Trump and the US government have declared war on Minneapolis, the former mayor said
In the meantime12:16Another fatal shooting of ICE agents in Minneapolis
The former mayor of Minneapolis says the people of his city are coming together against what he sees as an attack from the US federal government.
“The federal government has declared war on the city of Minneapolis, and they’ve done it with brutality,” said RT Rybak, who was mayor of Minneapolis from 2002-2014.
“They they killed two people … and brutal tactics are not planned, it is illegal,” he said In the meantime Matt Galloway.
Saturday, US federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis. The killing occurred less than three weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good in his car, in a residential area in the city.
Witness videos verified by CBC News appear to show several officers taking the man to the ground before multiple shots are fired. The man is believed to be Alex Pretti, an American citizen whose killing has widened the rift between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials.
Ryback spoke with Galloway about how the people of Minneapolis are reacting to the federal government’s crackdown on immigration, and what he wants to see across the country. Here is part of their conversation.
How would you describe what it’s been like in Minneapolis these past few weeks?
I’d like to be negative about it, but the truth is, it feels like I’m in a crowded city. There are two exceptions to that … the fact that Minnesotans are incredibly united, especially those of us in Minneapolis. And with an incredible amount of volunteerism, life goes on. We will work and do things, most of us.
But I think the real thing is that you go into a coffee shop and there are diapers and personal items that the neighbors will bring. Over there in the other corner is a group strategizing how to use their signal channel to track ICE. And it’s a hostile city, that is, I think, more than I thought.
But I’m also incredibly moved by how the people of this town say that there is no way, ever, that we’re going to break even. We are Minnesotans, we are like Canadians. We survived the harsh winter and are here.
Faced with that, what was your response when you found out that ICE killed another citizen of your city?
I think we’ve been speechless for a while, but I think I quickly went into incredible anger, at the president, but also at those who support him and those who are silent.
My son is the same age, he’s got a beard, he lives ten blocks from that site, he’s doing it for himself — and you realize I’m a white guy. So it’s very, very bad [for others] because the most difficult thing is these vigilantes who drive around in cars and seem to be looking for people of color. I call them vigilantes because they hide their faces, they have no identity. How do we know? I mean, I think they’re from ICE, but you never know.
RT Rybak, former mayor of Minneapolis, says the city has been attacked by federal government forces, but ‘we will not accept it.’ He also said that Trump administration representatives were spreading disinformation about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who killed other protesters. ‘No one here is a terrorist,’ he said.
He spoke to resist. Can you just explain that, I’ll use your word again, what resistance looks like? What have you seen in your community about this?
What you’re really seeing is something you haven’t seen for most of this year in the United States. Many people were sitting on the couch waiting for someone to save us. What has happened here is that everyone understands that they have a role.
It means that as the morning begins, we will have parents preparing to walk their children to the bus stop or to school … most of them are going to work. However, there are people hiding in their houses. And so tens of thousands [meals] are delivered.
And then wherever I go, there’s a conversation about what’s the next step? And now it has been discovered very cleverly. I think we can all see how deeply, deeply wrong this is. The question is whether I will deliver the food or this or that? Even if I’m the guy I just passed a few minutes ago on the corner of the street in the cold morning, I just held up the sign for ICE to come out. He had a voice that started with ‘F’ too. Everyone realizes that they can do something and most people do.
Federal judges will hear arguments Monday in two cases involving US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota. The state and cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security to force it to stop the immigration crackdown. In another case, a judge issued an order this weekend barring the Trump administration from ‘destroying or altering evidence’ related to the shooting of Alex Pretti.
What would you like to see around the country? Donald Trump was elected, in part, on strict immigration policies, this policy of mass deportation. But to your point, what is happening right now, the voting shows, is not very exciting. What would you like to see across the country, because of what is happening in your city right now?
I want the whole country to find elected officials to stand up. I would say, you know, we have these great senators here. They are Democrats. They are doing a good job. But if you go into other states that were supporting him and have Republican members, they are at best zombies and at worst working with this. They need to see that this violates every principle of who we are as Americans.
President Obama removed most of the immigrants from the country who were here illegally. But he used the law and I would like to see – a low bar – for members of the Republican Congress to see that the law is being broken. But, you know, we get amazing support from much of the country as well.
In that Facebook post he wrote, “As the troubled souls of Minneapolis find common ground, we can help a nation search for its values and find its soul.” What does that mean, that you can help a nation find its soul?
I would never wish this on any city, but I can say thatof [if] this had to happen in any city, it had to be Minneapolis because we stood up. We didn’t get violent, but we said this is a place where everyone belongs. Immigrants made this country. Immigrants are a huge part of this country, and Minneapolis has always stood for that. And it stands strong in the worst conditions.
And I believe that from what I hear across the country, people see us in Minneapolis as a real inspiration for where this country needs to go. We’re getting back to what we were, but we can be a lot better than that and I think Minneapolis shows that.
