Thanks to spending several years doing digital forensics for the federal government, a lot of people have asked me for my professional opinion on the homicides in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. They expect me to have some sort of insight or wisdom, and maybe I do, but it might not be what you want to hear.

Yes, these videos give us all good reason to suspect criminal wrongdoing. Clearly independent investigations should take place: but you probably shouldn't be doing them. Murder investigations require highly specialized skills which you almost certainly don't have. Your time and energy are better spent protesting, writing your Congressional representatives, and supporting Hennepin County's independent investigation. And it is almost certainly better for you.

My recommendations are:

* Stop watching videos of violence against peaceful people, especially the Pretti and Good footage. Stop it immediately. You're literally watching snuff films. The horrific part of snuff films isn't so much the death, as it is the obliteration of life. They had lives before they were gunned down in the street, things they believed in, people they loved. Good was a widow who found love again: there's a beautiful arc there if you want to read about it. Pretti was an ICU nurse who worked with veterans: something put him on a life of such selflessness, and you can be enriched if you learn what it was. Martyrs should be remembered for how they lived their lives, not for how cruel tyrants imposed their deaths.

* Every time you watch this footage, you inflict psychological injury on yourself. These injuries accumulate over time and creep up on you. I spent eight years in digital forensics and I speak from personal experience. I know what the damage is. You don't want it. You don't even want to know what it is. There is nothing noble in sacrificing your psychological health for no useful reason. Save your well-being.

* Know when to walk away. One of my mentors was a former Alabama State Trooper who told me the best thing I could do was leave while I was still useful. If you walk away before you become a casualty, you know that you were productive and helpful the entire time you were on the field. If they have to carry you off after becoming a casualty, you're taking people and resources away because you couldn't be bothered to leave on your own.

* Talk to a professional. My secret weapon in eight years of analyzing digital evidence was my biweekly appointment with a therapist. These people can help. Whether you choose to confide in a social worker, a mental health counselor, a priest who's studied crisis counseling, or a hospital chaplain ... there are people out there with the skills to help you weather this storm. Find them. Talk to them.

Alex Pretti was an intensive care nurse. He understood the importance of health. I think he'd have given you advice very similar to what I'm giving.

Be safe. Be wise. And protect your mental health.