Thank you Minneapolis - True Patriots

Minneapolis is giving the country a real-time reminder of what patriotism looks like when it isn’t performative.

While federal immigration enforcement ramps up, people in Minnesota have been showing up in brutal, sub-zero weather to stand between their neighbors and a system that’s starting to feel lawless. Not for clout. Not for likes. Not because it’s convenient. Because they can see what’s happening and they refuse to accept it as “normal.”

The last few weeks have included deadly, high-profile incidents tied to immigration enforcement activity, and the public response has been immediate: communities are alarmed, angry, and organizing. Officials can hide behind talking points and “procedure,” but once civilians are dying in the street, the conversation changes. That’s not “politics.” That’s a moral emergency.

And the response from people on the ground has been historic. These are ordinary residents—students, parents, workers—choosing discomfort and risk over silence. That matters. Because it proves something important: intimidation isn’t automatically winning. People still have a line. They still know the difference between enforcing laws and abusing power.

What makes this moment even more disturbing is the broader pattern. When government starts acting like accountability is optional—when the posture becomes “we can do whatever we want and dare you to stop us”—it spreads fast. If it works in one city, it becomes the blueprint everywhere. That’s how democracies get hollowed out: not in one dramatic collapse, but through repeated normalization of the unacceptable.

And then you see the other piece of the puzzle: the quiet push for more control. Requests for massive amounts of voter data, pressure campaigns on local officials, and escalating threats toward dissent don’t happen in isolation. They’re signals. The goal isn’t safety. The goal is leverage.

So if you’re watching Minneapolis and thinking, this feels bigger than one incident—you’re right.

What those protesters are doing isn’t “radical.” It’s American. It’s community defense. It’s courage. It’s the refusal to let fear run the country.

And if the rest of the nation has any self-respect left, we should be learning from them.