A version of this story was originally published by The Watch, Radley Balko’s Substack publication, to which you can subscribe here. Conservatives are fond of invoking the American founding, the framers of the Constitution, and the principles that drove the fight for independence. Those invocations have always been selective and opportunistic, but they’ve grown downright farcical as right-wingers contort themselves into knots to defend executive powers explicitly contradicted by the Constitution. The Republicans’ veneration of the founders is particularly rich at the moment because, of all the abuses England heaped on the colonies, nothing angered them more than the Crown’s deployment of soldiers on city streets—and the streets of Boston in particular. Anger, resentment, and violence simmered in Boston for years before the Boston Massacre in 1770. The Declaration of Independence Trump hangs in his office came six years later, followed by the American Revolution, then the birth of the United States. The rage from those pre-revolution clashes in Boston continued to linger for years into the Constitutional Convention, and then the debate over the Bill of Rights. The founders were also students of history, and saw how the domestic use of the military led to the fall of the Roman Republic. This, in large part, is why we have the Second, Third, and Fourth Amendments, and why the Constitution splits control of the military between the president and Congress. You really can’t overstate how much the founders worried about, well, exactly what we’re seeing in Minneapolis. When I was researching my first book, Rise of the Warrior Cop, I found a remarkable archive of colonial-era newspaper articles published as a collection in 1936 by a historian named Oliver Morton Dickerson. The articles are from A Journal of the Times, a pro-patriot, anti-monarchy paper published in colonial Boston. Dickerson’s published archive, which runs from 1767 to 1769, documents the rising tension as English troops patrolled the streets of Boston. The accounts are clearly biased in favor of the angry colonists, but they’re also consistent with other contemporaneous accounts of the occupation. They read like a social media feed—if social media had existed at the time. They also depict scenes remarkably similar to those captured in smartphone videos coming out of the Twin Cities. The full engraving by Paul Revere depicting the Boston Massacre. We’re now at two dead in Minneapolis, with at least five killed by immigration officers overall. We’re at 42 dead since Trump was inaugurated last year if you count the soaring number of deaths in ICE custody, many of which appear to be from either neglect or abuse. Even as I was working on this post, there were two alarming new developments: First, the Associated Press reported that the administration has been keeping a secret memo authorizing immigration to enter homes without a warrant to arrest people who have final removal orders (the memo itself suggests even a final removal order may not be necessary). This is remarkably similar to the general warrants or “writs of assistance” the British crown issued permitting soldiers to forcibly enter any home they suspected of harboring untaxed imports. I’ll just state the obvious: If the Fourth Amendment permits the government to tear down your door with nothing more than an administrative warrant, the Fourth Amendment doesn’t exist. The argument that this only affects undocumented immigrants is both legally dubious and utter garbage—they’ve already used this policy to terrorize an American citizen. The second alarming new incident was the murder of Alex Pretti. And within hours of Pretti’s death, administration officials promptly did what they’ve done after the previous shootings: slandered the victim, brazenly lied about what happened, and prevented local law enforcement from conducting their own investigation. They’ve also refused to release the names of the officers who killed Pretti, publicly praised those officers, and then quickly announced that those officers have been returned to the field. The latter is a particularly sociopathic attempt to project strength. From the officers’ perspective, it’s a hell of a thing to kill someone. The notion that they’d bounce back within a couple days to go out and round up more immigrants is incomprehensibly callous. It’s also a demonstration of this administration’s contempt for human life and its dearth of basic humanity. From the perspective of the people of Minneapolis—and the rest of the country—the message is clear: This administration believes that killing protesters is a thing to be celebrated and encouraged. They believe that performatively lying about these killings in the face of directly contradictory video evidence is a display of strength and power. And they believe that the First, Second, and Fourth Amendments forged after the violence in Boston are mere suggestions. So, here are some excerpts from those newspaper accounts of the siege of Boston, along with comparative examples from the siege of Minneapolis. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > We now behold Boston surrounded at a time of profound peace, with about 14 > ships of war, with springs on their cables, and their broadsides to the town! > If the people of England could but look into the town to see the utmost good > order and observance of the laws, and that this mighty armament has no other > rebellion to subdue than what existed in the brain or letter of the inveterate > governor and commissioners… Minneapolis: From the complaint the state of Minnesota filed in federal court: > In December 2025, the federal government initiated “Operation Metro Surge,” an > unprecedented deployment of federal immigration enforcement agents…to the > State of Minnesota, including into the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. > Operation Metro Surge has instilled fear among people living, working and > visiting the Minneapolis Saint Paul metro area. Thousands of armed and masked > DHS agents have stormed the Twin Cities to conduct militarized raids and carry > out dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional stops and arrests in sensitive > public places, including schools and hospitals—all under the guise of lawful > immigration enforcement. > > Defendants claim this unprecedented surge of immigration agents is necessary > to fight fraud. In reality, the massive deployment of armed agents to > Minnesota bears no connection to that stated objective and instead reflects an > alarming escalation of the Trump Administration’s retaliatory actions towards > the state. > > Defendants claim to have deployed over 2,000 DHS agents to the Twin Cities—a > number that greatly exceeds the number of sworn police officers that > Minneapolis and Saint Paul have, combined. Operation Metro Surge is, in > essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities. > > This operation is driven by nothing more than the Trump Administration’s > desire to punish political opponents and score partisan points—at the direct > expense of Plaintiffs’ residents. Defendants’ actions appear designed to > provoke community outrage, sow fear, and inflict emotional distress, and they > are interfering with the ability of state and local officials to protect and > care for their residents. After weeks of escalation, including a DHS agent > shooting into an occupied vehicle on December 21, 2025, in Saint Paul, a U.S. > Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agent shot and killed a > Minneapolis resident on January 7, 2026. Other federal courts have already found that Trump’s justifications for sending troops into Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland were based on lies and gross distortions of the reality on the ground. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > [It] appears that the Commissioners of the Board of Customs had repeatedly > complained of being obstructed in the execution of their office. > > The proceedings of Council that “what happened on the 10th of June, seems to > have sprung wholly from those who complain of it, and that it seems probable, > an uproar was hoped for and intended…and there was no occasion for men of war > to protect them.”… > > [In] their unanimous opinion, the civil power does not need the support of > troops; that it is not for his Majesty’s service, nor the peace of this > province, that any troops be required…” Again from the state of Minnesota’s complaint: > Defendants have targeted Minnesota for the latest unprecedented surge not > based on any real or legitimate concern for the enforcement of immigration > laws or promotion of public safety, but rather in service of Defendants’ goal > to score political points. If the Defendants’ true goal was to detain and > deport dangerous individuals, they would not accomplish it through what DHS > describes as “consensual” (namely: random) encounters with people on the > street. And if the Defendants’ true goal was to prioritize detaining and > deporting the highest number of immigrants with no legal right to remain in > the U.S., they would not be targeting Minnesota for what Defendants refer to > as the largest ever immigration operation. Data suggests that just over 1.5% > of Minnesota’s total population are noncitizen immigrants without legal > status, less than half the national average rate. > > On information and belief, that small percentage includes individuals whose > presence has been long known to DHS and who have kept regularly scheduled > appointments with DHS. Many states have higher rates of reported non-citizens > relative to their populations, including Utah, Texas, and Florida. The > administration has made no similar efforts to surge federal immigration agent > deployments into cities in Utah, Texas, or Florida. Incredibly, the reported > non-citizen population of Utah, Florida, and Texas (combined together) is > nearly the size of the entire population of Minnesota… And as for the pretext that the immigration crackdown was about combatting fraud in the Somali community: > [W]hile the “Feeding our Future” fraud case was in no way new, and in fact was > a case involving collaboration between state and federal resources to bring > perpetrators to justice, President Trump and others in his Administration have > repurposed the case in recent months in order to use the pretext of “fraud” > concerns as an excuse to engage in all manner of unlawful actions. > > Pertinent to this lawsuit, the Trump Administration recognized that the > Feeding our Future scheme involved a large number of Somali immigrants, and > since then, have used the case to disparage the entire Somali community, and > Minnesota’s Democratic politicians and policies. > > On November 21, 2025, President Trump posted on social media that Minnesota > “is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity,” and that he was therefore > “terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS > Program) for Somalis in Minnesota.” Then, on Thanksgiving Day, President Trump > posted a lengthy screed, falsely claiming that “Hundreds of thousands of > refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of > Minnesota. Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for ‘prey’ as our > wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against > hope that they will be left alone…” > > The White House has similarly expressed that the 2,000 deployed DHS agents > have been sent to Minnesota to help with “targeted, door-to-door > investigations at locations of suspected fraud.” But Defendants’ > investigations have not been “targeted.” DHS agents have been conducting raids > at job sites and businesses, detaining and deporting individuals while they > perform essential work that directly benefits Plaintiffs’ communities. > > DHS agents also appear to be conducting general sweeps and detaining people > within their path based on their race and ethnicity. Defendants’ conduct > further undermines the notion that they are focusing efforts on individuals > with violent criminal histories or known targets in fraud > investigations—particularly where fraud allegations are primarily investigated > via reviewing documents, not by roving groups of DHS agents dressed in riot > gear and military fatigues. Multiple federal courts have found Trump’s pretexts for occupying other cities to be wholly without merit, from the claim that violence from protesters was preventing immigration officers from doing their jobs in Los Angeles, to false claims about protest violence at a detention center in Portland, to Trump’s deranged declaration of war on Chicago and claims that the city was fomenting an “insurrection.” The above passage from colonial Boston also speculates that England may have wanted a violent reaction from the colonists in order to justify more oppressive measures. That’s an authoritarian scheme that’s as old as authoritarianism. Here too, there are parallels to the occupation of Minneapolis and other cities. Former ICE and DHS officials say the administration is encouraging the sort of tactics and aggression prohibited by most police agencies, in a way that seems designed to provoke violence and backlash. And of course we know that Trump has been itching for an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act since the summer of 2020. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > Several persons have been taken up within these few days by the soldiery, and > confined without warrant Minneapolis: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > Gentlemen and ladies coming into town in their carriages were threatened by > the guards to have their brains blown out unless they stopped. Minneapolis: > Amid heated protests in Minneapolis following the killing of Renee Good by > Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross, federal agents have > repeatedly invoked Good’s death to threaten the lives of observers and > demonstrators in Minnesota. In multiple confrontations in the Minneapolis > area, agents repeatedly referred to civilians learning their lesson—in an > apparent nod to the use of deadly force in Ross’s killing. Two US citizens detained by immigration officers said one agent told them, “You guys have got to stop obstructing us. That’s why that lesbian bitch is dead.” Another woman, a former Marine who says an ICE agent rammed her car, says agents warned, “Have you not learned? This is why we killed that lesbian bitch.” We also now know that Alex Pretti was coming to the aid of a woman who had been assaulted by an immigration officer when he was assaulted, tackled, disarmed, and shot. (You can see the video evidence here.) His reported last words: “Are you okay?” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > At about noon the inhabitants were greatly alarmed with the news that the > sheriff, accompanied by the soldiery, had forced an entry sword in hand . . . > Mr. Brown one of the inhabitants, in attempting to disarm him, received > several thrusts in his cloaths, the sheriff’s deputy entered with him; he then > gave possession of the cellar to some of the troops: A large number of > soldiers immediately entered the yard, and were placed as centinels and guards > at all the doors of the house, and all persons were forbid from going in and > out of the same, or even coming into the yard. The plan of operation being as > it is said to terrify or starve the occupants out of their dwellings. > > The sheriff refused giving Mr. Brown a copy of his warrant or orders for > this doing… Minneapolis: > A federal judge in Minnesota on Thursday ordered the release of a Liberian > man four days after heavily armed immigration agents broke into his home using > a battering ram and arrested him. US District Judge Jeffrey Bryan said in his > ruling that the agents violated Garrison Gibson’s Fourth Amendment rights > against unlawful search and seizure. “To arrest him, Respondents forcibly > entered Garrison G.’s home without his consent and without a judicial > warrant,” he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > This night the sheriff procured guards of soldiers to be placed at his house > for his protection, a measure that must render him still more ridiculous in > the eyes of the people. Minneapolis: > White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller is one of a handful of > President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members who are hiding out on military bases > so they don’t have to be exposed to the public that hates them. The > Atlantic reported Thursday that Miller, his wife, and their two children have > relocated out of their home north of Arlington, Virginia, to a US military > base after local activists embarked on a campaign to shame Miller for his role > leading Trump’s fascistic crime and immigration crackdown. Kristi Noem and Marco Rubio are also reported to now be living on military bases. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > [T]here was a general appearance of the troops in the Common, who went through > their firings, evolutions, etc. in a manner pleasing to the general…The > glitter of the arms and bayonets, and this hostile appearance of troops in a > time of profound peace, made most of the spectators very serious, and reminded > me of what a late traveller relates in his account of Turkey, “That being > present on a day when the Grand Signior was passing from his palace to his > mosque, and observing that the Janissaries stood without their arms, and with > their hands across, only bowed as the Sultan passed; he was led thereby to ask > a captain of those guards why they had no arms? Arms said he, thou infidel, > they are for our ENEMIES; we govern our subjects with the LAW. This passage expresses frustration at the British troop’s performative shows of force. We saw that early on in Los Angeles, when Border Patrol conducted a showy, militarized raid on a mostly empty public park to intimidate an immigrant neighborhood. Minneapolis: We’ve also seen this in Minneapolis, with the now-recalled Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino strutting through city neighborhoods bedecked in his fashiest trench, baiting local residents into confrontations. Last week he and his entourage showed up at gas stations, always with a garish show of force to draw angry crowds. DHS then put out a indignant statement complaining that the city’s “agitators” won’t even led immigration officers urinate in peace. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > Lord Bottetourts, ordered [the soldiers] to their several stations in the > colonies, in order to exert their whole influence to carry down the late > regulations. In pursuance of this ministerial plan of policy, we now behold a > standing army and swarms of crown officers, placemen, pensioners and > expectants, co-operating in order to subdue Americans to the yoke. Minneapolis: > This is what happened in our neighborhood yesterday. ICE snatched a human > being off of our streets, roughed them up badly, and then pepper sprayed legal > observers as they documented it all. This is a daily occurrence happening all > throughout Minnesota right now. > > — Elliott Payne (@elliottpayne.org) 2026-01-19T15:46:56.285Z -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > The inhabitants of this town have been of late greatly insulted and abused by > some of the officers and soldiers, several have been assaulted on frivolous > pretences, and put under guard without any lawful warrant for so doing. A > physician of the town walking the streets the other evening, was jostled by an > officer, when a scuffle ensued, he was afterwards met by the same officer in > company with another, both as yet unknown, who repeated his blows, and as is > supposed gave him a stroke with a pistol, which so wounded him as to endanger > his life. Minneapolis: Protesters clash with agents outside an ICE facility after the killing of 37-year-old Renée Good by a US immigration agent, in Minneapolis on January 8, 2026.Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty A person is detained after confronting Border Patrol agents who were arresting two teenagers after a car accident on January 21, 2026 in Minneapolis.Stephen Maturen/Getty An agent threatens photojournalists with pepper spray on January 14, 2026 in Minneapolis.Scott Olson/Getty -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > Here Americans you may behold some of the first fruits springing up from that > root of bitterness a standing army. Troops are quartered upon us in a time of > peace, on pretence of preserving order in a town that was as orderly before > their arrival as any one large town in the whole extent of his Majesty’s > dominions; and a little time will discover whether we are to be governed by > the [military] or the common law of the land. Minneapolis: > Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old US citizen, was arrested and detained by ICE. She > was held for TWO DAYS.ICE agents handcuffed her, called her a racial slur, and > she was knocked to the ground so hard she got a concussion.This cannot > continue happening. ICE needs to leave. > > — Minnesota House DFL (@mnhousedfl.bsky.social) 2026-01-22T01:42:12.898Z -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > The unhappy consequences of quartering troops in this town, daily visible in > the profaneness, Sabbath breaking, drunkenness, and other debaucheries and > immoralities, may lead us to conclude, that our enemies are waging war with > the morals as well as the rights and privileges of the poor inhabitants. Minneapolis: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: After noting that local grand juries had attempted to indict several soldiers for “detentions, assaults, and robberies” on Boston residents, the paper lamented that servants of the British crown refused to honor the indictments. > Our young King’s Attorney, refused…alleging as it is said, that “If a soldier > should with his fixed bayonet at the breast of an inhabitant stop and detain > him two hours, it would not in law be adjudged an assault.” It is hoped a > court and jury will otherwise determine it, and that it will no longer be a > doubt even in the minds of the most sceptical that the law of the land is to > yield to the maxims of a meer economy of the military, in civil communities. Minneapolis: Here’s Stephen Miller, incorrectly telling ICE soldiers that they have complete immunity from prosecution. He said this in a Fox News appearance last fall. Miller’s admonition was then amplified by the Department of Homeland Security after the killing of Renee Good: Vice President JD Vance has also wrongly claimed that federal immigration officers have “absolute immunity” from prosecution. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > Last Wednesday night several officers of the army, sallied out of a house in > King Street, and meeting with one of the inhabitants of the town, they beat > and wounded him very cruelly Minneapolis: A Getty photographer throws his camera to a colleague as he’s swarmed and tacked by federal immigration officers.Pierre Lavie/Instagram -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > Abuses are daily offered some one or another of the inhabitants, who are > generally for seeking redress in a legal way; and we cannot but hope that > those of the military, who oppose themselves to the law of the land, will find > the predictions of a great lawyer verified; “that in so doing, they gnaw a > file which will break their teeth.” Minneapolis: > Worth every second > > — Adam Parkhomenko (@adamparkhomenko.bsky.social) 2026-01-15T14:50:46.050Z -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > [S]ix more regiments may be soon expected from Ireland, and another from > Halifax. If pensions of £10,000 sterling per annum had been settled upon the > [public], rather than making so unnecessary a military parade, it would have > been a vast saving to the nation. Minneapolis: > Koh: Trump has now spent $30 billion from the last bill for 10,000 more I.C.E. > Agents that are going to be on the streets. That $30 billion would cover all > the ACA subsidies for a year. It would eliminate all co-pays for prescription > drugs for people from a year, and eliminate all medical debt. > > — Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2026-01-15T03:08:22.836Z -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > The old honest music master was roughly handled by one of those sons of Mars; > he was actually in danger of being throttled, but timously rescued by one who > soon threw the officer on lower ground than he at first stood upon; the > inoffensive keeper of the house for the Commissioners, presuming to hint a > disapprobation of such proceedings, was, by an officer, with a drawn sword, > dragged about the floor, by the hair of his head, and his honest Abigail, who > in a fright, made her appearance without a head dress, was very lucky in > escaping her poor husband’s fate. Whether our Governor will so resent this > behaviour of the military, as to collect affidavits, and make it a subject of > representation to the Crown cannot as yet be determined… Minneapolis: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > As some sailors were passing near Mr. Justice Ruddock’s house, the other > night, with a woman in company, they were met by a number of soldiers…this > soon brought on a battle in which the sailors were much bruised, and a young > man of the town, who was only a spectator, received a considerable wound on > his head; a great cry of murder, brought out the justice, and his son, into > the street; when the former who is a gentleman of spirit, immediately laid his > hands upon two of the assailants Minneapolis: Federal officers detain a person during protests in a residential neighborhood in Minneapolis on January 13, 2026.Octavio Jones/AFP/Getty Protestors face ICE agents near where Renée Good was killed by a federal officer the previous week in Minneapolis.Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune/Getty -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > [H]e was presently surrounded with thirty or forty soldiers, who had their > bayonets in their hands…they then made at him with their fists and bayonets; > when he received such blows as obliged him to seek his safety by flight; they > struck down a young woman at his door holding out a candle, and followed him > and son into the entry-way of his house with their bayonets, uttering the most > profane & abusive language, and swearing they would be the death of them both… Minneapolis: > Federal immigration agents bashed open a door and detained a US citizen in his > Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the > streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family > and videos reviewed by the Associated Press. > > ChongLy “Scott” Thao told the AP that his daughter-in-law alerted him on > Sunday afternoon that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were > banging at the door of his residence in St. Paul. He told her not to open it. > Masked agents then forced their way in and pointed guns at the family, yelling > at them, Thao recalled. “I was shaking,” he said. “They didn’t show any > warrant; they just broke down the door.” DHS would later claim that Thao was living with two convicted sex offenders. That still would not have justified a warrantless raid on his home. But it was also a lie. Thao lived alone. The man the agents were looking for, it turned out, was already in prison. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > The other evening a petty officer of one of the ships of war, who had knocked > down a married woman of this town as she was quietly passing the streets, was > bro’t before him; and being reproved for his indecent speech & behaviour, on > trial, he swore that he would run his jack-knife thro’ the magistrates heart, > whereupon the justice committed him to goal: soon after as several fishermen > were coming out of a tavern in the same part of the town, they were assaulted > by a corporal and some soldiers, who wounded one of the fishermen very > grievously… Minneapolis: > View this post on Instagram -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: Here’s some pushback in the form of a sardonic letter to the editor written by a resident of the city. > “I am glad the troops are come and, believe their arrival will be for the > health of this country. There is a great deal of oratory in the glitter of > arms; and a few ships of war contain all the arts of persuasion. A cannon ball > carries with it, solid and weighty arguments; and a thrust in the side with a > bayonet, will give conviction in a moment…and as we can’t be persuaded into > such a wholsome practice by lenitive and moderate means, we must be brought to > the exercise of reason by vigorous measures, and the point of the bayonet > becomes necessary to fix the conviction. Preparations of steel and surgical > instruments, when lenitives fail, often times produce wonderful effects, and > are frequently used in opening the eyes of the blind. If we were not a dull > stupid race of mortals, and had seasonably relinquished the trade to > Great-Britain, the operation of cutlary ware, and the rhetoric of red coats, > would be of no service; but as matters now stand, the eyes of many want > couching, and these surgical operations must take off the film, and bring us > to our senses, and to measures that are so confessedly for our interest.” Minneapolis: A homeowner collects footage as neighbors confront ICE agents following arrests in a Minneapolis neighborhood on January 13, 2026.Stephen Maturen/Getty A man flips off Border Patrol agents as they detain an unidentified man of Somali descent in Minneapolis on January 8, 2026.Octavio Jones/AFP/Getty -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > A young woman lately passing thro’ Long Lane, was stopped and very ill treated > by some soldiers, the cry of the person assaulted, brought out another woman > into the street, who for daring to expostulate with the ruffians, received a > stroke from one of them, and would probably have been further abused, had not > her husband, and some other men came up timely to her assistance; the soldiers > were then soon beat off and the young woman whom they had seiz’d as their > prey, rescued. Minneapolis: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > A girl at New-Boston, was lately knock’d down and abused by soldiers for not > consenting to their beastly proposal; a gentleman hearing the cry of murder, > ran to her assistance, one of the villains, immediately made off, the other > the gentleman seiz’d, tho’ upon his stiffly denying the fact, and charging it > upon the other soldier, the gentleman suffered him to depart; presently after > the same men assaulted a young gentleman of character supposing him to be the > person who had rescued the girl from their violence; their oaths, and insults > brought several people out of their houses, upon which the soldiers made off, > but return’d a few minutes after with a number of others, and a sergeant at > their head, calling out a riot! A riot! They then drew their bayonets upon the > people, and with many oaths and execrations, threatening to confine them in > the barracks if they did not immediately disperse, accordingly, they began to > put their threats in execution by seizing one of the company and drag’d him > towards the barracks, but the rest being resolute, the soldiers were obliged > to quit him; upon which the whole dispersed. Minneapolis: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > Last evening after church service, there was a considerable gathering of > children and servants, near the Town House, drawn by the music of the fife, > &c. which is again heard on the Sabbath, to the great concern of the sober and > thoughtful inhabitants; some of those youth’s having behaved so as to > displease the officer, orders were given the guard to clear the parade; they > marched up with bayonets presented—one of the lads was pursued by a soldier to > some distance, who made a thrust with his bayonet, which passed thro’ his > coat, and had he not thrown himself on the ground that instant, its thought he > would be run thro’ the body… Minneapolis: Liam was detained as he returned home from preschool The ICE agent in the photo then used him as bait to lure his father out of their home, after which both were arrested and sent to a detention center in Texas. Here is a photo of teenage girl confronted and detained by Border Patrol: A young woman sits in her car on Blaisdell Avenue after being rammed by a Border Patrol vehicle in Minneapolis on January 21, 2026. Stephen Maturen/Getty The girl and another teenager riding with her were arrested after what was initially described as a “collision” with immigration officials. Here’s what that collision looked like: A Border Patrol vehicle rear-ended a car driven by a teenage girl on Blaisdell Avenue in Minneapolis on January 21, 2026.Stephen Maturen/Getty A journalist saw the incident, and reported that the immigration agents struck the girl’s vehicle, as the photo suggests, and not the other way around. It isn’t clear why the two were arrested. (Even if the girl caused the accident, a traffic violation is not a federal crime.) The journalist says the girl handed a US passport to federal officials. Details about her passenger are unclear. What we do know is that there have now been multiple incidents in which ICE, Border Patrol, and DHS have been caught lying after agents rammed into the cars of protesters, observers, and people they suspect of being undocumented, then arrested the occupants of those vehicles on the lie that they intentionally assaulted the officers with their vehicles. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: Here, A Journal of the Times article explains why it decided to publish the names of Boston merchants who were cooperating with the Crown… > Fellow Citizens and Countrymen: Inasmuch, as some persons among us have in a > case of the utmost importance, preferr’d their own supposed private advantage > to the welfare and freedom of America, it is highly proper you should know who > they are, who have at this critical time sordidly detach’d themselves from the > public interest. May this disgraceful, but necessary, publication of their > names, lead them to reflect on the baseness of their crime; and when they find > themselves slighted and shunned by their neighbours and acquaintance; when > their shops are deserted, and they feel their fortunes miserably impaired by > prosecuting the plan of purblind avarice; when their guilty consciences have > rendered this life insupportable; may they seriously attend to the concerns of > another: And altho’ they must suffer the punishment due to their parricide in > this world, may a humble and sincere repentance open the way to their > forgiveness in the next. Minneapolis: > The identities of thousands of federal employees working with Immigration and > Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol have been leaked online, raising safety > concerns. > > According to a report from The Independent, the leak includes the identities > of about 4,500 federal employees working with ICE, including 2,000 agents. > They were shared with the website The ICE List, which calls itself a > “journalistic project” meant to share information to “hold ICE members legally > accountable.” > > The site, which accepts user-generated data, includes photos and descriptions, > and is indexed by state. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who is > included on the site, told NewsNation that the leak “would constitute 4,500 > felonies.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > [A] tradesman in an alley was without the least provocation knocked down by a > grenadier of the 29th Regiment; he soon came to himself, and having recovered > his cane, was quietly walking off; but soon perceived was followed by the same > soldier, who he called upon to stand back, but this not being regarded he made > so good a use of his cane, as to protect himself from any further abuse for > that time; [the soldier] dared to assault & wound him with his bayonet, in a > most cruel manner, a number of soldiers looking on, and had it not been for > the timely assistance of some of the inhabitants passing by at that time, he > would probably have been murdered: This person was confined to his house a > considerable time, by means of the wounds received. Minneapolis: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > The soldier had a bill found against him by the grand jury, but this being > suspected before it was given in, the criminal deserted, or rather was > concealed for a time, and then, as is supposed, conveyed away, as others had > been before him, out of the reach of the law… Minneapolis: > Gun-toting Feds swarmed the home of the ICE agent who fatally shot protester > Renee Good on Friday morning, the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal. > > A Special Response Team arrived at the suburban Minneapolis home, where Jon > Ross, 43, lives with his wife and children, early this morning. > > Daily Mail images captured half a dozen Federal officers wearing masks and > balaclavas, one carrying pepper spray and another wielding an assault rifle. > > They entered the smart five-bed home before carrying out five large plastic > crates, a computer tower and a stack of picture frames. Also: > After Good’s death on Wednesday, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension > announced that they would be investigating Good’s killing in tandem with the > FBI. But on Thursday, Superintendent Drew Evans said he’d been told that the > FBI would be the sole investigator and that the state agency had “reluctantly > withdrawn” from the investigation. > > “The BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or > investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent > investigation,” Evans said. “Without complete access to the evidence, > witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative > standards that Minnesota law and the public demands.” We’ve also learned that the FBI agents who initially began investigating Good’s death recommended opening a civil rights investigation. That was then vetoed by the administration, which ordered a criminal investigation of Good’s wife instead. Six federal prosecutors resigned, as did the FBI agent. I expect we’ll see similar stories about Alex Pretti in the days ahead. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston: > A country butcher who frequents the market, having been in discourse with a > grenadier of the 14th Regiment, who he said had before abused him, thought > proper to offer such verbal resentment as led the soldier to give him a blow, > which felled the butcher to the ground, and left other proofs of his violence. > The assaulter was had before Mr. Justice Quincy, convicted and fined, and upon > refusing to make payment, was ordered to [jail]; but rescued out of the hands > of the constable, by a number of armed soldiers, in the sight of the justice, > when they carried their rescued comrade, in triumph, thro’ the main street to > his barracks, flourishing their naked cutlasses, giving out that they had good > support in what they were doing, and that they defied all opposition. Minneapolis: After killing Renee Good, DHS and Trump administration officials—including Trump himself—celebrated Jonathan Ross, Good’s killer, as a hero. Meanwhile, immigration agents teargassed and flash-banged a car with six children inside, sending two to the hospital, including six-month-old who had temporarily stopped breathing. After the incident made national news, DHS posted this: The family was driving home from a basketball game. I’ll sum up with this: The day before the murder of Alex Pretti, somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 Minnesotans braved below-zero temperatures to protest and demand that Trump end his occupation of Minneapolis. Their resolve, bravery, refusal to abandon their neighbors, and defiance of a tyrannical federal government is the best of us. Our founding is fraught with moral complexities. But for all its faults if the American experiment survives all of this, it will be because of the valor and courage of the people of Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Memphis, Charlotte, and Portland—and others like them all over the country. I also can’t help but admire their restraint. This administration has given them every reason to lash out with violence. They haven’t. Not yet. Perhaps that’s in part because, as noted, they know that this is exactly what Trump, Vance, Miller and the other ghouls in charge want. This administration wants an excuse to declare war on our cities. This administration should probably learn our history.

During an NCAA women’s swimming championship in March 2022, two seniors tied for fifth place. The race was unremarkable except for one fact: One of the swimmers, Lia Thomas, was a transgender woman. The swimmer she tied with, Riley Gaines, believed the NCAA never should have allowed her to participate. The matchup, and Gaines’ subsequent transformation into a leading anti-trans activist, has fueled a growing movement to “save women’s sports” from trans women—and a conservative crusade against trans rights more broadly.  Subscribe to Mother Jones podcasts on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. This week on Reveal, we examine Gaines’ rise and radicalization, as her rhetoric shifts from calling out NCAA policy to calling trans women sexual predators. Over the last year, the anti-trans movement has reached a tipping point. Trans girls are banned from girls’ school sports in the majority of states. The NCAA and US Olympic and Paralympic committees have banned trans women from women’s competitions. The Supreme Court is currently considering the issue, too. Then we dive into the science to understand how gender-affirming hormone therapy affects trans women’s performance—and what questions science still has not answered around fairness in women’s sports. Finally, we return to the swimming pool, as reporter Imogen Sayers speaks with Meghan Cortez-Fields, one of the last transgender swimmers to compete as a woman in the NCAA.

A little girl can’t go to the park with her parents. A mother trembles while taking out the trash. A father peeks through the blinds to see if anyone is watching. Years earlier, this family faced persecution in Venezuela, but now they’re living in terror in the United States. They traveled thousands of miles on the most treacherous migration path in the world to seek asylum in the US, but following the legal pathways didn’t matter amid Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown. Jose, one of the primary providers for the extended family, was taken by ICE. For the safety of the family, we’ve changed their names and concealed identifying details. Like many Venezuelan asylum seekers, they are stuck in a lose-lose situation. The Trump administration has specifically targeted Venezuelan immigrants for deportation, while simultaneously bombing their home country, abducting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and leaving behind a nation of instability. It’s true that many Venezuelans loathe Maduro for his brutal regime that weaponized fear and terror to horde power. However, despite Trump’s claims that US intervention is helping Venezuelan people, Maduro’s allies remain in power and have already started to crack down on civilians.  The Trump administration continues to claim that it is safe to return back to Venezuela after its illegal attack. But in reality little has changed, and the threat of persecution remains, as does the crippling US naval blockade. There’s no certainty for immigrants back in Venezuela, but there is one thing for certain: They escaped one regime of terror for another. “I depend so much on him,” Maria says of her husband Jose, the man who was taken. “We were a team. If he was here, he could take care of my son. I could go to work. It has been very complicated and I am so scared to go outside.” Jose was sent more than 1,000 miles away from his family and spent months in detention. He describes being treated like an animal: Detainees were left to soil themselves while shackled in transit, and were medically neglected at the detention facility. Detainees were obliged to climb onto top bunks despite serious back pain, and were left completely in the dark as to what might be in store for them. Meanwhile, the family struggles to survive. Maria faced debilitating mental health episodes after Jose’s abduction, kids are missing out on school, and they can barely leave the house to take out the trash for fear they could be snatched at any moment. They also say their family back in Venezuela still relies on them to send money back—between Jose’s abduction and the extreme fear of going outside, that’s become increasingly difficult. His family, meanwhile, struggles to survive. Maria faced debilitating mental health episodes after Jose’s abduction, their kids are missing out on school, and they can barely leave the house, even to take out the trash, for fear they could be snatched at any moment. Their family back in Venezuela still relies on them to send money back, but between Jose’s abduction and their limited mobility, that’s become increasingly difficult. Maria and the others held out hope for his release, as they had followed the proper legal pathways to obtain asylum, but the Department of Homeland Security had Jose deported to Mexico the day before the US military attacked Venezuela. For days, he had nothing but the clothes he’d worn in detention, and has been struggling to survive in a country where he has no connections.  His family has stayed put despite the constant threat of further separation and deportation. Returning to Venezuela now would put them at the mercy of a government that considers them traitors. It would mean walking right into the chaos the Trump administration has inflamed.  “We were happy people,” Maria says. “We didn’t have any doubt in the process. But now that we’re going through this, we feel terror.”

This story was originally published by Popular Information, a substack publication to which you can subscribe here. During the second Trump administration, the population of migrants held at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities has exploded—from below 40,000 in January 2025 to over 73,000 today. Under the law, ICE is required to provide necessary medical care for this population. While ICE employs some of its own medical staff, it often uses third-party providers. ICE’s Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, for example, houses over 500 detainees and has no doctor or dentist on staff. ICE, however, has not paid any third-party providers for medical care for detainees since October 3, 2025. Last week, ICE posted a notice on an obscure government website announcing it will not begin processing such claims until at least April 30. Until then, medical providers are instructed “to hold all claims submissions.” Screenshot by Popular Info ICE’s failure to pay its bills for months has caused some medical providers to deny services to ICE detainees, an administration source who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press told Popular Information. In other cases, detainees have allegedly been denied essential medical care by ICE. ICE has not yet responded to a request for comment they received on Monday. In lawsuits, numerous ICE detainees with severe illnesses allege that they cannot obtain treatment. For example, Viera Reyes, a detainee being held at ICE’s California City Detention Facility, has symptoms and test results that suggest he has prostate cancer. But despite often being in excruciating pain, Reyes cannot obtain a biopsy. All of his requests to see a urologist have been ignored. Without a biopsy, Reyes has no formal diagnosis and cannot begin chemotherapy or take other steps to slow the cancer’s progression. Reyes was one of seven ICE detainees to sue over inhumane conditions at the California City facility. How did this health crisis inside ICE detention facilities begin? Beginning in 2002, the Department of Veterans Affairs played a small but critical role in providing essential medical care to ICE detainees. When a detainee needed medication or treatment that the ICE facility could not directly provide, the VA Financial Services Center processed reimbursement claims from pharmacies and third-party medical providers. ICE paid the VA for this service—no resources were diverted from veterans. Beginning in 2023, however, the VA’s role in administering these claims from ICE was subject to criticism by Republican officials and right-wing media outlets. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who introduced legislation to end the practice, falsely claimed Biden was “robbing veterans to pay off illegals.” After Trump’s election, criticism of the VA’s role quieted down until, on September 30, 2025, the Center to Advance Security in America, a small right-wing nonprofit, filed a lawsuit. The CASA lawsuit sought to compel the Trump administration to respond to a public records request for documents regarding the VA’s role in administering medical claims from ICE. According to government documents first reported by Popular Information, the VA “abruptly and instantly terminated” its agreement with ICE on October 3. That cancellation, according to the documents, left ICE with “no mechanism to provide prescribed medication” and unable to “pay for medically necessary off-site care.” Among the services ICE said it could not provide were “dialysis, prenatal care, oncology, [and] chemotherapy.” The documents were posted to SAM.gov on November 12 as part of ICE’s effort to hire a private contractor to process medical claims in place of the VA. The situation was described by ICE as an “absolute emergency” that needed to be resolved “immediately” to “prevent any further medical complications or loss of life.” Screenshot by Popular Info More than three months later, the situation is not resolved, and it is expected to last until the end of April, if not longer. The process of replacing the VA, according to the administration source, has proven very complex. Acentra, one of the companies that won the ICE contract to replace the VA, says it will not be ready to process claims until at least April 30. Even if Acentra meets that target date, which is not a guarantee, claims filed on the first day may not be paid until May 30. In the meantime, the situation with ICE detainees has grown so dire that the VA is now working to potentially bring its claims processing back online temporarily, the administration source said. Internal administration data obtained by Popular Information reveals a massive gap in essential medical treatment for ICE detainees. The data shows that, in 2024, the VA processed $246.4 million in medical claims related to the treatment of ICE detainees by third parties. In 2025, despite an 83 percent increase in the daily detained population, the VA processed just $157.2 million in claims. (These figures include medical reimbursements from a much smaller number of detainees held by US Customs and Border Protection.) Assuming the medical needs of a typical ICE detainee remain constant, the data suggests a nearly $300 million gap between needed care from third-party providers and what ICE paid. This gap is a combination of unpaid bills since October 3 and ICE detainees who are simply being denied necessary medical treatment. An investigation by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) identified “85 credible reports of medical neglect, including cases that reportedly led to life-threatening injuries and complications,” among ICE detainees between January 20 and August 5, 2025. The incidents included “a heart attack after days of untreated chest pain, complications from untreated diabetes, and denial of necessary medications and associated complications.” After October 3, medical care for ICE detainees almost certainly became much worse. And it is not likely to improve anytime soon.

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Russian authorities have detained an Indigenous climate advocate, accusing her of participating in a terrorist organization in what international observers are calling “retribution” for her United Nations advocacy on behalf of Indigenous peoples.  Daria Egereva, an Indigenous Selkup woman from the city of Tomsk in western Siberia, has been involved in international advocacy at the United Nations for several years and has been a co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change since 2023—an official forum that facilitates the participation of Indigenous peoples in UN meetings and gatherings, including the annual Conference of the Parties climate change conventions. During COP30 in Brazil, Egereva advocated for the inclusion of Indigenous women in climate negotiations. “If we don’t protect women, we don’t have a future,” she said in a video published on social media on November 21.  In addition to her work at COP, Egereva advocated for better inclusion of Indigenous peoples at the United Nations and researched the effects of the green transition on Indigenous communities. “The transition to a green economy without an appropriate framework or with disregard for the rights of Indigenous peoples will continue to result in historical injustices, marginalization, discrimination, and dispossession of their lands and resources,” she wrote in a 2024 report that criticized the lack of inclusion of Indigenous peoples in the green transition. According to the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, on December 17, Russian authorities searched Egereva’s home, confiscated her digital devices, and arrested her, in what the organization called “a direct retaliation for her Indigenous rights advocacy,” which included her work at COP30.  “These reprisals are part of a broader pattern of repression affecting Indigenous peoples across the globe, and are an unacceptable attack on the right of Indigenous peoples to engage in the global human rights and climate change processes,” said Sineia Do Vale, who is Wapichana from Brazil and co-chairs the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change along with Egereva. > “I believe I am being persecuted for my activism.” A 2023 UN report concluded that advocates from multiple countries have been discouraged from participating in UN processes because of fear of reprisals. In 2024, the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported an increase in the number of cases of reprisals, but did not publish specific numbers. More than 2,000 environmental and land defenders were killed or disappeared for their work between 2012 and 2024, nearly a third of them Indigenous, according to Global Witness.  In October, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution criticizing the Russian Federation’s designation of 55 Indigenous organizations and other groups as “extremist organizations,” and calling on the country to abide by international human rights law.  Luda Kinok, a Yupik woman from Russia who spoke to Grist as a friend of Egereva’s, said that Egereva is expected to be detained until her next court hearing on February 17, after which she could be sentenced to as long as 20 years in prison.  Kinok said Egereva was targeted in part because of her affiliation with the Aborigen Forum network, a group of Indigenous advocates that was designated as an “extremist” organization by the Russian Federation in July 2024. The forum advocated for the protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights as countries sought to develop the Arctic. Egereva was also a member of the Centre for Support of Indigenous Peoples of the North, which Russian authorities shut down in 2019. Valentina Vyacheslavovna Sovkina, a Saami advocate based in Russia and one of 16 members of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, said through an interpreter that she was also subjected to a search by Russian authorities the same week that Egereva was arrested.  “During the search, they seized technical equipment and searched the premises, folders, books, and boxes for four hours. They compiled a report without leaving a copy and without allowing me to call a lawyer,” she said. “I believe I am being persecuted for my activism and my steadfast commitment to protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples.”  Egereva’s arrest has been decried by several Indigenous international organizations, including Cultural Survival, the SIRGE Coalition, and the International Indian Treaty Council. The IITC called the situation “a grave case of intimidation and reprisal against an Indigenous leader in direct connection with her participation in the UNFCCC process,” referring to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Basmanny District Court of Russia and the United Nations did not respond to messages seeking comment on Egereva’s case.

More resignations of federal prosecutors are expected at the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota amid ongoing frustration over the Trump administration’s response to the fatal shooting of Renée Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. “I have heard there may be more people leaving, people I would consider senior and respected career prosecutors,” said Anders Folk, a former acting US attorney in Minnesota, who left the office in 2021 to work for the Justice Department in Washington, DC, under former President Biden. Minnesota Federal Defender Katherian Roe, in a staffwide email obtained by the Sahan Journal, also wrote that “more resignations are anticipated” at the US Attorney’s Office. “It’s a sign that something is not right” there, added Folk, who is still in touch with colleagues in the office and is now running for Hennepin County Attorney. Already this week, at least five federal prosecutors in Minnesota announced their resignations. Among them was the office’s second-in-command, Joseph Thompson, who was overseeing the welfare fraud investigation involving Somali immigrants that President Trump used as a pretext to send his immigration force to Minneapolis. The prosecutors did not give a reason for their departures, but their announcements came shortly after the Justice Department ordered the office to investigate Good’s wife rather than focus on the shooter and the shooting. “It’s a big deal, and this is fairly unprecedented,” Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor now based in Los Angeles, said of the resignations. “You have so many leaving, and frankly on principle: We are living in unique times where prosecutors are being asked to do things they’ve never had to do before. That’s not what they signed up for.” Five senior prosecutors at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in DC—a unit that investigates police killings—also resigned this week. Since Trump’s reelection, the Minnesota US Attorney’s Office has seen a steady stream of departures. Nearly 50 out of about 135 staffers have left their positions, according to a person with knowledge of the departures who did not want to be named, and who confirmed that more resignations are likely. Some of the office’s attorneys left earlier this year as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was working to downsize the federal workforce. Others quit in December, after ICE launched its Minneapolis surge. > “They’ve had a major brain drain, and I don’t know who’s going to be left to > do the cases.” The administration’s response to the Good’s death on January 7 appears to have been the last straw for some of the prosecutors. The 37-year-old mom, who had partly blocked a neighborhood street with her vehicle, was fatally shot in the head and chest by ICE officer Jonathan Ross. The killing, which has sparked nationwide protests, was captured on video by multiple bystanders, and also by Ross, who recorded the encounter on his phone. In his footage, a male voice, which the New York Times has verified was Ross, could be heard calling Good a “fucking bitch” after he shot her. The Justice Department has defended Ross, accusing Good of trying to run him over, and ordered the US Attorney’s Office to focus on Good’s wife, who was on hand protesting the ICE operation. But a frame-by-frame video analysis from the Times clearly shows that Ross shot Good as she was steering her vehicle away from him, and that he was not run over, as Trump and other federal officials claimed, or struck by the vehicle in a substantial way. The administration quickly excluded the Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from its investigation, making it harder for state authorities to gather evidence. As staffers at the US Attorney’s Office watched the video footage, some were crying or otherwise visibly emotional about the death and the Justice Department’s response, according to the person with knowledge of the departures. Since Operation Metro Surge began in the Twin Cities, federal immigration officers have reportedly arrested more than 2,400 people. To deal with the influx of cases, given its reduced staff, the US Attorney’s Office is receiving help from military attorneys known as Judge Advocates General. Several JAGs are already stationed at the office, and the Pentagon, according to CNN plans to send about 25 more. As videos spread showing brutal ICE encounters in the Twin Cities—officers dragging a disabled woman out of her car as she tried to drive to a doctor’s appointment; carrying away an unconscious man in handcuffs; throwing a flashbang at a car with six children, and more—protesters are calling for accountability and yelling at the masked federal officers to get out of their neighborhoods. But to file civil rights cases against ICE agents or any other law enforcement, prosecutors at the US Attorney’s Office would need approval from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys in DC. And that “feels impossible,” said the person with knowledge of the resignations, “when you can’t even get an investigation for a woman who was shot point-blank in the head.” Folk, the former acting US attorney, told me that he’s never seen anything like the recent spate of resignations in Minnesota. It’s unusual, he said, for so many career prosecutors, as opposed to political appointees, to leave at the same time. “It’s deeply concerning to many members of the legal community here,” Folk told me, and he worries about the consequences for other investigations, including the ones looking into fraud in state welfare programs and the assassinations of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, last year. At least some of the attorneys who resigned this week had planned to use their accumulated leave to stay on longer and help with the transition, but the Justice Department fired them after they announced their intentions, abruptly blocked their credentials, and had them escorted our of the building. The Minnesota US Attorney’s Office had fewer than 30 prosecutors prior to the latest departures—that’s less than half of what the full head count should be, Folk said. Former federal prosecutor Levenson added that it might be difficult for the office to hire new attorneys, given the explosive political environment. “People of the caliber you used to get at US attorney’s offices aren’t interested in the job; they’ve had a major brain drain, and I don’t know who’s going to be left to do the cases,” she said. “This will have an impact for years to come.”

~ Jon and Simon round off the year with a trip into the weeds talking about reaching the Mark Jenner period in the Spycops saga, Labour’s disgusting joining in on European far-right efforts to undercut human rights laws, the real reasons why housing is under so much pressure, and the latest stories from our newswire. The post Anarchist News Review: What have human rights ever done for us? appeared first on Freedom News.

Earlier this fall, hundreds of activists from all over the world crowded onto several dozen boats and set sail for Gaza. Their goal: Break through Israel’s blockade of the territory and end one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet. They thought that by sharing their journey through social media, they could capture the world’s attention.  At first, it was easy to dismiss the Global Sumud Flotilla—until it wasn’t. Before reaching Gaza, the flotilla was attacked by drones, and activists were arrested by the Israeli navy.  “We were at gunpoint; like, you could see the laser on our chest,” says flotilla participant Louna Sbou.   Subscribe to Mother Jones podcasts on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. They were then sent to a high-security prison in the middle of the Negev desert. “You have no control, you have no information, and you have no rights,” says Carsie Blanton, another participant. “They could do whatever they want to you.” This week on Reveal, we go aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla for a firsthand look at what activists faced on their journey and whether their efforts made any difference.

This story was originally published by WIRED and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The Louisiana Department Of Wildlife And Fisheries (LDWF), typically responsible in part for overseeing wildlife reserves and enforcing local hunting rules, has assisted United States immigration authorities with bringing at least six people into federal custody this year, according to documents WIRED obtained via a public record request. According to the documents, LDWF signed a memorandum of agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May, which gives the wildlife agency the authority to detain people suspected of immigration violations and to transfer them into ICE custody. Since then, at least six men entered ICE custody after coming into contact with or being detained by LDWF officers. None of the men were issued criminal charges at the time they came into contact with LDWF officers, the documents show. Two of the men were known by ICE to have been in the country legally at the time the agency took them into custody. The documents also indicate that at least one “joint patrol” took place in a Louisiana wildlife management area in which LDWF agents were accompanied by officers with Customs and Border Protection and the US Coast Guard. The memorandum of agreement between ICE and LDWF makes no mention of CBP or the possibility of working with the agency as part of the agreement. However, the documents indicate that a relationship with CBP may have been facilitated through LDWF’s partnership with ICE. LDWF partnered with ICE under the agency’s 287(g) program, named after the section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that enables officers and employees at the state or local level to perform some of the functions of US immigration officers, such as investigating, apprehending, detaining, or transporting people suspected of violating immigration law. As of December 3, exactly 1,205 agencies have partnered with ICE through the 287(g) program. (An additional eight agencies are currently pending approval from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.) Some 1,053 of these agreements were signed this year, meaning enrollment has increased by 693 percent compared to the end of 2024. The LDWF is one of just three state wildlife agencies—the others being the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources—that have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, according to public ICE records. All three agreements were signed this year. The marked expansion of the 287(g) program this year has generated relatively little attention. However, the documents from the LDWF indicate that the state and local agencies enrolled are actively detaining people not guilty of any crimes, and facilitating their arrests and possible deportation. CBP did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment. The LDWF answered questions about one particular incident, but did not respond to WIRED’s complete request for comment. ICE spokesperson Angelina Vicknair—when given the men’s full names, the dates and locations they were detained, all known circumstances of their detainment, and all other identifying information included in the documents—said that the agency did not have enough information to determine if the men were in custody, released, or deported. She also said that the number of men WIRED asked about, seven, constituted “too large a query,” adding, “We’ll need you to narrow it down.” Per a LDWF “After Action Report” obtained by WIRED, three men were taken into a federal custody after the agency conducted a joint patrol on August 11 with five US Coast Guard officers and an unknown number of CBP agents in Lake Borgne, which is in Louisiana’s sprawling Biloxi Marsh Complex. According to the report, the officers were looking for people allegedly violating state statues for seed oyster harvesting. The report claims that no one on the patrol witnessed any crimes or civil violations. Despite this, it says that “the federal partners were able to identify and detain 3 subjects for immigration issues,” adding that “all arrestees were transported by Federal agencies to detention centers.” It’s unclear why these individuals were singled out, but all three appear to have Hispanic last names. The report claims that two of the arrested individuals legally entered the United States but overstayed the amount of time they were allowed to remain in the country. The third person, it claims, entered the country illegally and had an unspecified “criminal history.” Given the report’s sparse information about the men, it’s unclear if any of them have been deported or remain in federal custody. Some time after the August 11 patrol, the report claims, a CBP lieutenant asked LDWF about organizing “future patrol opportunities and joint patrols” with the agency. “After this operation, CBP has reason to believe that future patrols will be beneficial and productive,” the report reads. “They also expressed how much they learned traversing some of the more specific waterbodies with the local knowledge of our agents, they were able to learn new routes across the area that will allow them to extend the effectiveness of their independent patrols.” In an August 22 email obtained by WIRED, LDWF regional captain Tim Fox says that CBP wanted to organize future patrols “on a less formal basis.” It’s unclear whether a less formal patrol would still produce a paper trail. According to a later LDWF incident report, the agency arrested three additional people in October, all of whom were taken into ICE custody. The men were issued civil citations for going to a wildlife management area and using their firearms without the proper permits, the report says, but none were issued any criminal charges. The report claims that on October 23, two LDWF officers patrolling the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area heard several gunshots in an area where “people often illegally target shoot.” The suspects, three men in their twenties, all cooperated with LDWF at the scene. When asked to show their weapons, they showed the officers a pistol, an AR-15, several magazines, and a few dozen rounds of ammunition. The officers confirmed that none of the firearms were stolen. One of the men also showed the officers where they had been shooting. The men showed identification—a Louisiana ID card, a Honduran ID card, and a Honduran passport, respectively—when asked, but did not have the appropriate permits for being in a Wildlife Management Area and firing a weapon. The two men who fired weapons were issued three civil citations, while the one who didn’t was issued two. At some point during LDWF’s interactions with the men, the agency called immigration authorities. “Due to the unknown immigration status and them possessing firearms, we made contact with Homeland Security Investigations,” the report reads. A HSI agent reportedly told LDWF that one of the men had a final removal order, one had “pending” immigration proceedings, and one man had legal parole to be in the US. When LDWF contacted the local ICE field office, ICE sent two agents to the scene. Upon arrival, the report claims, “The ICE Officers made several phone calls and they decided to take custody of all three subjects.” All three men were placed in handcuffs and escorted to the ICE officers’ vehicles. It’s unclear if any of these men were deported, but based on information in the report, none of them appear to currently be in ICE custody, according to the agency’s detainee locator. In response to WIRED’s public record request, LDWF also included an incident report filed on October 6. The report describes a man who allegedly littered “roofing shingles, nails and other assorted building materials” near Cypress Lake for which he was issued one civil citation for “gross littering.” It notes that the man didn’t speak English, but “was cooperative during this investigation” with the help of a translator. The incident report says that the man had “unverified citizenship,” but it does not specify whether he was taken into ICE custody. When asked about the incident and why it was included in the response to WIRED’s public record request, a LWFD spokesperson clarified that the agency reported the man to ICE after he was issued the littering citation. The spokesperson said that as a result of the man’s “unverified citizenship,” the LDWF “forwarded the citation and report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” “LDWF has no further information regarding Mr. Garcia’s current status or location,” the spokesperson said.

THESE CENTRES, IN A NON-PLACE LOST AMONG THE MOUNTAINS, THREATEN TO BECOME A EUROPEAN MODEL FOR DEPORTATIONS ~ Thymo Nzk ~ On 1 November, hundreds gathered in Tirana, Albania to protest against the Rama–Meloni agreement, which provides for the construction of the detention and repatriation centres for migrants outside the EU borders. The current wave of securitisation sweeping across Europe has paved the way for yet another advance in the externalisation of borders—a trend that risks becoming the so-called “Albanian model.” At the heart of the issue is deportation procedures for people in transit, a topic soon to reach the European Parliament under the forthcoming Return Regulation. The implementation of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum is scheduled for June 2026. While Europe’s far-right rallies behind the slogan “remigration,” Italy once again plays the role of pioneer in an authoritarian experiment. Despite legal ambiguities, the Meloni government began building detention facilities in Albania’s remote province of Lezha shortly after the November 2023 agreement. The move sets a perilous precedent, but it is not a first. Offshore processing models were previously considered by both Denmark and the United Kingdom (the notorious “Rwanda plan.”) During a recent bilateral meeting, Keir Starmer reportedly expressed interest in establishing Return Hubs of his own. But Edi Rama suggested looking elsewhere in the region, stressing Albania’s “special relationship” with Italy. Rama often romanticises this link as one of friendship and cultural proximity. Yet, seen through a historical lens, it is hard not to see it on colonial terms. In 1939, fascist Italy invaded and annexed Albania, turning it into a protectorate, a dynamic of dominance that still echoes through contemporary economic and political ties. The transactional nature of this partnership is hard to miss. The Giro d’Italia’s decision to begin its 2024 edition with a symbolic first stage in Albania came just two days before national elections that secured Rama his fourth consecutive term. Few tools generate national pride, and thus political consensus, much like sport. The transnational network Against Migrant Detention had already mobilised in Tirana last December. Protests outside Albania’s Constitutional Court denounced the agreement’s multiple irregularities. Thirty-three NGOs appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union, but their case was dismissed on procedural grounds and the legal scholar Endri Shabani, co-founder of the anti-corruption movement Nisma Thurje, likened detention in these centres to “kidnapping.” The Camps in the Mountains The section of the centre intended for asylum seekers has a capacity of 880 places. The Center for Permanent Repatriation (CPR) has a capacity of 144, with 20 spaces reserved for the prison. These centres are in a non-place lost among the mountains, a landscape that appears empty and desolate. Amid the rocks, high concrete walls topped with barbed wire stand out, and metal bars surround stacks of sterile containers. A slap in the face for who ever believed in the rhetoric of a Europe of rights-born from the ruins of a history of regimes thought to belong to the past, supposedly closed and overcome. Cases of serious self-harm have already occurred. The death of Hamod Badoui, arrested, deported, transferred repeatedly, stands as a tragic indictment of this system. Here, isolation becomes a deliberate tool of psychological breakdown, discouraging others from making the journey. Saturday’s demonstration began in Tirana’s central Skënderbej Square. Around 150 participants, mainly Italians, Albanians, but also some from others from across Europe, marched to the Italian embassy shouting “Shame on you!”, then onward to EU offices and the prime minister’s residence, chanting in several languages: “Marveshje ilegale, rezistencë globale” (Illegal agreement, global resistance) and “Make the fortress Europe fall.” Later, the group travelled 60 km north to Lezha, the province administering the centres. The mayor has actively spread disinformation, even launching a racist meme campaign on social media. In this economically fragile region, the centres are marketed as job opportunities offering above-average wages. Besmira Lekaj, coordinator of the youth centre welcomed us to HANA’s offices (Hand to Hand against National Apathy) to give us an insight into the local social fabric and share the work they do. By focusing on awareness-raising and the promotion of active citizenship, they play a crucial role in the community. The context is complex, and the only criticism of the agreement from the main opposition party (the Democratic Party of Albania) concerned the perceived threat that the arrival of alleged foreign sexual predators would pose to the community. They described Albanian society as still deeply affected by the legacy of the old regime. The current governing party (the Socialist Party for Development) is the direct heir of the dictatorship-era Party of Labour of Albania, later restructured and renamed, though still partially maintaining its central apparatus and local territorial structures. At the Gates of Gjadër As night fell, demonstrators reached the Gjadër camp. Outside the gates, they read aloud the names of forty-seven people who died in Italian detention centres. Their voices echoed across the empty landscape, unanswered by the indifferent Albanian and Italian police officers stationed beyond the fences. Only a few mocking grins came in reply. The next day, a plenary assembly at the University of Tirana titled “Is Europe Still Our Dream?” hosted discussions, debates and renewed calls for action. Activists from “Mediterranea Bologna” were absent from these two days of events due to a protest against the expulsion of two Albanian citizens. On their way to join the rally, they noticed that the police were using the very Ryanair flight they had boarded. They attempted to raise awareness among the staff, but then refused to remain on board, opposing the normalisation of the use of civilian flights for deportations. The campaign to denounce the illegitimacy of this deal will continue, though much now depends on the European Court of Justice, which has not yet ruled on the matter. The Italian judiciary have already rejected several detention validations from Gjadër. Under the original plan, migrants intercepted at sea by the authorities would be transferred to Albania, where their asylum claims would be processed before deportation. Officially, stays are meant to last 24 hours in the hotspot and up to 28 days in the detention centre—a timetable many lawyers deem impossible to implement. A recent ruling by the European Court of Justice has already constrained such practices, but the European Commission’s spokesperson for Home Affairs, Markus Lammert, said that if conducted “under EU law,” the protocol could “in principle” be deemed compliant. After all, it only takes a new law to legalise a human-rights violation. Values, it seems, are malleable, bendable to fit the shifting balances of power. The struggle ahead will be fought on many fronts: legal, cultural and moral. But one thing is clear, this marks the dawn of a new repressive paradigm that Europe will have to reckon with for years to come. The post Hostages overseas: Italy’s frontier-prison in Albania appeared first on Freedom News.