Minnesota is being baited.

[applegrove]

The insurrection act was always the end goal - I’ve been talking about this for months. He’s been trying to find a city that would push back enough to give him a (flimsy) excuse to do it

— Angry (@angrystaffer.bsky.social) 2026-01-15T14:05:24.709Z

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. I hate the framing that the state hurting its own citizens is "bait." It's also state violence.

[orangecrush]

5. Post rec

[W_HAMILTON]

9. You probably should use the term "federal government" or something along those lines rather than "state."

Because it comes off as you saying the state (Minnesota) is the one committing violence against its citizens.

[SSJVegeta]

24. Yup.

Everybody should be on the streets demanding trump resign.

There is no way the government wants that, and theres a part of me thst wonders if the opposite message is being weaponized to prevent mass protests.

[Deuxcents]

3. Yep. Murdering, blinding people is a bridge too far. Instead of tamping down the rhetoric and violence,

He’s accelerating it by bringing in more agents..3,000 at last report. He wants martial law, bigly

[Emile]

4. Coming from the guy who orchestrated an insurrection.

Fuck him!

[Qutzupalotl]

6. That's the reason for the fury.

He hates that we correctly called J6 an insurrection, and he is desperate to hang that name on something we did.

[Initech]

40. Yup, it's the "why do you keep hitting yourself" argument.

[debm55]

7. I agree with you Emile. He calls it an insurrection. We saw his insurrection-a true insurrection on Jan. 6. And what did

the MF do? He pardoned them.

[AllaN01Bear]

31. ding. this .

[AllaN01Bear]

34. ding. this .

i had mentioned that on one of my earlier post.

[Jerry2144]

8. The right is filled with Master Baiters

Perhaps that escaping the InCels?

[Mme. Defarge]

10. I posted this in a previous post.

Trump cannot cancel midterm elections but here's what he can do
Story by Jack Hobbs • 6d

While outright canceling elections is forbidden by Federal law (2 U.S.C. § 7), several allies have suggested to the president that he could declare a national emergency due to alleged "threats to national sovereignty." One such "threat" could be a crisis at the border, which would then provide the president with a reason to justify federal intervention in state-run voting.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/why-trump-cannot-cancel-midterm-elections-but-here-s-what-he-can-do/ar-AA1TLtra

[JustAnotherGen]

21. New Jersey

Is going to do whatever we want - including holding elections.

If he does this - he guarantees we gerrymander such that his handful of pubs don't get sent back to DC in January 2027.

We are a huge landmass.
50 States.
There are more of us than then.
We are a heavily armed country.

They can't tell us what to do. I need people to really reach down inside and say it.

They can't tell me what to do. If they want me to stop then come to my house and kill me.

[Initech]

11. It's a test market.

[applegrove]

12. Yes. The WH is honing its tactics in blue states.

[Initech]

19. And they can fuck right the fuck off.

They are not nor will they ever be welcome here.

[Cirsium]

14. Interesting transition

How (and why) did we go from "don't comply in advance" to "don't give them an excuse?"

The only way to not give them an excuse is to comply.

Are bullies really hoping you stand up to them? I think the opposite is true.

[idahoblue]

18. Just a thought.

A 48hour total shutdown of the city as though it is a major weather event. All businesses shut, no school, only emergency personnel working. Doors locked, exterior lights off. But keys in hand to set off car alarms at the first sight of roving goons.
Wet sidewalks and driveways to form good ice. Try to have only less vulnerable employees on the street, reporting to work for essential jobs. Leave the goons on the ice holding their limp dicks in their hands.

[MadameButterfly]

30. If he want's to invoke the insurrection act he will, regardless of what we do

We have to make sure when he does that everyone knows what this really is.
Their preposterous lies are making the case for us.
If we give in and comply, he has won.
If we resort to violence, he has won.
Our only hope is to win the hearts and minds of everyone with a brain cell and a pulse.

[Cirsium]

32. What difference would it make?

It seems to me we are already there.

[MadameButterfly]

37. Statistically, in history

authoritarian takovers are much more likely to be repelled when there is an active movement in resistance.
It is said that if you get 3.5% of the people to protest (Erica Chenowith, Harvard political scientist) authoriarian regimes are less likely to keep control.

I don't know by what mechanism we could overcome at this point, but we should give ourselves the best odds.
While we appear powerless, we must remember that malignant narcissist autocrats have a tendency to destroy themselves. We will have help. The problem of course is how long that takes.

Let's make it happen sooner.
Failure is not an option.

[Cirsium]

42. I am skeptical

I keep hearing that if you get 3.5% of the people to protest that will stop authoritarian regimes.

I would say that correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

[MadameButterfly]

44. It's also not 100%

and it's apparently getting harder to overcome because of harsher regimes. Think, Belarus, Iran.
If Trump is willing to kill and imprison the numbers those countries saw and are seeing, it's pretty hopeless.

One has to hope that won't fly in a country with as old a democracy as ours, that it will be too hard to abolish the press, and that there will not be enough judges, police, and military to implement it.

Trump has thought of this, that's why ICE. Which is why we need to discredit them at every turn while the media and the internet is still rolling.

[Nasruddin]

36. It's possible

Like all dictatorial autocrats, he actually has to be very careful of public opinion. (Whether Trump is still cognitively aware of this or not, his puppet masters need him in order to retain power.) Autocrats who screw this up badly wind up on lampposts.

He doesn't have the manpower to fight a civil war against 300 M angry Americans. As a country we are way more feisty and incorrigible than Russians. This applies to all sides.

He does seem to maintain control of his personal cult, which I personally think includes the MAJORITY of Americans still. But it's close. He cannot afford many defections and not every member of the cult is core true believer. Even many cult members are not interested in the catastrophic results of local trouble even if they believe in what is being done - they can't afford it and know it.

So, he will be careful about the Insurrection Act, or his "tools" (really, probably his masters) will be.

Minnesota is a nice trial for him because it's somewhat divided (there are a lot of cultish Republicans there, but it's clearly a Blue state). It's small. It's isolated around a lot of very Red states. Illinois was a bit too big, NY/NYC is way too visible, CA is more than they can handle in every way and it's also not isolated.

What would happen if IA was invoked? Imagine refugees fleeing from MN to other states like Syrians or Salvadoreans!

[Sogo]

15. And this is in the dead of winter in one of the coldest places in the country....

As we approach warmer seasons, it will likely get much worse, when tempers really flare with the high heat of summer.

Be very careful, all. We have no defense but non-violent resistance....Don't take the bait.

[FakeNoose]

20. It's not the cold - they're there because it's the site of the George Floyd murder

... plus all the subsequent rallies and protests 5 years ago. Chump has probably kicked himself a million times for not declaring martial law back in the summer of 2020. He's giving himself another chance now, and this time he's determined to go through with it.

Martial law (invoking the Insurrection Act) means he can call off the 2026 elections under certain circumstances. Chump is planning to make sure that those circumstances favor him. That's what this has been since the beginning of his 2nd term. It's just one provocation after another until the system finally breaks.

Remember when he told the MAGAs to elect him in 2024, and they'd never have to vote again? Take a big guess what he meant by that.

[MadameButterfly]

39. They're also there because of a Somalian population

and because he thought the fraud by a few would indicate a large population of Somali illegal immigrants. When that didn't work out, he went for anyone he could.

And because it's the state of Tim Walz. Who besides running against him, is the model of compassion in contrast to Trump.

[sarisataka]

16. Minnesota is being invaded

As the Minneapolis mayor pointed out last night, the MPD has about 600 officers if you were to add the Hennepin County sheriffs that would be another perhaps 800 officers.

There are approximately 3000 ice agents in Minnesota operating mostly in Minneapolis. Federal law-enforcement outnumbers local by more than two to one.

And Trump wants to send in the military…

[Bev54]

26. Didn't Walz say a few weeks ago that he had the State National Guard on standby? Where are they?

[sarisataka]

41. Walz is wisely cautious about risking a second Civil War

he is using the systems we have, primarily the courts. It will take time to reign the feds but worth it rather than start something that cannot be stopped

[Bev54]

43. Yeah courts are doing nothing by allowing it to continue while they consider the case.

Why not stop them from the possibility of more people getting killed and hurt while they go through the process. I have no confidence in the US court system.

[maxsolomon]

17. He baited Portland but didn't send enough ICE

or there aren't enough immigrants.

They found their excuse to bait MPLS in the ginned-up Somali scandal. Plus MFer hates Walz.

I'm shocked they didn't bait Seattle (so far), although they're operating here. Maybe they know how the current traffic situation (a 2-year I-5 clusterfuck) would impact logistics.

[Bev54]

28. They also got good judges to put a stop to the nonsense, unfortunately not so in Minnesota

[idahoblue]

22. A thought...

All front line protesters holding US flags. Us them as defense, dare the fascist pricks to attack, when they do record and publish it. We need to take back out flag, it does not belong to fascist fucks following fascist orders.
Organize a front line and another flag waving rally on their flank.
Have a plan to disperse and reorganize. Hit them again, flags waving.
Remind all to wear goggles, hard hats or helmets. Masks offer limited protection but may be better than nothing.
Citizen drones? We are not seeing drone footage of these events.

https://phr.org/our-work/resources/preparing-for-protecting-against-and-treating-tear-gas-and-other-chemical-irritant-exposure-a-protesters-guide/

[Bev54]

27. Every neighbourhood should also have a stash of road cones. They are good to put over

tear gas cannisters to prevent widespread gas.

[Orrex]

23. I'm sure that this will generate a strongly worded letter

[Beck23]

25. Excuse to cancel elections

[happy feet]

29. Peaceful protests are legal

They are NOT attacking ICE (re insurrection act) no matter how much he and Noem declare that protest is insurrection.

[popsdenver]

33. Some of us here

have been predicting this exact thing, for some time now.........and blown off by others for being "fanatical" in our thinking.....

Personally, I am soooo tired of being told: Oh, THEY, (The Republican Party and/or Trump) "won't do that, can't do that"

His first term was bad enough, and continued thru Biden's Term, and since elected has gone into to WARP SPEED.

(This "Real DonaldJTrump Statement" as written/posted, was obviously NOT written by him, but someone at 2025 or Stephen Miller........)

[iemanja]

35. Unfortunately, some folks in North Minneapolis did take the bait

In a recent event there. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-shooting-federal-law-enforcement-operation-metro-surge/
Mayor Frey and Police Chief O'Hara confirmed the allegations and instructed those involved to go home.

[otchmoson]

38. Is there a legal reason

why Minnesota businesses can't boycott ICE. Evict them from hotels/motels, close the doors to restaurants, deny service at fast foods, refuse service at gas stations? Could they post signage refusing entry to ICE agents? If ICE is forcing an economic slowdown through fear, can't the residents/businesses fight back through economic denial of service? No bathroom facilities? No DoorDash? Businesses might be at risk if protesters identified them as ICE-enablers, but my question, again, would it be legal?