Recent events in Minneapolis, with the murder of two Americans by federal officers, have shocked the world. That the American state is turning against its citizens, unprovoked, is a dark turn. Deportations continue, but even Donald Trump seems to sense that ICE has gone too far.
Against this backdrop, the extent of community organizing and resistance in Minnesota is inspiring. People from all walks of life have stepped forward to help neighbours who might be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, the country’s heavily militarized secret immigration police. Alerting the neighbourhood when ICE officials are in the area, serving as escorts, shopping for food, picking up kids from school, are just some of the daily tasks neighbourhood organizations help with.
Minnesotans are standing up to ICE agents, braving bone-chilling cold to come out, in the thousands, to send the message that ICE is not welcome in Minneapolis. Facing pepper spray, batons and police brutality, they have not been deterred. They have grown in ever more determined numbers.
One such person was emergency room nurse Alex Pretti, who was assisting another protester when he was attacked without provocation and shot and killed by ICE agents. Alex was full of empathy for others, which led him to want to defend those community members who were under attack. Federal officials have tried to brand him as a terrorist, but many others have countered that falsehood with the truth.
Pretti’s murder comes after that of Renee Good, mother of three who was shot, point blank, as she tried to steer her car past the ICE agents. She was also accused of being a radical leftist. The outrage following these two deaths—and the dispensing of rule of law—reaches around the world.
Minneapolis has a long history of community organizing and protest, from labour strikes to the more recent protests over the murder of George Floyd. It is a city with a memory of organizing and standing together, standing up for one another. That solidarity pushed through labour law reforms and accountability for racist actions.
What community members are standing up to in Minneapolis is a federal government that is using its institutions to exert authoritarian control over Democratic-voting communities in the U.S. It seems that the plan of the government is to overwhelm local communities, so as to be able to operate with impunity while rounding up people without checking their documents, without a warrant, without a hearing, and holding them without cause.
This is not just about problems with the U.S. immigration system. This is about a political ideology whereby a dictatorial leader imposes his view of nationalism. With the support of a military-like organization in ICE, the government tries to suppress opposition and impose its will.
In other words, this is fascism. And it is terrifying.
Democracy is imperfect and also frail. What the people of Minneapolis are doing is standing up to authoritarianism in support of their communities and in support of democracy.
Alex Pretti didn’t intend to give his life in defending his neighbours, but the state took that from him. Renee Good intended to return home to her family but the state put a bullet in her head. In response, community members have come out in even greater numbers to push back.
Autocratic rulers can evolve practices gradually, chipping away at rights and pretending that they are normal. They can pretend that when they say vaccines are bad and guns are good that they are convincing people. Or they can spring into action and overwhelm people, rounding people up on the streets and deporting them, separating families, flagrantly disregarding the law.
We can feel powerless just witnessing all this on video. The impulse to do something is strong. What can we in Canada do to help? I can think of a few ways.
Saying nothing is not an option. We can use our voices, by sending messages of support to those brave community members. Knowing that the world is with them means a lot. We can organize solidarity demonstrations, record them and send messages of encouragement to Minneapolis. We can call out what is happening for what it is.
We are seeing in the U.S. how the consolidation of extreme wealth undermines democracy. Billionaires shape policy and isolate themselves from an increasingly unequal society. Their growing control over a more and more concentrated media landscape enables government officials to shut down the questions they don’t like and ignore reporters who ask tough questions.
In Canada, we are far from the U.S. situation. However, the use of the notwithstanding clause to deny trans rights or collective bargaining rights are dangerous examples of that autocratic trend. Whether in Alberta, Ontario or Quebec, that these governments are turning their back on basic rights is disturbing. It should serve as a warning to us all not to take our democracy for granted. To hold our elected officials to account.
The federal government’s decision to push through Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, sidestepping consultation and approval processes to rush through development and resource extraction projects, also raises alarm bells. Democracy thrives on transparency and due process.
We can see what happens when inequality and resentment grow into an authoritarian regime. It is a cautionary tale that we need to ensure does not take root here.
Meanwhile, our solidarity is with the people of Minneapolis, who are just trying to go about their daily lives and find themselves living in dystopia.
