Who Tells the Public What It Is Allowed to Know?

After federal authorities declined to identify the agents involved in the Alex Pretti shooting, ProPublica — not the government — supplied the missing names

The Expectation Most People Never Notice

Imagine hearing about a fatal shooting involving law enforcement in your city. Most people would expect a familiar sequence of events to follow. There would be official statements, the opening of an investigation, and — sooner or later — the public identification of the officers involved.

For many Americans, that e…