Lessons from Minneapolis: Barack Obama

 Barack Obama. Skip the ads. Start at the beginning. 

https://youtu.be/uI-hgSE5QIw?si=yigxYGaslNidzXpH

Lessons from Minneapolis : Sanders

Sisters and brothers - 

The national TV cameras are largely gone from Minneapolis now. 

If the Department of Homeland Security keeps its word (maybe they will, maybe they won’t) the ICE army will soon be withdrawn from the city. 

But one thing remains certain. The pain and psychic trauma for that community continues.

Earlier this week, I met with a number of Minnesotans from different immigration activist groups in the state including teachers, union members and faith leaders.

They told me about the fear instilled in the children. Car windows being smashed by lawless ICE agents. Helicopters flying above creating a war zone environment. Hard-working parents being dragged off. Two innocent people murdered in cold blood.

I heard stories about masked federal agents kicking down doors without court orders and sending 5-year-old children to detention centers. 

I heard stories about people being picked out of their homes, their workplaces and their schools while people who tried to help were being stalked and threatened. 

I heard stories about children afraid to leave their houses and a school teacher who told me that kids are not showing up at school for fear of being detained. In fact, there are countless kids who went hungry as a result of missing school lunch programs. 

I learned that more than 3,000 people have been detained in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and many of their own families do not even know where they are.

That’s the very bad news created by Trump’s so-called “immigration policy” and implemented by his domestic ICE army.

The good news is that grassroots organizations in Minnesota came together with an extraordinary sense of solidarity, fought back and inspired the nation. They created a political reality which forced Trump (for the moment at least) to tone down his policies and his rhetoric.

Now, the brave people in the Minneapolis area are beginning to rebuild their lives and their communities. And these grassroots organizations, who have been on the front line fighting against Trump’s authoritarianism and brutality, need our help. 

So I am asking you to make a contribution to Friends of Bernie Sanders today. Every single dollar we raise from this fundraiser will be distributed to grassroots organizations in Minnesota who are fighting for justice and are helping the families impacted by Trump's raids - the hungry kids, the scared parents, and all those who are struggling at this difficult time.

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What Trump has done in Minnesota is repellent to the American people in every single way. People in this country want democracy and justice, not authoritarianism.

People want investments in schools, education, and affordable housing -- not a domestic army invading and occupying cities across our nation. 

Now is the time to stand together with those in need and provide a helping hand. 

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

 

Public Sector Unions Respond to ICE/Minneapolis Murders

Across the country, federal immigration agents are targeting students, families, patients and entire communities. The recent killings of U.S. citizens and cruel actions taken against children in Minnesota make it clear that this is about this administration’s intimidation, not an immigration policy debate.

Tomorrow, Jan. 28, please join the AFT and Share My Lesson for a special webinar, “Immigration Enforcement: A Nation at Risk,” at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

This administration rescinded long-standing guidance on protected sensitive locations that previously limited immigration enforcement actions in places such as schools, hospitals and houses of worship, spaces that must remain centers of learning, healing and refuge.

The erosion of these protections, combined with an intensified deportation and enforcement agenda, is fueling fear, destabilizing classrooms, deterring families from seeking medical care, and undermining trust in essential public institutions.

This webinar will examine the current state of immigration enforcement, the implications of these policy shifts, and what they mean in practice for educators, healthcare workers, students and families. It will also highlight the AFT’s response and resources, and showcase how our locals are showing up at this moment to keep schools, healthcare facilities and community spaces free from immigration enforcement, fear and trauma.

Click here to register for tomorrow’s webinar.

I’ll be on the call along with AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and expert speakers from the AFT, AFL-CIO, American Civil Liberties Union, League of United Latin American Citizens, Make the Road New York, Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, and Professional Staff Congress. It’s an incredible lineup of speakers.

We’re looking forward to discussing what we can do to ensure that schools, hospitals and communities are places of care, not fear.

We know many of our members and supporters are dealing with challenging weather conditions on top of all that’s going on in your personal and professional lives, but we hope you can join us for tomorrow’s webinar.

In solidarity,
Randi Weingarten

AFT President 

This is un-American Liam Conejo Ramos

 

This week in Minnesota, ICE agents took a 5-year-old boy named Liam Conejo Ramos from his driveway after he came home from preschool.

 

Let that sink in: A 5-year-old boy. In his own driveway. After a day of preschool. According to school officials, agents pulled the child from his father's still-running vehicle, walked him to the door of his home, and made him knock—using a kindergartner as bait to see if anyone else was inside.

 

When another adult begged the agents to let them care for the child, they refused. Instead, they took Liam and his father. The boy's middle school-aged brother came home to find them both gone.

 

Liam is now being held in a detention center in Texas – 1,500 miles from home. His family has an active asylum case with no order of deportation. His preschool teacher says he "comes to class every day and brightens the room."

 

This child is five years old.

 

Armed federal agents are stalking school buses. Using children as bait. Separating families who are following legal asylum processes. Creating terror in American communities.

 

This is not normal. This is not American. And this cannot stand.

 

We can stop this; if we work together.

Man Killed in Minneapolis was holding a cell phone: Not a gun !

 Minneapolis Live Updates: Man Killed by Federal Agents Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun

Videos analyzed by The New York Times appear to contradict federal accounts of the shooting. The man, an I.C.U. nurse, was an American citizen with no criminal record, the city police chief said.

New York Times. 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us/minneapolis-shooting-ice

Videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning.

The Department of Homeland Security said the episode began after a man “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and they tried to disarm him. The statement did not specify whether the gun was in the man’s hands or merely on his body.

Footage shows Mr. Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him. 

This is what the videos show, according to a Times analysis:

A small group of protesters stands in the street, speaking to a federal agent as whistles sound. Mr. Pretti appears to be filming the scene with his phone and directing traffic. Video

02

Mr. Pretti, wearing brown, is filming with his cellphone when agents approach then bring him to the ground.

An agent begins shoving the demonstrators, and squirts pepper spray at their faces. 

At this moment, Mr. Pretti has both hands clearly visible. One is holding his phone, while he holds the other up to protect himself from pepper spray. He moves to help one of the protesters who was sprayed, as other agents approach and pull him from behind.

Several agents tussle with Mr. Pretti before bringing him to his knees. He appears to resist as the agents grab his legs, push down on his back and strike him repeatedly.

The footage shows an agent approaching with empty hands and grabbing at Mr. Pretti as the others hold him down.

About eight seconds after he is pinned, agents yell that he has a gun, indicating that they may not have known he was armed until he was on the ground.

The same agent who approached with empty hands pulls a gun from among the group that appears to match the profile of a firearm DHS said belonged to Mr. Pretti. 

The agents appear to have him under their control, with his arms pinned near his head.

As the gun emerges from the melee, another agent aims his own firearm at Mr. Pretti’s back and appears to fire one shot at close range. He then appears to continue firing at Mr. Pretti, who collapses.

A third agent unholsters a weapon. Both agents appear to fire additional shots into Mr. Pretti as he lies motionless.

In total, at least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds.