Valerie Heath
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valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
Valerie Heath
@valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
330 followers 530 following 290 posts
“Alive but elusive” Barrister. Swansfan. 💟= many meanings (often = bookmark); RT= discuss. WE NEED FIRST NATIONS' MAKARRATA and a NACC with public hearings. Democracy needs participation, good information & sausages. Dharug country, Sydney Australia
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Reposted by Valerie Heath
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.
1. I am a resident of the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am over 18 years of age. I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting. 2. On Saturday, January 24, 2026, at about 8:50 am, I was getting ready to go to work when I heard whistles outside. I knew the whistles meant that ICE agents were in the area, so I decided to check it out on my way to work. I've been involved in observing in my community because it is so important to document what ICE is doing to my neighbors. Connecting to your local community and knowing who your neighbors are is something I profoundly value. 3. I drove to Nicollet Ave. and 26th where I could hear the whistles coming from. I turned south onto Nicollet. There were already several ICE agents there and they'd set up a sort of vehicle convoy on Nicollet and 28th. There were also about 15 observers there, recording and observing ICE. 4. I saw ICE agents surrounding cars and punching car windows. I also saw them stopping vehicles further down Nicollet, so I backed up because I didn't feel safe continuing on. 5. I noticed a man sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly. He helped me find a place to park. I got out with my whistle and my camera. I went over to him and said something like, "I'm going to film and use my whistle." 6. It seemed like most ICE activity was happening a little farther down the street from us, near 27th. Someone was being thrown to the ground. 7. I started recording. There was an agent by a car across the street. Two observers were a few feet away from the agent, blowing their whistles. One was wearing a backpack. 8. I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man's hand recording a video. 9. An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk. 10. The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun. 11. Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him. 12. Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. All three of the observers looked to have been badly affected by the pepper spray. I could feel the pepper spray in my eyes. 13. The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn't see him touch any of them-he wasn't even turned toward them. It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times. 14.1 don't know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him. 15. The video I recorded of what happened accurately depicts the events leading up to the agents shooting him and several minutes afterwards. The video is attached as Exhibit 1. 16. I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong. The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground. 17. I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they're not telling the truth about what happened. I've heard that other witnesses might have been arrested and taken to the Whipple Building. 18. I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbors and my state. I keep alternating between crying and feeling determined it is important to remember the value of documenting injustice. We show up for the people who need us to bear witness, because it can't just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny. This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy, those things are on the line. He lost his life for those values. I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct. Dated and signed on Jan 24, 2026 in Hennepin County, State of Minnesota.
January 25, 2026 at 1:15 AM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
I was today years old when I heard “Keith” by Playlunch. If that song doesnt win #Hottest100 this country’s cooked Free Barry!
January 23, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
krassenstein.bsky.social
January 6, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
strongcuppatea.bsky.social
So what is Australia going to do when the USA says they need Australia for strategic reasons? Anyone? We are fucked. #auspol #trumpism #facism #imperialism
January 6, 2026 at 11:17 AM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
So i heard on Colbert the GOP thinks US healthcare wd be fixed if only it was sold by an emu. Wait until they see the HBF quokkas!Now if only they cd do universal single-payer healthcare and price-capped private insurance … #AustralianHealth #Medicare
December 22, 2025 at 6:12 PM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
In such a moment I wish all our political leaders and senior public servants wisdom, grace, courage and restraint. The ability to do bold things that are needful with dispatch but not haste, the humility to not make the moment abour them and the good sense not to overreach or oppress
December 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
Wishing our Jewish community all over Australia & all residents & workers of and visitors to Bondi, all police, emergency workers, volunteers & good Samaritans attending & all Australians touched by the horror and grief of the mass murder love, solace, justice, healing & action.
December 22, 2025 at 4:14 PM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
@maddow.bsky.social Brave teens caring for their neighbours youtu.be/-yKSgM0G1xQ?...
The unexpected faces on the frontlines of ICE raids
YouTube video by The News Movement
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 6:52 AM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
I know it’s exceedingly trivial given all the heavy things going on in the world rn but I don’t like the change in blue of the bluesky logo #BlueskyBlues
November 3, 2025 at 8:10 AM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
@maddow.msnbc.com thankyou for your coverage of the No Kings protests, it was heartening to see. Now I am seeing more & more about a general strike for Nov 25 - Dec 3. I wd love to see interviews with organisers & vox pops on the issue
October 25, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
richoz.bsky.social
It's as important then as it is now maybe even more important this is the journalism we need now 👀👇
When The Media Stood Up For Freedom
YouTube video by Robert Reich
youtube.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
pauleric70.bsky.social
📸Behind this breathtaking shot of Hungary’s opposition rally marking the 1956 uprising: Viktor Orbán’s gov't banned drones to try conceal the crowd’s size. Yet a passenger on a landing plane caught the scene in Budapest from above — the photo hit Reddit and went viral instantly.
October 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
20,000 residents of Lithgow NSW without water for 3 days, yet not a big news story in Aus?? #Lithgow #Water #auspol
October 12, 2025 at 1:41 AM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
Highly recommend the excellent #PipFioretti #AusCrime historical mystery crime police procedural and psychological drama #BoneLands #booksky Boer War vet Gus Hawkins Mounted Trooper policing western NSW 1911
Book cover Bone Lands by Pip Fioretti red dirt desert with scattered bleached bones in the foreground and low scrub in the distance under pale sky at horizon with dark menacing dust storm closing in over rider in slouch hat in the middle distance
September 2, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
muellershewrote.com
Here’s what was NOT released today:

- the proffer agreement between Maxwell and the DoJ

- the agreement transferring Maxwell to club fed

- communications showing who waived Maxwell’s sex offender status allowing her transfer and possible work assignments outside prison

- the Epstein files
August 23, 2025 at 2:51 AM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
www.thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2025.... Clean air as productivity powerhouse
Healthier workers: How productivity reform hides in plain sight
Australia faces a neglected crisis that is quietly eroding our labour supply, increasing health costs and dragging on growth.
www.thenewdaily.com.au
August 18, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
mmechomski.bsky.social
Kate on Twitter today.
Kate McClymont remembers David Dale.
August 6, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
broadwaybabyto.bsky.social
So Trump has been directly or indirectly responsible for canceling Colbert, PBS and NPR all in the span of one week?

Are people awake to what’s happening yet?
July 18, 2025 at 5:05 AM
valerieheathmbc.bsky.social
#Colbert #CancelCBS are the lights going off in America?
July 18, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
mzletter1.bsky.social
Thank you Stephen Colbert for making wit, humor, knowledge, & empathy cool. Thank you Rachel Maddow for your authentic, brutal, and tireless hope. Thank you Chris Hayes for all your down to Earth fearless reporting.
You all give us the strength to keep fighting the good fight in these dark times ✊
July 18, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
scarletbegonia67.bsky.social
Two exceptional humans; Stephen Colbert & Rachel Maddow.

Two lanterns in this dark time.
One makes me laugh and think.
The other makes me think and laugh.

#FreePress
July 18, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
dmcg201.bsky.social
You took that thought right out of my head, I guess great minds think alike. Bet we are not the only MSNBC fans who would watch!
July 18, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Reposted by Valerie Heath
hutchj.bsky.social
Hire him at MSNBC. Give him a late show, same format, and expand the type of programming that your network does
July 18, 2025 at 5:37 AM