What Lies Ahead
“The Trump administration’s false narrative about this week’s shooting, and the demonization of the victim, are only part of a bigger lie. It wants the American public to believe that ICE’s heavily militarized crackdown across this country is an effort to keep cities like Minneapolis safe. It is not. It is about vilifying not just immigrants, but all who welcome them and their contributions to our communities. By defending the lie about this clearly avoidable shooting in Minneapolis and refusing to allow Minnesota officials to investigate the crime, the administration is sending a message to the entire country: If you show up for your immigrant neighbors, or even are simply present when those neighbors are taken, your rights will not be protected by the law and your life will be at risk.” NYT (Gift Article): I’m the Mayor of Minneapolis. Trump Is Lying to You. (I’m the managing editor of the internet, and I concur.)
+ “The agent who shot a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday was pulled about 100 yards by a car last year while firing a stun gun at the driver.” Court Records Reveal Details of ICE Agent’s Previous Dragging Incident. There are two things to focus on. First, this particular exchange that resulted in the killing of an innocent American. Second, the bigger story about the environment in which it took place, where masked, entitled, federal agents are turning American cities into militarized zones for no good reason. They are not targeting criminals. 92% of recent ICE detention growth has been driven by immigrants with no criminal convictions. This is not making you safer. The crisis is invented. The deaths are real.
+ “Two people were wounded Thursday in a shooting by a Border Patrol agent in Portland, Oregon, police said, in what federal officials have called an act of self-defense during a targeted vehicle stop.” Homeland Security says the wounded suspects are Tren de Aragua gang associates. And that may be true. But the same people described Renee Nicole Good as a domestic terrorist. From Portland Mayor Keith Wilson: “There was a time that we could take [the federal government] at their word. That time has long passed. That is why we are calling on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation can take place.”
+ As I suggested yesterday, this is as much about the lying as it is about the violence. Good and Evil. “The only thing more inevitable than the killing of Renee Nicole Good by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis was the lying from the administration and its enablers, which began almost before the bullets’ reverberation had fully dissipated.”
