Immigration agents draw guns, arrest activists following them in Minneapolis

Immigration officers with guns drawn arrested activists who were trailing their vehicles on Tuesday in Minneapolis, while education leaders described anxiety and fear in Minnesota schools from the ongoing federal sweeps.

Both are signs that tension remains in the Minneapolis area after the departure of high-profile commander Greg Bovino of U.S. Board Patrol and the arrival of Trump administration border czar Tom Homan, which followed the fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti.
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At least one person who had an anti-ICE message on clothing was handcuffed while face-down on the ground. An Associated Press photographer witnessed the arrests.
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Several cars followed officers through south Minneapolis after there were reports of them knocking at homes. Officers stopped their vehicles and ordered activists to come out of a car at gunpoint. Agents told reporters at the scene to stay back and threatened to use pepper spray.

A federal judge last month put limits on how officers treat motorists who are following them but not obstructing their operations. Safely following agents “at an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop,” the judge said. An appeals court, however, set the order aside.

https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-immigration-crackdown-arrests-29ab636ca0f7db5389418463ca8b67c7

An absolute violation of our First Amendment rights!

Alabama man faces execution despite not pulling the trigger in auto store customer's death

Charles “Sonny” Burton didn’t kill anyone. The state of Alabama could execute him anyway.

Burton, 75, is facing execution for his role as an accomplice in a 1991 robbery at an auto parts store where customer Doug Battle was killed. No one disputes that another man, Derrick DeBruce, shot and killed Battle. Burton, one of six men involved in the robbery, was outside the store at the time of the shooting, according to testimony.

DeBruce and Burton were both sentenced to death. But DeBruce was later resentenced to life imprisonment, leaving Burton — who neither fired the gun nor ordered anyone to be killed -- as the only person facing execution.

Matt Schulz, Burton’s attorney, said the case “represents an extreme outlier” among death penalty cases.

The Alabama Supreme Court in January authorized Gov. Kay Ivey to set an execution date for Burton using nitrogen gas. The victim’s daughter and multiple jurors from his 1992 trial are now urging the governor to grant clemency, arguing the case raises fundamental questions of fairness.

“We hope and pray that Governor Ivey recognizes that this case slipped through the cracks. It would be wrong to execute a man who did not even see the shooting take place, after the state agreed to resentence the shooter to life without parole, and this is simply not the kind of case most people think of when they envision the death penalty being carried out,” Schulz said.

https://apnews.com/article/alabama-death-penalty-triggerman-burton-debruce-2fd4d8abb9bca606c8037d428913c

This is so wtong in so many different ways I can't even begin to comment.

A spell for trying times

I call my power back to me.

I call my energy back to me.

I call my magic back to me.

I am shielded from anything that would take
my power from me.

Nothing can harm me or take my light.

I am safe. I am protected.

I am powerful.

And so it is.

(found in a book I'm about to read. Good words for these times.)

A spell for trying times

I call my power back to me.

I call my energy back to me.

I call my magic back to me.

I am shielded from anything that would take
my power from me.

Nothing can harm me or take my light.

I am safe. I am protected.

I am powerful.

And so it is.

(found in a book I'm about to read. Good words for these times.)

Signs of forced entry found at Arizona home of 'Today' show host Savannah Guthrie's mother

Investigators found signs of forced entry at the Arizona home of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, a person familiar with the investigation said Tuesday, as the host asked for prayers to help bring back the 84-year-old, who is believed to have been taken against her will.

The host described her mother as “a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant” in a social media post late Monday. She asked supporters to “raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. Bring her home.”

Nancy Guthrie must be found soon because she could die without her medication, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said, urging whoever has her to free her.

“If she’s alive right now, her meds are vital. I can’t stress that enough. It’s been better than 24 hours, and the family tells us if she doesn’t have those meds, it can become fatal,” Nanos said.

Investigators also found specific evidence in the home showing there was a nighttime kidnapping, the person told The Associated Press. Several of Guthrie’s personal items, including her cellphone, wallet and her car, were still there after she disappeared.

https://apnews.com/article/savannah-guthrie-mother-missing-arizona-tucson-74d845b070fefe2d94cb92d655308e91

I wonder, since there's been no ransom note (that anyone's aware of) and nothing else has been said by the sheriff's office, if this is some kind of red-hatter plot against Savannah because of her anit-Shitler remarks

Marsh Family--If You're Going To Minnesota

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveils new proposal to 'stand up' to ICE

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has debuted a new proposal, the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which would bar police departments in her state from forming partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

During a news conference on Friday, the Democratic governor said she was sending a “strong message to ICE” and showing the Trump administration that it could not “weaponize local police officers against their own communities in the state of New York.”

On Monday, Hochul sat down with “Morning Joe” on MS NOW to discuss the proposal. She talked about the fatal shootings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and the detention of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old boy who was sent from Minnesota to an ICE facility in Texas, and said the country had become “unrecognizable” amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“In New York, we know who we are, and I have to stand up and forbid these agreements,” Hochul said.

The legislation would eliminate 287(g) agreements, preventing state and local police from acting as federal agents or using taxpayer funds to carry out civil immigration enforcement. It would also prohibit the federal government from using local detention centers.

https://www.ms.now/news/new-york-kathy-hochul-state-fight-ice-trump-immigration-crackdown

Yes Ma'am!

Mother of Savannah Guthrie, NBC News anchor, missing in Arizona

The mother of US news anchor Savannah Guthrie has gone missing, officials in Arizona said on Sunday.

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of the NBC News host, was last seen outside Tucson, Arizona, according to missing persons flyers.

Her family reported her missing on Sunday afternoon, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said, noting that parts of the scene at Nancy Guthrie's home caused "grave concern".

"We can confirm this is a missing persons case, and the family is working closely with local law enforcement," the Guthrie family said in a statement to NBC News.

"This one stood out because of what was described to us at the scene and what we found and located just in looking at the scene," Nanos said.

The sheriff did not offer more details about the cause of their "grave concern".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14rd1ny5gdo

Surprised no one had posted anything about this. The BBC had the best article.

Out with the old? Young Democrats are trying to convince voters to send a new generation to Congress

Mai Vang wouldn’t be born for another seven years when Bob Matsui was first elected to Congress from California in 1978. By the time Matsui died in 2005 and was replaced by his widow, Doris Matsui, Vang was still studying biology and sociology in college.

Now a member of the Sacramento City Council, Vang, 40, is mounting the first serious challenge that 81-year-old Matsui has faced since she began representing the area two decades ago. Vang is among a nationwide cadre of young Democrats who are trying to oust some of their party’s most stalwart figures in Washington, channeling angst that an aging generation of lawmakers is unable or unwilling to mount a bare-knuckles opposition to President Donald Trump.

“I’m not waiting for permission,” Vang said. “Because our communities are under attack, and we need leaders in this moment that understand the day-to-day struggles of our working families, and I believe that I could be the leader in this moment.”
(snip)

“No more wash, rinse and repeat,” said Abbie Morrissey, who works at the University of California, Davis, and attended Vang’s event. “We need to find young, engaged, energetic people that understand their young, engaged and energetic populations.”

https://apnews.com/article/young-democrats-incumbents-veterans-election-midterms-9d56be522bea570f586037a6895ff82a

I'm 82 and I tend to agree. What we lose in seniority we make up in vitality. We need more representatives with the vigor of AOC.

Inside The Secretive Operation To Stop Fascism In Its Tracks

At a diner next to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, five men took turns loudly saying a racial slur to prove they are bona fide members of Patriot Front, a white nationalist organization.

Sometime later, one of them returned, alone, with a $300 tip and a message for their server, a woman of color: “Those guys aren’t my friends.”

The man, “Vincent,” was one of several “antifa” spies around the country who had gone undercover in fascist groups. Over several months, he worked out, hiked and camped with a group of committed white nationalists. He joined them as they dropped propaganda banners and vandalized public artwork depicting people of color.

Months later, in the middle of a nationwide Patriot Front video call, Vincent started playing a recording of “Bella Ciao,” the Italian anti-fascist anthem. “You guys really forgot to remove the antifa spy’s access?” he taunted them.

While embedded with Patriot Front, Vincent expropriated reams of previously unknown membership data and logistical information that allowed other anti-fascists, in anonymous collectives around the country, to “dox,” or publicly identify, the group’s members. These collectives vandalized extremists’ vehicles, alerted their neighbors and employers — and, step by step, worked to shrink their influence in American public life. Similar infiltrations have hit several neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups around the country over the years.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/to-catch-a-fascist-christopher-mathias-book_n_697b92ece4b0b14e6786b71a?origin=home-zone-d-unit

Anti-fascists just quietly doing their job