Dispatch from the occupation
From Don: This piece comes someone living and working in Minneapolis, which is experiencing a de facto military occupation right now. They wish to remain anonymous out of concern that their government might retaliate against them for reporting on what life is like there now. Please share this story so people can understand how bad things are on the ground.
I am writing as an ordinary citizen of Minneapolis/St Paul ─ one of America’s 20 largest metro areas. I have kids in the public schools, own a house, go to work every day, pay taxes, volunteer in my community (e.g., coaching youth sports, helping in the schools). I am certainly not a radical of any kind. I had never done any community organizing work before last month.
I am writing this to share with the outside world what is really going on ─ the terror being inflicted upon a U.S. city and state by our federal government. If you are so moved, see below to learn how you can help. Here is what is happening right now:
Public schools are being terrorized
Consider the following example incidents, all from the last ten days or so. I will not provide names, sources, etc. because many people are in active danger. But the general pattern has been well documented,
As a large, public Minneapolis high school was dismissing students for the day, two teachers parked in front of the school were violently extracted from their cars and abducted by ICE officers. No warrants were presented; no documents requested or checked. Both abducted teachers were US citizens.
Students observing the abductions were assaulted with pepper spray by the federal officers, with some fleeing to shelter in the public library across the street. In response, Minneapolis public schools canceled classes for two days and subsequently went to a hybrid attendance option ─ because, as they told parents in an email, they did not feel they could keep their students safe. This is our federal government terrorizing its citizens.
During a subsequent hybrid class in the same school ─ with mostly White students in the classroom and mostly students of color online ─ an online student’s apartment building was raided by federal officers. The teacher had to stop class to support the affected student, who was rightfully terrified. Class was interrupted for the day as students texted or called their families for support.
None of our students feel psychologically safe; learning has all but come to a halt. This is our federal government terrorizing its citizens.
A man walking his child to the school bus stop in the morning was abducted by federal officers. A child was left abandoned and terrified on the street. This is our federal government terrorizing its citizens.
These are just recent examples known to me. Beyond all of this, the biggest concern in many Twin Cities schools right now is access to food and keeping people housed. People at risk of abduction are now understandably unwilling to leave home ─ meaning they can’t go to their jobs, and they can’t shop for food and other necessities. Affected kids don’t get meals at school. Local communities are organizing to feed hundreds … thousands? … of terrified families who are hiding from our federal government. Nearly everyone in these families is a U.S. citizen or otherwise legally in the United States.
Federal agents abduct people and ask questions later; if your skin is not White, you are presumed guilty until proven otherwise. An analysis by our local Fox News TV station found only about 5% of the ~2,000 people arrested by federal agents have records of violent criminal convictions.
The streets are extremely tense and chaotic
There are thousands of ICE and other federal officers in the metro area actively patrolling the streets. In nearly all immigrant and Black and Latino neighborhoods, there are multiple attempted armed abductions of residents every day. (Such events also happen, albeit less frequently, in more economically privileged neighborhoods: Housecleaners, construction workers, etc. are the targets in those cases.) Residents of Twin Cities neighborhoods are organizing to respond peacefully and in accord with their established constitutional rights.
All of this means that the following dystopian scenario plays out in the open dozens of times per day in the Twin Cities: Multiple masked and armed agents in combat gear amass in unmarked cars outside a house or business. A bystander notices and alerts the neighborhood. A dozen or more neighborhood residents appear within minutes to legally observe, legally film the encounter, legally make sure the targeted people know their rights, and legally warn others by blowing whistles and honking car horns.
The targeted people ─ again, almost all of whom are U.S. citizens or in the U.S. legally ─ are abducted and frequently sent to jail in Texas or Louisiana or elsewhere within 24 hours; hopefully the neighborhood observers were able to get their name and a phone number for a friend or family member. The neighborhood observers, peacefully practicing their legal rights, are labelled terrorists by their government. Or, worse, they are also abducted by federal agents and detained at the (federal) Whipple Building at Fort Snelling (ironically, once the site of an internment camp to hold the Dakota people) for many hours before being released with no charges made against them. This is our federal government terrorizing its citizens.
In addition to their presence on our streets and in our businesses, the federal officers appear to be immune to punishment for breaking traffic laws. They routinely run red lights, do dangerous U-turns, drive far over the speed limit, etc. Not in marked cars with sirens and lights ─ but in ordinary rental cars and other unmarked vehicles. This is all happening on Minnesota’s very icy January roads, which most federal agents are not used to driving on.
A civilian community cannot defeat heavily-armed occupiers
There is no illusion on the ground in the Twin Cities that the community can “defeat” ICE or drive out the federal forces violently occupying our city. The “terrorists” and “Antifa” that the Trump Administration speaks of ─ aka, neighborhood groups organizing to peacefully and legally support their neighbors ─ instead generally have three goals:
Make sure abducted people know their rights and that those rights are respected.
Document abductions so that federal agents cannot “disappear” people – again, many of whom are U.S. citizens or are legally in the country.
Support affected families however possible ─ mostly with food, transportation, and financial and legal assistance.
Trump administration claims of a violent insurrection are simply not true. Ordinary citizens are trying to legally observe, record, and minimize damage from the assault on our communities. They are trying to prevent our federal government from illegally abducting people based on the color of their skin. They are trying to prevent something akin to the rounding up of Jewish (in Europe) and Japanese (in the U.S.) people in the lead up to and during World War II. They are trying to prevent the atrocities of history from repeating themselves in our city and our state in 2026.
The sentiment on the ground is that things are poised to get worse. Maybe much worse. One more spark of violence seems to be all that is required for the administration to declare an insurrection and send in the military. We are holding our collective breath.
How can you help?
Do you want to help people in our city? I recommend three things.
First, if you live in a politically “red” or “purple” state, call your elected (especially Republican) officials and tell them to oppose mass ICE raids. Tell them you will not tolerate what is happening in Minnesota anywhere in your country and that their lack of action to protect U.S. citizens and other legal residents will heavily influence your vote in November.
Second, send money. Pick a reputable (non-government) immigrant rights organization, public school PTA or support organization, or (non-government) social service agency. Send them as much money as you are comfortable sending; they need it desperately (mainly to feed people and provide legal assistance, but there are many other needs).
Third, directly reach out to your friends or family members in the Twin Cities … every day. Like me, they need to know that the world is aware of what is happening here and cares.