THE MIDDLE-FINGER TEST January 30, 2026
At lunch, a man hassles you. Your friend starts videoing. The man curses and raises his middle-finger. Your friend shows the video to the restaurant manager. “I held up all five fingers,” the hassler insists. What does the manager believe?
Images can be—and frequently are—manipulated through AI and various programs. But the restaurant video was just taken. Further, the manager can count to five. He asks the hassler to leave. The man retorts, “Hell no. Go call the police. And I’m gonna sue your ass.”
Truth isn’t truth to everyone.
Anyone who’s served on a criminal jury—I’ve been on two—knows that 12 jurors reaching a unanimous verdict poses challenges. Sometimes, when the evidence seems clear beyond a reasonable doubt, a holdout refuses to acknowledge the obvious. Not everyone sees things the same way. Also, personal biases may come into play.
The recent shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis pose the middle-finger test to Americans across the political spectrum. On the far right, Washington’s power centers have failed, acquitting themselves with less than integrity.
Right after Good was shot, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Good of “domestic terrorism” and declared that she “weaponized her vehicle against ICE agents.” After Petti was shot, Noem claimed that he “attacked” law enforcement while “brandishing” a gun. White House Assistant Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called Petti an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents.”
A variety of videos shown on television and the internet indicate—I use that word intentionally—that the shootings were not justified.
People who have seen only the bodycam video of the officer who shot Good were provided an extremely limited, distorted view of what happened. The New York Times conducted a review of multiple videos and camera angles. It’s enlightening.
Noem said that Good tried to run over the officer. Videos show Good turning her wheels to the right while the officer walks in front of her vehicle from her right to left. Several former police chiefs and a professor—lawyer and former policeman—at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice have stressed that officers are taught not to do this. Also, Good’s vehicle creeps forward. This does not indicate she intended to hurt, let alone kill, the officer who shot her.
Alex Petti was carrying a gun. He had a permit. But videos show that Petti did not approach the officers with his weapon drawn. He held up only his phone. Petti was taken to the ground and, I believe (correct me if I’m wrong), zip-tied. It seems that at least one officer called out that Petti had a gun. It was removed. Then, two officers fired ten shots (to be officially counted), killing the helpless Petti.
I know what I saw in the videos but stand ready to have someone offer a different perspective. I am not a jury. No accurate conclusion can be drawn until the shootings are investigated by expert, objective federal, state and local authorities.
Yes, the eye can be deceived. On the other hand, some people remain blind to any truth that doesn’t mesh with their political views. People who oppose their views stand guilty by definition.
America faces yet another middle-finger test. Failure is not an option.
To understand the background of today’s far-right, authoritarian descent, read my new novel, RIDE THE TYGER. Order from Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, iuniverse.com, or your favorite bookstore.
Eyewitness testimony is not as conclusive as most people think. Bystanders innocently create a narrative of what they think happened and then “remember” the facts that fit the narrative. That’s true even when everyone is acting in good faith. How much worse is it when some parties are clearly not acting in good faith.
I sat in a jury once where two eyewitnesses— husband and wife in the same car at the same time — had completely opposite accounts of the same, relatively simple event. And neither had any reason to lie.
Miller, Noem, et al., fabricated the narrative they wanted to sell, ignoring the facts that, at a minimum, indicated (your words) that their narrative was not true. Fortunately, enough people have seen the videos — not eyewitness accounts — that their fabrications are not doing well in the information marketplace.
I don’t believe in hell, but I’m willing to make an exception for some people.
No question, David, eyewitness accounts can vary. Jury holdouts can have good reason to take their position. Sometimes, not. But that’s the way the system works. In the case of the killings of Renee God and Alex Petit, we have videos. The Trump regime will have to wriggle out of the positions they’ve taken. But I doubt they’ll acknowledge the truth.
“I’m sorry” seems to have vanished from the MAGA vocabulary.
I’m not sure it was ever there to begin with.
Hitler said if you tell a lie long enough, people will believe it. Trump, Steven Miller and their stooges all follow that line of thinking. Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk also..
Truth has been taking a beating, Sandy. Let’s keep telling the truth and bury the Big Lie.