Too many candles to count. On Portland Avenue, where a Trump agent fired fatal shots into a slow-moving car and killed he driver. There had been had been whistle-blowing objections to federal troops making arrests in the neighborhood.
Posters to citizens: Join whistle brigades
MINNEAPOLIS — Thousands of people on filled Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis, where just hours earlier an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in her car. The event was both a vigil with candles and piles of flowers and whistles on the snow and a protest against President Trump for surging 2,000 federal agents into the metropolitan area. There were chants: “No Trump, no troops, Twin Cities ain’t licking boots.” The message was an unmistakable protest to Trump storm troopers in boots and riot gear. The troops were uninvited and have operated without any coordination with local police. Trump’s justification for the federal invasion was the rescue the city, which characterized as a “hell hole” hat only he could make safe again. Trump must be living on another planet, says Mayor Mayor Jacob Frey. The mayor said his city, population 430,000, has experienced only murders so far this year — and one of those was of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent. Trump is rendering the city less safe, Frey said. About the massive and uninvited federal military presence, he was direct: “Get the fuck out.” At the vigil there were fliers handed out with information on joining the watch group Defend 612, which coordinates neighborhood patrols to document excesses, violence and other bad behavior by Trump troops. NOTE: 612 is the telephone ara code for the Twin Cities.
Earlier: Woman slain in UCE raid a mother, a poet
Earlier: Earlier: Woman shot dead in Minneapolis ICE raid
On every pole, strut and standard. A reminder of her gunfire death at the hand of an ICE agent.
Policing factoid
> 2,000 agents are in Trump’s Operation Metro Surge that;s concentrated in Minneapolis the past month. The core comprises immigration and border agents but with extraordinary fire power and combat gear. Camouflage outfits are devoid of nametags or individual identification, which hinders accountability. Many wear dark glasses and masks that add to an intimidation factor.
> 100 additional agents are being added to the original Metro Surge force.
> To meet the Tump goal of 1 million federal arrests a year, there has been expedited hiring with generous sign-up bonuses. Screening standards have been lowered and allowed some hirees to join despite slight or dubiuos policing histories.
> 400 sworn officers are in the police department of Minneapolis, population 429,000.
> 300 sworn officers are in the police department of St. Paul, population 311,000.
> 470 sworn deputies are in the Hennepin County and Anoka County sheriff’s offices combined
> 13,000 soldiers are in Minnesota National Guard, most opart-time, under control of the governor but subject to presidential call-up in a national emergency.