Georgia, thank you. I’m kinda sitting here like…wow, because I’m still half stunned I even had to write that piece in the first place. If this reply is a little sloppy, my bad, I been up all night chasing receipts and trying not to get ahead of the facts.
But I really do mean it: I work for YOU, the reader, not for a party, not for a sponsor, not for the people who want this to be a team sport. So when you say it felt accurate and unsensational, that’s like fuel, seriously. And if I ever miss something, or word it wrong, pull me back in the replies. I’d rather be corrected than be cute.
I feel the same about what I am trying to do with my stack about Ukraine. It is incredibly hard work, and I, too, am up most nights tracking down sources and verifying, and establishing the context for what is happening.
Trump will be in Davos this week—likely a heavy news week for me, maybe you can catch a bit of a break. Get some sleep.
It would have been so very easy for the (mal)administration to stop all this the day Renee Nicole Good was murdered. On that day they should have heeded the words of Mayor Frey and withdrawn ICE from Minneapolis. That would have been the end of it, for their thugs are the ones who generated the discord. But what's obvious to us is not to them, so events spiral irrationally out of control. And now Minnesota and the nation may suffer even more from their addiction to violence.
Deb, why did it take a white woman to die, for all of us to go into the streets? When the first person was mistreated we should have all been out in droves. For this so-called President to suggest that these ICE deployments are to protect public safety is full-on gaslighting.
Marti is right; we all know why. Racism, pure and simple. And that's why Renee's murder is so dangerous for the T**** regime: they're terrified that white women, a large portion of their base, could empathize with this particular victim and start turning against the regime. So the lies and gaslighting began instantaneously, rather than just quickly. Now they want to bring in actual troops? UGH. And yes, Laurie, you're right: the first victims deserved outrage, too. T**** wants to make us all victims; let's deny him that pleasure and resist for Minnesota.
This reads a bit as if Renee's killing was something they did not want to happen but "unfortunately" did.
Not the case, I'm afraid.
Whether her death was simple very bad judgement and emotional priors or PSTD on the part of Ross, for "events to spiral out of control" and provoke violence was the statistical intent of the administration's putting aggressive partisan low IQ armed forces on peaceful streets.
But isn't this what Trump wants to do? The goal is to incite enough unrest that he can send in the military and claim it was an insurrection. The easiest way to stop the unrest is to remove federal troops. Simple solution!
But he WANTS them in Minneapolis. He NEEDS them in Minneapolis. Stirring up unrest is the goal. If he can find a reason to call in the military, then he can declare martial law, and then he can halt the mid-term elections because "it will be too dangerous."
If you don't already foresee this, then YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! (With apologies to Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men".)
It is difficult for me to accept that we the American people allowed this truly hateful man to occupy any office.
Once in my lifetime at Kent State, American soldiers killed their fellow citizens; a cowardly shame that, along with the murder of Renee Good, our nation will never live down.
These actions, in states which the Democrats control, at the behest of the President and his Administration are inexcusable and indicate their inability to govern in a civilized manner.
Why the Republican controlled Congress along with the Democrats are not standing up is unfathomable. Close to a man and woman they disgust me.
This unrest has been instigated by the current regime. I agree with a poster above that I hope that the United States military will address the real source of the of the problem- an insane authoritarian president.
Indeed. MAGA's ludicrous attempts at rationalizing the actions of ICE, and the Trump regime at large, have never and will never be successful. Let them flail against the winds of Justice and Truth. Reality will stand.
Even Trump's advisors realize the imagery of roving paramilitary thugs in masks tear-gassing, beating & killing people is more than bad optics. ICE is a terror agency masquerading as an immigration enforcement agency. Reagan appointed Judge Wm Young called the targeting of critics as an "unconstitutional conspiracy" & even compared the administration’s larger deportation policy to people catching and returning enslaved African Americans under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
Believe the video. ICE placing themselves in danger, inciting violence & assaulting or killing unarmed peaceful citizens: The only contact by ICE Ross was placing his left hand with cellphone on the hood of Renee Good’s car to leverage his 1st shot through the front windshield, & then firing 2 more shots through the driverside window. A federal judge ordered agents not to retaliate against people “engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity” in the state and not to stop drivers who are not “forcibly obstructing” officers. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/us/minnesota-ice-immigration-agents-protests.html?smid=url-share
Meanwhile, lawless Trump, his DOJ & ICE Kristi try to criminalize speech by public officials who dare to criticize assaults on peaceful protesters & bystanders by ICE. Investigations & threats of prosecution of Sen Kelly & other vets for restating the US Military Code, & Gov Waltz, Mayor Frey & other Dem officials for criticizing ICE for use of excessive force force & possible criminal conduct are normalized by MSM. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vqj44VgF1M
And what is the compliant Supreme Court doing to stop this? The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's block on National Guard deployments in Chicago, but left open the question of the Insurrection Act, which allows for broader federal military action for domestic law enforcement, creating a path for Trump to potentially use it, leading to expected court challenges. Why isn’t there a further case in front of the supremes, and let’s pretend they will act immediately on it, to block that moron’s use of the insurrection act in Minneapolis?
My wife and I went to a ICE protest last week that protested the conduct of the government goon squad and honeyed the memory of Ms Good.
Our local physician attended and during our conversation reported or a better work diagnosed mr smalls with dementia. This all fits together doesn’t it; the kidnapping of Maduro, the threat of military action throughout the world, tariff use as weapons, extrajudicial killings on the high seas, domestic unrest and it goes on and on. Our Congress critters just sit there with their thumbs stuck up in a dark place while all this goes on capped with the killing of citizens and while undocumented immigrants die in federal custody.
The violence is caused by ICE and DHS. I hope the military won’t break its oath to the Constitution and fire on the American people. They need to observe and arrest the ICE and DHS terrorists.
Thank you for laying this out clearly and without panic. This kind of careful reporting matters. It helps us understand what is actually happening, why it is serious, and why restraint, law, and local authority still matter in a functioning democracy. Keep up this excellent work!
Perhaps deploying the NG to work along side police would be a good thing. It would give them a personal view of what is happening in the streets, making it harder to go along with illegal orders to federalize the troops.
This is a high stakes game of chess. If the National Gaurd gets deployed what’s to stop the President from federalizing them? There would be no need to involve the Insurrection Act at that point.
As I said, it would be a leap of faith. NG troops having seen the real carnage up close and personal, doing their duty to disobey an unlawful order. Maybe too far of a leap, but evaluating all options must be done when strategizing.
Also, when NG was federalized in LA - ICE etc. wasnt going full-bore, so to speak, like they have been now in Minnesota - it might be quite a bit harder to just stand back & watch.
It seems to me that our NG and the military would find it hard to stand back and watch these thugs do as they please. The NG is basically us! And seriously, deploying military personnel who come from "us" & are trained (unike this bunch) for going to war? I find it hard to believe either of them would align themselves with this bunch of untrained thugs. Maybe I'm naive. Could that be what it takes for them to resist illegal orders???
Is there ANYTHING and I mean this with all sincerity and in all seriousness ANYTHING that this administration can do to American citizens in the zeal to harrass and deport illegal citizens that you would draw a red line at as being to inhumane? If 1000 lesbian mothers, American citizens, was the collateral damage as a result of deporting 15,000,000 immigrants would that be an acceptable cost to pay?
Now as far as your batshit crazy conspiracy theory, let's do a thought experiment and assume it was true. Did Biden’s ICE shoot any ledbian mothers, blind any protesters, shoot tear gas into cars with babies, or go door to door trying to gain unlawful entry into households without a warrant? The answer is no. I’ll take the lesser evil.
After seeing a clip of what faux "news" is spouting (shown on Majority Report) anyone watching that and only that - gets word for word exactly what the commenter is saying - not just one "side" but only the propaganda pushed by this administration.
Truly, the suggestion of "paid" protesters is laughable, or would be in any other time.
Not one of the comments deals with unlawfulness of the Biden administration that is the root cause of all this chaos. Mayorcas was preemptively pardoned because he deliberatively violated his mandate to uphold the immigration laws. Not one of the comments deals with the abdication of the local authorities to enforce crowd control and exert a presence to maintain law and order. The entire reason Federal ICE agents are having to deal with this anarchy lies directly at the feet of Frey, Waltz and the police chiefs in Minneapolis.
X, would any of the civil rights violations that so enrage you and the other commentors occur if local authorities were in the street and accompanying ICE? Let me explain it another way: the local authorities are throwing their own citizens to the wolves of ICE and they are the ones who should be the focus of your and you other's ire for abdicating their moral and legal mandate to protect their own citizens. They are the ones sacrificing their citizens by not being in the street protecting their people.
Let's stop playing childish mind games here and address the 300 lb gorilla in this room. This anarchy is both grassroot and astroturf rooted by the active protesters and "protesters" (wink wink) and is being whipped into a frenzy for its political capital by the Democratic party writ large.
Bias is a nasty master of the mind and I suggest everyone take a step back and own their bias before opening mouth.
I am not a big Federal guy, I am a States' rights and Convention of States supporter.
X, why don't you recognize you're fighting side skirmishes and tackle the existential threat that is presented by an out of control Federal? I want to take an axe to this behemoth and reduce it to not more than 8-10% of GDP by passing a Constitutional Amendment requiring it to balance its budget and return it to the size the original Constitutional envisioned. The power of the Tenth Amendment needs to be restored.
Immigration is necessary, but not this uncontrolled version that was unleashed on the American people by the Biden Administration.
I'm paid to protest? Damn. They owe me a lot of money! John, your naivete is ... I don't know ... beneath the intelligence of the average earthworm. Come on out of your Troll Hole and get some brains. The sunshine will do you good.
BTW, I visited your substack, and there isn't a thing in it... except a prediction that Biden would win in a fake 2024 election. You aren't even legitimate.
Balanced, researched, and sourced. Accurate, factual, and unsensational.
Respectful of the reader's intelligence, unless clarification as to facts is required, and that is done in the replies.
Exactly what indie journalism should always be.
Thanks, X, for showing how it should be done.
Georgia, thank you. I’m kinda sitting here like…wow, because I’m still half stunned I even had to write that piece in the first place. If this reply is a little sloppy, my bad, I been up all night chasing receipts and trying not to get ahead of the facts.
But I really do mean it: I work for YOU, the reader, not for a party, not for a sponsor, not for the people who want this to be a team sport. So when you say it felt accurate and unsensational, that’s like fuel, seriously. And if I ever miss something, or word it wrong, pull me back in the replies. I’d rather be corrected than be cute.
I feel the same about what I am trying to do with my stack about Ukraine. It is incredibly hard work, and I, too, am up most nights tracking down sources and verifying, and establishing the context for what is happening.
Trump will be in Davos this week—likely a heavy news week for me, maybe you can catch a bit of a break. Get some sleep.
Well said, Georgia. This is exactly the kind of reporting we need.
It would have been so very easy for the (mal)administration to stop all this the day Renee Nicole Good was murdered. On that day they should have heeded the words of Mayor Frey and withdrawn ICE from Minneapolis. That would have been the end of it, for their thugs are the ones who generated the discord. But what's obvious to us is not to them, so events spiral irrationally out of control. And now Minnesota and the nation may suffer even more from their addiction to violence.
Deb, why did it take a white woman to die, for all of us to go into the streets? When the first person was mistreated we should have all been out in droves. For this so-called President to suggest that these ICE deployments are to protect public safety is full-on gaslighting.
Marti is right; we all know why. Racism, pure and simple. And that's why Renee's murder is so dangerous for the T**** regime: they're terrified that white women, a large portion of their base, could empathize with this particular victim and start turning against the regime. So the lies and gaslighting began instantaneously, rather than just quickly. Now they want to bring in actual troops? UGH. And yes, Laurie, you're right: the first victims deserved outrage, too. T**** wants to make us all victims; let's deny him that pleasure and resist for Minnesota.
My original question was rhetorical!!
We all know why…
This reads a bit as if Renee's killing was something they did not want to happen but "unfortunately" did.
Not the case, I'm afraid.
Whether her death was simple very bad judgement and emotional priors or PSTD on the part of Ross, for "events to spiral out of control" and provoke violence was the statistical intent of the administration's putting aggressive partisan low IQ armed forces on peaceful streets.
But isn't this what Trump wants to do? The goal is to incite enough unrest that he can send in the military and claim it was an insurrection. The easiest way to stop the unrest is to remove federal troops. Simple solution!
But he WANTS them in Minneapolis. He NEEDS them in Minneapolis. Stirring up unrest is the goal. If he can find a reason to call in the military, then he can declare martial law, and then he can halt the mid-term elections because "it will be too dangerous."
If you don't already foresee this, then YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! (With apologies to Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men".)
It is difficult for me to accept that we the American people allowed this truly hateful man to occupy any office.
Once in my lifetime at Kent State, American soldiers killed their fellow citizens; a cowardly shame that, along with the murder of Renee Good, our nation will never live down.
These actions, in states which the Democrats control, at the behest of the President and his Administration are inexcusable and indicate their inability to govern in a civilized manner.
Why the Republican controlled Congress along with the Democrats are not standing up is unfathomable. Close to a man and woman they disgust me.
This unrest has been instigated by the current regime. I agree with a poster above that I hope that the United States military will address the real source of the of the problem- an insane authoritarian president.
Thank you for your dedication to the truth, sir. You're exactly the kind of journalist we need more of. 🇺🇸✊🇺🇸
I keep hoping that the 1,500 troops, if deployed, will put down the real insurrection, the violent and unlawful ICE invasion.
Laurie, unfortunately I think that's pretty unlikely . . .
Indeed. MAGA's ludicrous attempts at rationalizing the actions of ICE, and the Trump regime at large, have never and will never be successful. Let them flail against the winds of Justice and Truth. Reality will stand.
Even Trump's advisors realize the imagery of roving paramilitary thugs in masks tear-gassing, beating & killing people is more than bad optics. ICE is a terror agency masquerading as an immigration enforcement agency. Reagan appointed Judge Wm Young called the targeting of critics as an "unconstitutional conspiracy" & even compared the administration’s larger deportation policy to people catching and returning enslaved African Americans under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
https://newrepublic.com/article/205395/ice-raids-toxic-rattling-trump
Believe the video. ICE placing themselves in danger, inciting violence & assaulting or killing unarmed peaceful citizens: The only contact by ICE Ross was placing his left hand with cellphone on the hood of Renee Good’s car to leverage his 1st shot through the front windshield, & then firing 2 more shots through the driverside window. A federal judge ordered agents not to retaliate against people “engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity” in the state and not to stop drivers who are not “forcibly obstructing” officers. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/us/minnesota-ice-immigration-agents-protests.html?smid=url-share
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/video/ice-shooting-renee-good-minneapolis-videos.html?smid=url-share
Meanwhile, lawless Trump, his DOJ & ICE Kristi try to criminalize speech by public officials who dare to criticize assaults on peaceful protesters & bystanders by ICE. Investigations & threats of prosecution of Sen Kelly & other vets for restating the US Military Code, & Gov Waltz, Mayor Frey & other Dem officials for criticizing ICE for use of excessive force force & possible criminal conduct are normalized by MSM. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vqj44VgF1M
Resist the gangsters!
And what is the compliant Supreme Court doing to stop this? The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's block on National Guard deployments in Chicago, but left open the question of the Insurrection Act, which allows for broader federal military action for domestic law enforcement, creating a path for Trump to potentially use it, leading to expected court challenges. Why isn’t there a further case in front of the supremes, and let’s pretend they will act immediately on it, to block that moron’s use of the insurrection act in Minneapolis?
My wife and I went to a ICE protest last week that protested the conduct of the government goon squad and honeyed the memory of Ms Good.
Our local physician attended and during our conversation reported or a better work diagnosed mr smalls with dementia. This all fits together doesn’t it; the kidnapping of Maduro, the threat of military action throughout the world, tariff use as weapons, extrajudicial killings on the high seas, domestic unrest and it goes on and on. Our Congress critters just sit there with their thumbs stuck up in a dark place while all this goes on capped with the killing of citizens and while undocumented immigrants die in federal custody.
When is there going to be enough of this madness?
T's dementia is NOT the problem with America, though, as distracting as it surely is!
T is likely to be moved out well before mid-terms.
PThiel's toy Vance will be much harder to stop.
The fight for the soul of America is the fight for rule of law, against the towers of power.
The violence is caused by ICE and DHS. I hope the military won’t break its oath to the Constitution and fire on the American people. They need to observe and arrest the ICE and DHS terrorists.
Thank you for laying this out clearly and without panic. This kind of careful reporting matters. It helps us understand what is actually happening, why it is serious, and why restraint, law, and local authority still matter in a functioning democracy. Keep up this excellent work!
Perhaps deploying the NG to work along side police would be a good thing. It would give them a personal view of what is happening in the streets, making it harder to go along with illegal orders to federalize the troops.
This is a high stakes game of chess. If the National Gaurd gets deployed what’s to stop the President from federalizing them? There would be no need to involve the Insurrection Act at that point.
As I said, it would be a leap of faith. NG troops having seen the real carnage up close and personal, doing their duty to disobey an unlawful order. Maybe too far of a leap, but evaluating all options must be done when strategizing.
Can't he do that anyway? IANAL or Constitutional scholar.
Neither am I so caveat emptor. He can’t do it without invoking the Insurrection Act.
Also, when NG was federalized in LA - ICE etc. wasnt going full-bore, so to speak, like they have been now in Minnesota - it might be quite a bit harder to just stand back & watch.
Gee . . . what could go wrong?
It seems to me that our NG and the military would find it hard to stand back and watch these thugs do as they please. The NG is basically us! And seriously, deploying military personnel who come from "us" & are trained (unike this bunch) for going to war? I find it hard to believe either of them would align themselves with this bunch of untrained thugs. Maybe I'm naive. Could that be what it takes for them to resist illegal orders???
The Biden administration erased our National border and allowed 15,000,000 illegal immigrants into our country.
The reason? To increase Democratic seats in the US House through increased population in Democratic States.
Trump is simply reversing that illegal invasion. It’s lawful and necessary.
Walz, Frey and the NGO funded paid protests are trying to illegally stop or slow down the removal of illegal aliens.
The reasons why both sides are doing what they’re doing is just that simple.
Is there ANYTHING and I mean this with all sincerity and in all seriousness ANYTHING that this administration can do to American citizens in the zeal to harrass and deport illegal citizens that you would draw a red line at as being to inhumane? If 1000 lesbian mothers, American citizens, was the collateral damage as a result of deporting 15,000,000 immigrants would that be an acceptable cost to pay?
Now as far as your batshit crazy conspiracy theory, let's do a thought experiment and assume it was true. Did Biden’s ICE shoot any ledbian mothers, blind any protesters, shoot tear gas into cars with babies, or go door to door trying to gain unlawful entry into households without a warrant? The answer is no. I’ll take the lesser evil.
Exactly what YOU said, X!! I started to reply but could not have done so this clearly.
After seeing a clip of what faux "news" is spouting (shown on Majority Report) anyone watching that and only that - gets word for word exactly what the commenter is saying - not just one "side" but only the propaganda pushed by this administration.
Truly, the suggestion of "paid" protesters is laughable, or would be in any other time.
Not one of the comments deals with unlawfulness of the Biden administration that is the root cause of all this chaos. Mayorcas was preemptively pardoned because he deliberatively violated his mandate to uphold the immigration laws. Not one of the comments deals with the abdication of the local authorities to enforce crowd control and exert a presence to maintain law and order. The entire reason Federal ICE agents are having to deal with this anarchy lies directly at the feet of Frey, Waltz and the police chiefs in Minneapolis.
X, would any of the civil rights violations that so enrage you and the other commentors occur if local authorities were in the street and accompanying ICE? Let me explain it another way: the local authorities are throwing their own citizens to the wolves of ICE and they are the ones who should be the focus of your and you other's ire for abdicating their moral and legal mandate to protect their own citizens. They are the ones sacrificing their citizens by not being in the street protecting their people.
Let's stop playing childish mind games here and address the 300 lb gorilla in this room. This anarchy is both grassroot and astroturf rooted by the active protesters and "protesters" (wink wink) and is being whipped into a frenzy for its political capital by the Democratic party writ large.
Bias is a nasty master of the mind and I suggest everyone take a step back and own their bias before opening mouth.
I am not a big Federal guy, I am a States' rights and Convention of States supporter.
X, why don't you recognize you're fighting side skirmishes and tackle the existential threat that is presented by an out of control Federal? I want to take an axe to this behemoth and reduce it to not more than 8-10% of GDP by passing a Constitutional Amendment requiring it to balance its budget and return it to the size the original Constitutional envisioned. The power of the Tenth Amendment needs to be restored.
Immigration is necessary, but not this uncontrolled version that was unleashed on the American people by the Biden Administration.
I'm paid to protest? Damn. They owe me a lot of money! John, your naivete is ... I don't know ... beneath the intelligence of the average earthworm. Come on out of your Troll Hole and get some brains. The sunshine will do you good.
BTW, I visited your substack, and there isn't a thing in it... except a prediction that Biden would win in a fake 2024 election. You aren't even legitimate.
No people are paid to protest.