Murder, And So Much More
We all would rather talk about anything other than what is going on in Minnesota and elsewhere, but we really do not have that option, do we? This cannot stand and only the citizenry – you and I – can stop it.
As Bad As It Could Be
Renee Nichole Good was shot 3 times and denied medical assistance as she died in the front seat of her car.
Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the local VA hospital was shot as many as 10 times. When medical personnel arrived, they found ICE was not giving him any assistance – they were counting bullet holes. Right Wingers swear the 2nd Amendment is sacred ground – until someone not a Right Winger wears a licensed weapon.
We should all await actual, complete investigations, but both murders were filmed from multiple angles and we all watched them. This was murder, just like the murder earlier of George Floyd, also documented by citizens with phone cameras.
Children are coming home from school and finding their parents are gone. Other children – little more than babies – are “arrested” and taken away.
ICE claims they can enter anyone’s home on an administrative warrant, not needing a judicial order.
People are stopped on the street and “their papers” demanded to prove they are citizens, simply because of how they look or speak. Just like the Nazi’s did in Germany. Ordinary people are afraid to step out, to shop, to go anywhere.
A lawyer for the government told a judge that the Administration thinks citizens do not have any right to observe or record ICE operations.
US Citizens, people here on valid visas, and people undergoing the asylum process are kidnapped and locked up for days, or deported, or simply disappear in accounting for where they are.
What Makes All This Even Worse
One official after another in this sorry excuse for an Administration instantly clears all ICE and other agents of any wrongdoing every time, every incident. The same officials instantly declare anyone they don’t like or anyone who protests as “domestic terrorists.” In Minnesota, every official from the governor to the mayor to the police chief have made it clear that ICE is a gang out of control and they want them out.
Because they speak up, Trump officials blame them for the violence inflicted by ICE.
No one, and I mean no one, should have any confidence at all in an investigation of these two murders and other potential crimes if that investigation is done by the same crowd now in charge federally. Already an FBI agent has resigned rather than take part in a shame investigation of Renee Good. And yet, the federal authorities refuse to cooperate with any local authorities on any such investigations.
ICE will hire pretty well anyone that shows up. Training runs as little as 45 days and people are put on the streets in tense situations with live ammunition and assorted weapons. People are routinely pulled out of their cars and pepper sprayed or assaulted with flash-bang grenades just because they are nearby. Well over a dozen cars have been shot into as they passed by, not as if they were aimed at ICE agents.
All of this is not anywhere close to police work. Not in staffing, not in training, not in processes, not in leadership. Professional police officials around the country have called this out for what it is. Agencies around the country that had earlier agreed to cooperate with ICE are cancelling those agreements.
None of this is about immigration control. The Trump administration is seeking to intimidate and to encourage violence. They are not even looking at immigration in states with higher levels of immigrants – those are red states, so they get a pass. All evidence is that the vast, vast majority of people stopped and arrested have no crime records of any sort. Further proof: The Attorney General told Minnesota that the government would probably pull out the ICE forces, if Minnesota would turn all thier voting records over to the Feds (seems helpful for anyone planning to tamper with elections).
Border control and immigration enforcement are valid issues. Obama actually deported far more people than has Trump. But it was all done lawfully, civilly, and with a sense of decency. There is no excuse for what is happening now.
Finally, People Realize What This Administration Is?
One can hope so. Demonstrations are everywhere, often including people who have never demonstrated about anything.. Members of Congress are being flooded with calls for action, and some are finally beginning to speak out. That is not enough, but it’s a start.
It seems a lot of people who voted for Trump and the Republican Congress now say they voted on economics or want border control, but not like this. Not good enough. It was obvious this was the path Trump, Miller, and the rest of them would choose. We saw this coming.
People need to speak out, especially those who voted for Trump or failed to vote at all and go to the polls at every opportunity to remove and weaken those who commit these mortal sins in our name. Trump and company dropped some hints yesterday that they might pull back forces at least some, and ICE activity is way down in Minnesota for the moment. Maybe even Trump is figuring out how much this hurts him and his party, even if he does not understand the moral, legal, and social issues herein.
The picture at the top of this blog today says it all. If we let this stand, if those who are doing this get a free pass, American democracy has effectively ended. Trump has managed in less than a year to eliminate America as a world leader. Will we also allow him, his enablers, and his agents to destroy what we value at home?
Someone in the streets of Minneapolis this past weekend said it best. “What we value most as Americans is not yet destroyed – it is being challenged.” Shall we answer the call or not, America?
Bill Clontz
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We’ve been calling our Senators and Representative. I suggest we need to look beyond the removing of our rights as ICE operations continue. Their attempted removal, by Executive action, is dangerous and is a clarion call to all citizens. However, this is not the only threat. There is much evidence pointing to the neutering of the mechanisms for our 2026 mid term elections. This Administration has planned not to go away. Regardless of the immediate tempering actions being considered by the Administration as they learn they have moved too fast to avoid severe backlash, they are focused on their plans to seize permanent control. Now is the time to call them out as their credibility is cracking even with their supporters. Their supporters seem to be listening….
Agreed. Two readings in The Atlantic analyze this exceptionally well: It’s Later Than You Think, by Anne Applebaum, et al and Yes, It’s Fascism by Johnathan Rauch. Essential reading.
Well said. I’d note that, in addition to the FBI resignation, 6 career DOJ prosecutors resigned. This is intolerable.
Thanks, Bill. I agree. with the words and furry in your post. I also agree that everyone ought to read the Atlantic article. I am not, however, sure about the most effective way to counter the Trump goon squad. Sure, there are massive protests, but those are uncoordinated tactics and I am not sure how they lead to the deep, fundamental change we need.
I do not detect a long-term strategy for taking down this administration, not from our political leaders, and not from those on the protest ground.
We are facing an organized fascist-leaning movement that has been years in the making. We don’t have years to build a response, but our response must have a clear, understandable strategic grounding. It must offer a cogent and comprehensive alternative vision.
The protests are like the fire department rushing to fight flames. Their tactics are important… but they too often have to wait until the building is destroyed to combat the cause. Thus the fire jumps from one hot spot to another.
A fascist fire is burning through America and the fire brigade is needed. But if we want a country back we must have a strategy that focuses on the cause and on ensuring the brigade represents the principles we embrace and seek to restore.
A trusted friend (pediatrician) in Minneapolis sent me the following link in case people want to help $$$$ the schools or the too-many people needing legal help.
https://www.standwithminnesota.com/
Waiting for a mid-term elections seems too slow. What can be done now to stop ICE from using administrative warrants and guns? Now the govt is buying buildings to use as detentions centers. Rejecting the current budget proposal will not stop the funding which was approved in a different package. The people don’t have impeachment authority. So, what recourse to citizens have besides the vote? Can people block the sale of buildings?