“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” – George Orwell, 1984

In the aftermath of ICE murdering a woman in Minneapolis today, this quote from Orwell’s classic filled up social media feeds, and rightfully so. Like many people, I have seen all the presently available videos of this incident multiple times. From every angle, the woman driving the car, Renee Nicole Good, 37, steers her Honda Pilot away from the officer (a stretch to call him that), to the right, to be precise. If she had decided to weaponize her car, like Kristi Noem and POTUS, implied she had, she would have swerved left or, at any point yesterday, attempted to drive over an officer.

Multiple outlets have taken ICE and POTUS at their word, reporting that the ICE officer who fired a shot into Good’s head was injured during the incident. I keep looking at the video, trying to figure out where this poor guy was injured. It looks like it could have been a hand dinged by the quarter panel or side mirror or a foot run over as she turned away from him. Either way, it is impossible to imagine a scenario in which this agent feared for his life or thought that a kill shot was necessary.

When I hear about an officer involved shooting, I actually give the officer the benefit of the doubt, waiting for a video of the incident to be released. What you frequently see in those videos is a person running at police (sometimes with a weapon, sometimes without), or they’re reaching into their car after being told to present their hands, or they’re reaching into a coat pocket or some other area where a weapon could be stored, or they’re resisting arrest by wrestling with an officer. More often than not, the person in question is doing something that, in the far reaches of an officer’s imagination or perspective, can be interpreted as life-threatening or dangerous. I’m trying to let my imagination run wild here, but I’m failing, I did not see that in Minneapolis. I see an officer clear enough of the car to have both hands on the gun and fire through the windshield once and into the driver’s side window another time. I see a potential injury no worse than getting hit point blank with a Nerf dart from one of my son’s toys. After all, the officer who murdered Good, felt fine enough to jog down to Good’s car, after she had crashed, to “check” on her.

This incident, and the administration’s attempt at telling you that your own eyes and ears are lying to you, comes right in the wake of them telling you that something you watched on live television on January 6, 2021, was a peaceful demonstration and perfectly okay to do, apparently. I mean, check out this official White House site about January 6, 2021. It’s absolutely bonkers. Orwell himself would be floored by the propaganda.

I leave you with another Orwell quote, highlighting the difficulty of facing obvious truths and facts in the face of government and political subterfuge:

“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”