Herbert,

In light of the latest events in Minnesota, I want you to hear from me.

As a West Point graduate and Army veteran, I am appalled at what we are seeing in our own country. Apparently, ICE is now a band of out-of-control armed thugs that feel they are free to shoot American citizens that they violently disarm. The leaders of ICE and DHS feel free to make up stories unrelated to the facts that justify the execution of citizens they encounter in the streets.

These citizens are exercising their constitutional rights, rights that are guaranteed by amendments like the 1st (freedom of speech and right to peaceably assemble), 4th (protection from unreasonable search and seizure by the government), 6th (right to a fair and speedy trial), and 2nd (right to bear arms).

We need to have a secure border and remove violent non-citizens, but that is not what is happening in Minnesota.

Accountability is totally ignored because ICE hiring and training standards have been so lowered and ICE agents are not being investigated and are being told they will not be held accountable. Our national leadership is operating outside the law brazenly and openly, because Congress and the courts are apparently afraid to fulfill their obligations. This will continue to happen, and could happen in other parts of the country, unless we change.

This is a hell of a mess. We all need to harden our resolve, interact with our fellow citizens, and elect representatives that will make us all proud of their decisions, actions, resolve, and intentions. They don’t have to be right on every decision, but they have to intend to be right, and we have to insist on transparency, accountability, responsibility, and decency.

— Don Coover