How DHS Turned the Whipple Federal Building Into a House of Horrors

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.

We Could Probably Just Call It a Concentration Camp

Three of the Star Tribune's heavyweight reporters—Reid Forgrave, Susan Du, and Christopher Magan—got a sense of what life is like for immigrant detainees inside Minneapolis's Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building. It's a nightmare, they found, both in terms of due process and the living conditions.

Turns out folks are crammed “shoulder to shoulder" amid overflowing toilets and provided one-sandwich-per-day meals; one cell reportedly held so many people that, to rest at night, they'd have to take turns laying down; requests for medical care have been denied; and U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison (D-MN) reports no real medical infrastructure or systems exist.

"Basic human needs like food and medical care were sometimes denied," write the Strib journos, who quote one detained woman as saying “there was no humanity" inside Whipple. A class-action lawsuit alleges that the building, which was not designed for housing prisoners, has become “the epicenter of the systematic deprivation of fundamental constitutional and legal rights at the hands of the federal government.”

The sadistic response a DHS spokesperson sent to the Strib? “This is the best healthcare [that] many aliens have received in their entire lives.”

Spineless MN GOP Slug Report: Still Slitherin'

Eons ago, when Operation Metro Surge began, I'd agonize over the yawning ideological disconnect between how the party of small government, states' rights, and the Second Amendment could bow before the federal government as it terrorizes an entire state, kills its residents, and claims the lawful gun owner its agents shot to death shouldn't have been carrying a gun. But I don't do that anymore. These worms never had real convictions.

Possibly in that spirit, Sahan Journal asked all 112 Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature, plus all Republican gubernatorial and congressional candidates, how they feel about the federal government's deadly invasion of our state. They only heard back from three lawmakers—state Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka), state Rep. Elliott Engen (R-Lino Lakes), and state Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar). (Abeler, to his credit, recently wrote to Border Patrol czar Tom Homan about the appalling conditions inside Whipple.)

The soul-deadening levels of bootlicking those nonresponsive politicians felt comfortable posting via social media and saying to other publications? Sahan cataloged those. It's already important to start thinking about the historical record.

How About Something Nice?

Whew... that's a lot of misery, even by 2026 Flyover standards. Let's do a vibe switcheroo.

If you're anything like me, thousands upon thousands of bikes passed by your home Saturday afternoon. It was a rally to honor DHS shooting victim Alex Pretti, an avid Minneapolis cyclist, and Racket reader Jeffrey Van Voorhis provided this report about it…

Honestly up until the moment the ride started, I kept thinking, "There is no way that anyone else can show up." And time and time again I was proven wrong.

The ride's vibe was off the charts positive, inclusive, and elated. The fact that it was a balmy 20 degrees with full sun for the first time after weeks of sub-zero temperatures certainly helped, but even still, people there were certainly somber at moments, but it was good to see people smile and enjoy themselves as a reprieve from the terror unleashed by the federal government. At any given moment of the way, there were dozens of our neighbors and community members cheering us on or leading or participating in the dozens of ride chants, ranging from but not limited to "Kristi Noem is a stank leg hoe" to "Whose streets? Our streets!"

From what I heard, there was only one incident of an aggressive driver or any sort of conflict, which is insane given that the last estimate I heard from one of the organizers was that roughly five thousand riders participated in Minneapolis. I think to a lot of people this was a great balance of participating in something to raise awareness of the current situation in Minneapolis, while getting outside and being with some chosen family.

How You Can Help: DHH Church Food Drive

We're doing something new with this valuable fourth Flyover blurb real estate. For the foreseeable future, we'll use it to highlight a way—charity, mutual aid, crowdfunding drive, whatever—you can fight back against ICE while benefitting your community. Today, we're letting you know about the food drive from south Minneapolis's DHH Church; local take-haver/ex-journo David Brauer knows some (presumably) rich guy who's matching donations. Have at it, folks!