Jonathan Gebauer

Yesterday as I was walking through Minneapolis with a friend I saw this Lexus parked terribly and commented to him: “get a load of this asshole’s terrible parking.” By complete serendipity, as if the universe itself was saying "be kinder with your spoken thoughts," right at that moment I heard a voice say “hey that’s my car, ICE grabbed me, I’m so sorry!” come from the passenger of a Jeep slowly passing by; the Jeep driver said she was the sister of the Lexus’ owner and that the two of them had just come back from picking her up from Federal detention. I went to go talk to the Lexus’ driver, but first I read the note on the windshield: “THIS WOMAN WAS TAKEN BY ICE. Please don’t hit or tow.” Neighbors put that there, and put a tarp over the window that ICE broke open so snow wouldn’t get in. The Lexus driver, a short, brown haired white woman told me she lived in the area and was driving through looking for parking, when armed ICE agents speedily blocked off the street in front of her, and swarmed the white pickup truck in front of her grabbing its driver. She said people came from throughout the neighborhood with whistles to record them grabbing that driver, and as she was trying to leave, ICE agents swarmed her vehicle as well and proceeded to open her window and door and remove her from her car, slamming her facedown in the street. She said a Federal agent entered her vehicle and parked it like this, before taking her away. I don’t know the story of the pickup driver. I'll be honest, I didn't really believe what I was hearing at first until she showed me the video that a neighbor filmed, confirming the whole story. I asked her to airdrop it to me so I could make this post. This woman was just driving and minding her business one moment, and the next she was snatched, she told me that they said she was "obstructing an investigation." After 24 hours in Federal custody, they released her with only the white shirt she was wearing when I met her, into the -8F cold where her sister was waiting, and they didn't give her back her car keys. She came to make sure her vehicle was still there. There's a lot of people on this platform making all sorts of excuses for the Federal government's despicable behavior in Minneapolis, but what it comes down to is this: they are out of control. They are Out. Of. Control. This woman's story that I saw firsthand is emblematic of the institutional rot at the core of DHS, CBP, and ICE. The agents involved in both shootings this month were 8- and 10-year veterans, not untrained amateurs. There have been three homicides in Minneapolis thus far in 2026- 66% of them have been US citizens murdered by the Federal government. My city is being subjected to a full-fledged occupation by lawless, unprofessional, un-American thugs. They have gone far beyond their stated mission of removing violent criminals and illegal aliens. They have all of us looking at every SUV, every vehicle with out-of-state plates, every vehicle with more than 2 men in it with caution, scrutiny, and concern. Many of my friends have bought guns or have gone to get their conceal carry permits, to stay safe from their own government because it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six. Minneapolis will survive this and will come out stronger for it, because we learned in 2020 that there's no one coming to save us, it's up to us to show up for our friends and neighbors. But people need to know that if the Federal government are doing this to us: You're not safe. You're next.