Blessed are the whistle blowers
Resistance to the ongoing brutality is everywhere. One need only step outside to find it.
Late last year, while recovering from a particularly nasty bout of COVID, I settled into the couch to watch the new Ken Burns American Revolution documentary. Among the many revelatory moments from that experience was a commentary on George Washington’s military strategy throughout the course of the war. A key bit from that discussion keeps coming back to me: part of the strategy, in Burns's estimation, was that Washington knew that he didn’t need to win—just survive. The British government needed to win the entire conflict, whereas the Patriots just needed to not lose. As long as portions of the Continental Army remained intact, then they had a fighting chance. Upon reflection, it seems a painfully obvious lesson, one that we already implicitly know: Live to fight another day.
As social media lights up with photos and videos of the latest escalation of violence and brutality we’re seeing play out on our streets, there are just as many reports, videos, and photos of the resistance springing up to meet it. Hearing from friends on the ground in Minneapolis who are in the thick of the organizing is particularly heartening, even as the violence reaches a fever pitch. With each passing day, networks widen, tactics crystallize, and previously unconnected people find their bravery.
This is Minneapolis: Walk into my neighborhood ACE last night & see the signage on their door notifying fed agents that it’s private property and cannot be used for immigration enforcement. These signs are all over the city. Walk in & the nearest shelf has goggles & whistles.
— Laura G Mitchell (@lauragmitchell.com) 2026-01-13T16:38:52.141Z
It’s increasingly clear that these ICE dipshits are terrified of the constant pushback they’re getting as they attempt to terrorize our neighbors. Cracks are forming in the ranks at the highest levels. In DC, DOJ prosecutors are resigning en masse in the wake of Renee Good’s murder, shredding any illusion that they are still walking in lockstep behind this administration.
Leakers are sending Ken Klippenstein screenshots of DHS brass's pleas to scrounge up volunteers for their chaotic operations in Minnesota, while other documents remind agents about employing “proper OPSEC,” telling them to strip off their kit before returning to their hotel. Does any of this sound like a well-organized federal agency that isn't scared shitless of the population they're trying to brutalize?
Every time a group of ICE agents is forced to return to their cars without having made an arrest; every time they drive off dropping tear gas behind them, tails between their legs; every time a whistle blows, they don’t win.
I don't mean to make light of the harrowing conditions that our fellow neighbors are experiencing on the streets of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and elsewhere in Minnesota. Feds are walking door-to-door bringing their terror to households across the state. Legal observers are being dragged from their cars and stuffed into waiting vans. Non-white citizens are being profiled and violently arrested only to be let out, battered and bleeding, miles from where they were swept up. Renee Nicole Good was murdered in cold blood in front of her wife, for the crime of giving a shit about her neighbors.
Amidst this chaos and violence, electeds are (and this is the charitable interpretation) doing fuck all to stem the tide of violence these goons are bringing down upon local communities. As Ryan Broderick so astutely put it, "The lesson here is clear: We’re on our own now."
Ryan Broderick
Despite these worsening conditions, what we are seeing in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, New Orleans, New York City, Memphis, DC, Charlotte, and everywhere else these asshole shock troops show their ugly mugs are groups of activists, union organizers, clergymembers, political candidates, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, teenagers, elders—ordinary-ass people—standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their neighbors to rebuff these vicious buffoons.
Most times, it doesn't feel like enough. It feels like bringing a pool noodle to gun fight (literally). It's worth keeping in mind, however: these fronts of resistance are everywhere.
Every time a group of ICE agents is forced to return to their cars without having made an arrest; every time they drive off dropping tear gas behind them, tails between their legs; every time a whistle blows, they don’t win. Every time they get a bad night's sleep in their hotels, they don't win.
Time and time again, we have seen these chucklefucks pick a fight with the wrong city, and they run off screaming to the next locale to try the same shit over again. Each shocking example of violence, murder, privation, brutality against the people of this country wakes someone else up to the reality of our moment and spurs them to action. The memes of legions of wine moms joining the resistance may seem like trite shitposting, but it exposes the breadth of discontent with the administration's oppression. We saw this in 2025, we see this now in 2026.
Remember: they have to win for this fascist project to keep its legs, and they are coming up against a united front who refuse to be afraid of their brutal, violent bullshit.
Yes, we are on our own. But, and this is the important part here, we are not alone. Take heart, friends. Don't let them see you sweat. They're scared of us, and they should be. They're the ones with everything to lose.
Not in Minneapolis? Want to help the community? Here's a list of mutual aid resources to help keep your neighbors-across-the-country from falling through the cracks.
More reading:
Minneapolis locals aren't holding back on their feelings as federal agents sow chaos in their neighborhoods. As reporter Amanda Moore points out in this video, they're saying Fuck you, Minnesota hates you, Go back to Texas, etc. etc.
— Mother Jones (@motherjones.com) 2026-01-13T00:18:50.932Z
