After an explosive January in Minneapolis, the progressive war against immigration enforcement subsided until recently, but this time, at least some local Democrat politicians are trying to keep the peace while placating the protestors.
Earlier this year, progressives took to the streets of Minneapolis to protest immigration enforcement efforts with what many believed was the express purpose of instigating violence. Unlike traditional protests, where like-minded individuals gather together to have their voices heard as a group, the Minneapolis variety was coordinated by a mobile app that allowed organizers to follow the activities of ICE and Border Patrol Agents, enabling them to show up on the street while they were in the middle of an enforcement action. These protesters were both trained to use the app, known as ICE Watch, and instructed to interfere rather than simply observe. Gabe Gonzalez, one of the organizers of Project RP that funded the app and provided training, explained as early as 2017 that the group was “about interfering with [immigration enforcement], confusing them, slowing them down so they can’t take more people, and doing it so well that they never want to come back.” More recently, he said that he wanted to make immigration enforcement “uncomfortable and inefficient.” Similarly, one of the instructors for Defend the 612, an affiliated group that provided resources for the cause, taught his students to make ICE’s work “too expensive,” “too difficult,” and “too annoying” to continue. Even Minneapolis City Council Member Dan Englehart admitted, the goal was to “slow [law enforcement actions] down and cost them money.” Logistically, the groups communicated internally using Signal Chat, where they share strategies that make this happen outside of the publicly available app. These included everything from the bizarre – getting oneself arrested “to be super annoying and waste” law enforcement’s “time and resources” to the obscene – throwing urine at agents, which was described as an “mvp” move – to the irritative – “noise making and interrupting their meals and bathroom breaks” because they “serve a critical role in draining their morale.” Even worse, they were told to risk their own personal safety to make this happen. As City Journal described it, “Absent from the Defend the 612 training was any instruction to put one’s personal safety first. Instead, Lex Horan asked volunteers to ‘stretch’ their willingness to take risks.”
Fortunately or rather unfortunately, this was not surprising to many, myself included. Less than a year earlier, Axios reported that progressives believed Democrats weren’t doing enough to stop President Donald Trump’s mass deportation initiative. “At town halls in their districts and in one-on-one meetings with constituents and activists,” Andrew Solender reported last July after speaking to more than two dozen Democrats in the House of Representatives, “Democratic members of Congress are facing a growing thrum of demands to break the rules, fight dirty — and not be afraid to get hurt.” “This idea that we’re going to save every norm and that we’re not going to play [Republicans’] game … I don’t think that’s resonating with voters anymore,” explained one House Democrat. Another said a “sense of fear and despair and anger” among voters “puts us in a different position where … we can’t keep following norms of decorum.” “We’ve got people who are desperately wanting us to do something … no matter what we say, they want [more],” Representative Brad Schneider, chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition, said on the record. According to Axios, this is happening even after some Democrats have tried to “up the ante” in response, “Heckling Trump, mounting rogue impeachment attempts, and getting tackled by law enforcement and even indicted in their efforts to scrutinize the president’s deportation campaign.” Regardless, the “grassroots wants more.” “Some of them have suggested … what we really need to do is be willing to get shot” when visiting ICE facilities or federal agencies, a third House Democrat said. “Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough … [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public,” they added. A fourth said he’s been told “civility isn’t working” and to prepare for “violence … to fight to protect our democracy.”
Following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January, progressives more than confirmed this desire, declaring that the Battle for Minneapolis was underway and making it clear that violence was their preferred strategy. The Bulwark, openly and unironically, compared the incident to one of the bloodiest battles in the bloodiest war in American history, Gettysburg. After describing how neither the Union or Confederates truly understood the importance of a conflict that left 7,000 dead and tens of thousands injured, “that the people in the battle could not understand its significance. It would take time for everyone to grasp exactly what the events of Gettysburg meant,” they applied this dynamic to Minneapolis in straight up militaristic terms, outright celebrating and championing the tragic violence that has occurred on American streets during a time of peace. As they put it, “when the regime’s forces occupied the city they were surprised by the resistance they encountered. Not from Democratic politicians, or institutions, or the legal establishment. From ordinary people. The people of Minneapolis organized to protect their neighbors and provide oversight of the regime’s forces that the local government either could not, or would not, perform. Think about this: State and local law enforcement could do nothing to document the crimes being carried out against the residents of Minneapolis by federal forces. But the people were able to do it themselves. This grassroots army used cell phones and whistles to show the world what was happening. In return they were menaced, beaten, and arrested. And Renee Good was murdered by the regime’s masked secret police. Upon encountering this unexpected resistance, the Confederates (Trump) command poured more forces into the city and adopted even more brutal tactics. At which point the people of Minneapolis organized a general strike. After which the regime’s police executed Alex Pretti on the street, in broad daylight.” As if two deaths weren’t enough, the author, Jonathan V. Last openly called for more, “The people of Minneapolis have given all they have to give. They need reinforcements from other parts of the resistance.” The New Yorker similarly described it as “The Battle for Minneapolis,” The New York Times opined that “State Terror Has Arrived,” and The New Republic claimed that “Dems Have Much To Gain, Nothing To Fear by Attacking ICE.” CNN even reported glowingly on how children were engaged in the fight, despite their mother’s fears.
By February, however, President Donald Trump dispatched Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota and announced that the operation in Minneapolis had concluded. The protests soon dwindled and perhaps outside of Bruce Springsteen’s latest tour, the violence was largely forgotten by the public even as deportations continued apace. Perhaps needless to say, this was precisely the opposite of what progressives had hoped and with the midterms now fast approaching, it appears their ongoing war against immigration needed another battle. Though the theater has moved from Minneapolis to Newark, NJ, less than fifty miles from where I sit, and the roving bands that characterized the previous engagement have been replaced by something closer to an ongoing siege, their underlying motivations are largely the same. For the past week, Delaney Hall, a 1,000 bed immigration detention facility that opened under President Barack Obama and is operated privately, has been surrounded by protesters who have been actively engaging with police and other law enforcement in what even Politico described as “dramatic scenes.” While Democrats – including my own governor Mikie Sherrill – have been trying to characterize the occupation as simply another peaceful protest, multiple people have been arrested, perhaps almost as many as 50, for skirmishing with police and footage captured at the scene certainly suggest much more of a combat zone atmosphere. For example, a video posted over the weekend shows masked protestors attempting to break down a barricade being held in place by the police. The situation was explosive enough that even Governor Sherrill couldn’t pretend all was well, issuing a statement that claimed “Last night, masked individuals at Delaney Hall attacked the barrier in the protected protest area and began aggressive and dangerous actions against Newark and New Jersey State Police, including throwing projectiles, utilizing the barriers as weapons, and lighting tires on fire in the street. These actions put both peaceful protestors and law enforcement in danger…As these dangerous actions took place, additional support was needed to protect civilians and law enforcement.”
Nor was this the only incident. A day earlier, Brendan John Geier was arrested for kicking and biting federal officers. “As alleged, this defendant responded to lawful orders from federal officers by kicking one and biting two others who were performing their official duties,” explained US Attorney Robert Frazer for the District of New Jersey. “Assaulting law enforcement officers is unacceptable. Period. Federal officers must be able to carry out their responsibilities without being subjected to violence, intimidation, or obstruction. This Office will continue to prosecute those who, as alleged here, assault officers and interfere with the lawful execution of their duties.” Others appear to have looted local businesses near Delaney Hall and set fires in the streets, something alluded to but not fully described by the governor, and even those who might not have committed actual violence have threatened to do so. On May 28, a man was filmed telling ICE agents, “I’ll k*ll your whole f*cking family! Your children, your wife, ALL DEAD! I have your FACE, motherf*cker. YOU’RE DEAD. DEAD.” There have been chants of “Every cop, every fed, shoot yourself in the head.” In addition, much of this activity appears to be funded and organized by outside groups, same as it was in Minneapolis. Before the protests began, Fox News described a “Coordinated supply operation…Agitators outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in New Jersey were seen establishing a highly organized logistics and support operation before protests began at the site. Stockpiles of masks, duct tape, hard hats and medical supplies were laid out near the facility. Delaney Hall has been at the center of a standoff after detainees alleged abuse and poor conditions, claims DHS denies.”
At this point, the main difference appears to be that Governor Sherrill and local officials are hesitant to turn this into a direct confrontation against President Donald Trump. Whether that’s because the protesters in question are effectively conducting a siege rather than confronting federal officers on the streets, and she feels the ground is less favorable in that case, or some other reason, she has at least so far attempted to protect the facility while simultaneously claiming she supports the goals of the protestors. Thus, she has backed Mayor Ras Baraka’s decision to institute a curfew, saying “When the attacks took place last night, we had some red lines, one of them is obviously public safety and the safety of our law enforcement. And when those attacks came, that’s why we made this decision,” and has created designated protest zones that can be monitored by police. As Politico described it, “The curfew is another sign that Democrats are trying to control protests on their own and avoid giving the Trump administration what Sherrill on Friday called a ‘pretext’ to surge immigration agents into the area and begin a Minneapolis-style campaign in a city where more than a third of the population was born outside the United States.” At the same time, it’s not clear that either will work. Twenty individuals were arrested overnight for violating the curfew and to quote Politico again, “some left-leaning factions are pushing back against the intervention by the State Police. Make the Road New Jersey, a progressive immigrants rights group that has long organized protests outside Delaney Hall, called the State Police’s intervention ‘an absolute disgrace’ in a statement released Sunday morning. “The State Police have showed up in riot gear and have gassed protesters as less than lethal projectiles have been fired at the crowd,” Nedia Morsy, director of the group, said in a statement. In other words, it’s unclear whether Democrat politicians can straddle both sides of the issue, but it is overwhelmingly clear that progressives plan on manning the barricades once again and are hoping to create another violent incident.
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