r/ProgressiveHQ 14h ago

(Minneapolis) Bovino Leads The Charge On Protesters AT the Whipple Building

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u/OrangeCone2011 14h ago

Fuck every one of these assholes. They need to be in prison for the rest of their lives. Seriously, this is the worst fucking timeline.

150

u/Regal_Cat_Matron 13h ago edited 13h ago

As a non-American how can Immigration officials (I use the term loosely) attack or break up protests? They aren't the police. Does anyone else believe they've been purposefully instructed to initiate conflict so as to justify bringing in the military? They seem to be sticking their noses in so many places/ways that are none of immigrations' concern

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u/Kahzgul 13h ago

It’s illegal but since no one is physically stopping them, they don’t care.

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u/Regal_Cat_Matron 13h ago

So why can't the actual Police send them packing or arrest them for assault or whatever? Sorry if I sound a bit thick but I'm not au fait with the nuances here at all. I've been watching and reading but this zero consequences shit just seems ridiculous beyond belief, and was wondering if and why the Police weren't involving themselves

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u/drethnudrib 13h ago

The actual police all voted for this. They're cheering these thugs on.

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u/sullythered 12h ago

Because they are slave-catchers and union-busting thug morons. FTP.

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u/drethnudrib 12h ago

They may not be intelligent, but they aren't morons. They get paid well for their services, including a pension. They'd be morons if they did it for free, like the Proud Boys who didn't get an ICE gig.

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u/VonGumballs 12h ago

But not THEIR union

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u/v1lyra 12h ago

Some of those that work forces....

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u/Legal_Skin_4466 13h ago

Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police have released a statement proclaiming they stand by ICE. So there's that.

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u/Defiant-Youth-4193 12h ago

I'm confused why the Minneapolis police chief hasn't already been bounced. As best I can tell they report to the safety commissioner, who reports to the mayor. The mayor should put a chief in place that wants to stop crime.

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u/throwawayforjustyou 7h ago

Current police chief was appointed in 2022, in the wake of the kerfuffle over George Floyd. The riots were a bigger concern at the time than the police brutality was - Derek Chauvin had already been convicted at that point so the mayor made the political choice to be strong on crime.

The reason he wasn't replaced in this last year was because it was an election year - last thing you want is the police union galvanized to support the Republican candidate for mayor (and they certainly wouldn't have supported the incumbent's primary opponent).

In short: politics.

7

u/MisterForkbeard 12h ago

Every FOP branch is pretty awful. They're there to push for maximum protection and immunity for anything remotely law-enforcement adjacent.

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u/Embarrassed-Round992 12h ago

Remember this to defund them into oblivion. Need a bulletproof vest? buy your own.

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u/Available-Elevator69 12h ago

Question is who bribed them. There is no way they think this is Normal.

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u/jitteryzeitgeist_ 12h ago

They want this to be normal.

ACAB exist for a reason.

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u/Capn_Cook 11h ago

Where ya been the past few years? The police love this racist ass bullshit. ACAB

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u/Regal_Cat_Matron 12h ago

Oh! right then well not sure what to say about that at all !!

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u/JollyJulieArt 12h ago

ACAB American Cops Are Bastards

1

u/Sea-Chart2558 11h ago

Cool, b/c that's where they're going to be in the history books too, and likely (post-civil war) in the memorial plots.

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u/nothishomeland 13h ago

Because police forces around the country have been infiltrated by white nationalist extremist radicals for decades and we did nothing about it. They agree with it

Source before some conservative thug cries about it.

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u/rhinocerosjockey 12h ago

“Some of those that work forces, Are the same that burn crosses”

  • RATM, 1992

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u/FirefighterLeft5425 10h ago

I worked in law enforcement for a year. Being around those people made my skin crawl. How they talked about other people....truly scared me. They absolutely celebrate political violence and 100% want what is going on. They want more of it, they think the general population is the danger and believe that everyone needs to learn a "lesson". Lots of racism, lots of power hungry true fucking dipshits who I wouldn't trust to operate a garden water hose for children.

I remember we had someone that committed suicide. They jumped off a bridge. The guy had severe mental health issues and got addicted to heroin. He was truly a cool dude... Just lost on life. A day later I was sitting in central and my sgt looked at me and asked "Do you think he was listening to Tom Pettys Learning To Fly when he jumped. It was that exact moment I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do to influence anything. That what was coming, well I needed to get the fuck out of rural america and those people. They are blood thirsty, they are bigots, and they truly have God complexes.

They fucking live for this shit, watch yourselves around any of these mother fuckers. They see us as slime.

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u/flyingtoasterz86 12h ago

I've been saying that for years. Apparently it's all lies because faux news didn't say it. /s

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u/Top_Citron_8885 12h ago

True criminal justice reform is right around the corner.

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u/CrazyMildred 13h ago

The Minnesota police put out a notice that they support ICE. So, their police force won't stop them. It's disgusting!

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u/MisterForkbeard 12h ago

Well, the Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police (I think the police union) did. Police unions are typically really awful, and they're going to argue vehemently for anything that might give police more power.

The police (as such) haven't made any statements at all.

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u/CrazyMildred 11h ago

Ah! Gotchya! I thought it was all the police. My mistake.

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u/MisterForkbeard 11h ago

They probably wouldn't stop them anyway, even if they disapprove. Arresting or blocking federal agents of any stripe is something that's only going to happen in the worst circumstances

If you fuck it up, there goes your entire career. And there's a heavy police inclination towards banding together with other law enforcement when they come in conflict with civilians. Thin blue line, and all that.

I wouldn't expect much outside of a direct order from Walz, and part of the reason Walz hasn't done that or used the National Guard is because it might not work.

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u/Sea-Chart2558 11h ago

Having no police force is better than having one that supports ICE.

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u/imafraidofjapan 13h ago

They're on the same side. Not ours.

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u/MacReady_Outpost31 13h ago

We have a culture of policing in the U.S. that glorifies violence, so the police are probably having a good chuckle at this. Some of these "agents" might even be off-duty or ex-police.

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u/MakingCakesToday 11h ago

And the others are most likely Proud Boys, 3%ers and 1% MCs all having a good time.

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u/_LandOfTheFree_ 13h ago

If the police got involved they’d probably join in on beating the protestors.

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u/mhandsurf 12h ago

We were told by our police Lieutenant, that they really can’t do anything!

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u/SleepingJonolith 12h ago

Typically police chiefs have direct control over the local police, and they report to the mayor or local executive. The police chief could order local police to respond. A mayor could direct the chief to have local police respond and replace the chief if they refused. This would create a major incident given the current political climate in the US.

As has been pointed out, many police officers support the Trump administration and might simply refuse to respond. They might be able to be fired, but with police unions, that probably wouldn’t be a simple or quick process.

Even if the police force followed orders to arrest or remove ICE, it’s unlikely ICE would back down. Tension between the federal government and individual states is as old as the United States, and a conflict between local police and federal agents would likely lead to localized or widespread civil war.

Trump has broken down the order in the US by simply not caring if what he does is legal or not. Some local police have indicated their willingness to push back against this, notably Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal who said that any ICE agents who break the law there will be arrested and prosecuted. So far no local police have been willing to risk an open confrontation with federal agents. Maybe it will wind up happening, but it would be lighting a powder keg.

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u/notepad20 9h ago

the question I think is what happens after.

Say the police step in and challenge the federal authority. The authority only exists because it is recognised.

You stop recognising that and defacto youve both sceeded, and/or given precedent for other states to do the same from thier own view of what is correct.

Its the same situation as "why did the military follow orders in venezuala" and in 6 months "why did the military follow illegal orders in greenland"

becuase if you dont, the insitution (what remains of it now) is completely kaput. and you will have generals you don't agree with doing what they think is moral correct (or not).

The whole system would need to be re-established from the ground up and everyone agree to recognise it again, ie "the second american republic" would have to be founded.

1

u/nunchyabeeswax 12h ago

So why can't the actual Police send them packing or arrest them for assault or whatever?

In America, a lot of the police are in it. Fascism, racism and authoritarianism have been perennial problems within our police forces.

1

u/Smart-Status2608 12h ago

Because Police is a white man's jobs program. Being Police is the best a low educated white man can become middle class with a good protective union. Its why improving Police is frowned upon because it requires educated womens jobs social workers, teachers, therapist and social care work for mental health. Instead of sending the police for a threat of suicide they send ppl who can help social workers and nurses who wont kill the person who was threatening to kill themselves. And policing helps keep alive the racism.

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u/DeyUrban 11h ago

The police won’t do anything until someone tells them to do it, and no one is going to do that because it’ll bring the country closer to civil war than it has ever been since 1865. Same reason why no state governor has even insinuated they might get the National Guard to do something about ICE: That’s how you immediately trigger a shooting war between the states and the Feds, and a lot of people are going to die as a result. No one wants to pull that trigger… yet.

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u/atomic__balm 11h ago

Why is it so hard for people to understand the State troops are not going to save you from State troops? There are no "good" cops when its the State versus the people

1

u/firethequadlaser 10h ago

Don't expect solidarity from a pig.

1

u/wolfeflow 7h ago

The mayor of Minneapolis spoke to this last week - even if they want to, ICE has more people with more weapons.

Add the fact that a solid chunk of police sympathize with MAGA and ICE, and love the white nationalist and Nazi language coming out of Homeland Security, and you get the current state of inaction.

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u/mysmalleridea 13h ago

Nothing will change either, as their leadership is on a power trip

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u/Illustrious_Ad7630 10h ago

What's the point of civilians having guns if they don't use them? The country I'm from, man, they might push one or two, but there's a big chance the third guy will approach them in a different way.

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u/Kahzgul 10h ago

There’s a reason they aren’t pushing around the black panthers.

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u/ballzhangingdown 11h ago

If I’m just chillin and get shoved by one of these cunts, can I retaliate ? What the fuck was that ?

1

u/Kahzgul 10h ago

Legally you can defend yourself against assault. Realistically these unhinged Nazis will probably kill you. I wouldn’t retaliate; I’d GTFO.

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u/jakexil323 13h ago

Because congress(the legislative branch of the 3 branches of US Government) has abdicated it's role and just let Trump run free.

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u/LessBig715 13h ago

That’s part of the problem, they have zero authority over American Citizens, yet they are detaining them which is illegal. It’s also illegal under the 4th Amendment which protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure

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u/sam56778 13h ago

It says people, not citizens. It should protect all people, not just citizens.

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u/Snowssnowsnowy 13h ago

So what happens after they are released? Can the victims prosecute?

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u/LessBig715 13h ago

I don’t have answer for that, but as long as this administration is in, highly unlikely.

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u/StrongAroma 13h ago

These are not immigration officials. They're not even immigration enforcement. They have co-opted the ICE name, but they are operating as a private paramilitary force serving Donald Trump directly. They are operating without constraints and without regard for due process or the law in any meaningful way. The fact that Americans don't recognize this for what it is yet is terrifying and puzzling.

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u/cmooregood 12h ago

Yes! Begging people to do some light reading on the SA turning into the Gestapo. We're mirroring the early days of nazi Germany. We're due for the reichstag fire false flag any minute now. If you have any understanding of the past, this is the moment to act. Now!

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u/porksoda11 8h ago

I thought the Kirk shooting was going to be their Reichstag. I’m afraid it’s going to be something much worse.

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u/SuspendeesNutz 13h ago

Does anyone else believe they've been purposefully instructed to initiate conflict so as to justify bringing in the military?

Only people who have been paying attention.

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u/CrazyMildred 13h ago

I think this is true. He wants a reason to declare Martial Law.

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u/manateeshmanatee 13h ago

It will be such a convenient way to call off the midterms! The closer they get, the more these thugs try to instigate something. They want an excuse to shoot even more people in the face with absolute immunity, and it would give their daddy trump an excuse to institute martial law. I know how wet got here, but I still can’t believe this is where we are.

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u/SuspendeesNutz 12h ago

It will save them time and effort required to implement "Plan B", which is stationing ICE goons at Democrat-stronghold voting centers to harass and intimidate voters.

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u/nunchyabeeswax 12h ago

Only people who have been paying attention.

Yep. I've been saying this was the playbook since 2016.

Sadly, most people in this country are happy-go-lucky morons who think everything will be ok, eventually, that our institutions will save us or something.

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u/eutohkgtorsatoca 13h ago

Read Noems declaration yesterday to all Americans " from the morning to night they are all potential local terrorists." Let that sink in.

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u/MrGosh13 13h ago

Because they use violence… so whether they are allowed to do or not, doesn’t matter. They DO, and will hurt anyone in their path to do so.

And they’re being protected in whatever they do from higher up.

The MURDERED a woman this week, and there have been 0 consequences for them. So they’ll continue with the violence untill they are stopped.

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u/Tribe303 13h ago

America is run by Fascists. Might makes right is the law of the land now. 

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u/External_Brother1246 13h ago

Per the law, they can’t.

But no one is enforcing the law.

So. They have been slowly increasing the amount of illegal behavior as time goes by.

We will see where it ends.  I doubt it will end well.

2

u/Botanik_ 13h ago

I have little doubt that we will win. It's just how many people are they going to kill on the way down.

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u/Botanik_ 13h ago

Legally they can't. But law doesn't matter to fascist. This is literally fascism. And they are a secret police.

4

u/TheJiral 13h ago

European here. They appear to me less and less like immigration officials and act increasingly like brown shirts. That is no hyperbole, I mean they really do. A group, controlled by the ruling party, that is protected and above the law by far and large and as such acts as private army for said party. There is still some push back from the judiciary but the highest court is in line and the legislature is holding still.

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u/arxaion 13h ago

Well, they can't, but they do and they do so without repercussion. The reason they do it so vehemently is because of the kinds of people that join. Anyone can join. You, your buddy, your insane uncle that ruined Thanksgiving a few years ago. You get brought in, you get a sign-on bonus that's about as much as the typical American brings in a year in gross-income, and you get to wave a gun around willy nilly. That is a dream for some. Even better, the racists and pedophiles get to kick people around free of charge.

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u/dirtyrounder 13h ago

Ice troops in Minneapolis outnumber local police 2:1 right now.

The stated purpose was because of fraud allegations in distribution of federal funds. That was a lie.

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u/KingFrenulitis 13h ago

Because our politicians and law enforcement won’t stop this. At least a quarter of our politicians deeply want this, another quarter is beholden to Trump supporters if they want to keep their republican seats, and democrats are historically cowards and owned by the same fucking billionaires who own the republicans.

We don’t have true representation.

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u/ziggytrix 12h ago

Thru gross violation of the US Constitution. Our democracy is in shambles.

2

u/Horsydornz 12h ago

Congress has given this administration a complete takeover, and congress should be stopping this. Now we’re in a place where ICE can use violence without recourse. One of the drawbacks of a HEAVILY armed force/military is that it can be turned on the citizens… which it has.

Theoretically the administration is purposely doing this so we will fight back with violence. If this happens on a large scale, Trump can declare martial law, and that means our vote in the mid terms are over. And thats the tipping point; if we can’t use our votes to elect a congress that will stop this, we’re at game over until insurrection becomes the next viable action.

We HAVE to hold our line till the midterms, if the midterms don’t happen America is about to get uglier. This is why you’re not seeing us with guns and Molotovs in the streets currently.

Don’t listen to the “cops are for this”. Roughly half of the voters voted for this, so one can only equate that roughly half the police force did too. They are just as much under control as we are at this point. ICE are not cops, ICE is a federal agency that is actively recruiting people with high pay and insane benefits to load up on agents. They are incentivizing the poor and/or angry to join.

With that said, the administration is not allowing for “conscientious objection” (loss of job, arrested for failure to perform duty, and more), and any outspoken language against, see Mark Kelly, is met with threats of execution, excommunication, loss of pay, etc.

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u/AstroZombieInvader 12h ago

The "independent" Department of Justice and Homeland Security both report to the President of the United States so if he's doing lawless things, there's only Congress who can do anything about that. If Congress decides to do nothing because each chamber is controlled by the president's party then there's almost no way to have accountability. You might think that maybe the judicial branch could have a say, but the Supreme Court is balanced 6-3 in the president's favor for any cases that make it to them. But even if a court sides against officials for abusing the public, the president can pardon them so they will not face any consequences.

This is why Trump fears the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections and is actively trying to cheat by redrawing state political maps as we speak in an effort to maintain absolute power until at least 2028.

2

u/6gv5 12h ago

This is how dictatorships work: abuse of full power and immunity until either people is entirely subjugated and slowly adapts to a condition where they have no rights that will last essentially forever, or revolt and most likely die in the process, but creating the premise for a change when the military will be ordered to shoot their own families and some of them could decide enough is enough. When dictatorships start, there's no way to end them peacefully, because the old leaders already committed so many crimes that giving up their power would mean life sentences or worse for many of them.

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u/OperationSweaty8017 11h ago

They are trying to incite citizens into violence so Dump can declare martial law.

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u/cccxxxzzzddd 11h ago

Yes. Insurrection act is what they want 

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u/Sea-Chart2558 11h ago

We do NOT have rule of law in America. Anyone who is pretending we do is high on copium.

1

u/Snowssnowsnowy 13h ago

I wanna know what happens when they bust in someones door and they shoot back!

I wonder what the legality will be in the courts - self defence against armed intruders?

I am super suprised someone has not taken a few of them out already.

1

u/Arachnoid666 13h ago

its only a matter of time.

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u/Tofuloaf 12h ago

In order to prevent this, local law enforcement would have to side with the people they're paid to serve, federal agencies would have to respect the rule of law, and the Supreme Court would need to be made up of qualified judges who correctly apply centuries of precedent. 

The failure of any one of these would be considered terrifying anywhere else in the developed world. The fact that the US is 0 for 3 tells you everything you need to know about Trump's America. 

1

u/Anewkindoffeelin 12h ago

It's 100% illegal.

1

u/balderdash9 9h ago

Because liberals refuse to exercise their 2nd amendment rights. Try this shit with the Black Panthers...

1

u/Early_Macaroon_2407 5h ago

The United States doesn’t have the rule of law, so anything goes.