Other writers on this page have extensively documented the immense corruption, cruelty and criminal abuses of power perpetrated by the second Trump regime. His first year has been a daily onslaught of outrageous violations of our Constitution, international law, and common decency.
The latest incursion into Minnesota of poorly trained, highly partisan, violent ICE agents, and the tragic (but predictable) killing of Renee Good, further exposes the administration’s breathtaking, deadly hypocrisy. We cannot, and must not allow the truth to be “what abouted,” buried in the chaos, revised or forgotten.
When a rabid, racist horde, whipped to a frenzy by Donald Trump, stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, bludgeoning police officers with Confederate flagpoles, shields, and their own riot gear, they were baptized as “patriots.” They were canonized as “heroes.” And then they were pardoned.
Today regular, caring, intelligent American citizens (and the rest of the world…) see right through the disingenuous, “red herring” narrative of “domestic terrorism” exploding in Minnesota.
Trump obviously does not care about real people, public safety, (fraud) or compassionate immigration reform. These bigoted and extra-legal, (extra violent!) operations are obviously politically motivated, revenge-oriented, and deliberately staged to create optics to justify his use of the Insurrection Act, to consolidate executive power (overreach), to cancel the midterms, and to remain in office indefinitely.
Tragically, none of this is hyperbole. All of this tale is reprehensible, dangerous and undemocratic. And deeply, horrifyingly sad.
No one with a shred of empathy, discernment or critical thinking skills still thinks this is “fake news,” an isolated case, or liberal “propaganda.”
Tragically it took the death of a good-hearted, white, suburban mother of three to galvanize overwhelming opposition to ICE and it’s poorly trained, thuggish “police” force. Calling Good a domestic terrorist and blaming her for her own death only further insults our eyes and hearts.
As local, folk hero Charlie King poignantly sings:
“The video captured the truth of the murder.
Lies can’t cover up the disgrace.
We saw what we saw…
And they did what they did…
Leaving one woman dead and three motherless kids…
You can say Renee Good was a terrorist…
You can say Charlie Kirk was St. Paul…
You’ll fool some of the people some of the time.
But you fascists can’t fool us all.
All that ICE knows is violence and force…
And they prey on the weak and the small.
Renee holds out a flower that’s ageless and true.
But you Nazis can’t kill us all!”
Several dozens of local, concerned, citizens stand out in peaceful protest every Friday at 3:30 p.m., on Route 2, at the north end of the Turner Falls bridge. It’s cold as ICE, but we are resolute.
Can “nonviolent resistance” by ordinary American citizens even make a difference? History teaches us that the answer is a qualified “maybe.” How many years of protest did it take for the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Argentina) before the junta gave way?
We may yet fail spectacularly to stem America’s slide toward authoritarian rule. However, withdrawing into “apolitical” apathy, numbness, or indifference surely will not. Neither will idly waiting and hoping for the midterms.
For those of us who love democracy and the rule of law, all of this is utterly heartbreaking and scary. But our hearts are warm, our cause is just and our numbers are growing. Non-violent resistance is clearly the only viable way forward. And no person is too insignificant to matter. No act is too small. Please join us.
Danny Botkin and his wife, Divya Shinn, farm and mentor youth on a a grassy hilltop in central Franklin County.