As I’ve tried to describe what’s happening in the Twin Cities to those I know outside the city, I struggle to find words. I’ll echo what others have told me.
It’s a war-zone.
We see and smell tear gas on our streets – and it was used at a neighborhood high school.
Constitutional rights are being violated every day. The state’s right to govern itself is being trampled on.
Two observers were shot and killed, in broad daylight, on city streets, by federal agents.
We’re all questioning how these ICE agents have been trained. We’re grieving the loss of our community members. We’re shocked and appalled by the disregard for our Constitutional Rights to protest. We’re scared to go outside because we never know where vehicles that have been forcibly abandoned by ICE agents will be rolling down the streets–where they will be bashing vehicle windows and ripping drivers out–where ICE agents will be blocking roads–where the next shooting will happen.
I have a new driver. I worry every time she heads to school or the store, not sure what she’ll encounter.
My friends who are not white worry every time they leave their homes, not sure if they’ll be racially targeted. If they’ll be listened to when they say they’re citizens.
And this is all on top of our collective trauma from the last six months. In June 2025, State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were assassinated, and Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot and lived. In August 2025, a shooter opened up at Annunciation Church during a school mass here in South Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding others. It was only five years ago that our own police killed a man on the street and the city erupted. One thing I can say is we’ve learned how to identify agitators from the experience after George Floyd was killed.
We’re not necessarily protestors. We’re neighbors coming out to the streets when we see something happening.
When I allow comments on our Instagram and Facebook newspaper pages, we’re accused of being violent, of protestors being paid, and of breaking laws. All for standing on streets with signs, holding up cell phones to record what our tax dollars are paying for, and peacefully marching on streets chanting “ICE OUT!”
But I always end my conversations to those outside our city with hope.
The community here is taking care of itself. We’re showing up. We’re helping pay for groceries and menstrual products and rent for those too scared to leave their homes. We’re all scared, but we won’t let that deter us.
RELEVANT, LOCAL AND TRUSTWORTHY
When I heard about the shooting of Renee Good, I was attending a virtual Longfellow Business Association meeting, as I serve on their board. After the meeting, I headed over to the shooting site, and posted video immediately on our Instagram and Facebook pages. It got 10.1 million views.
Saturday morning Jan. 24, I was making my kids breakfast when I heard the news about Alex Pretti. I bundled up, grabbed a protective mask, and drove over. What I saw shocked me. Clouds of tear gas rose into the frigid air, and I was grateful for the safety mask I had. The Southwest Voices team (Charlie Rybak, Melody Hoffmann and I, along with the Messenger’s Jill Boogren) worked to document what was happening and post right away to our social media channels.
We are small here at TMC Publications–with a staff of freelancers who write and photograph for us made up of fellow community members. We are able to do more because friends, family and other community members send us their images, videos and information–and typically decline credit. (Got something to share? Send to tesha@tmcpub.com.)
We are committed to our community and to work that amplifies those voices. We seek to be relevant, local and trustworthy.
We can use your support, too. Purchase ads for your businesses and organizations or those you care about, or donate via the link on our website. Encourage your city, county and state leaders to designate portions of their communications dollars to local, trusted news sources like us. Share our print edition, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and look at our website so you can stay updated on what’s happening on your streets.
One thing I know for sure through all of this is that we need local and independent media, committed to our First Amendment Rights. This is the language that guides me above all else:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Perhaps we need some t-shirts and lawn signs emblazoned with these words.
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