Not AI. Very Real.
The footage of Alex Pretti kicking an SUV is real.
Hi,
We're getting into a really weird place with AI generated video and images. When this all started, we had a situation where stuff that was clearly bullshit was fooling everyone's mum and dad. "That's AI," became a pretty common refrain – the subtext being, "That's AI, you absolute idiot."
But over the last few days, cries of "That's AI" have been applied to a video that isn't AI. It was filmed on January 13, and it shows Alex Pretti (the man executed by ICE this past Saturday) spitting towards an ICE vehicle, before he kicks the SUV's tail light, causing it to fall off.
The video quickly spread online – and the gut reaction from many who saw it appears to have been, "They are clearly trying to discredit Alex, this must be fake, it must be AI."
Comments across the social media I hang out on sometimes – Bluesky and Threads – filled up with comments like this. Definitive; decided in black and white.
I admit I had the same knee-jerk reaction. Thing is, the video is real. Alex did that. The BBC and CBS have both confirmed it, and Alex's own family – via their attorney – has also weighed in.
Parker Molloy has a really good analysis of the timeline over on The Present Age, writing:
They’re regular people on social media, scrolling through their feeds, seeing footage that complicates a story they’re emotionally invested in, and reaching for “that’s fake” as a reflex. The liar’s dividend used to be a strategy. Now it’s just how we process inconvenient information.
The thing is, nothing about Alex's actions leading up to his murder changes anything. Kicking a tail light does not mean you should be executed 11 days later, shot 10 times in the back.
And if ICE agents realised the man filming them on Saturday was the same man who'd kicked their car 11 days earlier (this is all conjecture, we don't know) – then that makes what follows even more horrific.
Because that would make it revenge.
I guess my point is – with things so heightened IRL and online, we have to take our time when jumping to conclusions. AI isn't making any of this easy – but we can't forget that real life is complex and messy, and as new information comes to light we have to take our time before leaping to conclusions.
Because leaping to conclusions lands us in Fox News land, where things get very reductive and very stupid.
I've been having a few conversations with people who've been sliding into my DMs this week, essentially saying that Alex Pretti had it coming. Plenty of these are bots, but plenty of them are real people. Americans, living somewhere in the middle, mouthing off at me.
They essentially tell me that Alex had it coming because he was "inciting violence".
First things first – "inciting violence" isn't a normal line people say. It's been fed to them from the government, Fox, and social media – and now they're spitting it at me.
I wanted to share this conversation with Kimberly, who appeared to be a mother or grandmother proudly posing with two kids. Her husband mugged for the camera next to her.
This is the mindset that allows Trump and ICE to carry out their killings. A great deal of the US public thinks just like this.
They're grey, I'm blue.
I blocked the account because I was getting angry. This is what we're up against.
While many people in the US absolutely abhor what's going on – plenty are rubbing their hands in glee.
David.
See you in the comments, or you can reach me in confidence at: davidfarrier@protonmail.com
Webworm reporting from Minneapolis:
David Farrier
David Farrier
David Farrier
David Farrier
David Farrier
