Autocracy – From Law to the Nile

Alex Pretty holding a mobile phone while filming an encounter with ICE agents moments before he was shot.

Alex Pretty Was Not Armed. He Was Executed

Catalina Garay / January 27, 2026 / A Life of Discovery, Politics, Social / Abuse of power, Alex Pretty, Autocracy, Civil Rights, Police violence, Renee Nicole Good, Rule of law, State power, Witnessing

Alex Pretty was a U.S. citizen and a nurse. He was killed with at least ten bullets while holding a mobile phone, not a weapon. This essay examines his killing, the erosion of the rule of law in the United States, and the wider consequences of a power system that no longer tolerates witnesses.