Feds Kill - Community, Cops and Council Respond

Operation Metro Surge continues, with federal agents killing Minneapolis residents and terrorizing people across the metro. In a wide ranging discussion, we talk about how the community, cops and city council are responding.

• Continuity and contrast with the crisis of 2020
• Whether a press conference means Trump has lost the support of local law enforcement
• How can we think about the wildly different accounts of what is actually happening here
• How local elected officials are engaging with the crisis and showing up (or not) for residents.
• (and more, believe it or not)

We gave the last word to Council Member Jason Chavez, in his emotional pitch for an eviction moratorium at the 1/15/26 city council meeting, so skip to the very end of the episode for that, if you listen to nothing else.

Recorded 1/21/26 (a few days before federal agents killed, again).

Alert

MN is under threat from federal agents right now. Mill City Hall asks you to plug in and take action:

• Defend 612 is a new entry-point to local neighborhood organizing
• Monarca continues to provide trainings for regular folks who want to help, and offers a hotline to report ICE activity: 612-441-2881
• Donate to rent support and mutual aid funds

Don't forget to check out:

• Our Instagram account for clips that are easy to browse and share
• Cam's writings in the 2nd Ward Blog
• Art Shanty projects happening now in Jan/Feb featuring a project by Robin and Jesse

Government Audio

We included clips from these events

• January 15 Minneapolis City Council Meeting: the main item heard is the resolution to call for an emergency statewide eviction moratorium, including lots of powerful public testimony from dozens of residents.
• January 20 Press Conference of Law Enforcement Leaders: featured Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley, Saint Paul Police Chief Axel Henry, and Hennepin County Sherrif Dawanna Witt.

Key Essays

• Rapid Response Networks in the Twin Cities: fairly in-depth overview of the rapid response model that folks have evolved here, if you haven't experienced it.
• 2020 Never Ended: interviews featuring several key local organizers
• 2020 Uprising Laid an Abolitionist Groundwork for ICE Resistence: essay from local folks
• In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War: essay by Lydia Polgreen
• "The Homeland" is a War on America: Coates writes on the evil of blood-and-soil nationalism

Research to Help Us Think about Truth, Identity, and Protest

• Samuel Bagg on Volts Podcast: This is the political scientist whose research we bring in halfway into the episode
• Protest is effective: overview in the Guardian