Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
The Rules of the Road Are Different for ICE
Protestors monitoring license plates at the Minneapolis's Whipple Federal Building are noticing a lot of fuckery: covering up plates with mud and snow, swapping plates on cars, or removing them all together. Writes Jana Hollingsworth in this investigative piece for the Star Tribune…
A Minnesota Star Tribune review of more than 100 Minnesota license plates attached to immigration enforcement vehicles in recent weeks shows that nearly 60% were not registered with the state of Minnesota, including the Chevy Tahoe that federal agent Jonathan Ross traveled in the day he fatally shot Renee Good in south Minneapolis.
Another 11% of the plates reviewed by the Star Tribune had some kind of irregularity, including expired tabs from different vehicles or plates registered to a nonexistent business. A quarter of the vehicles were rentals.
All of this is, in fact, illegal in Minnesota. Back in December, DVS director Pong Xiong sent a strongly worded letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that these violations “will not be tolerated.” The next step would be barring DHS from Minnesota's DVS undercover vehicle registration, which could lead to a lot of citations if an MPD officer spots any of the shady driving maneuvers they’re known for.
Meanwhile on the other side, there's a new way to resist and waste agents' time: pop-up block parties/blockades. Jon Collins at MPR tells the tale of one such (delightful-sounding) Saturday happening at Cedar Avenue and 34th Street, where folks set up a bonfire, jammed to tunes, and handed out candy for kids while passersby fist bumped and shouted “FUCK ICE.”
These makeshift blockades are probably short lived. This Reddit thread details one that was broken up by MPD, and the city of Minneapolis issued a statement condemning them on Instagram.
States Fight to Investigate Federal Killings
It’s not just Minnesota authorities who are preparing to look into ICE killings in their state; Illinois, Maryland, and Texas are also trying to move forward with investigations. This excellent ProPublica piece by Andy Mannix, Melissa Sanchez, and Nicole Foy examines the obstacles states face when the feds refuse to grant access to crime scenes, hold onto evidence, or won't cooperate on any level, even when officials have a judicial warrant.
“We’re in an environment right now where ICE officers are blatantly and egregiously violating the Constitution and the law… Unfortunately, because Congress is not taking any steps to rein ICE officers in, there really is no option other than states protecting their constituents’ rights,” says UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz.
And while the feds may be announcing a joint investigation with Minnesota into the killing of Alex Pretti, the prospect of ICE investigating ICE is already an ethical shitshow, especially when the current administration’s knee-jerk reaction is to label people like Pretti and Renee Good “domestic terrorists.”
“Just imagine if the agents who shot Mr. Villegas González back on Sept. 12 had been publicly disciplined,” says Rubén Castillo, who chairs a commission working to make ICE-related videos and testimonies public record. “Maybe, just maybe, the Minnesota shootings would not have occurred, and two people would be alive who are now dead.”
Part of the Resistance: Leo’s Tow
Speaking of cars, here’s a heartwarming story about Leo’s Tow, a towing company that’s been picking up vehicles left behind after people are abducted by ICE and bringing them back to their families, free of charge.
"All I can do is give them a hug and tell them hopefully things will get better," Leo's employee Gonzalo Villegas tells WCCO of the emotional experience of returning cars. "Sad isn't even the word to use. It's so much stronger than that."
Towing these abandoned cars has become a full-time job for the business, one that is sustained via donations from the community (they have a fundraiser this Sunday at Lito’s on Lake, a burrito spot Racket loves). The company estimates that they’ve dropped off 250 cars since late December.
If you’re looking for a loved one’s car, you can follow Leo’s postings on Facebook.
How to Help: This Family Trying To Get Their Father Back
Despite having no criminal record, Cristian Andrés Guzmán de la Ossa, a Twin Cities resident and father of two, was taken into ICE custody on Wednesday. His wife, Alejandra Ramírez Rodríguez, is trying to raise funds to help with whatever comes next, whether it’s paying bail to get him out of a detention center while he awaits trial or potentially traveling to Colombia to meet him there if he gets deported. You can help by donating funds via this GoFundMe page.
Guzmán de la Ossa and Rodríguez have faced other struggles; last year ProPublica published this harrowing story detailing how they had to fight to regain custody of their son after CPS removed him from the home for having broken ribs. It was later discovered he had a medical condition.
