A few things that led up to the short poem below:
First, a video about how someone “arrested” by the federal immigration militia (there were no charges, as usual) helped one of those agents through a seizure.
The video illustrates the difference between the federal thugs that are trying to goad the people of Minneapolis and Maine (and LA and Chicago and Charlotte before that) into violence, for the purpose of consolidating their power, and those who see other people as PEOPLE, fellow human beings, as part of their community.
Women detained after helping ICE agent
Minnesotans (and those resisting in other cities across the US) are insisting that their neighbors are their neighbors whether they were born in Minneapolis or Mogadishu or wherever.
Here are the last words of those who were murdered in Minneapolis and the words of the perpetrators who committed those murders.
Renee Good: “I’m not angry with you, dude…”
Agent after Killing Renee: “Fucking bitch...”
Alex Pretti: “Are you okay?” (to a woman lying on the ground)
Agent after the killing: “Boo hoo…”
A poem from the rubble:
Look a lie
Look a lie
Where are my eyes
My hands and feet
Look a lie
Look a lie
Truth on the tongue
And a tongue crushed
Look a lie
Look a lie
These are our eyes
Look a lie
Look a lie
In camo disguise
Look a lie
Look a lie
Can’t unsee what’s
Been seen
Look a lie
Look a lie
Look a heart a hand
Reaching out
An open face
Are you okay?
Are you okay?
There are more than 30 deaths on record for detainees in federal facilities in 2025. Immigration detention facilities have always been notorious for lack of concern for human life, but it's getting worse...
List of Deaths in Immigration and Customs detention
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| Texas Detention Facility |
At a Texas detention center a medical examiner classified the death of Geraldo Campos as a homicide. Before that, in the same facility, a 55-year-old Cuban died of “asphyxia due to neck and chest compression” by guards and a 49-year-old Guatemalan died of “liver and kidney failure.” (Autopsy finds Cuban immigrant in ICE custody died of homicide due to asphyxia, AP, January 21, 2026; also a report from The Washington Post)
Death toll for 2026: 8 (if you add the killing of a US citizen by an off-duty ICE agent, then it's 9)
Eight have died in dealings with ICE so far in 2026. These are their stories. (The Guardian, Jan 28, 2026)
It’s clear from their continued rhetoric that the Trump Administration does not want de-escalation (to something they instigated in the first place).
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| Protests at the Eugene, Oregon Federal Building (OPB photo) |
Even in our small corner of the world, this from Oregon Public Broadcasting about a protest at the Federal building in Eugene:
“Officers deployed tear gas, pepper balls and what sounded like flash-bangs throughout the day. They also detained several demonstrators and then released them, with some protesters counting at least nine people who had been taken inside.
"KLCC observed and spoke to those who said they had been injured during those incidents.
Anna Lardner was released from detention with visible bruises on her face and shoulders. She told KLCC that inside, officers had sat on her legs, hyper-extended her foot, and initially refused to provide a female staff member to search her.”
Multiple people detained and injured during anti-ICE protest in Eugene (OPB, January 28, 2026)
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| School Walkout Protesting ICE in Minneapolis |
There is a point to all of this (invasion of Venezuela, murdering fishermen in the Caribbean, disappearing people off US streets, threats to Greenland, bombing strikes in Nigeria, blatant 'pay-to-play' corruption, vile words about NATO soldiers who fought in Afghanistan, nonsense press conferences and cabinet meetings, etc.). The alt-right media and Trump's strategists call it: “flooding the zone with sh*t.”
What is wanted – and needed for a full authoritarian takeover – by Trump and his acolytes is for our nervous systems to finally become overwhelmed and hopelessness to set in. They want a negative reaction. They are counting on it. Look at the photo below and scan your body's reaction.
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They are creating destruction and mayhem to instill confusion and collapse.
No rule or law or symbol matters.
The only thing that is supposed to matter is Trump:
Trump messaging, Trump pronouncements, Trump coins, Trump invasions, Trump retribution, Trump ballrooms, Trump golden toilets, Trump shit dumped on protestors…
All this destruction and murder and mayhem (both international and national) is to maintain constant focus on "the great leader". So that he becomes the only thing that matters.
Fuck that.
Engage with non-violent principles.
Exercise your rights: It matters.
Even when violated, document and challenge violations in court.
Documentation changes the conversation.
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| ICE out general strike march, Minneapolis |
Resist in any way you can.
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| A woman holds a "Love Melts Ice" sign while people partake in a "National Shutdown" protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 30, 2026. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images)Joseph Prezioso— AFP/Getty Images |
This Cold Winter, Love is a Superpower (from Rebecca Solnit’s “Meditations in an Emergency”)
The Narrative War - Ava Duvernay (a brilliant article on how using the language of the oppressors defeats us before we even act)
Know Your Rights With ICE: Immigrant Defense Project
Unmask ICE: Efforts to ban the use of masks in each state.
Petition against Hootsuite, which provides tech for ICE
A terrifying line is being crossed (interview with Minneapolis Mayor), also: from the NY Times Interview
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| Portland Resistance |
Here’s a meditation that seems appropriate for our times. And remember to breathe and keep breathing. This Murderous Clowncar Administration wants you to feel hopeless.
Fuck that.
