The lawless, violent chaos unleashed by the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge” is aimed ostensibly at rounding up and deporting criminals in the country illegally: the worst of the worst. In fact, the actual aim is — as ordered by Stephen Miller — to maximize the number of arrests and detentions, thus creating fear among both immigrants, whether here legally or not, whether law abiding or not, and among citizens who choose to protest these police state tactics.
I. Three American citizens, each detained in Kavanaugh stops by ICE or CBP, described their experiences for PBS. Here is the text of their accounts (via Amanda Carpenter on Bluesky):
Here is the video of the Americans speaking on PBS News Hour:
II. Millions of Americans have protested Trump’s policies. Since Trump’s decision to occupy Minneapolis, Minnesotans have been in the forefront of protests. In addition to physical violence, threats — both implicit and explicit — directed at Americans by federal agents have become standard operating procedure. During the past two months, agents have added a new wrinkle to their menacing behavior. Using facial recognition technology and monitoring people’s social media, they have begun identifying protesters by name and showing up at their homes (as described in a New York Times story):
Among nearly 100 sworn statements filed in federal court on Friday are more than a dozen accounts … in which federal agents deployed to Minnesota singled out protesters, finding the addresses of their homes and showing up there.
One resident reported following an SUV:
Then, she said, the SUV suddenly turned and sped at her. “I thought the agents were going to deliberately T-bone my car,” she wrote. “Right before it hit me, the unmarked SUV braked hard.”
A masked woman leaned out the passenger window and yelled, “Emily, Emily, we’re going to take you home.” She shouted the address where Ms. Beltz lives with her husband and 5-year-old.
III. Whenever Trump’s militarized secret police are called out, the official response is denial, deflection, and slander. The lies keep coming, as in a case that received much media coverage a month ago. This is from the Department of Homeland Security statement posted (with original bold font and italics) the day after the shooting:
At 6:50 PM CT on January 14, 2025, federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis for Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis who was released into the country by President Joe Biden in 2022.
Attempting to evade arrest, Sosa-Celis fled the scene in his vehicle, crashed into a parked car, and proceeded to flee on foot. The law enforcement officer pursued Sosa-Celis also on foot, caught up to him, and attempted to apprehend him when Sosa-Celis began to resist and violently assault the officer. While Sosa-Celis and law enforcement were in a struggle on the ground, two subjects came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.
As the officer was being ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, Sosa-Celis got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick. Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life. Sosa-Celis was hit in the leg. All three subjects ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside. ICE successfully arrested all three illegal aliens.
The DHS statement included this as well:
“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement. Our officer was ambushed and attacked by three individuals who beat him with snow shovels and the handles of brooms. Fearing for his life, the officer fired a defensive shot,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “Mayor Frey and Governor Walz have to get their city under control. They are encouraging impeding and assault against our law enforcement which is a federal crime, a felony. This is putting the people of Minnesota in harm’s way.”
Almost immediately, the story began to shift. Details changed. Court reports conflicted with the original story. We’ve seen this again and again. The claims (and reckless lies about domestic terrorism) — as in the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — conflict with videotaped evidence. In some cases DOJ has failed to convince grand juries to issue indictments against immigrants and citizens, while in cases brought to trial juries have issued not guilty verdicts. In this instance, something unexpected happened.
Last week, citing “newly discovered evidence,” the government asked the court to drop all charges against the men accused of assault and further announced that the two agents were being investigated for lying about what led to the shooting.
Or so we’re told. We’ll see what comes of this.
Regardless, this announcement hardly signals an actual change of policy. We learned today that the “FBI formally notified Minnesota officials on Friday that it would not grant them access to evidence from the investigation into the killing of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.”
So, in all three shooting cases federal authorities have barred the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from participation in joint investigations and refused to provide access to evidence collected. We haven’t the least reason to trust the Trump administration to pursue justice in these cases.
We do have reason, however, to take heart. Courageous Americans embraced their liberties as guaranteed by the Constitution to push back against an occupation by federal forces equipped for combat. In doing so, they’ve won a small skirmish against an out of control president waging war on his political opponents.