Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Check Out These Lowlife Fed Tactics
No one knows exactly how many federal agents remain in Minnesota—well, scratch that, because someone does, but why should you trust them to be forthcoming with that information? Speaking with Face the Nation Sunday, "border czar" Tom Homan said that 1,000 agents have already been withdrawn from Minnesota, and that “several hundred more” will eventually leave, with a “small security force” remaining behind. Neat.
However many or few DHS forces remain in town, we can expect them to just get sneakier. Case in point: Columbia Heights resident TxoosYeej Yaj shared security cam footage to Facebook that appears to show two female agents knocking on his neighbor's door on Thursday afternoon, pretending to be ordinary non-evil human beings who are having car trouble and need help. When Jesus Flores (who is a mechanic, according to the post) leaves his home, several SUVs pull up, and a gang of agents abduct him.
"This unexpected situation has left our family shocked, scared, heartbroken & searching for answers," writes Jesus's son, Miguel, in a GoFundMe to support the Flores family. "He is leaving behind 4 children who depend on him everyday."
John Oliver Does MN
Minnesota was the subject of HBO's latest Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which had been on break throughout December and January—meaning throughout the start of Operation Metro Surge, the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and all the other chaos federal agents have been fomenting over the last two-plus months. Needless to say, he had plenty of material to work with!
Much of what's in here initially will be well known to Minnesotans, though of course it's still cathartic to watch Oliver get all huffy and British about Tom Homan's ill-tailored suits and Kristi Noem's weird dancing. (Also, it's always fun to rewatch the video of "FUCK ICE" chants breaking out at AEW matches; did you know it's the hot new wrestling chant?) But the real meat of the segment is about the Department of Homeland Security more broadly, from its creation just 23 years ago to the "sweeping powers" it's been given since.
You can watch the half-hour segment in full below.
Bye-Bye, One Minute Tours Guy
Today's moment of "I ain't reading all that" comes to us via the One Minute Tours guy, John O'Sullivan, who posted a 12-minute video over the weekend announcing, after entirely too much buildup, that he no longer lives in Minnesota.
Here's the clip:
Very long story short: O'Sullivan and his family are moving back to Australia, where, as he told Racket in 2022, his tour guide schtick first took off.
And he is not having a g'day, mate.
People on that r/Minnesota thread are pretty pissed about the announcement, and so are people on r/Minneapolis, especially after many recently donated to his crowdfunded video project about the Midwest to the tune of $65,000. (For years, O'Sullivan has been self-promoting via local subreddits; don't know what he expected their reaction to this news would be, but judging from his replies, it was not this flood of Redditors saying he gives them "the ick" and is "a self important asshole.")
Others, as seen in one popular Instagram comment, are deeply disappointed that at no point over the past two months did O'Sullivan implore his 66,000 followers to help with mutual aid or rent-support efforts in occupied Minnesota—just quietly left town and started posting from Down Unda a month later.
"There's never been a more consequential time for Minnesota," O'Sullivan says a few seconds into the farewell video, and yeah... we'd agree. That's why the rest of us are still here, trying to protect our neighbors—the people who make it such a great place to live.
How to Help: Haven Watch
When the feds decide they're done detaining someone at Minneapolis's Whipple Federal Building, they've more or less been tossing those people out in the snow, possibly with no jacket, ID, or phone, and certainly with no concern for if or how they get home safely. Haven Watch helps out those who have been released, providing "immediate support, warmth, transportation, and connection to resources so no one is left alone at the gate."
The grassroots group of volunteers is moving toward nonprofit status, according to an early February update on their GoFundMe, and in the meantime they're still looking for all kinds of gear—everything from battery packs to first-aid kits to headlamps to foot warmers. You can take a scroll through their Amazon wishlist (we know—Amazon bad) and help them out by buying a shower caddy, a suitcase, high-viz gear, and more.
