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This was another very difficult week. If you need hope, here’s something: More than a 1,000 protests happened all around the country this weekend as Americans reacted to the horrific killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Here’s something else: Because I come from the MAGA base, I still engage with the MAGA base and Trump voters every day. Yes, the MAGA base loves what ICE is doing, but most Americans don’t. Remember that not everyone who voted for Donald Trump is full-on MAGA. And most Americans, including a surprising number of those who voted for Trump, are horrified and disgusted by what ICE is doing.
As an independent voter who voted for Trump in 2024 told me yesterday:
“Look Joe, I know Democrats dropped the ball on immigration, but what Trump is doing with immigration is so cruel and extreme. It’s like what dictatorships do. What these ICE thugs are doing can’t be what America is.”
He’s voting Democrat up and down the ballot in November because of this issue alone.
Have a peaceful evening.
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This Past Week
My Substack Lives are open to all subscribers, unless noted. Click below if you missed any of my conversations from the past week!
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We’ve built a “know your rights” app for our immigrant neighbors to lawfully protect them against ICE. It’s called PAXIS. We’re crowdfunding it for two reasons: 1) we don’t want Big Tech to have access to our data, and 2) there’s strength in numbers. The more of us who work together to build PAXIS, the more support our immigrant brothers and sisters know they can count on from Americans like you and me.
We’re in Stage 2 of funding, with a goal of $50,000, and we’re so close! Won’t you please help us make PAXIS available to every immigrant and ally who needs it?
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Amid the daily onslaught of infuriating news, we have to acknowledge the heroes among us. The list continues to grow, as more and more of us stand up to the tyrant and his fascist regime. Courage is infectious. Be brave!
MINNEAPOLIS. When ICE officers booked rooms using their government details, one Hilton hotel canceled their reservations. When they murdered a woman in cold blood, residents made sure they got video evidence of the crime. When the Trump Administration tried to frame that murder as an act of self-defense, Mayor Jacob Frey was quick to respond. “Having seen the video myself,” he said, “that is bullshit.” And of all the brave faces of Minneapolis, there’s one we’ll never forget. That’s Renee Nicole Good, a mother and an American citizen. She was killed for peacefully defending her neighbors from ICE’s abuses. Rest in peace, Renee. You are remembered as a hero.
PAMELA HEMPHILL. Pamela was a Trump supporter who took part in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Now, like all of the insurrectionists, she’s received a presidential pardon–and she’s refusing it. She says she got out of the “MAGA cult,” educated herself, and knows that what she did was wrong. She’s accepting the consequences. I know a thing or two about admitting when you’re wrong. It’s damn hard. Right on, Pamela.
REP. THOMAS MASSIE. He’s been a relentless advocate for releasing the Epstein files, most recently calling out the DOJ for its glacially long delays in releasing them. He’s working with Democratic colleague Ro Khanna to ask a judge to compel the DOJ to release the files in full. He’s also been a vocal critic of Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela. He delivered this banger of a speech condemning Trump’s indifference to the Constitution, his lies about why he did it, and the recklessness of trying to affect a regime change. No matter what you think of his political beliefs, we could use more like him right now.
THE JUDICIARY. They stood in the way of injustice this week. On Friday, one federal judge blocked the Trump Administration from blocking childcare and family aid to five Democrat-led states. Trump claimed that the states were granting funds to undocumented people, but Judge Arun Subramanian didn’t buy it. Meanwhile, another judge ruled that the U.S. attorney investigating Letitia James is serving illegally. It’s just another intervention by the judiciary in a case in which Trump has used public resources to go after a private enemy. They’re proving once again why the courts are so essential.
THIS TOTAL BADASS. She took in a stranger who was being chased by ICE and ordered the agents off her property. She told it to them straight, saying, “I’m Native American, this goes against everything I stand for!” She was at home alone with her 18-month-old baby, and says in the video that an officer had his hand on his gun. She was intimidated and threatened. She still stood up. We don’t know who she is, but well done!
HONORABLE MENTION: As we all know, Republicans, as a group, are far from heroes. But we have to acknowledge those who found some spine this week. And there were quite a few. First off, a number on Capitol Hill were unimpressed by Kristi Noem’s claims that Renee Good was committing an “act of domestic terrorism.” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called it “unusual” that she would make that conclusion while “the scene was still being processed.”
Tillis also called Trump’s idea to use military force to take Greenland “unproductive and unwise.” Many others are of the same mind, with even Speaker Mike Johnson saying that he doesn’t “think that’s a possibility.” We’ll see if they stick to their word. (We’re not holding our breath.) Senate Republicans also expressed skepticism this week at Trump’s explanation for the military action in Venezuela, with five of them voting to block it. Not quite a revolution, but more than we expected.
Did we miss anyone? Send your heroes our way!
Good Reads for This Week
If Maduro Was So Dangerous, Why Did Trump Deport the People Who Fled Him? —Salty Politics
The Rise of the Banana Republicans —The Great Transformation with Mike Madrid
Venezuela Killed the U.S. —Arnaud Bertrand
Character Is Destiny —Matt Lewis & the News(letter)
Jack Smith’s Testimony: A Reminder that Donald J. Trump Owns All of It —The Contrarian
1776, Not January 6 —The Next Move
Five Years After J6: True Justice Must Never Again Be Denied —Feed After Midnight
Flooding the Zone —Sitting Shiva for America
Congress, I Seek Redress of a Grievance —Notes from the Circus
Trump’s Kent State —The Revolution Starts Here
Good Cops Don’t Escalate Violence —Brian Karem Reporter’s Notebook
Never Apologize for Swearing When They Kill Someone —Notes from the Circus
Power Doesn’t Immunize Harassment —Andy’s Substack
The Quiet Emergency —Tom’s Substack: The Voice of the Resistance
January 9, 2026 —Letters from an American
Here are the original U.S. Army documents cited in this piece, courtesy of our good friend Cari:
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