[friendly_deer]

I know this might be hard for some people to hear, but I want to share my thoughts to promote, in a small way, a common understanding of different perspectives.

My genuine trouble with this kind of post is that I don’t know if it is true.

How do I know the guy isn’t trying to get donations for local groups? Is that an odd question to ask after the dominant lens through which we analyze action is “cui bono?”

How do I know that this didn’t come from some Russian intel group? Is that an odd question to ask after Russian interference is all over the media during our elections?

It’s the problem of our society today: we don’t share a common view of reality.

[carefulfungi]

You can watch the hundreds of videos. You can judge the shared reporting about the number of federal agents deployed to MN coming from government and activist sources. You can listen to the administration's words about insurrection. You can read the front page reporting on the NYT, Fox News (both currently running front page stories). You can read the updates from the area's public schools.

There are no disagreements on the core facts: thousands of ICE agents are deployed to the Twin Cities and are aggressively arresting activists and immigrants, using chemical crowd deterrents, and presenting themselves in masks and military dress.

[nasmorn]

As an Austrian citizen I unfortunately have to tell you that the existence of masked agents in unmarked vehicles is very bad news. The last time we had this they were called Geheime Staatspolizei and we now have a memorial at the location of their head quarters in Vienna. I am not usually someone trying to manifest Godwins law but this is straight out of the facist playbook. Another super worrying fact for me as a European is that the late Dick Cheney was so worried about American democracy and he always looked like Darth Vader to me from across the pond. Suddenly we are on one side, didn’t have that on my bingo card.

[granby]

Hi. I am the person who wrote the piece. I am not a bot, not Russian intel. YES I want money to go to organizations serving terrified, vulnerable people who are being hunted like dogs primarily because they LOOK like immigrants or other "undesirables."

People need help in MPLS, right now. Be skeptical of what you hear online ... definitely. But there is a limit. At some point you must accept that there is a major crisis, that people are in acute need, and that not helping is complicity.

[nkurz]

Thanks for writing it, and thanks for stopping by. Perhaps I'm naive, but I wasn't worried at all that the article might be a Russian fake. Instead, my worry is that it felt like propaganda. Genuine heartfelt propaganda, probably from someone on the ground in Minneapolis, but throughout the piece I felt that you were likely leaving out information so as to create a more compelling call to action.

I don't know for sure that this is true, but I feel like this is a big hurdle that you'll have to overcome if you want to convince skeptical people like me who actually do care. Saying "I will not provide names, sources, etc." might feel necessary, but it makes it harder to convince people. I'm left feeling that there is definitely more to the story than you are telling.

Starting with your first example, "two teachers parked in front of the school were violently extracted from their cars and abducted by ICE officers". I'm not certain, but I'd probably be willing to bet this isn't the full story. Were they "parked in front" because they were at their jobs teaching, or were they attempting to prevent the ICE officers from doing something? Were they participating in a protest or just passing by?

I don't know--and it doesn't mean that what happened is right or proper--but I don't trust you to tell me if you think it might hurt the case you are trying to make. The result is that I feel like I need to at least partially discount the rest of what you have to say. How do we get beyond this?

[reset0684]

I think you're right. I think that what ICE is doing is clearly a problem and speaking about it clearly and plainly is useful here.

Here are two good sources for the incident at the school (Roosevelt High School). [1] [2]

The first is from our local NPR affiliate: MPR. It has interviews with school staff members and describes their account of the day. The second is from our local NBC affiliate: KARE 11. It's a more recent article which describes the account of the day based on statements from Customs and Border Patrol. You can see some of the parallels between the two.

>“The guy, I’m telling him like, ‘Please step off the school grounds,’ and this dude comes up and bumps into me and then tells me that I pushed him, and he’s trying to push me, and he knocked me down,” a school official, who spoke to MPR News on condition of anonymity said.

versus

>[CBP Deputy Incident Commander Kyle Harvick] said a crowd began to gather as they were arresting the driver for impeding the operation. As agents investigated the area, the statement says a crowd gathered and some individuals responded with "combative shoves and pushes." Harvick says agents then attempted to arrest one of the individuals when a school staff member allegedly began pushing agents. The staff member was placed under arrest.

When you're weighing who to believe in this situation, it's worth calling out that CBP has lied before [3] and doesn't always operate within the law here [4]. That last link is particularly notable since it's a very straightforward constitutional violation where they broke into the house with a battering ram (on video, if you want to watch) to make the arrest--all without a judicial warrant. The provided an _administrative_ warrant instead, which doesn't allow forced search of private residences. The agents presumably know that and thought they could get away with it anyway.

[1] https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/08/after-border-patrol...

[2] https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/ice-in-minnesota/c...

[3] https://apnews.com/article/chicago-immigration-crackdown-wom...

[4] https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-arrest-judge-orders-rel...

[deepsquirrelnet]

You can donate to churches that are organizing to help bring food and supplies to people too afraid to leave their homes. It doesn’t have to be a political group.

[cosmicgadget]

The underlined words in the post are links to the associated news articles.

[tejohnso]

> My genuine trouble with this kind of post is that I don’t know if it is true.

Same thought I had. I mean, it sounds pretty bad but it's also making no attempt at all to report an unbiased view. I'd like to hear from officials. What are their goals, and why are they doing it this way? I don't think the majority of Trump voters wanted this kind of harm and chaos.

[blactuary]

What is the unbiased view of a federal agency geared up for war kidnapping and terrorizing people in the streets of American city? You have no idea what it's like here right now.

[tejohnso]

> You have no idea what it's like here right now.

I don't have any idea and I'm not trying to defend or justify.

> What is the unbiased view of a federal agency geared up for war kidnapping and terrorizing people in the streets of American city?

That's exactly what I'd like to know. The report didn't provide one. That's my point. Which is fine, they didn't intent to, they were just telling their truth. But those ICE agents have a perspective, they have motivations, they're people, and while reading the report I was curious about what they might have to say about their actions.

[blactuary]

Here is an agent arresting a US citizen, for the expressed reason of having an accent. What is the perspective and motivation here?

https://bsky.app/profile/premthakker.bsky.social/post/3mcnjw...

[blactuary]

> I'm not trying to defend or justify

Yes you are, when you say things like this:

> those ICE agents have a perspective, they have motivations, they're people

They are racist, fascist thugs, it's that simple. They want to terrorize immigrants and brown people. There is no need to overthink this. They are racially profiling people every day, and arresting citizens because they are minorities. They shot a mother in the head and now they are telling the rest of us "didn't you learn your lesson?", alluding to that murder. They tear-gassed a family of 6 trying to get home the other day, including a 6 month old baby that lost consciousness. The family had nothing to do with anything, they were simply trying to get home in an area ICE was attacking.

What "perspective" could possibly change anything about this shameful behavior?

[cosmicgadget]

Mass deportations was his signature campaign promise. It's exactly what they voted for.

[cmurf]

They knowingly voted for a racist, a rapist, a felon ...

A man who as president sent a mob to assassinate the vice-president of the United States and members of Congress, because that VPOTUS, Mike Pence, refused Trump's illegal order to overturn an election both of them had lost.

Trump voters understood.

[UncleMeat]

Stephen Miller has been extremely public about what they are doing. If you are waiting to hear from officials it is because you are closing your ears.

[tejohnso]

I'm just talking about one report. I'm not waiting to hear from anyone. I just passively consume what happens to come my way, and this is the first report about this situation that I saw on HN and took time to read.

[datsci_est_2015]

Please educate yourself. The message is not hidden like some cryptic puzzle. Read, read, read. And from more than just one news source. Many. Recognize the bias.

[willmarch]

Then why aren’t they speaking out against it?

[tejohnso]

That's well established human behaviour. People don't necessarily speak out against something just because they think it's wrong.

[willmarch]

Is it? I see a lot of democrats speaking out, but few republicans. What do you think makes the difference?

[datsci_est_2015]

> I don't think the majority of Trump voters wanted this kind of harm and chaos.

Sorry to be vulgar, but it’s about fucking time they find the fucking courage to speak up.

I am angry at the conservative people in my life, first and second connections and beyond, not because they fell for 8 years of increasingly fascist propaganda, but because now they’re too weak and scared and cowardly to stand up and recognize that they were wrong and they’ve ushered in some of the darkest days in American history.

The American right continues to be complicit. I am losing respect daily while I watch my conservative friends not speak out. It’s heartbreaking.

[yencabulator]

Then your friends are not conservative, just right-wing.