Amanda Marcotte writes:

The videos pouring out of Minnesota onto social media right now are horrific, showing both ICE and Border Patrol agents acting like the Gestapo by assaulting peaceful people with impunity and suggesting that they will kill more people if residents don’t submit.

But time and again, those videos also show reason for hope: Ordinary people are refusing to comply. They film Noem’s secret police, blowing whistles and making a fuss, even as those masked cowards attack them. They calmly reply, camera in hand, “Go to church,” as ICE officers bellow violent threats at them. Crowds gather and run ICE agents off — just by being peaceful but annoying. In one incident, a woman at home with her baby gives sanctuary to her DoorDash driver, yelling at officers outside that she will not open the door until they return with a warrant.

My heart went out to the man who said, on behalf of a beaten and terrified teenager, “We got to be able to call somebody.” But by being there — by helping the kid and documenting the incident — he’s doing what needs to be done.

Institutions are failing us. The FBI is thoroughly corrupted, more interested in covering up ICE crimes than fighting crime. Local Democratic officials are trying, but they are hamstrung by bureaucratic red tape and the slow-moving court system. The business class is too worried about infuriating a vindictive president to stand up for their workers and customers. Institutions are proving to be inadequate to face down the fascist threat.

People are realizing that the only heroes coming to save us are us: regular folks in their leggings and puffer jackets, armed only with iPhones and understanding that we are Americans, and we do not put up with this. It’s unfair that it has to be this way, that so many of the elites are unwilling to give back by sticking their necks out. And it’s incredibly unfair that Renee Good is dead, that her wife is a widow and her son an orphan. It shouldn’t have to be this way.

But the good news is that normal people have far more power than they often think. Good has become a genuine martyr, inspiring people and making them realize that they can make a significant contribution with the power of a camera phone and a red beanie cap. She set out to help her neighbors that day and ended up shocking a nation — hopefully into waking up to the fact that yes, this is fascism, and no, it’s not “Trump derangement syndrome” to say so. [Continue reading…]