Minneapolis is in a state of chaos. Racist governance is to blame |
Minneapolis is in a state of chaos. Since federal immigration agents flooded the region weeks ago, daily life has been destabilized in ways residents say feel unprecedented.
The president’s super-sized immigration force has now killed two people in the Minneapolis metro area since “Operation Metro Surge” began in December. Nearly three weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot Renee Nicole Good in the face, armed federal authorities on 24 January killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Veterans Affairs nurse, who witnesses say was trying to intervene after seeing agents treat another person harshly.
Multiple witnesses described Pretti’s killing as sudden and unnecessary. Ilhan Omar, a congresswoman from Minneapolis, said this “appears to be an execution by immigration enforcement”. Other representatives from the state, such as Omar Fateh, a Minnesota state senator, used the same language. Pretti, along with Good and the Los Angeles resident Keith Porter Jr, have within the last month become the latest to lose their lives because of ICE.
Since “Operation Metro Surge” began, schools have reported steep attendance drops. Businesses have shuttered or reduced hours. Residents avoid public spaces. Civil rights groups say federal agents have turned daily life into an occupation, appearing at schools, places of worship and grocery stores while detaining people at traffic lights and bus stops. Federal authorities detained at least two children in the area whose families were seeking legal asylum, using five-year-old Liam Ramos as........