How I Spent My Morning

This is how I spent the early part of my morning:

If you're not from around here, you may not have heard there was an immigration raid in Saint Paul. Well, that was in the southern part of my neighborhood. I heard about it just after it started and went down with my whistle.

That's the only photo I took, and it doesn't include any of the 100+ other interveners who were there, yelling, blowing whistles, chanting, and otherwise telling the masked jerks to go away.

They brought 25 or more people to the building. They were dressed in flak jackets and other military-style gear. Most of them had neck gators over their faces. The only insignia they had said their agencies: FBI, DEA, HSI, Homeland Security Task Force. Some said POLICE but they were not local police. Saint Paul police or our county sheriffs were not involved. At least one was photographed whose insignia said ICE.  

The street was blocked off on either end of the block, so people opposing the raid were gathered at the north and south ends of the long industrial building. We couldn't see what was going on all that well.

The feds claim they were serving a warrant on a criminal case, but I know the business they invaded and I do not believe that. 

While I was there, I was told by others that the feds had been bringing boxes out of the building. I had to leave at about 10:10, but people I know who stayed told me (and from news coverage) that just after I left, the feds brought several people out of the building and put them into white vans. 

The protesting people tried to block the vans from leaving. The feds fired less-than-lethals of some sort and sprayed pepper spray (in at least one case, directly into a person's face) and maybe tear gas. This MPR story is not pay-walled and has some of the details, as does this one on Sahan Journal. Minnesota Reformer here.

There's a vigil and press conference tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. at the site of the raid.