The DOJ Justice has targeted critics during a moment of crisis in which protesters are clashing with federal agents on icy Minneapolis city streets. Their threats against MN Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey represent an entrance into new and risky legal territory.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, US federal forces blinded two protesters shot in face with so-called “less-lethal” munitions. In the week and a half since Renee Good’s killing, the Trump administration and ICE have committed itself to a sinister new philosophy in Minneapolis: “Live unfree or die.” And in ICE offices, rank and file goons are being given a Captain Obvious lecture: avoid standing in front of cars, wherever possible.
The most important takeaway from the last two weeks is that Minnesotans have pushed back forcefully and overwhelmingly peacefully against ICE. Matt Shuman’s overview at HuffPo, updated yesterday, is a must-read.
The political situation in Minnesota has been fully scrambled not only by the ICE invasion but by the Trump regime’s repeated flogging of a “fraud scandal” – that Gov. Walz and state investigators were already effectively pursuing. Adam Edelman at NBC News analyzes the mess.
Jennifer Bendery at HuffPo: “If Democrats in Congress have any chance at reining in how Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates under President Donald Trump, it’s right now.”