Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Instead of holding ICE accountable for their horrific behavior, including their violent occupation of American cities like Minneapolis, Republicans voted on giving ICE billions of dollars to terrorize our communities. It is beyond shameful. ICE operates with no meaningful oversight and continues to act with impunity even as it carries out violent operations that have cost lives. What we are witnessing from ICE is not law enforcement. It is state sanctioned violence.
A woman was killed.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: The gentlewoman's time has expired.
[00:00:36] Speaker A: By ICE our communities deserve.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: The gentlewoman is no longer recognized.
[00:00:44] Speaker C: Welcome to outside issues with Audrey and Patrick.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: There's been consistent protesting going on at what is known as the Whipple Building. And yesterday it took a tragic but also comical turn. Protesters were just hurling like really large dildos at, at, at law enforcement.
And it was, you know, it was an organized thing. I got actually, somebody sent me a reel of it before it actually happened, so, so that was what happened yesterday. Which, fine. I mean, if you want to make a mockery or make, you know, a comical commentary on that, fine. I support that. The unfortunate thing is when law enforcement began picking them up off the ground, then they were just, you know, tossing them inside. And it occurred to me and Patricia, my, my partner and I, you know, were watching this as it was, as it was on the Internet and it occurred to both of us that, you know, geez, you don't want to be providing sex toys to, to, to law enforcement that is possibly going to use those to rape people that are currently in custody. So, so maybe not, not thought through well enough. But, but, but again, every day is, it's waking up to something like that.
[00:01:52] Speaker C: So, so yesterday was the super bowl and everybody was talking about Bad Bunny, this counter narrative to the narrative that's being pushed by the Trump administration that non whites are dangerous criminals that need to be rooted out and that, you know, that power is entitled to send shock troopers into cities and just round people up and break into their homes without due process.
And there's just so much going on right now in this country. This administration just moves so fast. I heard Yanis Faroufakis say the other day that you get shit dumped on you until you get used to the smell. And I don't want to let Minneapolis slip from my consciousness yet because I was just so horrified, you know, by, you know, what happened to Renee Goode and Alex Preddy.
But then all the protesters and people that turned out and, you know, the, we live in Los Angeles or I live in Los Angeles, Audrey lives in Seattle. All of these cities are being invaded by these extrajudicial Gestapo. My buddy is.
You know, he was with the American Indian movement for a while. I referred to activities by the protesters as confrontations, and I referred to the protesters as protesters. He nudged me about that a little bit about that terminology. He said that, no, we should use. We should use the word protectors. You know, that we need to view kind of like the behavior of, you know, people on the street kind of coming out and standing up for their communities in light of all this as.
Yeah, as protectors. And, you know, they're not the ones instigating any of this. You know, they're the ones that. This is all their. This is their home, and their homes are being violently occupied first.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: To just address what you're talking about, Patrick, I think that is a really necessary use of language, and I think it goes a long way towards reframing the societal perception of what is actually happening. And I think by. By honoring what's going on and referring to that as protectors rather than as demonstrators or agitators or whatever the current narrative is. I think that goes a long way towards. Towards stabilizing and creating a foundation for what people are trying to do, which is they are trying to help their neighbors. They are trying to protect families from what is ultimately domestic terrorism. I think if we can retrain ourselves to think in that kind of kind of language, I think that's going to do a lot for the societal perception. And this has been something that has been building and building and building and building and building.
We're here in 2026 and we're dealing with the events of Renee Goode and Alex Preddy. It was not that long ago, in May of 2020, that George Floyd was assassinated, which had a tremendous impact on Minneapolis and had a tremendous impact and worldwide in terms of law enforcement and law enforcement's tactics towards. Towards individuals, primarily individuals of. Of. Of difference.
Minneapolis has a very storied history of this as, you know, going all the way back and even further back than this. But I first became sort of conscious of it with Fong Lee, which sort of came and went and nobody and didn't garner a lot of attention. And then a little bit later after that, it was Jamar Clark, and then it was Philandro Ca.
And then it was Justine Damon, and then it was Amir Locke, and then it was Winston Smith, and then it was Dante Wright. I'm not doing that in chronological order, but it was this series and the sequence of law enforcement, law enforcement using unnecessary use of force. And as a. As a result, people lost their lives that didn't need to. So this has been a really. And I was going to wait into the conversation before I went into my whole rant about this, but this has been a really unfortunate series of events that has sadly, really redefined Minneapolis's history and what Minneapolis represents and especially the public perception of the Twin Cities area. It has become the sort of crowning definition of what people think of when they think of Minneapolis. And that's the really sad and, and just, just heartbreaking byproduct of everything that's happened.
[00:06:00] Speaker C: Can I ask you. Can I ask you something? Like, I feel like the narrative that, you know, and everybody's siloed in their own information bubbles. You know, we know that your city managed to, like, change the way that the broader population thought about ICE just for standing up.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: I think there's some validity to that. I think that's partially true. I think that, you know, Minneapolis is known for a couple of things, and Minneapolis is known for. For being very, very, very inclusive and has been historically an inclusive community that welcomes people of difference. And that's been something that, that has been part of, you know, what our city is known for. At the same time, people in Minneapolis, and in fact, people in Minnesota, as the joke goes, are just ridiculously hospitable and extremely, extremely stringent about that hospitality. And we don't like it when you make a mess. We don't like when things get disrupted. And so when, you know, this, this, this agency infiltrates our city and starts. Starts doing this thing, then there's going to be a strong response to this. I think there have been some really appropriate actions that have, have. Have taken place. And I think there's been some really necessary but less appropriate actions that have taken place that didn't get as much press as, as, as others.
But no, I think there is some validity to what you say. I think that Minneapolis has unfortunately been placed in a position to. To demonstrate this is what is going to happen. You know, this is how a community is. Is supposed to respond when you are being terrorized the way that you are by, by these factions.
[00:07:35] Speaker D: For the record, no pun intended, but my favorite musical group is atmosphere in there. I know they're very Minnesota centered.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: Yes, yes, Big following here, Big following here. And you know, just to. Just a piggyback on this and you can edit this and place it in another segment later on, but 10 years ago, we'll say today, it's 2026 today. And so going back to 2016, if you would have Walked up to the average person on the street and, and said, Minneapolis. And they would have said, atmosphere Prince, Bob Dylan, Kerner Glover, Kirby Puckett and the Minnesota Twins, Carl Allen and the Minnesota Vikings, Vern Ganya and Hulk Hogan. The Mary Tyler Moore show, the Guthrie Theater. I mean, Minneapolis has always been a mecca of American culture. And just this. This rich slice of. Of music and art and theater and filmmaking. And that was sort of, you know, sort of, you know, what we were the most proud of. And now if you walk up to somebody on the street and say Minneapolis, they're going to say, oh, yeah, George Floyd. Oh, yeah. Renee Good. Oh, yeah, Alex Preddy. And I do think, sadly, that the legacy of our community here is going to be forever, forever tarnished by this. And we will be always be known as the place where ice infiltrated and people lost their lives for no reason. This will always be the place where law enforcement took the life of George Floyd for no reason. This will always be the place where law enforcement gunned down Philandro Castile for no reason. And I do think that that has overshadowed what has been a really, really significant contribution to American culture. And that just breaks my heart.
[00:09:03] Speaker D: What I'm curious about. I know, Brian, both you and I are in the helping profession. I'm a social worker and I work here in Seattle.
I'm a clinical social worker, so I'm essentially a therapist.
I just was curious of, like, the emotional weight that is present in Minneapolis right now. Like, what's the vibe going on? Emotionally?
[00:09:28] Speaker B: It's very heavy, and I'm right in the city, so I'm just. Just a few blocks away for. From. From where an individual was. Was shot by. By ice a couple of weeks ago. I'm just, you know, less than a mile away from that. So I'm right in the city.
When you walk outside, you can. It's in the air and you're just inhaling the anger, and the anger becomes rage, and the rage becomes fury, and the fury turns into fear. And it's just unbelievably. And it's actually unprecedented tension and very, very unlike the events of George Floyd. Because during the events of George Floyd, you were, you were just constantly. You were just constantly on guard. You know, no matter what, you were constantly on guard. And now, now, you know, in the aftermath of Renee Good and Alex Preddy, you. You kind of don't know where it's going to come from, because it's everywhere. And, and ice for, for all of the things that's. That's. They're ridiculed for ICE is, you know, very deceptive. And they've got, they have infiltrated certain, certain organizations that I'm aware of that are out there, that are out there protecting communities. And, and they are, they're very cagey in how they're going about what they're doing. So, so it's something that we're constantly on guard on. I don't leave the house without a passport. As an individual of difference, I'm, you know, not at great risk, but I'm at more risk than others. And so I'm, you know, carrying my passport around and, you know, looking in my rearview mirror and looking up both, both ends of the sidewalks before I, before I, I go inside.
In terms of being part of the helping profession, I have a number of patients that are basically in isolation because of this. I have patients that are out there that are, that are out there hanging posters and going to rallies and really, really exercising their voice. It has an exhaustive effect on individuals, mental health. A drummer that I'm scheduled to perform with next month has been unable to make rehearsals because he's down at the Whipple Building every day. And it's taken its toll on him and his partner in terms of their mental health and an overload of anxiety. And it's really been, it's really been detrimental in terms of people that are out there trying to live their lives, people that are out there trying to build better communities, people that are out there that are still, you know, dealing with substance use issues, which is what I do during the day. And, and people that are afraid to go out, people that are afraid for their families. And, and it's, it's widespread. You can't escape it. It's in the air.
[00:11:59] Speaker C: Tom Homan came to town and he made a big show of drawing down the level, the amount of troops, which sounds insane to say troops since the beginning or since, you know, all this popped off.
You know, you get these images of DHS and nice officials striding through the city like it's Iraq or something. You know, like there was like that, like that you guys did something to provoke all this violence. But like, but yeah, there was a drawing down or some kind of like scaling back. I was. That. That was the PR push. But, but functionally there isn't much of a difference. Right. You guys have still been kind of experiencing, you know, there's people that are getting disappeared. Right. And that process has continued.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Yes. I mean, if you can believe what's being perpetuated in the news, Then yes, they did remove X amount of ICE agents, which may or may not be true. That might be a cover story. We'll never know. In terms of their strategy and their tactics, for as far as. As far as we've been able to tell it, it hasn't shifted.
[00:13:03] Speaker C: Maybe you could talk a little bit about your own recovery program and, like, how are you staying on the beam through all this? Like, you've been sober for a while, right?
[00:13:10] Speaker B: So I got sober in 1986. I'm officially old, actually. I think I'm older than old.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: Wait, wait, wait.
[00:13:17] Speaker B: You.
[00:13:17] Speaker C: You got sober in 86?
[00:13:18] Speaker B: 1986? Yeah.
[00:13:19] Speaker C: You got sober the year I was born, my friend. Okay. It's crazy.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: So, yeah, so I'm really old then.
[00:13:25] Speaker C: You look. You look good, though. You look young.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you. And I got into the treatment business very early. I think it was. I was still in my 20s when I started hanging. I mean, I've been around treatment centers for most of my. Most of my life. And so, Excuse me.
I started hanging out in treatment centers very young. I started working in treatment centers, I think it was around 1997 or thereabouts, just in a. In a sort of entry level capacity. And then wound up going through some legal changes or. Excuse me, Minnesota went through some legal changes, and, and that changed everything for people that work in the industry.
And so I went back to school, got a counseling license and started counseling.
And I did that for.
How long have I been doing that? I think I got my counseling license in 2010. So, yeah, it's been close to 20 years, 16 years. And.
And the treatment business in Minnesota is. Is a very unique.
Is a very unique entity and, and, and is also under much scrutiny. Again, like the rest of. Like other things in Minnesota, the treatment business is under an incredible amount of scrutiny right now, along with a lot of other social service programs for allegations of fraud.
I don't mind saying, you know, while I'm talking to you, that the fraud allegations that you're reading about, if you're following that story, are filled with half truths and, and limited information.
And the propaganda machine is in full swing in terms of. Of how that's being perpetuated. And it's not from one side, that's from every side. So. So there's a lot of.
[00:14:58] Speaker C: Yeah, well, we've been. We, you know, not. Not to interrupt you for too much, but we've been talking on the show about the big beautiful bill.
What Was that called? SR1? Do we call it the fuckity fuck Fuck, yeah, but like. Yeah, I have no idea.
[00:15:12] Speaker D: The numbers and the letters.
[00:15:13] Speaker C: Yeah, it. Who gives a. But yeah, they've been defund.
Social safety net, you know, and that's like the, that's the area where you, Brian and Audrey operate. And I don't know, I mean, have you like, do your clients use Medicaid or are you kind of like, is that some of like the cuts?
[00:15:34] Speaker B: Yeah, just about 100 of my patients are on some kind of. Are on some kind of public insurance program, Medicaid or you know, one of its, one of its subsidiaries.
So yes, that is affecting patients. It hasn't trickled down quite as harshly as we're afraid it's going to at some point. And so I'm still submitting claims and they're going through, they're going through it at much slower rate because they're watching things a lot more closely. But in terms of individuals that are able to receive those services, they've made that incredibly difficult. And individuals that are on Medicaid don't always have access to a phone, they don't always have access to a laptop, they don't always have access to WI fi, they don't always have access to a public library where they can go and access a phone and a laptop and WI Fi. And so they've made it incredibly difficult for people to access services. And they do some really manipulative things with dis enrolling people and not telling them that they're dis enrolled and then they have to start over from scratch, which going through the paperwork process of enrolling in Medicaid is incredibly tedious. And it's even more tedious when you're on the street and when you don't have a fixed address and when you don't have access to services.
And so they've made it more difficult.
People are still able to receive services, providers are still able to bill for those services. But it's a changing landscape and it's a constant push pull that is resulted in a lot of providers are just folding up their tents and saying to hell with it and other providers are scaling down or scaling back their operations. And, and it's been, it's been sort of the, the white elephant that nobody wants to talk about because nobody wants to. Nobody wants to face what could possibly happen.
[00:17:19] Speaker D: Yeah. Something I've recognized is I unfortunately work with most insurances and our organization recently started accepting Medicaid and I'm not used to working with a population that does not take Medicaid. I'm used to taking populations that are marginalized, essentially.
But something I've noticed about the couple of Medicaid patients that I do have is that they don't have access to inpatient, intensive outpatient programs or partial hospitalization programs, iops and phps.
And what's more, I think you, you mentioned not having a phone. A lot of these folks don't have transportation because the iops sometimes require in person meetings. And so that's been incredibly heartbreaking for those in need who are emotionally in crisis. And I don't know if it's like that over in Minnesota, but here in Washington state, even in the city of Seattle, it's extremely difficult.
[00:18:25] Speaker B: It is a difficult issue. One of the things that our IOP programs have historically been married to, and this goes back to early part of the 1990s, so this would be 1991, before I was working in the field. But one of the things that Minnesota is notable about, Marion, is IOP programs with lodging. And so individuals that were enrolled in an intensive outpatient would also receive lodging. And because they had a safe place to go, then they were able to receive treatment services. That's all been placed under the microscope over the past year over some allegations and investigations that took place. It's been heartbreaking to watch.
It's been really, really infuriating to see the responsible parties just, just emerge from that unscathed. We have an agency here in Minnesota that oversees all of this, that has really, and you can read about this in the news too, has been very ambiguous in their directions and in their instructions. And as a result of that ambiguity, providers have been held responsible for what has not been communicated well.
[00:19:24] Speaker C: After doing this for so long, Brian, you know, I, it's, it's a job, you know, so it's your bread and butter. But like, does it still inspire you? Like, do you still get that, like rush or that, like a fulfillment out of working with other addicts? And like, do you find that, like, your job is a good vessel for that? Because I know you also do a lot of, you know, 12 step, 12 step groups and stuff like that.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: Yes, I haven't lost my love for the aesthetic of what it is.
I've lost my love for the business side of it and the administrative side of it and the political side. I have to sit and watch the Minnesota House of Representatives committee meetings and, you know, so that I can know what they're up to. And that part I've long since lost my interest in. But I still have to do it because it's the business that I'm working in, in terms of the actual working with patients and challenging patients and guiding, you know, trying to walk, you know, trying to walk in an empathetic matter through these very, very, very traumatic times that we're going through. Yes, I still love it. I love the chaos. I love the insanity. I love the, the, the non stop. It's never boring. It's always some kind of drama. It's always some kind of crisis. It's always. There's nothing that I love more than. I had a guy come into my office the other day and he says, well, I was at the laundromat and I happened to look at the guy's basket next to me and there was a big bag of meth that was laying there and I didn't know what to do, so I just grabbed it and I took it from him. Then I went behind the.
I mean, as much as these are tragic stories, I love the insanity. I love addiction. I love everything about it. I love the chaos, the heartache, the tragedy. I love seeing the change and seeing the transformation that takes place. And what I love most of all, especially now, is I love seeing people discover this inherent sense of individuality, this inherent voice that they have that they did not have before or they did not feel like they could bring forward before. One of the things that I have dissonance with in terms of 12 step culture and 12 step practice is, and I'm a lifelong 12 stepper, I've been doing it for now, it's been 39 years. So I, so I say this, I don't say this as a criticism, but one of the things that we overemphasize in 12 step culture is this, this, this need to conform and this need for obedience. Do it like I tell you to do it. Do this is how we do it. Because this is how they did it, because this is how. And so you should, you know, you should, you should be doing it this way. And there's a tremendous amount of pressure on people in 12 step practices to be like, you know, everybody else.
And I get that that's part of the culture. I get that that's part of the process. What I love seeing is I love seeing people discover this individuality and this inherent spiritual voice that gives them the strength and gives them the autonomy and gives them, to use today's terminology, the agency, to stand up and say, you know what, this is wrong. And I'm not going to, I'm going to assert myself because I don't think this is right. This is, this goes against what I believe in, this goes against my ideals, this goes against my values, this goes against everything, all of my, to use clinical terms, core beliefs. And I'm not just going to lay down and, and, and, and let this go by idly and, and be passive about it. And so I love seeing that when, with, with, with patients and patients unfortunately, you know, have, have a lot of opportunity to, to do that now because things are so messed up and there are things that are happening that, and things that are happening that are a violation of values and ideals and principles. And I love it when patients feel the inner strength and the inner autonomy and the inner confidence to discover their, their individual response to that. It does not have to be like everybody else's. They don't have to go along with the group think and they can, they can, they can discover that uniquely spiritual inner sense.
[00:23:09] Speaker C: When you deal with people struggling with this kind of thing these days, you know, because you're both clinicians, what, what, what kind of things do you tell them or what do you feel your role is in terms of, you know, advocating for things?
[00:23:20] Speaker D: Personally, I, I am witnessing a lot of my clients, like I mentioned, sort of like a more affluent population. I'm, I'm, I'm recognizing clients come into their political selves with the events happening. Yeah, that's kind of all that I'm seeing right now. I'm seeing not much distress about what's going on in the world from the population that I work with. However, the ones that do are coming into their political selves. They're recognizing, like you said, Brian, what they don't stand for, what they do stand for. And that's actually a really beautiful thing to see. You know, besides the fact that I'm a radical leftist and in a clinical setting, it's, it's a nice thing to see, to see the people that I work with come into their political selves and to witness their opinions and their forming belief systems. It's quite nice to see.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: I think that. Excuse me.
I think from an ethical point of view, the guideline for a clinician should always be to be supportive in a non judgmental way. Even when a patient has some idea that you find really, really disagreeable or really, really, you know, that you, you find that you're very disapproving of. But I think from an ethical point of view the challenge is always to make it clear that you are advocating for the individual that's receiving help and that you are supporting them and that you're doing this in a non judgmental fashion. The worst thing, the cruelest thing that a human being can do to another human being is to discourage them or to tell them, no, I don't think you should do that. I think that's a bad idea. I think you're, you know, you should rethink that. I think I have and I do, and it is a challenge. I have patients that are very vehement in their, in their, in their support of, of the far right. I have a patient that comes into my office and he gives me this, I mean, he'd be great on a, on a broadcast because he's rehearsing this in his head and then he comes and he tries it out on me and I sit and I listen patiently and, and, and then when he, when he runs out of breath, then we go off onto another topic. But he'll go on these 20 minute rants about everything that, everything that he's outraged about. And as much as I find that disagreeable and as much as I think that he's not thinking things through, and as much as I think that it, you know, might be a little bit simple minded, you know, I, you know, have a responsibility, I have an ethical responsibility to be supportive of the people that come to me for care. And that support is, is.
It very often results in a broadening of an individual's worldview. I mean, individuals don't come to me because they want to just rant because, you know, and antagonize me. They come to me because they know that I'm going to be a neutral sounding board that they're not going to get when they do it with their parents or they do that with their partner, or they do it with, you know, a co worker. And so, so I think the challenge as a clinician from an ethical point of view is to be able to advocate in a genuine manner for the people that are seeking help, regardless of positioning.
And it isn't always easy. And there are times that I just want to scream, oh my God, just please stop talking because you are so full of it. And, and I, you know, I can't keep a straight face anymore because this is ludicrous.
[00:26:39] Speaker C: See, I can kind of imagine that scenario where somebody comes in and just does like a 20 minute gutter spew to you and then you just calmly look at them and you're like, okay, well now that you've got that out of your system, let's get to work. You know, there's some things we could try to and you know, of course, the. The highest aspiration of that work is that maybe they do become better people and maybe independent of whatever time they spend, you know, with you, that, you know, they disabuse themselves of some wrong notions, you know, in the. In the long term. And, you know, I mean, that's what I always hope from aa, and I think it's a vain hope, but, like, I always hope that you stick around in the rooms for long enough that you become civilized because you're with, you know, other people that you would prefer to not kill or have killed.
You know, because what we're talking about with what's happening in Minneapolis and in so many facets of American life now, the decisions being made by our leadership, it's like a.
Feels like a national suicide. It feels like a death drive. And like, you know, you know, I was talking to Audrey earlier today about, you know, this learning about all these.
These new prisons that are being constructed to house people that they can't deport quickly enough, and they're. They seem to have no desire to make these facilities dignified at all. You know, if it feels like disgusting even use that word, but, you know, there's going to be concentration camps in this country. And, and, you know, because of the massive ICE funding that happened last year, the slush fund that they have, I mean, it just feels like infinite money hack that, like, no matter what Congress does and our, you know, rosy, rosiest expectation of what might happen in the midterms, for instance, and beyond, this is like a process that is underway, and it's going to take a lot of. It's going to take a concerted effort from a lot of people to kind of turn that barge and a different. Different direction or to, like, deconstruct, you know, any of this police state stuff that's. That's being put up and, you know.
Yeah. You know, it just.
Sometimes it feels so hopeless. It feels so dark.
But, like, all it takes is for me to look at you guys and to be reminded that there's. That light still exists. You know, it's like. Yeah, sorry, Brian, what are you going to say?
[00:29:09] Speaker B: Well, I think that as long as these things are allowed to happen, they're going to continue to happen. As long as the public sits by idly and allows this, to use your terminology, concentration camp, to. To be constructed, I think that they'll start sprouting up in places that. In places that they can find space for. And.
And I do think that even here in Minnesota, which Minnesota has like. Like, we Were saying earlier, Minnesota has really, you know, asserted itself in a reasonable manner and has really set. Set a, you know, a reasonable example in terms of. In terms of handling an ICE infiltration.
At the same time, I think Minnesota has really over. Has been overly.
Has been overly tolerant of this entire experience. And I'm not going to put anybody's head on the chalking block because I don't want to be on a broadcast and just start blasting elected officials, because this is. This is everyone. This isn't, you know, this person or this person or this person. This is everyone.
To put that into perspective. And before I talk about that, I'm not an advocate for violence. I do not advocate violence. I don't advocate systemic violence. You know, am not a supporter of that. And so please don't misunderstand me if it comes across that way, but Renee Goode was shot in early January. I don't have the date committed to memory, but she was shot in south Minneapolis. South Minneapolis is a very.
[00:30:34] Speaker C: Yeah, January 7th.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: Okay, so January 7th, just a little over four weeks ago. It happened in south Minneapolis. South Minneapolis is a very vibrant community.
People came out. People were supportive in a. In a vocal way. People made their feelings known. They did it very appropriately. Alex Preddy was shot. I don't have that date committed to memory either, but Alex Preddy was murdered also took place in south Minneapolis. There was a more vocal response, and people were. This is the second one.
People were understandably infuriated about that. People spoke out and they asserted themselves in a very what you would consider an appropriate manner. ICE came to north Minneapolis would have been about three weeks ago, and they shot a Venezuelan gentleman who was. Who was running from his car. It's not like south Minneapolis. And so after ICE came to north Minneapolis and they shot this Venezuelan gentleman whose name I don't. This is embarrassing. His name I don't. I don't have memorized. But they shot him in the leg. And it was not very long after that when people began to congregate. Fireworks were thrown.
People got into their vehicles and began ramming. They were, you know, damaging their own vehicle. Vehicles to ram into federal vehicles.
Firearms were taken from federal cars. Computer or, excuse me, computers were taken from federal cars. I do believe some confidential and maybe even classified documents were taken from federal cars. And as much as this was a strong response, I think it sent a very necessary message of, hey, don't come to north Minneapolis. If you do, this is what you're going to get. And ICE has not been back to North Minneapolis, as far as I know, or if they have, it's been kept very, very, very quiet. And, and I thought that was a pretty acceptable community responsiveness to domestic terrorism.
[00:32:33] Speaker C: And I, and I'm also getting a little tired of using ICE because it's so much bigger than that. You know, it's DHS and it's the Trump administration and the approval numbers, or I should say the disapproval numbers of ICE are like staggering, you know, in the wake of these murders.
But, you know, what they're doing is they're tearing the social fabric, you know, and they're ripping families apart and they're causing this kind of mistrust and this break, this breakdown, you know, in these communities.
But practically, you can only tear the societal fabric so much before, you know, the optics of that kind of delegitimize leadership, you know, in an irrevocable way. And I mean, I would argue that's kind of where we are right now with Trump and the Republicans. And, you know, I think that they've lost, you know, or they're in the process of losing all but like the most hardcore race warrior constituency that they've, that they've always had and they will always have.
But, but yeah, you know, that confrontation that you're describing, Brian, it puts a fine point on it. You know what I mean? That like, what this will look like if you continue is just this, a real ugly and protracted situation. Power, you know, is going to be outed. That made me feel a little bit better, you talking about that. And as, as like a possible, a template going forward for if you don't want the concentration camp to be built, then we should organize so that it doesn't get built.
[00:34:03] Speaker B: Yeah. I think as long as we allow these things to happen, they're going to continue to happen. The challenge that we're all facing as, as groups of people is how are we going to not allow this to happen?
[00:34:15] Speaker C: So Audrey is going to be off of work for the next month and it's going to be.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: Congrats.
[00:34:21] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. It's going to be great for all kinds of things. We'll be able to do more of the show and, and you know, I have my mental health struggles, she has hers, and, you know, it's work life. Balance is like, very elusive sometimes, especially in this country. So I'm glad that she's pursuing it.
[00:34:39] Speaker D: Me too. It's a much needed break.
[00:34:42] Speaker B: Yeah. One of the things that we, you know, don't put as much emphasis on that we need to is, is in this escalating time, in this time of heightened anxiety and heightened angst and societal concern, one of the things that we really need to put extra effort into is this concept of, I hate to use this terminology because it's so self defeating, but we need to put extra effort into this concept of self care which as human beings we are very, very, very poor at and historically have been very poor at. And in American culture it's encouraged that, you know, your work is your life, your job is your life, your social concerns are your life, your family is your life. And so we have all of the. Your shopping is your life, your Internet's browsing is your life. We have so many of these third party factions that are just consuming us and there's a very, very, very significant need for us to redefine and redesign this concept of self care. And how are we going to give ourselves space to re energize so that we can re engage? I think this is something that we need to encourage ourselves and encourage each other to do. And I think this is a time for spaciousness so that we can all be the best version of ourselves because we've got a big battle that we're fighting out there.
[00:35:57] Speaker C: It's a marathon, not a sprint.
