In the wake of Minnesota’s escalating chaos—fatal shootings involving ICE agents (including the tragic Renee Good incident on January 7), protests turning violent with fireworks, blocked vehicles, assaults on officers, tear gas, and threats of the Insurrection Act—the officials who helped ignite the fire are now calling for calm.
Governor Tim Walz, who described ICE’s lawful enforcement as an “occupation” raining “chaos, disruption, and trauma,” who accused agents of going door-to-door demanding neighbors turn in “people of color,” who smeared them as “modern-day Gestapo” and urged filming for future “atrocity” databases/prosecutions, now appeals: protest loudly and urgently, but peacefully; don’t fan the flames; turn the temperature down.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who called ICE actions “disgusting and intolerable,” told agents to “get the f**k out,” disputed federal accounts as “bullshit,” and framed enforcement as reckless brutality, is now pleading for protesters not to “take the bait,” to stay calm, and to go home when things heat up.
It’s a pivot to peace. But peace built on unaddressed cracks won’t hold. Their heated rhetoric—smearing federal agents as occupiers or Gestapo-like, framing enforcement as tyranny or kidnapping—created a big crack: one that hinges dangerously close to encouraging defiance or even insurrection-like resistance against federal law. Words like that don’t just inflame; they erode trust in the rule of law itself.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
We won’t be fooled twice. Gratitude isn’t blind optimism—it’s the force that demands repair. The Three Pillars provide the blueprint to test if this pivot is genuine or just political damage control. Start with the first pillar, because without it, the others crumble—specially Accountability.
- Accountability – Repair the Crack First Gratitude requires owning the damage done. Officials must openly admit: ICE agents are implementing federal laws—laws passed by Congress, upheld by the courts, and essential to national sovereignty. They are not “Gestapo officers,” not an “occupation force,” not agents of “organized brutality.” Stop the smears that paint lawful enforcement as tyranny. Admit the role inflammatory rhetoric played in fueling assaults on agents, blocked operations, stolen weapons from vehicles, ramming incidents, and the overall chaos that endangered lives on all sides. Real accountability means reflection, not deflection. Without this admission and retraction, the crack widens—into something that looks a lot like hinging on insurrection against federal authority. Fool me once with blame-shifting; we won’t let it happen twice.
- Assimilation – Absolute Adherence to the Law True gratitude for America means assimilating into our shared system: the rule of law applies to everyone—protesters, officials, citizens, immigrants. Officials pivoting to “peaceful protest” must go further: explicitly tell citizens to ABSOLUTELY ADHERE TO THE LAW. Do not impede officers. Do NOT throw objects at officers. Do NOT block them in. Do NOT lay a hand on them! Period. No excuses, no “bait” justifications. Assimilation rejects selective obedience—it’s all-in on the law that protects us all. Anything less fans the very flames officials now claim to want extinguished.
- Allegiance – Full Prosecution for Violations Allegiance is to one nation, indivisible—not to party, not to chaos, not to division. It means standing with law enforcement at every level. Minnesota law enforcement—state troopers, Minneapolis PD, county sheriffs—must arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law anyone who violates these basics: assaulting federal agents, impeding duties, throwing projectiles, blocking access, or any other criminal act amid the protests. No kid gloves for “passionate” protesters. Allegiance demands equal justice: protect ICE agents as we protect local officers. Show it in arrests, charges, and convictions—not selective enforcement that picks sides.
This isn’t partisan gotcha. It’s gratitude in action: E Pluribus Unum requires repairing cracks before they become chasms. Officials: If your pivot to peace is real, prove it. Start with Accountability—admit the truth about ICE and federal law. Demand Assimilation through clear, uncompromising calls to obey the law. Demonstrate Allegiance by ensuring full prosecution of violators.
To every grateful heart—immigrant, citizen, Minnesotan, American: Hold them to it. Test every word and action against the Three Pillars—specially Accountability as the foundation.
Because gratitude repairs what division breaks. One grateful America, rebuilt pillar by pillar.
LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸
PS. Wear your gratitude (and support Tunnel to Towers through Grateful Wear—every purchase gives back to heroes who face real dangers). Live it daily. Go to the Grateful Wear page of this blog. You will see the QR code or link. You don’t have to buy anything. Just donate. Be well.
Grateful Immigrant 