Protests against ICE in Minneapolis: Organized resistance is worth it

E s is a woman in a pink jacket who filmed the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by US border guards. First she stumbles over a pile of snow. Seconds later, she captures the images that represent the government narrative of “domestic terrorists“ Pretti will be nipped in the bud.

It may seem like a coincidence that these images reached us. But that’s not it. In recent weeks, civil society in Minneapolis has trained thousands of people to become so-called constitutional observers. In Workshops learn your rights guaranteed by the constitution. They practice documenting ICE operations in role plays. It seems simple. But in a city where citizens are shot by federal police because they insist on their rights, the role of constitutional observer is an accessible and effective form of resistance. One organization alone has 65,000 people trained.

But meticulous documentation is not the only means of civil society. Residents observe the movements of ICE via signal chats and swarm out as soon as operations are reported. They organize food deliveries to particularly vulnerable people. Planning noise demonstrations in front of hotels where ICE people stay. And brought the city to a standstill with the first general strike in almost a hundred years. The networks in Minneapolis, which have been strengthened through decades of organizing by unions and movements, prove that in an emergency, it is not the supplies in the basement that save you, but your neighbors.

Trump sought confrontation in Minneapolis. Images of street battles would have been useful to him, who is already toying with canceling the midterm elections in November. But in the battle for public opinion, the people of Minneapolis have won for now. Company bosses like Apple’s Tim Cook feel compelled to make statements by criticism from their workforce. Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem is “incompetent” and must go, says North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tills. Almost half of the population now wants ICE to be abolished. 61 percent say the approach goes too far. This could spur the previously hare-footed resistance of the Democrats in Congress.

In Germany one can be happy about the interim success of civil society in the USA. Nevertheless: The next chapter of Trump’s horror show is sure to come. Watching the president’s activities with fascination is not enough. The deportation fantasies that drive the ICE machinery have long been socially acceptable in Germany. Just remember Olaf Scholz (“We finally have to deport people on a large scale”). Or to the AfD faction in Bavaria, which was one last week Special police modeled on ICE demanded. In Germany it is now important Building networkswho are able to counter the German variant of MAGA fascism.