Last updated on Feb. 2, 2026 at 09:48 p.m.
In a post that included a stylized graphic matching a clip of a federal agent shooting and killing Alex Pretti, Illini Republicans stated that they “stand with ICE” amid the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Pretti in Minnesota.
The RSO referred to Pretti and Good, two United States citizens who were both killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the past month, as “traitors.”
As of Sunday, the group removed the graphic but kept the larger post, which garnered more than a thousand comments on their Instagram account.
The post continues to state that “it is, has, and always will be the mandate of our brave public servants, domestic and abroad, to fell the enemies of the United States of America.”
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In a written response to questions from The Daily Illini, Illini Republicans declined to comment on whether they were saying Good and Pretti deserved to be killed.
“The extremity simply mirrors how much we stand with ICE,” the group wrote in response to a question about why they would post something so extreme. “We support ICE in its mission to deport people who are not legally supposed to be in the country.”
Earlier in the post, the RSO wrote that for “the past 60 years, and especially in the last decade, our nation has come under invasion from the masses of the third world and those incompatible with Western civilization.”
In regard to a question about whether the stylized graphic of an officer holding a gun to someone’s head glorifies or valorizes the killings, the RSO wrote that “the image is, in fact, not intended to target nor incentivize violence against a particular party.”
They added that “There is no labeling in the graphic, and there are no identifying features. In short, people are going to take away whatever they want, but reasonably, this graphic does not glorify nor valorize any incident because it lacks any reasonable connection.”
The graphic, however, seems to match a still photo from a video of Pretti’s killing. The man depicted also appears to bear a physical resemblance to Pretti.
The group stated it does not “endorse violence nor discrimination towards anyone based on their identification with a specific protected group,” and that the group’s message is that it supports “the enforcement of the law and those who enforce it.”
Administration officials have said both Pretti and Good were seeking to hurt ICE officers. Independent investigations and video analysis have contradicted such claims. In the case of Alex Pretti, Trump administration officials have distanced themselves from claims made by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller that Pretti, an Illinois native, was an “assassin.”
Update — Monday, 3:25 p.m.
In a written statement to The DI Monday, Patrick Wade, the University’s director of executive communications and issues management, stated that the matter has been reported to the Title VI Office, “which is reviewing reports received about the incident and processing them in accordance with normal protocols.”
Wade added that hate and intolerance are not aligned with University values.
“We condemn rhetoric or imagery that appears to glorify violence or demean individuals or groups based on identity or beliefs,” Wade wrote. “Such rhetoric does not reflect the values of dignity, respect, and care that we expect from members of our community. We strive to be a campus where every member of our community has a transformative and positive experience.”
He also stated that RSOs are autonomous and independent from the University, and the groups are responsible for managing their own affairs.
“Their social media accounts,” according to Wade, “represent their own views, not those of the university.”
Wade added that RSOs remain responsible for complying with University policies, but the University cannot discipline them “for the viewpoint or content of protected speech.”
According to University free speech policies, hate speech is defined as “offensive speech that demeans, vilifies or incites hatred against a person or group of people based on identity or attributes such as race, religion, national origin or gender.”
Such policies note that hate speech is generally protected by the First Amendment and is not a crime, so the University’s ability to regulate it is restricted.
Unprotected speech, according to the University, includes speech “directed to inciting or producing immediate and imminent illegal action and likely to incite or produce such action.” It also includes speech that “a reasonable person would perceive as a serious intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.”
