Tag Archives: Minneapolis

What Manner of Country Will We Be?

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[Guest Post By Dina Ruden]

With just 72 hours’ notice, more than 700 people from nine denominations and 40 different religious organizations throughout the country, representing tens of millions of followers, convened in Washington DC on January 29, answering an urgent call to take a moral stand against unjust and dangerous immigration enforcement actions. Many of the religious leaders came from Minneapolis to share powerful stories from their communities under occupation and the trauma and terror facing their neighbors.

These hundreds of faith leaders gathered to demand that Congress give no money to DHS, get ICE out of our communities, and require accountability for the multiple injuries and deaths already incurred at the hands of the Department of Homeland Security.

The day started in song and fellowship at the historic Lutheran Church of the Reformation in the shadow of the Capitol building. The audience: Catholic nuns, Lutheran ministers, Muslim Imans, Evangelicals, Buddhists, Rabbis, Hindus, Humanists and others of faith. “Nudge your neighbor and say: ‘Thank God you’re here.’” We did.

In a prayer service that was to be followed by a day of lobbying and an act of civil disobedience, dozens of religious leaders shared their shock, outrage, sorrow as well as messages of hope and a brighter future.

Regardless of who or how they worship, the themes resonated with everyone in attendance.

  • All are our neighbors, and we should treat them as we want to be treated.
  • The dangers throughout history of othering and oppressing our neighbors.
  • This is not just a political crisis, but a spiritual one
  • Faith demands action when lives are on the line.
  • Justice is not an abstract idea, but a moral obligation.
  • We are not going to meet hatred with hatred.
  • As matters of our religious faith, we hold sacred the belief that love lies at the center of all we do.
  • Love is the most powerful force for change and healing in the universe

Imam Yusuf Abdulle, executive director of the Islamic Association of North America, described the harassment of the Minneapolis Somali community, including the elderly and the disabled, and, in a voice choked with emotion, stated, “We are not garbage,” referencing a previous comment by President Donald Trump.

Rev. Jen Nagel, a bishop with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Minnesota, talked about beauty and devastation. The beauty of neighbors loving and caring for each other in this time of crisis: watching over schools, providing medical care, delivering groceries to those afraid to leave home. And the devastation: “What is happening in Minnesota across the state is cruel, and it’s unjust, barbaric, unconstitutional, damning, and is the farthest thing from love thy neighbor that I can imagine.”

“Since when are people in this country required to carry a passport to walk the streets safely?, she asked.

Unitarian Universalist Association President Rev. Sofia Betancourt was pragmatic:

“We know that as unsexy as it is, budgets are moral documents. There is no moral justification, none, in voting for a budget that will put more resources toward the violent dehumanization of our people.”

For that reason, she said, the religious leaders are asking for:

  • An immediate stop to all ICE activities
  • For ICE to leave Minnesota and communities across the country
  • Full transparency and immediate accountability for all those involved, including their supervisors, in recent violence and killings.

In a particularly moving moment, Sr. Carol Zinn, SSJ, Executive Director of Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), asked those from Minnesota to stand up, which they did.

Then she asked again: “Who here is from Minnesota?” And the entire congregation stood up. And then, “Who here is from Ukraine?” Again, everyone stood.

And finally, “Who here is from Gaza?” A reminder that we are all one family, and all children are our children.

Two US Senators, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks and Sen. Chris Coons, who holds a divinity degree, addressed the crowd preparing them to meet with members of the Senate.

Just after Sen. Coons announced (to cheers) that a deal had been struck in the Senate to separate DHS funding from the other appropriations bills, the group ascended to the Hill to make their case against DHS funding and for accountability.

Following meetings with members of Congress and media interviews, many members of the group staged a peaceful sit-in resulting in dozens of arrests of religious leaders by Capitol Police. You can watch the religious leaders and people of faith “praying with their feet” and putting their bodies on the line for their neighbors here. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1257345579638709

This past year, and especially these last few weeks, I have felt a deep despair about what is happening to the country I love, watching everything I cherished and worked for my entire adult life being dismantled and desecrated:

  • A free press, the First Amendment and the right to speak truth to power
  • Union rights and the right of people to organize
  • A belief in science and medicine and protecting children against debilitating disease
  • The right to protest without fear of harm, retribution, or even death
  • The right to affordable healthcare
  • Respect and opportunity for everyone regardless of their race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation
  • The right for children to be cherished and protected
  • The expectation that when hundreds of young girls are abused by a cabal of rich white men that those men would to be brought to justice
  • Equal rights for women, bodily autonomy, and freedom from violence
  • The right to due process for citizens and noncitizens alike and the right to seek asylum
  • Respect for the earth and our natural world
  • A nation that exemplifies freedom and democracy, values its allies and seeks peace
  • And a president with integrity and dignity who sets an example for us all, seeks national unity, respects the Constitution and the rule of law, and focuses on public service over personal ambition.

I always believed that what made America great was our wonderful diversity, the fact that we were a cultural and religious mosaic of people bringing the beauty of their beliefs, their traditions and their labor together, embracing the idea of a better life for all.

The despair I felt the night before spending time with these people of faith was transformed to a deep love and replaced by a determination to do all I can to mobilize, protect my neighbors and pray with my feet in the battle for the soul of this great nation.

You can watch the entire vigil and press conference here:

https://www.facebook.com/FIAnational/videos/954478750268928

You can read the statement by DC Area Faith Leaders on Immigration Enforcement Actions here.

https://adw.org/news/26-01-statement-on-immigration-enforcement-actions/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPovPVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQZ0lzd0RxUFhTc2FKU2JQc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpH9ZZafy8jfwydLFR9nYj9hCLqylWNGmdstbkiTxe6QE2xHpVqzl_AbOAxZ_aem_3rOKwKPEZmnzSn8VLW2IVg

As one speaker said, a country is judged by how it treats its children (and I would add, the example we set for them) and asked, “What manner of country will we be?” That is the question we must now decide.

A Suggestion for the Governor of Minnesota

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An army of 3,000 federal “troops” under the command of the Secretary of Homeland Security and the President of the United States has entered your state, uninvited and allegedly for the purpose of removing persons whose presence in the United States is unlawful. These men typically wear masks to obscure their identity, are heavily armed and wear substantial protective gear. The labels on their uniforms typically say “ICE” and “Police.”

In the past few weeks these men have indiscriminately arrested and detained without explanation persons who were American citizens. They have violently entered homes and businesses to arrest individuals suspected, for unknown reasons, of unlawful presence in the country based on physical appearance and/or use of language. Their entries into homes and businesses typically are not based on judicially approved warrants authorizing searches of private property. Their leadership has asserted that they can, in effect, self-warrant, notwithstanding the clear language of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The inevitable result of these practices and the hostility of the people of Minnesota to them has been three shootings of Minneapolis residents, two of whom died. One was shot at least three times for the apparent offense of driving away after having been ordered to “get out of the f*cking car.” The other, a nurse, was shot at least seven times after being pepper sprayed and taken to the ground by a group of ICE agents, for the apparent offense of trying to protect a woman who was being assaulted by those ICE agents.

In both cases, as you are aware, the ICE leadership, including the President, have without the benefit of any forensic analysis immediately and publicly declared that these two people were terrorists intent upon doing serious bodily harm to the ICE agents on the scene. They have no evidence to support these claims. If they had to make those claims under oath, they would be guilty of perjury.

These tragedies are only the beginning. ICE believes it has full authority to do whatever it wants whenever it wants. ICE will clearly not abide any form of resistance to its demands, with the result that not only has it murdered two residents of Minneapolis, but it has harassed, arrested, detained, and almost certainly deported US citizens. It has violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution countless times. The lives of more Minneapolis residents are at serious risk.

Many words about these practices have been uttered by members of Congress and by you and other local authorities. None of them have changed anything. Nor will they. Unfortunately, more forceful action is required to bring an end to the unlawful occupation of the state by a federal force. Here is my suggestion.

First, you declare a state of emergency covering the entire state, based on the presence of an uninvited military force operating with the apparent approval and direct command of the Department of Homeland Security which force has murdered two Minnesota citizens and violated the U.S. Constitution in its dealings with those and other citizens of the city and state.

I understand you have activated the state National Guard under your direct command although its precise role is somewhat unclear. My proposal to you eliminates any ambiguities.

The declaration of emergency must order the ICE force to depart the state within some very brief period measured in hours rather than days, failing which they will be subject to arrest by the National Guard and such local law enforcement forces as are available to assist.

Given the state law on carrying arms, deputize as necessary any private citizens willing to serve and assist in the state’s effort to restore order and protect its citizens from unlawful detention by ICE.

Using the proper state procedures, you should initiate such legal processes as are appropriate to charge the ICE members who participated in the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti with murder in the first degree. Those same charges should be brought against the Secretary of Homeland Security and all other federal persons with line responsibility for the conduct of ICE personnel in Minnesota. I am fully aware of asserted limitations on the ability of the state to charge federal personnel with local crimes. Let the courts sort that out.

You and your advisors can work out the details of these recommendations to assure, to the maximum extent possible, that as little violence results as possible. It is, however, critically important that the state assert itself and bring to a prompt end the occupation of the state by an uninvited and out-of-control federal force that is willfully ignoring the Constitution and state and federal law, even to the extent of murdering state citizens.

I understand that one objection to my proposal will be the claim that the President will use the state’s resistance as a justification for invoking the Insurrection Act. If so, so be it. The use of ICE to deprive U.S. citizens of their rights cannot be allowed to continue. The President clearly does not believe he is bound by the Constitution. He has explicitly said so. Given the conduct of ICE in Minneapolis, it is time, indeed past time, to call the question and find out whether we will continue to have a democratic government or whether Trump and his Republican cronies will not run the country as the dictatorship he has promised.

 

Government Sanctioned Murder in Minneapolis

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I have written on a couple of other occasions about government use of deadly force against citizens. See, e.g., Kenosha – The Shooting of Jacob Blake https://shiningseausa.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1652&action=edit and When Do We Take a Stand? – Injustice in Georgia https://shiningseausa.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1517&action=edit

The specific situation in Minneapolis lacks the racial component of the other cases I have addressed but is no less troubling. Many words, including grotesque lies by the President and the head of Homeland Security, have already been devoted to trying to justify his actions as “self-defense.” I have looked at most, if not all, the videos of the events leading up to and the actual shooting, so I will not repeat the arguments on either side of those.

I am disturbed by aspects of the situation that have received little or no attention in the media or the hysterics about the “threat” to the ICE agent. Ultimately, despite the government’s efforts to tilt the story in favor of their agent, the truth will almost certainly come out. Sadly, getting there will exact a further emotional and financial price from the people who should not have to pay more than they already have.

My perspective:

I have no idea what was in the mind of Renee Good and her wife when Good parked her car across the path of travel on the street in Minneapolis. Some accounts indicate they were “heckling” the ICE agents. Others emphasize that Good was waiving other vehicles to pass by and that there was ample room to do so. ICE agent Ross’s own video, curiously using his personal cell phone, indicates Good was not engaged in a threatening move against ICE or trying to impede whatever work they were performing there.

That was true at least until ICE agents approached her vehicle and screamed at her: “get out of the f*cking car!” At that point it is reasonable to suppose that Good’s relatively relaxed demeanor would have changed. She would, reasonably, have felt threatened by the masked, armed men trying to force their way into her car. She may or may not have noticed that the ICE officer filming her while circling her car had arrived in front of the vehicle. Her wife was yelling for her to “drive, drive.” She reversed briefly, then turned the wheel to the right to enter the proper direction of travel on the one-way street.

Whether ICE agent Ross’s presence in front of her registered in Good’s mind will never be known.  But what can be known is whether attempting to drive away after suddenly being told in an angry and threatening voice, “get out of the f*cking car!” (while another masked/armed agent tried to force his way into her car) constituted a crime punishable by death. I have seen some attempts to make that case, but they all fail miserably on both the facts and the law.

It is entirely reasonable to believe that the sudden change in circumstances led to a degree of panic. Ms. Good’s worse crimes were, (1) failure to obey an ICE agent’s order to open her door and step out of the car, an order delivered in an angry and threatening tone; she likely had seen what has happened to many other people who obeyed angry orders to “get out of the f*cking car; and (2) attempting to escape a lawful arrest (although no ICE agent ever said “you are under arrest” and based on events leading up to that moment, her self-assessment of the situation could well have been, “they’re just after me for blocking traffic; I’ll just leave”).

So, she tries to drive away. Agent Ross has positioned himself off her left front and has, apparently anticipating that she is not going to get out of the car, switches his cell phone to his left hand and draws his Glock 9 mm pistol, firing three shots, one through the front window and two through the still-open driver side window. At the range involved, Ross can only intend and expect that his firing will result in mortal wounds to Renee Good.

A physician offers to provide aid to her and is rejected in favor of ICE medics who don’t arrive for several more critical minutes. Would the immediate medical help have saved her? We will never know.

And what of ICE agent Ross? Was he struck by Good’s car? Opinions differ. My assessment is that he managed to avoid meaningful contact with Good’s left front fender. The government says otherwise. It claims Ross, despite his being heavily protected by vests and other items, suffered internal bleeding requiring medical treatment in a hospital, though no corroborating records have been released.

What I know is this: in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Ross was filmed walking briskly and unaided, and in no apparent distress, up the street. Someone off camera apparently said or shouted something at him, and he waived them off with his right hand, then adjusted his mask as he continued up the street. The video has apparently been taken down.

Given the government’s rush to vindicate Ross and make him the victim in this situation, the video of his walk back from Good’s car suggests, though it does not prove, that the government’s claim that he shot Good in self-defense is a false claim. His demeanor walking away from Good’s car is that of someone fully satisfied with himself and his conduct.

Obviously, much process and evidence is yet to be developed before final conclusions can be drawn. One thing seems clear, though: the manner in which ICE officers conduct themselves is almost certain to lead to more unnecessary deaths. I believe that what happened to Renee Good in Minneapolis was unnecessary and entirely avoidable if the ICE agents on the scene had behaved responsibly. The last update to the use of force policy at DHS/ICE was promulgated in 2023 and as best I can tell, it still governs the use of force by ICE officers. If so, Officer Ross violated that policy in multiple ways that led to the unnecessary death of Renee Good. Right now, her killing surely looks like murder.

 

 

May I Remind You

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I just published a long piece about the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police. As I wrote it, another story kept emerging in my thoughts, a true story from my distant past.

It was 1968. April 5. A nice warm spring day in Washington DC, where I worked as a newly-minted trial lawyer at the Civil Aeronautics Board. The CAB offices were in a building at Connecticut Avenue just below the Washington Hilton. My then wife worked some blocks downtown for an association. Typical Washington jobs.

We got the news the previous day that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis, the city where I grew up from age 2 to age 17 when I left for college. Washington was in flames, we were told, and the government was closing. I made my way downtown, leaving my car, a Volkswagen, parked on a sidewalk and walked to my wife’s office. Everyone was confused. There was no internet, no Google, no good way to find out “breaking news” that is now a staple of our daily existence. The rioting had started the evening before but there was no up-to-the-minute news. So, we watched the scene unfolding outside at a major downtown intersection. Gridlock. Total gridlock. No one moving. Horns honking. People shouting at each other from their cars. Panic.

I took a glass of scotch and walked down to the middle of the intersection, threading my way carefully through the cars. I wore my customary work clothes, a vested suit, as was common in those days. I put my drink down in the dead center of the intersection and became a traffic cop. I began “ordering” cars to wait before entering the intersection. Most drivers, though not all, obeyed, and a semblance of order began to emerge from the chaos.

Every so often a car would stop in passing by me, roll down the window and a frantic person, always white, would look out at me and yell “Thank you, oh thank God for you.” I didn’t know what to say except “you’re welcome.” The scene was totally surreal.

White people were fleeing the city by the tens of thousands. Some crying. I could see the smoke from the 7th Street NW and 14th Street NW corridors, just three blocks from where I stood and could smell the acrid odor. For whatever reason, I was not afraid, but fear was all around me. I suspected that those people thought the black people burning Washington were going to come after them if they didn’t get out of town quickly.

The aftermath is well known. One of the major reactive themes was, “those people are crazy because they burned their own businesses.” It was true. Many black-owned businesses in the area were savaged in the rioting. The rage was simply that – rage – and the rioters took it out on what was near them, their own businesses and even homes.

Crazy? Perhaps, but that’s what rage does. White people seem to think that rage should somehow be rational, in the way that a professional boxing match is rational – people fighting by agreement over a prize, winner-take-all. But, of course, that is not rage. That is just business. Rage is something else altogether, and we’re seeing it in Minneapolis and many other cities across the country. We should not be surprised.

My story ended quite simply and quietly. A relatively young police officer appeared out of the chaos surrounding the intersection. He was black, as were many members of the Washington police force. He walked toward me slowly, carefully. I thought, “great, reinforcements.” I looked at him and he looked at me, the anger etched in his face. He was in no mood to have a friendly chat with the white stranger doing a policeman’s job in a scene of total chaos. I don’t recall exactly what I said, but I think I tried to smile and asked if he was going to stay. He said something about taking over and I picked up my drink and backed out of the intersection. He had no time or further interest in me. I understood then and understand now why that was so.

I can still see his face. He was in control of his anger, but it was obvious how conflicted he was to have been ordered to help these hysterical, panicked white people flee the city that was burning just down the road. I suspect he came from that direction, knew what was happening but was here now to do his duty, despite his personal pain and despair.

I confess I was glad to get back inside. But I will never forget the way that young black policeman looked at me. He felt no sense of thanks for me having helped out, no empathy, and I didn’t expect otherwise. I can’t begin to imagine the depth of his suffering even as he continued to do the duty he had sworn to perform.

The coda to the story is that there were mass arrests of protestors and rioters alike. A call went out for lawyers to come downtown to the courthouse to help process and represent those huge number of detained people, many of whom were innocent of any wrongdoing. My good friend and officemate at the CAB and I decided to volunteer. We drove into Washington that evening, passing military guards on the Key Bridge. Soldiers were stationed in the doors of businesses on M Street in Georgetown. Machine gun emplacements were visible on the lawn of the White House. Ultimately, we were rejected by the administrators of the court on grounds that as federal employees we had a conflict of interest in representing individuals charged with federal crimes. We drove home. The rioting lasted for four days.

And here we are again. Fifty-two years later. Same story. Again. And again.

Déjà vu All Over Again – We’ve Learned Nothing

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Minneapolis burns. Los Angeles. Memphis, Louisville. Others.

A police officer in full view of multiple people, including store surveillance cameras, calmly kills an unarmed, non-resisting person accused of trying to pass a fake $20 bill. The unarmed, non-resisting man is a big man, imposing stature, but not resisting. His hands are in cuffs behind his back. The police officer forces him to the ground on his face, or maybe he sits down on his own. Maybe he said something offensive or even threatening. So what? He is cuffed and defenseless. The officer places a knee on the man’s neck. The man complains “I can’t breathe.” Multiple times. The officer ignores him. The other three officers on the scene ignore him. Witnesses plead with the police to check the man, but they are ignored. The man stops breathing. Still the police officer sits on his neck. The man dies.

The man dies in the presence and under the complete control of FOUR ARMED POLICE OFFICERS EQUIPPED WITH PEPPER SPRAY, TASERS, CLUBS, SIDEARMS. IF the man said something threatening to the officer OR IF the man did “resist” by passively dropping to the ground, under what police procedure and training did one of the four officers to think that the appropriate response was to sit on the man’s neck until he died? Is it even conceivable that police procedure condones this practice? Anywhere in the United States?

The prosecutor goes on TV and says there is “other evidence” indicating no crime was committed. What evidence? No comment. Why, then, did the prosecutor think it was a good idea to tell everyone he already had doubts about what virtually every non-racist person on the planet believed was almost certainly a crime – the deliberate taking of a life without justification under color of authority? Again.

All four of the officers have been fired so they are not among the strike force of hundreds of police now sent to suppress the, surprise, rioting and looting that have broken out in the wake of yet another “good people on both sides” scenario. The police use tear gas, pepper spray, fire hoses, among other things, against the crowds of enraged protestors.

Many people who were silent in the immediate aftermath of the video releases that at least raised a presumption that a police officer had, for the how-manyieth-time, killed an unarmed, non-resisting black person have come out clutching their pearls over the terrible rioting and looting. Sure, there may have been a problem with the police conduct – maybe, who knows, there could be an explanation, let’s wait for all the evidence, don’t jump to conclusions –but rioting and looting? Outrageous. Taking property? Unacceptable. Must meet force with force. Law and order. Restore peace by whatever means. Call out the National Guard.

And if you’re the president of the United States, what do you do? Well, our current president calls people names, threatens to “take control” with the military and “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Here is part of Trump’s actual message:

These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!

You don’t need a degree in linguistics to get the president’s message: “I will declare martial law and I approve of the National Guard/military shooting protesters who are rioting and looting. That’ll show ‘em who’s the boss.”

The victim here was a black man named George Floyd. His name joins the pantheon of unarmed black people killed by police in circumstances where other means of addressing the “situation” were readily available. Often the “situation” is really just that a black or brown-skinned person was involved. Involved in the sense of just being there. Despite the availability of other options, the police in these cases chose the lethal option. It’s not an accident. It’s a choice. And in virtually every case, the police are exonerated. There have been a few exceptions, but precious few.

The officer who killed George Floyd had 18 complaints on his record. One of the other four had six complaints and was involved in a settled lawsuit alleging use of excessive force among other things. https://cnn.it/2M8R3mm

All four officers in the present case have been fired. Fine, but not enough. Not even close. They will no doubt face civil suits whether or not the City of Minneapolis takes action against them. Why they are still at large is unknown and inexplicable on the known facts. Reminds us of the initial reaction of authorities in Georgia to the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. The “there is other evidence” position of the prosecutor is very close, too close, to “good people on both sides,” the president’s unsubtle endorsement of the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville. The mind boggles at the thinking behind the prosecutor making such a statement while refusing to describe the evidence. But, rest assured, he will study this case really hard and be sure the law is followed. Rest assured.

While you’re waiting for the prosecutor, think about this. What would the operative difference be if, instead of kneeling on Floyd’s neck, the policeman had rolled him over, pinning his cuffed hands under his body, sat on his chest and choked him to death with his fingers? Any real difference?

The Minnesota GOP had plenty to say about the beaches being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but I can’t find anything they have had to say about the killing of George Floyd. No doubt, they are “extremely concerned” that there has been violence and property loss. They likely joined the Trump-led GOP chorus of outrage at Colin Kaepernick peacefully protesting by kneeling at a football game during the playing of the National Anthem. They can’t have it both ways. Peaceful protest – Noooo! Riots and looting – Noooo! The real message, obvious to me and others, is, “don’t be black.”

As a society, if that term still applies, we appear to have learned nothing. Armed racists threaten legislators over pandemic lockdown and masking policies, and no one lifts a finger. Police are expected, and do, stand in rows while being screamed at by AR-15 carrying vigilantes complaining about their “rights.” No one is arrested. In Minneapolis, on the other hand, today’s protesters were pepper sprayed by the driver of a passing police car for no discernable reason except a “take that” attitude by an unhinged and uncontrolled police force. The officers surely know they are being filmed but they are not concerned there will be repercussions if they wantonly attack protesters.

I get that police are under a lot of stress. I support the police almost all the time, but not when unarmed black and brown people are killed and there were readily available alternatives to the use of deadly force. Police are supposedly trained and re-trained on the use of deadly force. Presumably their calm under stress is evaluated carefully before they are unleashed on the community carrying an array of weaponry, some of which can be used to kill. Or maybe not. Maybe in Minneapolis and the countless other places where these violations of human rights have occurred the police are not really trained. They are just armed and sent into the community with instructions to “keep the peace” however they choose. Is this possible?

In the George Floyd case, ironically and painfully, the police didn’t need to use anything but handcuffs to kill a man. We have learned nothing from all the prior cases. And the president of the United States just fans the flames with hostile rhetoric, showing yet again his complete unfitness to hold office. Still, the Grand Ole Party is apparently silent. They sat silently and voted to acquit Trump when he was impeached for extorting a foreign government, allowing him to withhold relevant evidence and witnesses. They sat silently while Trump’s henchman Attorney General William Barr lied and distorted the Mueller Report. They preach law and order while the president’s immigration policy separates families and leaves small children parentless, in some cases forever, locking them in cages in concentration camps.

This is but a small sample of what Republican leadership has created in America. All the racism can’t be blamed on them, but they have endorsed and facilitated it over and over. And when the police yet again kill an unarmed and defenseless black person, they sit silently until their leader speaks and incites further hatred, dividing the country even further.

How long does the white conservative establishment think the underclass which is huge and growing is going to continue to tolerate this blatant racism and discrimination? Do they not understand that when large numbers of citizens no longer feel invested in the established order and peaceful change of that order is foreclosed, they lose their connection to that society and their justified but ignored and resisted rage boils over? How long do they think this can continue without serious and violent consequences becoming the order of the day, as the unwarranted killings of unarmed black and brown people has become the order of the day?

November is coming, not soon enough, but it’s coming. The good people of this country had better put an end to the Republican leadership that has brought us to this place. The consequences of failure are too grim to imagine, but it seems certain that the failing light of democracy that, at least in principle, was the founding dream and aspiration of this country will be extinguished if change is not achieved. That sounds apocalyptic, I know, but don’t believe it can’t happen here. It can and it will, unless we stop it. ENOUGH!