Minnesota nice

Instead of an investigation of a murder by a federal agent, the Trump administration is escalating

Wednesday’s Newsrime

Protection of immigrants is Minnesota nice

‘Everyone IS welcome HERE! Except I.C.E.’

This federal expansion of Terror won’t work

Rise up and impeach the racist jerk

Before the last election, there was a clear warning that Trump 2.0 would be worse. It’s worse. The attack on the people of Minnesota is just that.

Instead of investigating a murder by a federal agent, the Trump administration is escalating by sending more agents (unbridled by most law enforcement protocols or even humane restraints).

The arrest of at least four Oglala Sioux tribal citizens is an example of that excess (and a history of intolerance). As President Frank Star Comes Out told ICT:

“Lakota citizens who are reported to be held at Fort Snelling — a site forever tied to the Dakota 38+2 — underscores why treaty obligations and federal accountability matter today, not just in history.”

The tide may be turning. The polling on the Trump administration — and specifically ICE — is at an historic low.

In next door Manitoba, Premier Wab Kinew, Anishinaabe Nation, condemned the killing and the government’s overreach after a terrible tragedy and reached out to Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

"Regardless of where you stand on immigration, regardless of where you stand on Trump, I think everyone agrees that seeing a mother have her life taken in such a way is just wrong.”

The full press conference is worth a watch.

A new Economist/YouGov poll reflects that disgust. Nearly everyone has heard about the ICE agent’s actions (nine out of ten) and 69 percent have watched the video. The conclusion: “By a margin of 20 percentage points, more view the shooting as not justified than as justified (50% vs. 30%).

The poll says a majority think ICE is making a less safe, that agents should not cloak themselves with masks, and a growing number of people want ICE disbanded.

Here is another striking point. From the poll:

“Net approval of Donald Trump’s handling of immigration is -7, meaning Americans are 7 percentage points more likely to strongly or somewhat disapprove of his handling of the issue than to approve

At this stage of Trump’s first term, net approval of his handling of immigration was -9

At the start of this term, it was +11”

That’s a huge shift. The opposition to Trump is focusing for now on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem where there is a move by House Democrats to impeach her.

The mechanics of that might have to wait for Democratic control … but the Republican majority is slipping fast. As I wrote last month we might not need to wait for the midterms.

The Newsrime from that post:

Actor Elaine Miles pulled out Umatilla ID

only ICE agents would not agree

dismissed doc because it ‘looked fake’

It’s this Fascist nonsense we must break

The Indigenous vote

One other point Wab Kinew made about coming midterm elections. And this applies broadly to the importance of the Native vote.

“We stand with our neighbors in Minnesota and across America. We want this to end. We want this whole period of chaos in the United States to end. I don’t know if I had on my 2026 bingo card that I’d be agreeing with something Jesse Ventura said, but hey, Jesse Ventura said recently that America is becoming a third world country when they have military uh police operations taking place in large cities. He’s not wrong. That is something that should cause all of us concern. And again, you can be wherever you are on the political spectrum. You can be a true blue conservative. You can be a real life progressive. But all of us should agree on the sanctity of human life. All of us should support democracy. And all of us should be concerned by what we’re seeing happening in Minnesota. And so we want to see our neighbors make it through this period in a healthy, holistic, and strong way because we benefit when the American people are are doing well here in Manitoba. But we can’t see them continue down this road that they’re currently on. And so check in on your American friends and family. Let’s keep working to to to push the American people and their their administration right now. first off of tariffs and then maybe also off of the subversion of western liberal democracy and let’s just try to make life what we want it to be which is your kids can grow up with peace and security and opportunity. …

“One of the things I’ve seen in my life is that the franchise is one of the most powerful things that any of us have. When my father was a young man, he did not have the right to vote in this country. And now, not only do I get the opportunity to serve as premier, but if you just look at the progress, like don’t get me wrong, for sure there’s a lot of challenges for Indigenous people out there, but there’s no denying that progress has been made since Indigenous people had the right to vote recognized in Canada. That is a very clear illustration of the progress you can make. When we look at Minnesota, people have the right to protest. People have the right to speak out on social media. Whichever way you want to put it, by the way, if people want to support or people want to talk about why they like Trump, they’re free to do so. But what matters is you have to turn out to vote. Put your money where your mouth is by turning out to vote. The midterms are going to be very important. Of course, we in Canada are cheering on the midterms because we have this whole tariff situation going on. But the American people have the opportunity to say, “We don’t want a militarized police force in our streets acting with impunity.” The American people in the midterms have the opportunity to say, “We don’t want this over-the-top caricature of government that we see sometimes where maybe it seems like some officials are more concerned with playing dress up than meeting and addressing the needs of the people.” And maybe the American people also have the opportunity to say, you know what, the cost of living matters to me, but so does being the defender of human rights around the world. And I want a government that can walk and chew gum and do both. Deliver on the cost of living, which Trump has not been good at, let’s be clear, but is also going to defend uh the liberal democratic western world order.”