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MineralMan

(151,281 posts)
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 01:50 PM Jan 29

Well, You're Getting a Lot of Blowback on This One.

Not from me, though. For the most part, people who are participating here are doing pretty much what you suggest. A few are not, and a couple of them are dead now.

What IS working is showing up. That doesn't mean getting up in ICE faces, though. It is the massive turnout that is making the point. And thus has it always been.

During the late 1960s, while still in the USAF, I got very involved in the protests in the DC area. I met some of those who were leading those protests, and even played a role of marshalling during protests. I learned a lot, and was there near the front a lot of the time. I did not get beaten up. I did get loaded in a bus once, but didn't get charged with anything.

My advice to eager young protestors was always very simple. It was "Stay back in the crowd a little. Be there, but don't get in the faces of people with billy clubs or guns."

That advice work wonderfully. You can yell and chant. You can carry signs. You can make noise. But, if you can't be reached by an arm, a fist, or a club, you'll be able to go home to protest again.

Most of the thousands of people who have shown up in Minnesota are doing just that.

So, you're right. If there are those who want to get up in the faces of the ICE goons, they're welcome to do that. If they do, though, there is risk involved. If you want to be heard, you can be heard. If you want to show solidarity, you can do that, too. You can be counted and seen. You do not have to put your safety at risk by being at the front of things, though. If you want to do that, by all means, go ahead. If not, you are still part of the voice of the people.

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