TNN reporter Mira Lazine (@thefreeradical.org) found a community in Minneapolis. Now, that community is under attack by a fascist regime — and fighting back. Here’s her look of the realities on the ground, where exhaustion and terror exist alongside defiance and hope:

Whistles are highly effective for both community defense and alerting people to the fact that there's an existential risk in their communities. If you are not centering the people who are fearing for their lives. families, and communities, I am not interested in whatever you have to say.

found a stack of these cleaning up my studio the other day. as ever!!!

I had to pause for a bit the first time I edited this piece, because Mira's account of what it actually feels like to be on the ground in Minneapolis — as a journalist, a trans person in poverty and part of communities under siege — hit that hard. Essential reading, and a much-needed reality check.

i talked to mira, a very good friend, a few days back about this unifying mindset in MPLS. she put it into necessarily rough yet overwhelmingly clear words here. great read from someone living the federal hell

My latest with Trans News Network -- I wrote about my experiences here in Minneapolis and what it's like. I hope this gives some insight as to what it's like to live through this, the trauma, and the hope. Shit's rough but we're surviving. (Also thanks to @storster.bsky.social for the pic <3)

Beautifully-written piece by a close friend. One of the most thorough, accurate representations of what my life feels like at this moment.

This is a powerful, grounded account of community resistance in the face of still-ongoing brutality. We'd encourage folks to read it for a reality check about what's going on in Minneapolis. Article edited by @davidforbes.bsky.social

My latest with Trans News Network -- I wrote about my experiences here in Minneapolis and what it's like. I hope this gives some insight as to what it's like to live through this, the trauma, and the hope. Shit's rough but we're surviving. (Also thanks to @storster.bsky.social for the pic <3)

Native women have the highest rates of violence based deaths and sexual violence despite only making up 3-5% of the country's population. it's a silenced endemic that claims our lives daily.

will the university of illinois prosecute these white republican college kids? or can we expect them to be the first undergrads to be granted tenure? anyway never forget how if leftists or marginalized ppl said the same thing but reversed, they'd be seen as evil and would be run off the internet

no newsletter this week either, because ive got something coming tomorrow, or possibly the day after if there's any unforeseen publishing delays

the craziest part of despair and terror is how mundane and regular it becomes when experienced every day

interesting story, but some notes: 1. there may be individual "good eggs" among cops. the majority are bad. the vast majority of minnesota cops work with ICE. good cops eventually quit. 2. cops here are still universally working with ICE. this is jsut a fact. (1/2)

last thing ill say today -- part of being an effective organizer, and being part of the solution, is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. there is no comfort to be had. there is no one coming to save any of us. you have to save yourself. you have to take action. there is no going back.

if you want an answer for what to do if youre not minnesotan -- take a look at this. organize. if you need resources, you can reach out to me. i can send them. but you have to organize. voting isnt enough. it just isnt. no politician can fix this.

Wow. San Francisco right now (Fri Jan 30, 2026). Tens of thousands on the streets supporting a national strike and economic shutdown. A huge anti-ICE, anti-Trump message being sent from the city. (🎥 Rachel Ziegler)

This shit is not ending any time soon whether you like it or not. They want you to think it’s over so the status quo continues and they can continue to terrorize more people here.

Genuinely if you don’t live here I urge you to shut the fuck up about what’s happening here, I don’t even care if I come off as rude by saying that. Stop listening to mainstream media bullshit and instead listen to all of us who are enduring this propped up civil war on a daily basis.

Seeing many people think that Minnesota “won” due to notable figures leaving and maybe specific areas lowering in ICE activity…but it’s just the media trying to make you complacent. Stop giving in to that. Last few days I’ve seen so much more activity in the suburbs I frequent, it’s fucking scary.

and, as i predicted days ago, things have only escalated here. again, listen to people in minnesota about this. it was all non-minnesotans who celebrated bovino, and meanwhile nothing's changed on the ground here. please dear god just listen instead of rushing to speak. theyre coming for you next.

i cant wait to see upscrolled be forgotten just like every other "free speech" social media startup

Once more, I'm boosting my friend Saed in Gaza. No matter what happens here in the states, we can't forget about our friends abroad, and this includes those in Gaza. Winter's hitting them hard, and there's still a huge blockade on goods. People are still struggling. Help him and his folks if u can

Once more, I'm boosting my friend Saed in Gaza. No matter what happens here in the states, we can't forget about our friends abroad, and this includes those in Gaza. Winter's hitting them hard, and there's still a huge blockade on goods. People are still struggling. Help him and his folks if u can

I paid my therapist a zillion dollars to tell me this, so I’m passing it on to anyone else in MN who needs to hear it: Think of taking time away to recharge not as not doing the work, but as doing quality control for the work. You’re not going to be able to show up to do it well if you’re depleted

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Man tackled to ground after spraying unknown substance on Rep. Ilhan Omar at town hall in Minneapolis.

I know we're all traumatized by past failures, liberal recuperation and seeing movements fall apart for silly or even no reason but like cmon this dude was marching around dressed like a reichsfuhrer less than a week ago and now hes headed home in shame and failure because he got his ASS KICKED

People running out into -20° at the sound of a whistle know "this isn't over", they have a good grasp on the scale of the conflict celebrating a piece of shit getting shitcanned for an hour is not some failure of militancy or political imagination dont let fight or flight fear drive yr analysis

this is awful, but this isn't new. ice is doing this here in MN, too. many observers have stories of getting followed home by ICE, of having agents threaten them. there's cases of agents showing up at their homes. do not forget that they are the ones escalating continuously.

dont let a few ICE agents leaving mn fool you. nothing on the ground has changed yet. this is a way for them to distract and give a scapegoat so the rest of the world will turn a blind eye.

This hit so fucking hard today.

People at the Prairieland ICE Concentration Camp, located outside Dallas, Texas, are enduring freezing temperatures as the ICE refuses to activate the facilities’ heating systems. The temperature outside is a bone-chilling 13°F (8°F with wind chill), and the situation has persisted since 1/26/6

I wrote about my time in Minneapolis last week, about what is involved in creating bottom-up, decentralized networks of care. margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/our-neighb...

A reality hard to convey to those outside communities on the front lines. So many of us wanted to just be ourselves, but the realities of poverty, oppression and injustice are vast and brutal. So trans people organize and fight. We have to. We're radical because we can't turn away from the truth.

anyway listen to the first 9 episodes of It Could Happen Here. sort by oldest. www.iheart.com/podcast/105-...

Protests happen, but most of what is happening in Minneapolis isn’t protesting. More accurate terms: - observers - witnesses - volunteers - neighbors - residents - people

one more note: if you're outside of MN and condescendingly "explaining" to us how to organize better, maybe that energy is better spent organizing YOUR community. i know it's more convenient for you to project this on everyone else by insisting you "wouldn't let it happen," but it doesn't help.

you know, i never wanted to be an organizer or anarchist or activist. all i wanted growing up was to play video games and study space. but i heard people voicing warning signs back in 2017, and it got to me. i dont organize bcz i wanna be a hero. i organize because i want to stay alive

I want to give a major thank you to the few people who have sent me money since posting this. Is completely optional but every little bit I have right now makes a huge difference <3

I hate to keep asking, but I'm desperately looking for video editing work to secure some form of stable income. Please DM me if you have anything. I was doing food delivery to make up the difference, but with things escalating in Minneapolis I've been scared to even leave my house.

Hate to say this but if youre not in MN right now, you shouldnt be telling us what to do...youre not here Also people out of state need to have more situational awareness when talking to people here. If you know I'm dealing with this and ignore how much this changes how I talk, read the room a bit.

not doing a newsletter this week, im exhausted from all the stuff here in mn so im taking today to rest

Also: fucking Hobbes? Really? Thomas-"the underclasses are a dangerous hydra who mist be crushed by the power of a hierarchical state" Hobbes? That's your model for a trans "social contract?" I mean it's revealing af. Fuck celebrities. Fuck abuse culture. We will all be safer when it burns.

Wtaf is this abuse-enabling garbage? From over two decades in survivor work this is an open call for survivors of abuse within trans communities to be silenced or face retaliation to protect some shitty celebrities. Abuse culture is what our communities can't afford.

For years, the @nytimes.com has baffled journalism watchdogs with its anti-trans coverage--markedly different from typical centrist media coverage of trans people. A former Times editor traces an ideological change in coverage to the 2022 changing of the guard at the paper. fair.org/home/an-insi...

Always remember these two facts about fascists: - They are never as strong as they pretend to be. You outnumber them, always. - They are guaranteed to lose power eventually. The only question is what you and your friends can do to make that happen as soon as possible.

Hundreds more people just marched up to join. Some bonfires going. Copious handwarmers being passed out. Chanting, "no justice, no peace!"

-5°F in Minneapolis tonight. At the site where feds killed Alex Pretti, the air still smells faintly of tear gas. Hundreds of people still here behind some impromptu barricades. Message spray painted on the road reads, "fuck ICE, love always wins."

i don’t care if the victim was unemployed, or a nurse, or a drug dealer. i don’t care whether they were armed or unarmed, “peaceful” or not. i do not accept the premise that a state has a right to uphold power over its people through violence, and neither should you.

At the end of the day, the Black Lives Matter era was about whether people should be killed in the street, and lots of people decided yeah and put those little blue flags on their cars. It spread to everyone because it stopped for no one.