ICE/CPB terror continues but lots of Americans are seeing how bad it is

You know the White House is feeling some pressure when Trump’s Goebbels mini-me Stephen Miller is grudgingly saying that mistakes may have been made in the Trump Gestapo’s execution of Alex Pretti in Minnesota:

Top White House aide Stephen Miller said Tuesday that officials were evaluating why Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis “may not have been following” proper protocol before the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti — a remarkable acknowledgment of possible wrongdoing from one of the Trump administration’s most influential and hardline operators on immigration enforcement.

In a statement to CNN, Miller said the White House had “provided clear guidance to DHS that the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota for force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors.”

“We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol,” he said. [my emphasis] (1)

“Possible” wrongdoing, my ass. The Gestapo killers were doing exactly what Trump and Goebbels-Mini-Me Miller sent them there to do: terrorize and brutalize people in Minnesota. As Miller himself said, the Trump regime “provided clear guidance” to the Gestapo militia.

The English family group, the Marsh Family, has been doing brilliant parodies of familiar songs, including some excellent protest songs. They just released this tribute to the murder victims taken out by ICE/CPB: (2)

I also want to call attention to this video which discusses in a serious way what a “civil war” in the US might look like under current conditions. (3)

The podcaster Kyle Kulinski recently used the term “soft civil war” to describe the current situation. I wouldn’t use that particular term, partly because I’m not sure that anything that deserves the name “civil war” could be “soft.” As I’ve mentioned before, if this escalates to open clashes between federal and state/local authorities where the local police are enforcing laws banning murder, kidnapping, and assault against federal employees like ICE and CPB violating them.

Having immersed myself at various times in the history and historical ideologies around the US Civil War of 1861-65, I don’t like the “states rights” vibe of that scenario. But it’s part of the American system and the rule of law that federal officials of all kind are required to obey the law, and if they murder someone in Minnesota or any other state, the state officials are obligated to stop them if they see the crime in progress or arrest and charge them if they’ve committed a crime.

Which brings me to some of the criticism I’ve heard of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for not being more active in doing just that, e.g., not calling out the National Guard earlier to defend against Trump Gestapo criminals. I’m not ready to agree with that criticism because Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other mayors have to contend with is that there have been up to four thousand Gestapo goons in the Minneapolis area that are willing to act lawlessly. And if actual shooting breaks out between state and federal officials, the state officials know that the Trump Gestapo is willing to act violently and illegally, and that the Trump regime has declared (falsely) that Gestapo criminals have “absolute immunity” (J.D Vance).

And the Trump regime is also clearly looking for an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act to further violently suppress critics of Trump and his de facto partisan militia, i.e., ICE/CPB. So Walz and Frey are facing a very difficult situation and they both seem to take stopping the ICE/CPB crimes seriously.

Heather Cox Richardson, the historian who makes regular commentaries on current affairs, is coming from what I would call a left-liberal perspective. But she maintains a serious-mom tone in giving well-informed commentary and analysis. Her commentary is very accessible to “normies,” in other words, i.e., people who aren’t political junkies like some of us are. In this presentation, she takes a look at the current situation after the murder of Alex Pretti. (4)

Notes:

(1) Homes, Kristen (2026): Top White House aide Stephen Miller acknowledges possible breach of protocol before Alex Pretti’s shooting. CNN Politics 0182782026. <https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/27/politics/stephen-miller-alex-pretti-trump> (Accessed: 2026-28-01).

(2) "Minnesota" - Marsh Family adaptation of "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)". Marsh Family YouTube channel 01/2/2026. <https://youtu.be/BRHxXHZmVAM?si=9mmdgD6rIrAvG9c5>

(3) Minnesota, ICE and the makings of a US civil war-The Take. Al Jazeera English YouTunbe channel 01/26/2026. <https://youtu.be/Yd9gaiNUBuY?si=XSWInNJe8FUg9RN9> (Accessed: 2026-27-01).

(4) Politics Chat, January 27, 2026. Heather Cox Richardson YouTube channel 01/28/2026. <https://www.youtube.com/live/cSC-pn63Taw?si=y6RzGXcLNg6Nhj8G> (Accessed: 2026-27-01).