> They menace and threaten "people just out and about in the neighborhood"? It is hard to engage in good faith when you are baldly making statements that are completely unsupported.
There are no shortage of videos showing ICE agents on roaming patrols in Minnesota -- and elsewhere -- menacing anyone they come across who appears undesirable. All you have to do is not look away.
Would you mind linking to some of the videos? You link here to an episode of This American Life featuring 911 calls.
While disturbing to listen to, without context, I don't hear anything to substantiate the claim of ICE agents menacing anyone they come across.
All the videos I've seen, [1], [2], [3], for example, from a quick check, are ICE reacting unprofessionally and with excessive force against people who are deliberately attempting to obstruct or interfere with them. Let's not play games here and say that they are menacing innocent people walking down the sidewalk. That's not to say that these assaults are justified or appropriate, but let's start the conversation in a good faith position, and not make up bullshit about ICE walking around menacing innocent bystanders.
I can't find an original source on the first one. To my eye it is ambiguous in the sense that he does appear to be taunting the officers or otherwise engaging with them. I may be mistaken here but without larger context it's hard to say. Taunting or insulting law enforcement is not a crime and does not warrant the notice of officers, much less confrontation or pursuit or detention. But what we are talking about here is whether people are in danger simply walking down the street.
There is a line where this becomes truly frightening behavior; where you have to keep your head down and avoid eye contact because they might fly off the handle for no reason, like crazy homeless people on the subway but with badges. So far I haven't seen anything approaching this.
The second one is [1] Jacelynn Guzman, age 23, who was mistakenly identified as part of a targeted immigration enforcement action. She fled the scene after agents approached her and identified themselves. A suspect who flees is likely to be chased -- this does not seem strange or off-putting to me at all. I think notable, for what its worth, is that they did not ask her father for ID or question his citizenship in any way; they were there for a targeted operation and he was not the target, so they left him alone while they attempted to verify the identity of the suspect that they were targeting.
For anybody looking on, this sort of Big Lie behavior is extremely common in the US these days. All that crazy stuff Europeans are seeing with JD Vance and Trump's Greenland behvaior is what everyday Americans experience on a wide range of topics.
Having somebody link to a source that directly refutes their own claims, while acting indignant, is something I've experienced multiple times in the past week! It's quite shocking.
When the Trump administration went so hard on open lies that are directly contradicted by videos we all saw of ICE events, it was vice-signaling that started even greater amounts of bearing false witness. Openly lying seems to signal "in-group" status these days, like the sign in the green grocer's shop[1]. Get people to lie about the evidence they see with their eyes, and the become completely controlled, because to do so is to have total subservience to their master. No more eyes or ears except for those of their master. People that used to have values slowly abandon them, all in service to the lie that they are living. "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
That is the state of the US at the moment. I have hope that we can return to our former sanity, or at least ensure that the reigns of power are in the hands of normal, centrist people instead of the extreme fringes, but it is in no way certain.
For anybody looking on, THIS sort of Big Lie behavior is extremely common in the US these days.
Having a source that makes a false claim as a headline but refutes their own claims, while acting indignant, is extremely common in a media landscape that wants to signal their "in-group" status.
