Mark Bruley, police chief of a Minneapolis suburb, said an off-duty police officer had been “boxed … in” by ICE agents, who demanded with guns drawn to see paperwork. “She’s a U.S. citizen, and clearly would not have any paperwork,” he said.

This is pure, unabashed bigotry. If a politician said this about any other faith, they would rightfully be run out of their party. But this kind of despicable anti-Muslim rhetoric is so normalized that a sitting Senator uses it without consequence. A stain on our Congress.

Dr. King put out the call to Selma. We’re putting out the call to Minneapolis. Join us. www.marchminnesota.org

Will you also investigate the ICE agent who played a noisemaker over Catholic prayer for immigrants? Or times when I & other clergy & lay have been tear-gassed, assaulted, insulted, stalked, & in the case of professed Christian Renee Good, murdered, for living Jesus’ command to love God & neighbor?

A thing to keep in mind here: This issue of ICE/DHS barring clergy from offering pastoral care or religious rites to detainees is triggering lawsuits, protests (with arrests of pastors) and blowback from *Pope Leo.*

Social media monitoring systems, cellphone location tracking, facial recognition, remote hacking tools — now being turned on Americans by ICE to target protesters. bit.ly/3Kq348R

“I have asked the clergy of the diocese to make sure their affairs are in order and they have written their wills.,not the time for statements. It is time to put our bodies between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable”. Rob Hirschfeld, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire

A Red Lake Ojibwe descendant was snatched by ICE in Minneapolis, and a Plains Cree woman was questioned. This is in addition to the four Oglala Lakota men who reportedly were grabbed by ICE. ictnews.org/news/i-felt-...

A woman recording an ICE agent tells him "Shame on you." The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?" "Learned what?" she asks Then he knocks her phone out of her hand

We visited Renee Good's memorial. There, we met a group of Somali Minnesotans — who too have been viciously attacked for weeks — warmly hosting everyone. Flowers & stuffed animals galore. Neighbors continually offering sambusas & hand-warmers & water. Grief. And belief. Scenes from Minneapolis:

The past couple days have made it clear that arresting and prosecuting Johnathan Ross isn’t just the right thing to do, it is necessary to prevent future violence by ICE who have interpreted the situation as “we can do that to whoever we want”

Good to have @jackjenkins.me in town to capture the incredible organizing in Mpls - in which those of all faiths and those of no particular faith are deeply entangled. Religion and spirituality are vibrant here- more so than any other city I’ve lived in. It’s essential to our strong organizing.

How many women have died with “fucking bitch” ringing in their ears? Don’t let the misogyny get erased here

People — including four pastors — are gathered at Renee Good’s memorial this morning in Minneapolis. A larger memorial near the end of the block was demolished overnight. Clergy, who just help de-escalate a situation with a heckler (whose heckling was…vague), are now singing “We Rise.”

My dispatch from today in Minneapolis, where folks are mourning, but also on edge — because ICE hasn’t let up, and neither has the pushback (including from religious leaders). religionnews.com/2026/01/09/p...

Hey @mayorjacobfrey.bsky.social - can we do a midseason rebranding of our snow plow fleet’s names? Thinking “ICE Out,” “ICE Breaker” ….

“I was talking with one ICE agent about Matthew 25, ‘Whatever you did for the least of these, you did unto me,’” said Rev. @sohayward.bsky.social. “He told me he was going to go home and read Matthew 25 tonight." Great reporting, @mitchellatencio.com sojo.net/articles/new...

Insightful podcast about the American (un)exceptional Christian Nationalism, by my dear colleagues @matthewdtaylor.bsky.social and @sohayward.bsky.social and a result of our amazing workshop in 2023. In part 9, you can learn about the Russian case with Sarah Riccardi-Swartz and me 😎

In case you missed it: I’ve got a new (warning: somewhat intense) story on @npr.org about all the ways faith leaders have pushed back against the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign this year — including clergy directly confronting ICE agents and police. www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...

Looking forward to Nancy Mace’s condemnation of these men in a women’s bathroom.

If you or someone you know is a scholar of color who studies religion, here's a great opportunity: louisville-institute.org/programs-gra...

There are two Omni aircraft underway right now that are likely long-range ICE removals. The other one left an ICE hub about 16 hours ahead of this one.

Don't just repost this and think "I did a politics." Put the number in your phone as a contact. The Goon Squad got their budget multiplied by 10x next year and not if - when you see them you're not gonna remember the tweet or the number so put it in your phone now.

Bye bye, “DOGE”. It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management. @reuters.com www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...

ICE vs the clergy

I wrote a thread about the Indigenous protests at COP30 informed by (and linking to!) the really excellent reporting on the ground by @climatedesk.org journalists. If you are looking to catch up on what is going on, here is the recap.

Latest episode of American Unexceptionalism by @matthewdtaylor.bsky.social @sohayward.bsky.social is out- this time they talk to folks about the South Korean martial law attempt by then President Yoon. For the real ones- Che Ahn mentioned! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

St. Paul voters on Tuesday handed a historic election victory to state Rep. Kaohly Her, who will be the first woman and first Hmong person to serve as mayor. Her upset her former boss, two-term Mayor Melvin Carter, to win the election.

The US has a long history of military intervention in Latin America -- but the US campaign against Venezuela goes beyond all precedents, according to a scholar who recaps the history: buff.ly/95slpmI

The way he rubs his inhumanity in Americans” face never ceases to stun me. He’s illegally refusing to pay food stamp benefits… …while he throws a ridiculously over the top Gatsby party for his right wing millionaire and corporate friends.

Listen to @matthewdtaylor.bsky.social and the Rev. Susan Hayward interview two scholars of Brazilian religion on the parallels and divergences of our twin insurrections. How did Brazil defeat a Christian nationalist authoritarian? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/0... www.youtube.com/shorts/Ztk_t...

New podcast out from @bradleyonishi.bsky.social Axis Mundi- American Unexceptionalism by @matthewdtaylor.bsky.social and @sohayward.bsky.social - the whole Axis Mundi back catalogue is worth your time- VERY excited about this! First episode podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/0...

NEW: Rev. Bautista spoke with @haydenroyster.bsky.social about his harrowing experience being shot in the face with a pepper round by IVE. “I immediately felt burning pain,” he said. “I was in shock, disoriented and terrified that I might stop breathing altogether.” religionnews.com/2025/10/24/a...

While others debate who is most corrupt and/or the truest friend of the gays, allow me to introduce you to my friend the squeaky clean, down to earth, steady, experienced, normal guy pastor with a gay husband, DeWayne Davis.

Thrilled to announce my new project: my friend @sohayward.bsky.social & I have a new podcast series! AMERICAN UNEXCEPTIONALISM: Global Lessons on Fighting Religious Nationalism We ask experts in democracy & religious nationalism around the globe to guide us. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/0...

Yesterday, one of my congregants- a parent of two kids who survived the mass shooting at #Annunciation, shared his heart and story at a prayer vigil at the MN State Capitol. We will keep demanding a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines until God’s will be done. So our kids may live.

Hard to overstate as a Minnesotan how much this upsets me. Senator Hortman, her husband, & dog were not killed by antifa. They were killed by a far-right Christian nationalist who had a hit list targeting Dem legislators and others who support reproductive rights. He was a proud Trump supporter.

The Ojibwe tribe is fighting to preserve manoomin, a wild rice in northern Wisconsin that’s under threat from a pipeline, climate change, pollution and invasive plant species.

Once again, a so-called Christian leader throwing out a centuries’ old Christian tradition. This time, the just war tradition that began w Augustine, was built on by Aquinas, & reformed in important ways by Las Casas. A long Christian tradition of “rules of engagement” to limit violence in war.

On November 4, 2025 at 11:30 AM ET, AAR’s Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion will host a webinAAR on “The Role of Religion in Today’s Democratic Crises: Advancing Public Understanding." Register now: aarweb.org/event/the-ro...

God's "blank check": Christian Zionists are pouring billions of dollars into Israeli extremism

Think of the waste this involves

Just saw this in Whittier. Send out the catsignal, @wedge.live? A cat this dapper is clearly meant to be indoors. #bringcilantrohome

NEW: We joined a coalition of nonprofit orgs and charities urging the administration to stop its escalation of political division, and the unjustified targeting of orgs and people in the wake of Charlie Kirk's murder. Full statement via @publiccitizen.bsky.social 🔗 https://protdem.org/3I9KZLk

Canceling Jimmy Kimmel show is not about Charlie Kirk, just like going after universities was not about antisemitism and occupying DC was not about fighting crime.

"Stay tuned for more details" -- Epstein survivor announces that survivors are creating their own list of Epstein-related abusers

I can’t overstate how anti-Biblical this is. If there’s one issue the Bible is unequivocal about, it’s care for the immigrant/refugee/foreigner among you. Bc you were once strangers in Egypt, bc you could be entertaining an angel unawares, bc the ethic of hospitality requires it. Full stop.

This paragraph is haunting. How DOGE Left Mohammad Halimi’s Life in Tatters www.propublica.org/article/doge...

Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work. A 28-year-old DOGE staffer and college dropout was installed as interim president of USIP