You mention significant policing reform in Minneapolis after George Floyd. I thought those reforms spread outside of Minnesota. Bu, as you say, Minnesota shows reform is possible. But then there is no followup, leadership falters, and there we are again.
Thank you for your past reporting on police brutality and for pointing out how far we still have to go to change police culture and practices.
For a serious student of history and politics, the issue is far deeper and more serious - especially if you are a humanist and cherish solidarity and empathy with us all. I could not, for the life of me, summarise it so profoundly and eloquently as Chris Hedges, one of the greatest war correspondents ever, who left top positions at top media, such as say the NYT, because he would get censored every time wanted to say the truth or reveal the facts:
'The murders of unarmed civilians on the streets of Minneapolis, including the killing today of the intensive-care nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti, would not come as a shock to Iraqis in Fallujah or Afghans in Helmand province. They were terrorized by heavily armed American execution squads for decades. It would not come as a shock to any of the students I teach in prison. Militarized police in poor urban neighborhoods kick down doors without warrants and kill with the same impunity and lack of accountability. What the rest of us are facing now, is what Aimé Césaire called imperial boomerang. Empires, when they decay, employ the savage forms of control on those they subjugate abroad, or those demonized by the wider society in the name of law and order, on the homeland. The tyranny Athens imposed on others, Thucydides noted, it finally, with the collapse of Athenian democracy, imposed on itself. But before we became the victims of state terror, we were accomplices. Before we expressed moral outrage at the indiscriminate taking of innocent lives, we tolerated, and often celebrated, the same Gestapo tactics, as long as they were directed at those who lived in the nations we occupied or poor people of color. We sowed the wind, now we will reap the whirlwind. The machinery of terror, perfected on those we abandoned and betrayed, including the Palestinians in Gaza, is ready for us.'
I know it will touch only a few of you at best - but even that would make me happy - since almost nobody feels empathy for or solidarity with people who do not share our positions, our ways of life. But then Hedges said it all.
It is a deliberate playbook of violence meant to create chaos ahead of the midterm elections. This is not about "bad training." For example: Renee Good's killer was reported to be a fire arms trainer. Ross was never in fear of his life. His actions indicate his pre-meditated intention was to kill Renee...like a trained assassin. If it was not for citizen observer cameras, the smear campaign on Renee would have worked. The same can be said about the murder of Alex Pretti. I have read online that it was a CBP supervisor who took Alex Pretti's concealed gun while he was in prone position, and then he quickly walked away. Law enforcement experts state that when someone is disarmed, he should have said "Clear" to indicate there was no longer any danger to fellow agents after saying, "Gun". Through his silence and quick departure, this supervisor in the grey jacket gave tacit approval to his subordinates to kill Pretti. Afterwards, these CBP officers mulled over the body to remove casings, according to some reports. Thus, the cover-up began. How many times has ICE and CBP actually got away with cold murder that we do not know about. It appears they have an imbedded culture of cover-up.
How can the midterm election in November 2026 even be mentioned with not one journalist daring to address the fact of the Dominion Voting Systems was bought by right-wing Scott Leiendecker and renaming it Liberty Vote? Is that supposed to assure us of no-cheat elecctions?
Too many people believe "civil rights" are only for racial minorities, LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities. Civil rights are for all Americans. Racial minorities have warned for decades that unchecked police brutality would eventually impact whites. Trump and the GOP used racism and xenophobia to get the MAGA vote. Now, the regime is turning the US into a totalitarian dictatorship like North Korea. Total mental and physical obedience will be required for all, including white Americans. This is not a drill. We citizens must commit to saving our democratic republic from those who are attempting to dismantle it. Vote as if your life depends on it, because it does.
Witnessing, recording working. Admin performative,y backing off. But goal and tactics remain. Secret police occupying and assaulting blue areas, going after resistance.
Changing tactics in Maine. Federal agents have started showing up at the homes of volunteer watchhera and intimidating them or threatening arrest.
They want to stop do filming to eliminate evidence of their assault on Americans
I recently learned about the appalling $5 million (I think it was) payment that the government gave to the family of Ashli Babbitt, shot while trying to break into a congressional chamber.
When will the families of Good and Pretti and others killed by ice get payments like this? Never, of course.
We have a Fascist government. That is no longer a prediction or a hyperbolic expression of disgust. The Constitutional remedy is Impeach, Convict, and Remove. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that it won’t happen with today’s congress. But that is what our founding document gives us. We need the leader or leadership that is laser focused on making our Constitution work to remove Fascism from our government. Be sick and tired that our government has not yet jailed the fascists. Incessantly demand ICR. Publicly pressure the House to bring articles of impeachment, the Senate to convict and remove. If ICR does not catch on now, with this congress, make it THE issue in the midterm elections. Lincoln used the Constitution as the foundation for rejecting slavery and secession. This country would have ended in 1860 without his singular focus on the Constitutional remedy. Fascism is our problem. ICR is the solution. Where is our Lincoln?
The Proud Boys serve ICE and most likely most of these ICE agents are right wing extremists. IMO, I believe a lot of this lawlessness by these federal agents are driven by ideology. Both of the white victims in Minneapolis in their minds are liberal sympathizers. Being told by Stephen Miller and JD Vance to do whatever has led them to believe they are immune to any consequences.
Look at the bigger picture! What has Trump and the Administration been trying to do in L. A., Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis and Maine.
Remember Trump and the Administration taking control of Businesses, Colleges, Law Firms, network TV?
The roundup of illegal immigrants is a cover for the real work of destroying any opposition to the Administration.
Comply or suffer the consequences!
"hierarchy of dominance and control"
"rotten core of American policing"
You mention significant policing reform in Minneapolis after George Floyd. I thought those reforms spread outside of Minnesota. Bu, as you say, Minnesota shows reform is possible. But then there is no followup, leadership falters, and there we are again.
Thank you for your past reporting on police brutality and for pointing out how far we still have to go to change police culture and practices.
For a serious student of history and politics, the issue is far deeper and more serious - especially if you are a humanist and cherish solidarity and empathy with us all. I could not, for the life of me, summarise it so profoundly and eloquently as Chris Hedges, one of the greatest war correspondents ever, who left top positions at top media, such as say the NYT, because he would get censored every time wanted to say the truth or reveal the facts:
'The murders of unarmed civilians on the streets of Minneapolis, including the killing today of the intensive-care nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti, would not come as a shock to Iraqis in Fallujah or Afghans in Helmand province. They were terrorized by heavily armed American execution squads for decades. It would not come as a shock to any of the students I teach in prison. Militarized police in poor urban neighborhoods kick down doors without warrants and kill with the same impunity and lack of accountability. What the rest of us are facing now, is what Aimé Césaire called imperial boomerang. Empires, when they decay, employ the savage forms of control on those they subjugate abroad, or those demonized by the wider society in the name of law and order, on the homeland. The tyranny Athens imposed on others, Thucydides noted, it finally, with the collapse of Athenian democracy, imposed on itself. But before we became the victims of state terror, we were accomplices. Before we expressed moral outrage at the indiscriminate taking of innocent lives, we tolerated, and often celebrated, the same Gestapo tactics, as long as they were directed at those who lived in the nations we occupied or poor people of color. We sowed the wind, now we will reap the whirlwind. The machinery of terror, perfected on those we abandoned and betrayed, including the Palestinians in Gaza, is ready for us.'
I know it will touch only a few of you at best - but even that would make me happy - since almost nobody feels empathy for or solidarity with people who do not share our positions, our ways of life. But then Hedges said it all.
It is a deliberate playbook of violence meant to create chaos ahead of the midterm elections. This is not about "bad training." For example: Renee Good's killer was reported to be a fire arms trainer. Ross was never in fear of his life. His actions indicate his pre-meditated intention was to kill Renee...like a trained assassin. If it was not for citizen observer cameras, the smear campaign on Renee would have worked. The same can be said about the murder of Alex Pretti. I have read online that it was a CBP supervisor who took Alex Pretti's concealed gun while he was in prone position, and then he quickly walked away. Law enforcement experts state that when someone is disarmed, he should have said "Clear" to indicate there was no longer any danger to fellow agents after saying, "Gun". Through his silence and quick departure, this supervisor in the grey jacket gave tacit approval to his subordinates to kill Pretti. Afterwards, these CBP officers mulled over the body to remove casings, according to some reports. Thus, the cover-up began. How many times has ICE and CBP actually got away with cold murder that we do not know about. It appears they have an imbedded culture of cover-up.
How can the midterm election in November 2026 even be mentioned with not one journalist daring to address the fact of the Dominion Voting Systems was bought by right-wing Scott Leiendecker and renaming it Liberty Vote? Is that supposed to assure us of no-cheat elecctions?
Too many people believe "civil rights" are only for racial minorities, LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities. Civil rights are for all Americans. Racial minorities have warned for decades that unchecked police brutality would eventually impact whites. Trump and the GOP used racism and xenophobia to get the MAGA vote. Now, the regime is turning the US into a totalitarian dictatorship like North Korea. Total mental and physical obedience will be required for all, including white Americans. This is not a drill. We citizens must commit to saving our democratic republic from those who are attempting to dismantle it. Vote as if your life depends on it, because it does.
Witnessing, recording working. Admin performative,y backing off. But goal and tactics remain. Secret police occupying and assaulting blue areas, going after resistance.
Changing tactics in Maine. Federal agents have started showing up at the homes of volunteer watchhera and intimidating them or threatening arrest.
They want to stop do filming to eliminate evidence of their assault on Americans
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/23/ice-watchers-in-maine-say-they-were-threatened-by-federal-agents/
I recently learned about the appalling $5 million (I think it was) payment that the government gave to the family of Ashli Babbitt, shot while trying to break into a congressional chamber.
When will the families of Good and Pretti and others killed by ice get payments like this? Never, of course.
“Give us what we want and you won’t get hurt.” An administration full of mobsters.
Instead of completely de-funding ICE, it would be more pointed if the Congress appropriated the sum of one dollar with the following mandate:
Don't spend it all in one place!
But until at least some people in the GQP find their conscience, their backbone, and their gonads, nothing will change.
We have a Fascist government. That is no longer a prediction or a hyperbolic expression of disgust. The Constitutional remedy is Impeach, Convict, and Remove. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that it won’t happen with today’s congress. But that is what our founding document gives us. We need the leader or leadership that is laser focused on making our Constitution work to remove Fascism from our government. Be sick and tired that our government has not yet jailed the fascists. Incessantly demand ICR. Publicly pressure the House to bring articles of impeachment, the Senate to convict and remove. If ICR does not catch on now, with this congress, make it THE issue in the midterm elections. Lincoln used the Constitution as the foundation for rejecting slavery and secession. This country would have ended in 1860 without his singular focus on the Constitutional remedy. Fascism is our problem. ICR is the solution. Where is our Lincoln?
The Proud Boys serve ICE and most likely most of these ICE agents are right wing extremists. IMO, I believe a lot of this lawlessness by these federal agents are driven by ideology. Both of the white victims in Minneapolis in their minds are liberal sympathizers. Being told by Stephen Miller and JD Vance to do whatever has led them to believe they are immune to any consequences.