Minnesotans Find Ally In Frigid Weather In Battle Against ICE

The now-infamous image of the ICE agent slipping
and falling on an icy Minneapolis street has become
a symbol of how winter-tough Minnesotans
are enduring the battle against ICE
oppression much better than the federal
forces in town to take away all the immigrants

The Battle of Minnesota between federal ICE agents and the good people of Minneapolis and other cities rages on. 

The citizens of frigid Minnesota have discovered they have one key ally in their struggle against the excesses of these often out of control federal agents. Winter. Including the regular slippery, not Gestapo ice, as in frozen water. 

Minneapolis has so far had the kind of winter we've had here in Vermont. Lots of freeze/thaw cycles and bouts of freezing rain to make everything even more interesting underfoot.

Judging from the videos of ICE agents slipping and falling on the ice, much to the delight of their many critics, I think the boots issued to ICE agents weren't exactly made for a Minnesota winter. 

Very much like Vermonters, Minnesotans know instinctively how to deal with winter. How to dress for it, how to embrace the cold. As The Other 98% wrote on Facebook:

"Beyond the spectacle of agents in tactical gear skidding on black ice, this moment reveals something deeper about the confrontation: A clash between a highly militarized federal apparatus and a community rooted in lived experience.

Many protestors have come equipped with insulated gear, boots with traction spikes and the kind of winter sense from years of Minnesota cold rather than federal training manuals. That difference - lived winter resilience versus bureaucratic enforcement - is playing out in real time on city streets."

Demonstrators are also using winter as a tactical tool against ICE, and against at least one right wind agitator who came to Minneapolis, and quickly fled. 

A constant hot spot in the Minneapolis unrest is the Whipple Federal Building, where ICE agents are headquartered. The weather turned much colder in the past few days in Minnesota. Protestors dumped water on the pavement near the building to form ice that could hinder, or at least annoy ICE agents. 

ICE ended up arresting four people, who they called "agitators" for "refusing to disperse." It appears ICE was irritated that they (allegedly) "threw objects, shouted profanities and endangered  the public by pouring water on the roads to create icy, hazardous conditions."

Judging from those ICE falling on ice videos I mentioned, the water on road idea just might be effective. 

On Saturday, Jake Lang, a right-wing nut and pardoned January 6 rioter, tried to lead an anti-immigration demonstration in Minneapolis, but hundreds of Minnesotans did not want to put up with his garbage. 

So, they chased Lang out of town, throwing punches at him, which I'm a little concerned about, and spraying him with water from squirt guns, which I'm not even a little concerned about. Temperatures hovered near 10 degrees at the time, and Lang did not appear dressed for the weather. 

Although video showed a little blood coming out of the back of Lang's head, he reportedly was not seriously injured. But I bet he was damn cold. 

Meanwhile, Trump is toying with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy 1,500 federal troops to Minnesota. 

Critics, and there are a lot of 'em, say doing that would just escalate the uproar over ICE raids, at least some of which look legally dubious. It also appears ICE agents' interactions with protestors aren't always kosher, either.

In any event, the Pentagon is ordering about 1,500 active duty soldiers to get ready for what might end up as a deployment to Minnesota. The soldiers are with the Army's Alaska-based 11th Airborne Division, which specializes in cold-weather operations. 

 It looks like the Trump administration is beginning to notice the difficulty of dealing with a northern winter.  

Minnesota weather is now frigid and getting colder. Temperatures are only in the single digits with snow falling today. It'll be below zero tonight. An even stronger Arctic blast is due in Minnesota by next weekend.  

People out in the streets are rooting for the Arctic blast. The New York Times quoted Chris Foreman, a military veteran who has joined the protestors near the Whipple Federal Building: "I want it to get cold.....People know that a lot of these ICE guys are from the South. They're coming into a different environment and they're not used to it."

Frigid weather tends to slow things down. I hope that the Arctic cold will bring the temperature down figuratively as well as literally. 

Feds Arrests Firefighters Battling Washington State Wildfire As Immigration Crackdown Goes Wild

Federal law enforcement detains firefighters trying
to battle a Washington State wildfire. They
ended up arresting two of them. 

 The biggest wildfire now burning in Washington State is now short two firefighters for an infuriating reason.   

That reason is the Trump administration will go to any length to arrest and deport anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally. 

Even if it disrupts heroic battles against dangerous wildfires. .

Per the New Republic

"On Wednesday morning, two different crews of firefighters were cutting wood while waiting for their superior to arrive when Customs and Border Patrol agents showed up in 'Police' vests. The federal agents made the entire crew line up and show ID, eventually detaining the two firefighters without giving them a chance to say goodbye to their fellow crew members and loved ones."

The Seattle Times broke the story, which spurred a fair amount of outrage among residents and lawmakers from Washington.  

The Times spoke to multiple firefighters anonymously. They did so for the sad reason so many are resorting to that type of anonymity. In likely violation of the First Amendment, the Trump administration retaliates against anyone who doesn't praise the Orange God to the high heavens. 

A lot of things were unusual and alarming about this whole thing, not just the fear of retribution. For one, why were agents heading out to an active wildfire, in a remote location like Bear Gulch to make arrests?

One of the firefighters told the newspaper that members of the crew were told not to take video of the incident. To their credit and bravery, some took video and photos anyway. 

Video and photos supplied to the Seattle Times by the firefighters show them in their gear sitting on logs, with federal officers watching them. Also in these images, ".... a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle is parked nearby. Officers wearing 'Police' vests are seen arresting a firefighter, while another appears to be restrained."

One firefighter was quoted:  'I asked them if his (family) can say goodbye to him because they're family, and they're just ripping them way,' another firefighter told the Times. 'And this is what he said: 'You need to get the (expletive) out of here. I'm gonna make you leave."

Government agencies were as vague as they usually are under the Trump administration when it came to explaining the arrests. 

According to The Guardian, the U.S. Border Patrol said it assisted the Bureau of Land Management after that agency asked for help after ending contracts with two companies following a criminal investigation. 

No information was provided on the details of that criminal investigation. Federal agents said they identified two people "present in the United States illegally," according to a Border Patrol statement. 

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington condemned the arrests at the wildfire site. "We count on our brave firefighters, who put their lives on the line, to keep our communities safe - this new Republican policy to detain firefighters on the job is as immoral as it is dangerous," she said. "What's next? Will Trump start detaining immigrant service members? Or will he just maintain his current policy of deporting Purple Heart veterans?"

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, who also condemned the arrests,  posted on social media that one of the arrested firefighters was from Oregon, The man is represented by lawyers from the non-profit Innovation Law Lab, who said the firefighter was unlawfully detained, the Associated Press reported. 

True to form the U.S. government has "disappeared" the firefighter, at least for now. Lawyer from Innovation Law Lab can't find him even though he should be entitled to legal representation. "We demand that they allow him to access counsel as is his right afforded by the U.S. Constitution," lawyer Rodrigo Fernandez-Ortega said in an email

Good luck with that. The only part of the Constitution the Trump administration seems willing to obey is the Second, the one involving guns. 

The Bear Gulch Fire, as this blaze is called, has burned about 14 square miles in the Olympic National Forest. Oddly hot, dry weather in the region has allowed the fire to rage for days.  It was about 13 percent contained as of Thursday afternoon.

No thanks to the Trumpers as to whatever level of containment has been managed so far.