Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
ICE Probably Not Leaving MN Anytime Soon
Bad news: Even if Democrats shut down the government, ICE operations aren't likely to be hindered in any meaningful way. Under DHS's shutdown plan, a GOP leadership source says, ICE employees would be considered "excepted" workers and required to continue showing up to work, though they, like other workers, would not get paid,” write Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V for NBC News.
With morale reportedly "plummeting" among ICE agents, don't expect these guys to suddenly become more professional while they're not getting paid.
Meanwhile the (probable) ousting of Border Patrol Chief Bovino, plus recent calls from Trump and border czar Tom Homan to Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, had people hoping ICE might be pulling back from Minnesota. But Strib writers Susan Du and Christopher Magan report that it’s been business as usual, with regular amounts of traffic going in and out of the Whipple Federal Building.
About All That Tear Gas We’ve Been Inhaling…
How bad is it and what are the long-term effects? Nobody is sure! The limited number of studies out there, mostly done in the 1950s on military men, show that tear gas can cause respiratory failure and blindness, while newer studies suggest it could impact reproductive health.
“We don’t really have data on what this could potentially mean for women, for children, for people with chronic conditions or illnesses,” U of M researcher Asha Hassan tells Estelle Timar-Wilcox for MPR. Hassan also notes that many tear-gas manufacturers consider their products proprietary, so there’s no way to really know what’s in them.
Still, we do know many contain lead and carcinogens. And it’s not just protestors and observers who are being exposed to this stuff. Last week, a family with six kids was gassed in their vehicle while driving home; an infant almost died. Along Nicollet at 26th, where Border Patrol officers killed Alex Pretti Saturday, it’s not hard to spot a plethora of frozen clumps of phlegm-yellow tear gas on the sidewalks and streets—what happens to that stuff when the weather thaws?
There’s also the new “green gas,” which Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino was filmed tossing at a south Minneapolis crowd like a Batman villain a few weeks ago. “The potassium perchlorate is a significant toxicant and some of it may expose bystanders, but most of it is likely burned,” Duke University professor Sven-Eric Jordt tells Mother Jones of a similar chemical deterrent. “The lead and chromium are highly toxic—listed as reproductive toxicants and carcinogens. Again, the amounts are small, but are of concern.”
Meet the Far-Right Influencers Making Money off Minneapolis
We don’t really recommend clicking on any of their actual content, but it’s good to know your enemies. Thankfully, Brandy Zadrozny gives us a solid primer of these losers and what they’ve been up to in the Twin Cities for MS Now.
We all remember YouTuber Nick Shirley, who claims he uncovered massive fraud in Minnesota by, as Zadrozny puts it, “knock[ing] on day care doors, demand[ing] to see children.” There’s Twitterer Cameron Higby, who seems to think he’s uncovered a slew of Antifa cells on Signal. In reality, he infiltrated a neighborhood chat offering safety tips and info on observers’ legal rights. Notoriously deceptive “undercover journalist” James O’Keefe told podcaster Megyn Kelly that he was run out of a Minneapolis suburb after five white women demanded press credentials.
This all would be funny or sad if these chodes weren’t reaching millions of followers who take them seriously, while also making bank off their bad-faith stunts.
“They gin up outrage, film it and then use that content to recruit followers, get paid on social platforms or convert it into political currency that gets them closer to power,” Boston University professor Joan Donovan tells Zadrozny. “Are they a political activist or a clout-chasing influencer, or are they there to report the facts?” That question, obviously, is rhetorical.
MN Companies Donate Paltry Amount to Struggling Businesses for Unclear Reasons
Working through the Minneapolis Foundation, a collection of Minnesota’s largest corporations—Target Corp., General Mills, Ecolab, etc.—revealed a grant program Tuesday intended to help local businesses struggling amid the ICE surge. The press release announcing the $3.5 million Economic Response Fund doesn’t mention a siege of federal agents, though it does allude to “today’s circumstances.”
Count Sheletta Brundidge among the unimpressed. The Twin Cities media personality/podcast impresario is no stranger to challenging Minnesota's corporate giants, and she believes our state’s biggest companies could’ve collectively coughed up more than what the Vikings pay lineman Donovan Jackson each year.
"Those CEOs could take their bonus checks and donate that money to struggling entrepreneurs if they really wanna make a difference," Brundidge writes. "Their 'donation' is about as pitiful and performative as that press release they put their logos on and posted over the weekend." In response, Brundidge just launched her first-ever GoFundMe, which aims to raise $3.6 million to directly benefit small business owners. She says she’ll distribute one-time $5,000 grants to “fellow entrepreneurs” who “[do] good community work” until every dime is gone. "I am livid but I am learning," Brundidge says. "I am gonna work to raise the money for us." You can donate here.
