An Inside Job

Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan is an admin of the Signal Chat that has organized the resistance against ICE in Minnesota.  Yes, the government of Minnesota is actively interfering with federal officers who are just trying to remove illegal aliens.  When the governor of Arkansas tried to keep blacks out of schools in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education, President Eisenhower called out the National Guard.  States don't get to decide which federal laws they will obey.  This sure looks a lot like an insurrection, and Democrats have stated how wrong those are for the past 5 years.

Insurrection: A violent uprising by a group against lawful authority or government power.  It typically unfolds through organized, illegal actions, such as riots or armed resistance, that obstruct the enforcement of laws.

Clearly, they are obstructing the enforcement of laws.  Alex Pretti was armed, which means that Minneapolis has seen more gun-carrying protestors than J6 had.  One ICE agent had his finger bitten off, another was beaten with a shovel, and one was hit by a car.  Organized action by members of the state government to thwart the federal government.  Yeah, we're right on the precipice of insurrection.  Is this to protect hard-working, law-abiding undocumented immigrants from being sent back to their home countries?  Or is it to distract from fraud growing out of migrant communities?  How many illegals voted in Minnesota?  How much of the money acquired from fraudulent daycares and medical clinics was kicked back to politicians, like the suddenly wealthy Ilhan Omar?  How far will insiders take this to prevent that information from being revealed?

Engineered Chaos

The state that has seen the most activity from ICE is Texas.  23% of all arrests have taken place there.  By contrast, Minnesota accounts for 2.2% of arrests.  Why have things gone comparatively much smoother in Texas than in Minnesota?  Texas has cooperated with ICE where Minnesota has cried, "Get the F___ out!"  Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, Attorney General Ellison, and Senator Klobuchar have all denounced ICE as the problem.  The intransigence of the state has caused the problem, and the Democrats are using the resulting chaos as a weapon against immigration enforcement.

Then again, there is potentially a darker explanation.  No sooner had the multi-billion-dollar Somali fraud schemes been revealed than the big story switched to ICE.  Suddenly, the massive fraud carried out under the noses of the Minnesota government fades into the background, overwhelmed by 'fascist ICE agents' sent by President Trump.  Look at that timely use of an Uno Reverse Card.  Rather than being on defense against financial fraud, Governor Walz is now on the offense against ICE raids.

The chaos is not by chance and is not merely concerned citizens marching in the streets.  Opposition to ICE in Minneapolis is a highly organized and well-funded operation.  Cam Higby successfully infiltrated a Signal chat that kept track of ICE vehicles and sent activists to the site of arrests to engage.  The anti-ICE forces have patrols throughout the city, tail vehicles, access to license plate data so they can ID vehicles belonging to ICE, and so on.  Cynical Publius observed that the anti-ICE forces are using the tactics of a paramilitary operation.  Again, these are trained operatives, not random citizens taking a day off work to aid those in need.  This is a fifth column.

The New Nullification Crisis

ICE agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis.  The man was armed and resisting arrest.  This article reports that his parents urged him not to engage with ICE.  Though I am in favor of the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms, it does not seem wise to be armed when you know you are going to be in contact with armed police.  Don't bring a gun to a peaceful protest.  Definitely don't escalate things when you are armed.

Combined with Renee Good's death, the situation in Minnesota is spiraling out of control.  Governor Walz and Mayor Frey are making matters worse with their vocal opposition to ICE.  This is a resurrection of the Nullification Crisis of 1832.  President Andrew Jackson threatened to march an army into South Carolina and his Vice President, John C. Calhoun, resigned over the issue.  Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Cynical Publius, an insightful commentator on X, argues that the problem is that no one is asking the right question.  Currently, the Democrats are framing the issue by hyping the protests and claiming that the administration is fascist.  The Republicans are, as usual, on defense.  The simple solution is to turn it around would be to ask this question:

Why do you oppose the lawful enforcement of America's long-standing bipartisan immigration laws?

That is what is happening.  Duly passed laws are being enforced.  There is no good answer to this question, so every politician will dodge it, change the subject, or claim it isn't the law.  That reaction is an answer in itself.

Guilty

Derek Chauvin has been found guilty on all counts.  I hardly paid any attention to the trial but I did read one report that George Floyd had an alarming amount of drugs in his system according to the autopsy.  In fact, one witness testified that, based solely on the autopsy and toxicology, it looked like a classic overdose.  Both fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in abundance in his blood.  Moreover, he had Covid-19 too.  Reasonable doubt?  Apparently not.

One wonders if the jury took into account the politics outside the courtroom when deliberating.  One of the trial's witnesses had his house vandalized with pig's blood and a severed pig's head.  Congresswoman Maxine Waters called for protesters to stay in the streets and be more confrontational if Chauvin was acquitted.  It is a given that riots would follow an acquittal.  With that, do you convict on all counts in order to avert a devastating riot like the ones that tore through Minneapolis last year?  Two people died in the riots and there was $500 million in damages.  Send one man to prison to save the city?  Heck, anyone who saw the video would be glad to toss this guy in prison, all the better if it prevents further mostly peaceful protests.