Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Council Members Join Koski in Sharing Stories About Threats
Earlier this week, retiring Minneapolis City Council Member Emily Koski stated that stalking and “escalating harassment,” along with the failure of law enforcement to do much to intervene, had driven her from public life. Now, in the wake of that revelation, multiple council members are sharing that they too have been threatened, Susan Du reports at the Star Tribune.
In the story, Ward 9 Council Member Jason Chavez shares the racist, homophobic, and otherwise nasty verbal abuse he’s received, as well as the threats that led him to seek a restraining order.
“For the longest time before the restraining order, I had to look around before I would get into my car, look around before I would go into my apartment, look around before I was driving to make sure nobody was following me,” Chavez tells Du.
Council Members Michael Rainville and Robin Wonsley are among the others who have sought and received restraining orders. But as Wonsley points out, getting an order and enforcing it are two different things.
“What does this mean for our residents who are also having to navigate this process, and likely are not receiving the protection that they’re looking for?” Wonsley asks the Strib.
Well, Free Towing Is… Something
The thing about ICE, in case you haven’t noticed, is that they don’t give a fuck. Your car’s been abandoned because masked federal goons snatched you off the street? Well, tough luck, pal. You should have thought of that before you weren’t born white.
But widespread disrespect and abuse tends to bring out the decency in other people to compensate. You’ve heard about businesses delivering groceries for frightened customers? Well, as Katelyn Vue reports for Sahan Journal, Leo’s Tow and Galeana’s Towing & Services are offering free or reduced price towing services for detained people whose car was abandoned or impounded.
“To see the smile on their face, even through tears, makes me feel good,” tower Gonzalo Villegas tells Vue. “At least I’m doing something for the cause.”
MN Sheriffs Side With ICE
The ACLU of Minnesota is one very busy organization these days. Yesterday we wrote about how the organization was seeking justice for observers who’d been detained and harassed by immigration officials.
Now, as Ana Radelat and Brian Arola report for MinnPost, the ACLU Is also suing Freeborn County to prevent its sheriff from detaining immigrants for ICE after they are no longer in state custody.
In addition to Freeborn, seven other MInnesota counties (Crow Wing, Cass, Itasca, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Mille Lacs, and Sherburne) have contracts of one kind or another with ICE. In addition to detainer agreements, many counties have agreements for training services from federal immigration officials.
“It’s Fuckin’ Holocaust Shit”: The Drunk Bros Have Spoken
Have you seen these very good boys yet?
In the video, an interviewer approaches two young men who are… well, as a journalist, I can’t say without verification that these young men are drunk, but they do seem very… loose. (Also, underdressed! It’s cold out there!)
The interviewer asks a simple question: “Do you support ICE?” Imagine how much hemming and hawing you might get from many adults instead of a straight answer.
But our campus heroes do not dither. One guy says, “No, not really.” Then his friend goes off. “Hell fuckin’ not,” he begins. “It’s splitting up families. It’s not right. These people aren’t illegal.”
That’s the kind of straight, foul-mouthed, and possibly inebriated talk America needs right now.
Disclaimer: I don’t know anything about these kids (or about Minneapolis Burning, the site that hosted this interview, for that matter) so I can’t vouch for anything other than the fact that they’re willing to talk shit about ICE.
