In case you are unaware of what is happening, Trump has created a personal army of 30,000 heavily armed, masked thugs (aka ICE and CBP) to do his bidding. A force of 3,000 of those bullies has invaded Minneapolis-St. Paul and surrounding communities on the pretext that they will make our cities safer.

The truth is quite the opposite.

Indeed, these thugs continue to break laws and violate the Constitution. In the cities’ most diverse neighborhoods, masked teams are going door-to-door and demanding residents show their papers.

Everyone with brown or black skin, including Native Americans, are vulnerable to being stopped and brutally detained regardless of their citizenship status. Thousands of nonviolent Minnesotans, including U.S. citizens, have been detained and incarcerated. Minnesota drivers have been pulled over and brutally dragged away in handcuffs – their cars left running in the streets. Some have had their cars rammed by ICE.

Lawless teams of armed masked men are pushing their way through department stores, restaurants and other businesses. They are teargassing legal observers and nonviolent protestors in violation of international law. They are using electronic surveillance of license plates, cell phones, social media and personal data from the newly consolidated government database to identify and intimidate those who record their activities.

At least one foreign visitor who came to Minnesota for medical treatment was detained. In another case, a team of agents without warrant unconstitutionally broke down the door to a home and dragged out one of its residents at gunpoint. Two young women were struck by nonlethal rubber bullets because they were apparently not moving fast enough through a crosswalk. And sadly, a young mother of three was shot and killed for simply trying to protect her neighbors.

Residents – most residents – are scared. Some too frightened to leave their homes or let their children go to school. As a result, many businesses are closed.

Some Minnesotans are purchasing groceries and other essentials  for immigrant families who are afraid to shop for themselves. Others have “adopted” immigrant neighbors who have legal status to help them in case one or more of them are detained.

It’s as if there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Anne Franks in our cities.

You may wonder why our federal government would treat its citizens this way. The answer is a combination of retribution against a “blue” state and theater designed to intimidate and threaten Minnesotans and all other Americans into compliance. Violence is the goal. And it’s escalating.