Foul
ICE continues to terrorize the Twin Cities, particularly Minneapolis. You have probably seen video and heard stories. Another person was shot this last week. DHS is saying he attacked them and then tried to run away so they shot him in the leg. Video and witness evidence is now coming out that reveals the situation may have been completely different—surprise! Don’t believe any story coming from the federal government regarding what is happening here.
ICE is operating outside the law. They detain U.S. Citizens. ICE detained a 17-year-old kid working his shift at my neighborhood Target. He is a U.S. citizen and had his passport in his pocket, but ICE refused to verify this until 8 miles later when they then dumped him out of their SUV in a Walmart parking lot.
Then there is Garrison Gibson, a legal Liberian immigrant. ICE unlawfully busted down his front door with a battering ram after he refused to leave the house or open the door because ICE did not have a signed judicial warrant. Gibson was home with his wife, daughter and niece.
There are confirmed reports of ICE blocking in the cars of observers and then charging them with obstruction. ICE is also going to protesters’ houses trying to intimidate them and making threats. Then they are using tear gas on peaceful protesters and others who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. One family’s car was tear gassed and their 6-month-old baby who was in the car stopped breathing and had to be rushed to the hospital. Now they have to pay hospital bills and make extensive repairs to their car. A Judge ruled Friday that ICE is not allowed to use tear gas on peaceful protesters. Not sure that will even mean anything.
Meanwhile Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General, has issued an alert regarding DHS digital surveillance and how to protect your privacy. The state, Minneapolis, and St Paul are suing the Federal government citing constitutional violations of the first and tenth amendments. And the Department of Justice has launched investigations of Governor Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on the grounds that they are impeding operations of the federal government. However, Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who murdered Renee Good, is not being investigated or charged with anything by the federal government.
But Minnesotans will not be silenced. If anything there are more and more people out on the streets and providing mutual aid. Monday night James and I did a virtual ICE Watch training from States at the Core via Defend612. There were 1,700 people on the call. They continue to offer trainings every few days. They made it a point to say that what is happening has nothing to do with immigration. Immigration is the excuse the Trump administration is using to intimidate and militarize cities in order to consolidate authoritarian power. I have not gone out on neighborhood patrol–it’s a bit challenging to do by bicycle in winter–but I carry a whistle with me whenever I leave the house and keep a lookout for ICE so I can make reports to my rapid response group.
People here are standing up against heavily armed and sometimes poorly trained agents. They are fighting back with video documentation, whistles, car horns, peaceful protest that includes marching in the streets singing, and ok, sometimes throwing snowballs. People are also pouring water on streets and sidewalks where ICE is gathering making some real ice. There are lots of videos and photos going around of ICE agents slipping and falling.
We are now getting an arctic blast, it is that time of the year here. Temperatures are going sub-zero F / -17C. I saw someone report today that they were at Duluth Trading Company behind a couple men who were spending $5,000 on cold weather gear.
Apparently, defense tactics are working because The New Republic is reporting that the Department of Homeland Security is having trouble finding agents willing to come to Minneapolis. There are currently 3,000 agents in the state, mainly centered in the Twin Cities. Now Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act. There are 1,500 active-duty military troops on standby in Alaska ready to invade my state. It is a great irony that the President is interested in protecting protesters in Iran while suppressing protests in his own country.
I have a friend who is Vietnamese and a U.S. citizen who is worried she will be stopped by ICE. I have another friend who is a citizen and immigrant from Brazil who is also terrified.
If you are wondering what you can do to support Minnesota, advocate with your electeds to stop funding ICE and to stand up against the Trump administration. If you are looking to make a monetary donation to help support the immigrant community here, some good groups are Isaiah, Neighborhood House, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Committee, and ACLU Minnesota. Stand With Minnesota has additional lists of places who are supporting people with rental assistance, food, diapers, and other supplies.
As if all that isn’t enough, Jake Lang, white supremacist and pardoned January 6th insurrectionist, came to Minneapolis yesterday and held a rally downtown outside city hall. There were more counterprotestors than there were people at the rally. He was sprayed with silly string, but things got a bit out of control when people began pelting him with snowballs and water balloons. Lang is now claiming on social media that he was “lynched” and stabbed. He did not go to any hospital afterwards and photos show him leaving the rally with scrapes and bruises but no apparent stab wounds.
Fowl
I think I have mentioned here a few months ago after Mrs. Dashwood, the last of the original Dashwood chicken flock, died, that James and I had decided we are not going to welcome any additional chickens to our dwindling—now 2 chickens—flock. I’ve been feeling a little sad about that because I enjoy sharing my life with chickens, but we decided since we don’t keep them for their eggs, the growing expense of taking care of them just wasn’t worth it.
Then two weeks ago I got an email from Eggplant, the place we bought the Dashwoods and the Nuggets, letting me know that chick orders are now open. I clicked, just to look at the pictures. Honest! But gosh darn, if those birds aren’t adorable and beautiful. I started thinking maybe…and floated the idea to James.
He frowned but said he would think about it.
A week later I checked in with him on his thoughts and he said he was fine with it but not all that interested. I said we both had to actually want them. He said he’d think about it some more.
Early in the week I checked in again and he said he was a go! Friday I placed our order for two chicks, a speckled Sussex (James’s choice) and a pearl onyx (my choice). They will be The Witches. James has already named the Sussex Nanny Ogg after one of the witches in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. I have named the pearl onyx Baba Yaga who lives in a chicken-legged hut. We will be welcoming the baby chicks on April 3rd.
It’s nice to have something good to look forward to.
I’m behind on comments and blog visiting—been kind of distracted! But I am endeavoring to catch up over the next days.
Enjoy this Woody Guthrie song to send you on your way: All You Fascists Bound to Lose
I somehow suspected there would be more hens… 🙂
Good for you! Good for them! Best life they could live!
Keep safe in that madhouse. Jordan Klepper shared a bit of fighting back in full Minnesota style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2MBmV84tEo (particularly the woman about 35 minutes into the video)
Cheers!
LikeLike
Congrats on the upcoming chicks! That’s fun. We definitely need happy things to look forward to. I continue to be appalled and saddened by the horror happening in MN. I called my rep and senators Friday to voice my dissent and disgust.
LikeLike
Yay, Laila! I am constantly wishing that there was someone I could call. Yay, Stefanie! You are doing all the Things. I especially appreciate that you are including so many on-the-ground details about the situations that aren’t necessarily being covered in that kind of detail (in this bombardment of media, I mean). Take care!The chick news is happy news. I was already worried about the “last hen” and there are just too many other things to worry about right now. heheh
LikeLike
I thought I must come visit you because you must be having an awful time. I get weekly letters from my Californian friend and her dismay just grows and grows with each letter. A couple of weeks ago she said it was a “nightmare” but now I think she probably feels that’s too benign a description. She told me about Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, and how he might use this as an excuse to cancel the midterms. Really? I shared with her a quote from an article discussing our various state leaders in Australia, and really liked this one: who was described as “the gold standard for what a successful leader should be. He focuses on the economy, doesn’t scare people with culture war stuff, is competent and normal. That’s what people want: competence, decency and not being weird.” Actually we want more but this is a very good start!
I love that you are getting some more chicks, that you love having them, though I do understand James’ resistance. I can’t wait to see pics of the new residents of Barton Cottage or will is be a Covenstead?
Hang in there! We care about decent Americans, and worry about you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jake Lang is one of those maniacs who claim that brown people are “replacing” white people, and I didn’t know there were only a certain number of spots. No one told me. I saw a video of him being cornered in some sort of enclave, and people were throwing snow and water balloons. Someone got up there to talk to him, and I want to know so badly what that person said, and if they were a counter-protester.
I get it with the chickens. We used to have them when I was growing up, and it’s not just the cost of feeding, it’s the cost in time: shoveling poo and urine, feeding them, making sure the water isn’t frozen, that the coop isn’t too cold (which often means running a light all the time in winter), etc. HOWEVER, I totally understand the desire to have little chickies that grow up into ladies with personality! Question: why chickens and not ducks? Ducks are soooo cute, too. They waddle, Stefanie. WADDLE.
LikeLike
@astoneintheriver.net
War can be waged in many ways, not necessarily by taking up arms and engaging in bloody combat against an enemy that seeks precisely that—to deploy even greater force and inflict more suffering upon its victims and those who dare to help them. A poorly trained and loosely organized army of 3,000 nazi mercenaries, operating more on hatred than on any coherent plan, is highly vulnerable.
We must attack their logistical lines—and this can be done without direct confrontation:
Food: ICE need to eat and drink. Establishments that sell food are privately owned and have the right to refuse service. Create posters stating that a given establishment does not serve ICE agents and does not permit them entry. Volunteers can visit all food service locations in the area and try to persuade owners not to serve ICE and hang a poster on their doors. Offer some form of incentive for their cooperation and publicly denounce on social media those who do serve them. Get in touch with other customers to make a group petition. Remind them that once ICE leaves, only their neighbors will remain as customers.
The "name and shame" technique for businesses or individuals who collaborate with ICE offers a wide range of opportunities to shift part of the harassment suffered by ICE’s victims onto those who enable them.
Fuel: Gas station employees can refuse to provide fuel under the pretext that it has run out, that the pumps are malfunctioning, or any other plausible accidental reason.
Lodging: Efforts can be made to convince hotel managers and other accommodation providers not to house ICE personnel. If that fails… accommodations are required to provide basic services to their guests. And, as far as I know, field technicians from various utility companies know which valves to close or which cables to disconnect to cut off electricity, internet, water, or other services to those establishments. No one is safe from "vandalism."
Rest: If you know where ICE agents are staying at night, you can hold a vigil nearby with a sign that says, "Honk your horn to wake up ICE," and let truckers and other drivers do the rest.
Communications: Surely, those who looted ICE vehicles obtained some communication equipment, enough to learn what frequencies they operate on. Radio enthusiasts can figure out how to jam them, even if encrypted.
Do you have to serve ICE agents in some way and can’t avoid it? No problem! Do it as slowly or clumsily as possible. Slowness and clumsiness are not crimes.
And like these, there are many other simple, non-confrontational actions that can make ICE’s work more difficult and costly. Remember: they also need funding
Also, keep caring for the victims and potential victims. To get a bag of bread, a water bottle and a supporting word means the world for those terrorised and stripped off any certainty about their lives and the lives of their beloved ones.
LikeLike
Remote Reply
Original Comment URL
Your Profile
We keep shaking our heads and hoping to wake up from this nightmare. In the meantime, we persevere with the calls to spineless congress “reps.”
Do you know Naomi Kritzer? She’s published some things people outside MN can do on her blog. (She’s a SF writer, one I admire and have met in person).
Hooray for chicks!
LikeLike
I’m behind with reading/commenting too, Stefanie, but I’ve been thinking of you as I follow what’s happening in Minnesota. I completely agree with those people who said it’s about authoritarianism, not immigration. It’s heartening to see so many people resisting, although I know it must be a scary time for all involved. Sending you solidarity from Serbia!
LikeLike