from the series Something I Said…
By DWIGHT HOBBES
ICE, as of February, downshifted from Operation Metro Surge’s disastrous all out occupation of South Minneapolis to a sinister method no less meant to run roughshod over civil rights. Local media reports document that, after the withdrawal from the state, nearly a thousand agents remained to spy on the area, near businesses and agricultural locales, conduct suburban surveillance and operate drones in the airspace above Somali and Mexican and Mexican American homes. Health care workers said agents even camped out in hospital parking lots. The idea is to sneak up on men, women and children, catch them unaware and spirit them away, the intent being to put them behind bars.
Despite desperate fear in the face of ruthless storm trooper tactics, the community rose up and stood strong during the outcry against the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. In response to ICE switching gears, still determined to arbitrarily detain and arrest people, particularly those of color, citizens have adapted, adjusting to form guerilla resistance. Networking to warn one another, activists and volunteers keep an ear to the ground and a sharp eye out. This enables them to quickly share information and spread word when agents are spotted. So, instead of targets being kidnapped with no one any the wiser, community members can observe, mobilize and, if necessary, raise enough hell right at the scene to draw serious attention. Virtual underground organizing, it goes without saying, includes having news outlets on speed dial to maximize that attention.
Just because former United States Secretary of Homeland Security was scapegoated, tossed out on her ear and so-called “border czar” Tom Homan dispatched to effect a low key clean up of the human rights mess President Donald Trump made, nobody has been fooled one bit. Accordingly, as was already in practice, resistance still entails friends, family and, for that matter, perfect strangers pitching in to shuttle youngsters to school, medical appointments and other vital destinations. As well, adults in hiding who don’t dare go to work or shop for food receive aid from those who help with groceries, including food shelves and stores that deliver food and meals.
This is not Nazi Germany. The United States of America’s federal government, though, doesn’t miss that mark by much. Fortunately, South Minneapolis and the surrounding metro area is home to a damned good resistance movement.
