great Depression, we had the INS, which we talked about, deporting Mexicans and deporting Mexican citizens because of the economic anxiety. And I feel that a lot of the economic anxiety is contributing to the anti-immigrant

17:04 sentiment that we feel. A bold FDR-like moment for our times will address that and prevent an ugly right-wing nationalism.

17:14 Indeed. Thank you so much for your time. Good to see you. Great to see Good to see you.

17:18 Thank you. Uh so we were just speaking with Congressman Roana. We are here at the site of Alex uh PR's vigil. I'm going to ask John to kind of spin around here so you can see what's going on.

17:29 Thank you. Yes. Uh this has been like a 24/7 vigil that they've put up here in place. There's been protesters out here all day and all night. Um they're trying to sort of keep it protected so it doesn't get taken down. um in just it's a beautiful memorial to Alex Prey. One of the things that uh Rep. Connor touched on just now was the income inequality that we're seeing the country. Although the Democratic party has been talking about making affordability a um an issue of of the midterm elections and I think they should do that and can do that. But I'm also hearing from a lot of folks, and I understand this, that it shouldn't be the sole issue, that what is going on here with ICE operations, what's going on here with um Pam Bondi, with Border Patrol and all of these things is also something that needs to be addressed.

18:20 Obviously, we were at a protest last night that got uh pretty crazy at the end. Border Patrol came in. I believe it was Border Patrol at least. There were federal prison uh law enforcement there as well and they pretty much went ham on a small group that was left there. Most of the protesters had left and kind of went nuts with the pro uh press that was still there. So obviously they don't feel like they're going to be held accountable for anything they say or do and that they can get away with violating all kinds of constitutional rights which uh Roan also brought up a little bit. Also, I want to ask you guys to join as a member. If you're not a member of Status Coup, it is your membership that allows us to be uh out here on the street reporting. Uh your membership pays for our travel expenses, hotels, our live view, and whatever else. So, another guy's live over here. Um so, we would appreciate you joining if you can.

19:18 Um thank you for joining us today for Roana's interview. We will be going live maybe a little bit later at another protest. So, make sure that you are subscribed and hit the bell so you get a notification. And it's very cold out here. So, I'm going to sign out. Thank you for joining. Tina Desire reporting for Status Coup in partnership with Midas Touch.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "LIVE Rep. Ro Khanna Interview From Alex Pretti Vigil in Minneapolis"?

Tina Desiree Berg (Host), Ro Khanna (Guest).

What is "LIVE Rep. Ro Khanna Interview From Alex Pretti Vigil in Minneapolis" about?

In Minneapolis, Congressman Ro Khanna addresses community concerns following the murder of Alex Pretti during a vigil, criticizing Trump's recent letter to Governor Walz as a form of coercion. He emphasizes the need for community restoration, plans to introduce a 10-point initiative to reform ICE, and praises the resilience of local residents amidst their grief.

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

15 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Alex Jeffrey Prey, Congressman Roana, ICE, Donald Trump, Fourth Amendment, Tina Desert Berg. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "LIVE Rep. Ro Khanna Interview From Alex Pretti Vigil in Minneapolis"?

The episode runs 20 min; the transcript is about 3,758 words in 44 timestamped sections.

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