The last several days since the senseless killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis have been filled with outrage and sorrow. This sentiment is not only felt by the people of Minnesota, but all across the country. The pain felt by locals is the re-opening of a wound created by the 2020 George Floyd murder mere blocks away from where Renee was gunned down by a federal officer. It is not hard to see why mayor Frey has chosen not to mince words when it comes to the horrific and unjustified nature of this incident. When addressing I.C.E. agents directly, Frey had six powerful words: "Get the F*** out of Minneapolis". Some were shocked by the statement, but Frey rebuked those who were offended by stating "I dropped an F-bomb. They killed somebody. Which one of those is more inflammatory? I’m going with the killing somebody", and I tend to agree. The video of the incident that took the 37-year-old mother's life quite clearly shows a woman, surrounded by federal agents, trying to get out of the situation. A maneuver homeland security's secretary Kristi Noem and vice-president J.D. Vance have dubbed "an act of domestic terrorism". I think we can all agree this is gaslighting at the highest level. This gaslighting is even more evident by the fact that these "domestic terrorist" accusations were made mere hours after the incident, long before any official investigation could have ever taken place. J.D. Vance also tried to connect Renee Good with some "left-wing terrorist cabal" in what can only be described as a completely unfounded conspiracy theory. George Orwell said it best: "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.", a commentary on the manipulation of public consciousness by totalitarian regimes.

To further enforce this clearly false narrative the Trump administration is pushing, Kristi Noem has stated that Minneapolis police have "no jurisdiction" to investigate this incident. This, in essence, makes homeland security the judge, jury, and executioner in the situation. Of course they are going to find no wrong-doing on the agent's part, only a couple hours after the killing Kristi Noem said as much in a press briefing. City and state officials have called this conclusion into question and have stated that independent bodies do have the right to investigate the matter, but it's the word of independent investigators against the might of the Trump-loyal Homeland Security, FBI, and DOJ, so I don't expect that to amount to much more than some finger wagging.

Pushback against the state's narrative by the media and elected officials has been strong. I am grateful to see that not everyone is "drinking the cool-aid" Noem and Vance are serving, but it is hard to be optimistic when just in the last few hours, reports have started coming out that "hundreds more federal agents" are being deployed to Minneapolis. It's unsurprising as doubling-down has been the Trumpian way when it comes to dealing with these issues.

It really feels like the U.S. is reaching a tipping-point. Trump is looking for any method of consolidating more power, and I feel the "insurrection act" is the next logical step. Perhaps this is a manufactured civil unrest that gives Trump the excuse he needs to do exactly that. The irony is not lost on me that just last week Trump was threatening Iran with military action if protesters were killed under their regime, yet he doesn't seem to care if the same happens in his own country.