A Round of Applause for "Domestic Terrorists"?

[DISCLAIMER]

On January 7, 2026, I watched a woman die. Renée Good was killed by a federal law enforcement officer (LEO) in an event that appeared to be her attempt to evade law enforcement (LE) personnel by turning the wheel of her vehicle in a direction away from the shooting LEO.

Given that my primary military occupational specialty (MOS) in the United States (U.S.) Marine Corps was military police, I have some knowledge, wisdom, and understanding about the use of force continuum used in LE. Thus, I stated in Drive, Baby, Drive: Changing Your Perspective:

I can understand varying sides of the issue [regarding Good’s shooting]. As a trained activist through my graduate studies in social work, I get how advocacy for seemingly oppressed people is a principle worth upholding.

Alternatively, in consideration of my former role as a low-tier federal LEO, I comprehend how use of deadly force could be substantiated within the performance of one’s duties. As is the case with complex systems, there aren’t always neat and tidy answers to difficult problems.

That post was one in which my thinking was rational (in accordance with both logic and reason). Yet, I was somewhat confused when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noam categorized Good as a domestic terrorist, about which one source states:

Federal agencies have their own definitions of domestic terrorism.

The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation], citing a specific section of the U.S. code, defines domestic terrorism as acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state criminal laws and appear intended to intimidate or coerce civilians; influence government policy by intimidation or coercion; or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping, according to a 2020 memo.

Homeland Security uses a similar definition, citing a different statute that defines domestic terrorism as dangerous to human life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or key resources.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service wrote in 2023, “Unlike foreign terrorism, the federal government does not have a mechanism to formally charge an individual with domestic terrorism which sometimes makes it difficult (and occasionally controversial) to formally characterize someone as a domestic terrorist.”

My secondary MOS was Marine Security Guard. When protecting U.S. consulates and embassies abroad, I was acutely aware of terrorism (the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims). Personally, Good’s behavior didn’t reflect this term.

Unfortunately, on January 24, 2026, I watched a man die. Alex Pretti was killed by an unknown number of LEOs in an event that appeared to be Pretti’s attempt to protect a fellow protester. From various angles, what I observed was Pretti first being disarmed and then shot by LEOs.

This occurred after Pretti was apparently first sprayed with an unspecified chemical deterrent and then ostensibly battered by LEOs (e.g., one LEO appears to have repeatedly struck Pretti in the head while using an unknown foreign object). Yet, details of the event are still unfolding.

In any case, Pretti appears to have been shot dead while in a position on his knees, with multiple LEOs physically subduing him, and after he was disarmed by one LEO. As was apparently the case with Good, Noam reportedly categorized Pretti as a domestic terrorist, as one source states:

Notably, the administration has repeatedly attempted to substantially expand the domestic terrorism legal framework.

President Trump issued a presidential memorandum in September that cherry-picks evidence to suggest that a left-wing conspiracy aims to carry out acts of political violence that should be pursued as domestic terrorism.

A leaked December memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi directs the machinery of the Department of Justice to target activists as domestic terrorists while deprioritizing other enforcement.

Virtually any entity or individual U.S. government officials label as a “domestic terrorist” or activity regarded as “domestic terrorism” can apparently be met with an elevated response for stopping the threat (a euphemism for killing an individual). Is this a rational course of action?

I argue in the negative. Supporting my position, I invite you to consider a syllogism. This method of assessing rationale from a logical and reasonable standpoint is what I use with clients when providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).

Form (hypothetical) –

If p, then q; if q, then r; therefore, if p, then r.

Example –

If virtually anyone located within the nation who opposes actions by the U.S. government can be categorized as a domestic terrorist (p), then LEOs can treat the threat in a similar fashion as to how U.S. military members engage terrorists outside of the country (q).

If LEOs can treat the threat in a similar fashion as to how U.S. military members engage terrorists outside of the country (q), then shooting dead a disarmed protestor of U.S. affairs who’s on his knees while being physically subdued by multiple LEOs is an appropriate course of action (r).

Therefore, if virtually anyone located within the nation who opposes actions by the U.S. government can be categorized as a domestic terrorist (p), then shooting dead a disarmed protestor of U.S. affairs who’s on his knees while being physically subdued by multiple LEOs is an appropriate course of action (r).

This syllogistic proposition is logical. Nevertheless, I argue that it isn’t reasonable. I suggest this, because shooting dead an individual who – although he may be resisting detention or apprehension – doesn’t pose a physical threat to LEOs isn’t a rational course of action.

Perhaps you disagree. Genuinely, I’m willing to change my mind regarding this matter if or when rationally-comprised evidence to the contrary is presented. When further contemplating this matter, I consider how many gunshots I heard in the Pretti video. According to one source:

Another officer, who appears to approach the scuffle with empty hands, pulls back with what appears to be a gun in his hand. As he moves away toward a vehicle, a split second later another agent standing beside him opens fire.

The agents jump back from the man lying on the ground and the firing continues. A total of 10 gunshots are heard. […]

Later, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked to clarify if Pretti had brandished a gun. She said: “Individuals showed up to impede a law enforcement operation and assaulted our officers.

They responded according to their training, and took action to defend the officer’s life and those of the public around him. And, I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign.”

If the official narrative of DHS is that the Second Amendment doesn’t apply to defense of the First Amendment, and that this somehow authorizes LE to give a round of applause to protestors, then the Bill of Rights and Constitution are ostensibly useless at this point.

Admittedly, how I phrased that last sentence may seem confusing to those people who are unfamiliar with hip hop. In urban vernacular, shooting at someone is referred to as “clapping” at an individual. When shooting multiple times (e.g., 10 gunshots), that’s a round of applause.

Sometimes, shooting is also referred to as “spitting” rounds. When thinking further about this matter, I recall rapper Ja Rule’s album Blood in My Eye (2003) which featured the song “Clap Back” that was produced by Irv Gotti and Scott Storch. Lyrics include:

What do you do when niggas spit at you?

Clap back, we gon’ clap back

We gon’ clap back, we gon’ clap back (Let’s take ‘em to war, niggas)

We gon’ clap back, we gon’ clap back

We gon’ clap back, we gon’ clap back (Let’s take ‘em to war, niggas)

We gon’ clap back, we gon’ clap back

We gon’ clap back, we gon’ clap back (Let’s take ‘em to war, niggas)

We gon’ clap back, we gon’ clap back

We gon’ clap back, we gon’ clap back (Let’s take ‘em to war, niggas)

I suspect that if DHS continues spitting at unarmed protestors, someone will eventually clap back. This isn’t something I want to occur. Nonetheless, when LEOs are giving a round of applause to peaceful protestors, such as Pretti, I suspect that a round of applause will be returned.

Again, I don’t want this to happen. Similarly, I don’t want to see the Bill of Rights and Constitution being trampled as it so clearly is. Unfavorably, treating people as “domestic terrorists” for exercising their rights may lead to thunderous applause that isn’t good for anyone.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit (edited), fair use

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