The doctors, nurses and medical students at SAFE mourn the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good in Minneapolis. Our organization’s mission is to reduce firearm injuries and deaths by educating health professionals, our patients, and communities about responsible ownership and firearm injury prevention strategies. This responsibility falls on everyone including firearm-carrying government workers, and the organizations that employ them, whether it be police, military, or federal immigration officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
We have to ask why ICE and CBP were allowed to continue their actions amid a large civilian protest. Dealing with such protests is the job of the police and, in rare circumstances, the state’s National Guard. These groups have extensive training in de-escalation of conflict and in crowd control. Their job is to protect the citizens of their city and state while helping federal agencies (including ICE and CBP) complete their missions safely.
As a matter of safety, firearms should only be carried in settings where they can be properly employed by an individual in a healthy state of mind. Neither civilians nor government agents should carry weapons when they are intoxicated, when they are experiencing a mental health crisis, or during emotionally charged moments that may make them lose control.
Firearm violence doesn’t just affect the physical victim or close family members. According to a 2024 advisory from then-Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, “exposure to firearm violence can contribute to elevated stress levels and mental health challenges and threaten the sense of well-being for entire communities.” Consequences of firearm violence include healthcare and community workers suffering secondary traumatic stress, adults avoiding certain places or events, children experiencing long-term mental and behavioral problems, and an increase in psychiatric disorders among family members of victims.
SAFE calls on the Department of Homeland Security to pull back ICE and CBP officers from civilian protests unless they have been trained in and employ de-escalation and crowd control best practices. We also call on ICE and CBP and civilians to refrain from carrying lethal weapons in these crowded, chaotic environments. As we’ve witnessed, carrying firearms increases the risk for the loss of innocent lives. In the US, no one should die while exercising their foundational right of free speech and assembly.
About SAFE
SAFE’s mission is to ensure that all healthcare providers are equipped with skills and evidence-based knowledge to advise their patients, communities, and legislators on firearm use and ownership to prevent injuries and deaths. Learn more about SAFE at https://www.standsafe.org/