There are no statues for the Whistle War here
The stupidest defense of ICE is the one about the whistles.
In 1960, the Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles, and no one ever talked about Minneapolis again… until recently, when the Trump administration sent thousands of ICE agents to the city to deport undocumented immigrants. Minneapolis, like many blue cities in America, is not exactly enamored with this Trump fellow. So, when these feds flooded the Land of 10,000 Lakes, they were met by a crowd of protesters saying mean things like, “Suck it, pig! Oink, oink, oink!” The ICE agents seemingly decided that wasn’t very “Minnesota nice” and promptly began using excessive force.
So far, everyone is playing their part, right? It’s a tale as old as time: left-wing protesters are rude, law enforcement agents get twitchy, and the whole situation starts to spiral.
But there is something different here. Normally, this dynamic—Left vs. The Cops—leaves “normies” split or ambivalent. Personally, I often find myself agreeing with the police in these situations. Not always! But I am predisposed to give them the benefit of the doubt, up to a point, because I don’t like chaos and protesters are inherently chaotic.
However, I have had a visceral negative reaction to these ICE agents. To say I am “not on their side” is a vast understatement. And I’m not the only one; the polling on this is both terrible and dramatic.
So, why? Why is this night different from all other nights? I have four reasons:
The Masks: ICE agents are wearing masks to conceal their identities. Wearing a mask makes it nearly impossible to empathize with someone. It is basic human nature to read faces, mouths, and expressions. There is a lizard-brain reaction that triggers the thought: “That motherfucker is up to no good.”
The Bullying: While the two instances where agents actually killed people are receiving the most attention, there are zillions of other videos showing these masked thugs acting like bullies. Protesters say mean things, and the masked agents rough them up. In America, we have a little thing called liberty, and you are allowed to say mean things to law enforcement.
The “Papers” Check: Though they claim to only be conducting raids to apprehend individuals with deportation orders, they are also just milling about Minnesota asking to see people’s papers. This is a profoundly un-American act.
The Insecurity: When challenged to explain why these agents are concealing their identities and breaking well-established American norms, their defenders argue that ICE faces a unique threat in the form of doxxing campaigns and the “devious” use of whistles. These are the types of things babies whine about. Our federal agents can’t handle whistles and mean tweets? What are we, Europe?
Altogether, it’s a cocktail of things that offend me as an American—not in the “America must never do bad things” sense, but in the “America is not supposed to be this insecure and pathetic” sense.
