#Texas #Black man exonerated 70 years after #execution in case marked by #racial bias
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/23/texas-black-man-exonerated-after-execution
> Review of case found problems with statements from police officer who claimed victim had identified her attacker
The situation in Minneapolis is not like anything we’ve seen before.
It’s not just an uptick in raids.
It is a full-scale military occupation, confronting you wherever you go.
You can’t drive more than a couple blocks without seeing roving bands of cars with tinted windows containing masked men in full military equipment:
helmets, balaclavas, long guns, tactical equipment, crowd control munitions.
They pull up to bus stops, leap out, grab a brown person, shove them in the car, then speed away.
They don’t check papers.
Some people have been held in detention centers for weeks before it came out that they were US citizens.
Following the invasion of 3000 ICE officers,
everyday Minnesotans are pouring into #rapid #response networks and scouring their neighborhoods
—even in 20-degree weather before the sun has come up.
“I’m being tailed by a car I think is ICE, I can make out two masked individuals through the tinted windshield,” someone says.
The call goes quiet for a few seconds. “I’m being pulled over.”
Dispatch chimes in:
“Stay unmuted, turn down your volume so they don’t hear the call,
everyone else please stay on mute.”
We hear banging, then something shatters.
“ICE just smashed their window,” our driver explains calmly,
decelerating ahead of a red light.
We are shocked, but this is a regular occurrence. Everyone on the call keeps their cool.
We have heard stories from rapid responders about ICE tailing them,
boxing them in,
smashing their car windows,
pepper-spraying them,
holding them at gun point,
shooting out their tires,
detaining them.
Some responders have been taken to the regional ICE headquarters, the #Whipple building.
Others have been driven to the other side of the city
and thrown out of the vehicle, alone in the cold.
Their cars have been left running in the road.
The responders tell us all these stories in passing, quickly returning focus to the work that is to be done.
Of course, ICE has done worse than this, too.
ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed #Renee #Good as she was trying to drive away.
A week later, as ICE agents were pursuing someone, they shot live ammunition at a house with a family in it, hitting #Julio #Sosa- #Celis in the leg.
But when you ask patrollers what they want people to know about what’s happening in their city, they barely mention the broken windows and bruises.
They describe the feeling of connection and solidarity filling the streets.
They make ❤️hearts with their hands from car to car, they blow kisses.
They make dinners for one another, they drop off groceries for undocumented families that have been locked inside their homes for weeks.
They tell us about how, when a skirmish broke out on a busy road,
an entire café full of people stood up as one, dropping what they were doing to run towards the sound.
We hear again and again about their deep love for the community in the Twin Cities and for their neighbors.
Every day, people who never imagined themselves fighting ICE are participating in bold combative actions
https://crimethinc.com/2026/01/21/from-rapid-response-to-revolutionary-social-change-the-potential-of-the-rapid-response-networks
The situation in Minneapolis is not like anything we’ve seen before.
It’s not just an uptick in raids.
It is a full-scale military occupation, confronting you wherever you go.
You can’t drive more than a couple blocks without seeing roving bands of cars with tinted windows containing masked men in full military equipment:
helmets, balaclavas, long guns, tactical equipment, crowd control munitions.
They pull up to bus stops, leap out, grab a brown person, shove them in the car, then speed away.
They don’t check papers.
Some people have been held in detention centers for weeks before it came out that they were US citizens.
The main recourse for challenging #racial #profiling
is through the
"Federal Tort Claims Act",
which allows people to sue the federal government
for harm caused by federal employees,
said Thomas A Saenz,
the president and general counsel at
the "Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund".
But a recent supreme court rulingmay have complicated how racial-profiling allegations are handled.
In September 2025, supreme court justices allowed immigration enforcement agents in southern California to interrogate anyone who they thought may be in the country illegally,
-- and noted that perceived race or ethnicity can be a relevant factor along with others.
In recent months, the amount of people held in detention reached an all-time high.
As of 8 January 2026, ICE held 68,990 people in detention,
according to data published by the agency.
“Anytime you impose a target for a number of arrests and detention,
you’re going to encourage the use of unconstitutional shorthands like racial profiling,” Saenz said.
“It’s not at all clear that this administration cares whether they’re in compliance with the constitution or not.”
The main recourse for challenging #racial #profiling
is through the
"Federal Tort Claims Act",
which allows people to sue the federal government
for harm caused by federal employees,
said Thomas A Saenz,
the president and general counsel at
the "Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund".
But a recent supreme court rulingmay have complicated how racial-profiling allegations are handled.
In September 2025, supreme court justices allowed immigration enforcement agents in southern California to interrogate anyone who they thought may be in the country illegally,
-- and noted that perceived race or ethnicity can be a relevant factor along with others.
In recent months, the amount of people held in detention reached an all-time high.
As of 8 January 2026, ICE held 68,990 people in detention,
according to data published by the agency.
“Anytime you impose a target for a number of arrests and detention,
you’re going to encourage the use of unconstitutional shorthands like racial profiling,” Saenz said.
“It’s not at all clear that this administration cares whether they’re in compliance with the constitution or not.”
