Please do not waste your time listening to, reading, or analyzing what Tom Homan actually said this morning.
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Hold on to this:
Operation Metro Surge was a catastrophic failure for the Trump regime. Yes, as a terrorist operation, it succeeded: they meant to hurt and terrorize black and Brown people and the whole opposition, and they succeeded at that. But in doing so they lost their credibility, they lost the support of mushy institutions and politicians, they lost much of the popular support a would-be authoritarian needs to consolidate power.
And they lost it because we stood up to them.
3/
@inthehands
Yes. Organizing matters. -
If I’m guessing, I expect them to go hard on strategies that are much less visible: snatching people from jails instead of streets, mass detention camps that nobody can see inside, that sort of thing. They need to sustain the terror, but they can’t afford to keep looking so bad in videos while they do it.
@inthehands
YES.
We need to be taking our surveillance to the next level.
I am thinking that we have creativity and competence on our side. Like, can a roomba get into a detention camp? -
R ActivityRelay shared this topic
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If I’m guessing, I expect them to go hard on strategies that are much less visible: snatching people from jails instead of streets, mass detention camps that nobody can see inside, that sort of thing. They need to sustain the terror, but they can’t afford to keep looking so bad in videos while they do it.
@inthehands as in the news yesterday that they are sneakily opening ICE offices all around the country. Going into a more stealthy mode.
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@inthehands
YES.
We need to be taking our surveillance to the next level.
I am thinking that we have creativity and competence on our side. Like, can a roomba get into a detention camp?@geonz @inthehands Micro-drones.
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@retech
> Standing in the streets does nothing to hurt them.No, wrong — and dangerously wrong. Visible opposition is what made the MSP invasion a failure for them. The murders, the kidnapping, horrible video after horrible video have direly eroded the popular support they need to consolidate power. Until they reach North Korea / Iran levels of total control over all the workings of society, an authoritarian does still need support. And the Trump regime has substantially less now than they did when the invasion started.
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Hold on to this:
Operation Metro Surge was a catastrophic failure for the Trump regime. Yes, as a terrorist operation, it succeeded: they meant to hurt and terrorize black and Brown people and the whole opposition, and they succeeded at that. But in doing so they lost their credibility, they lost the support of mushy institutions and politicians, they lost much of the popular support a would-be authoritarian needs to consolidate power.
And they lost it because we stood up to them.
3/
They might have terrorized everyone, but they also made all of us incredibly angry
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@retech
> Standing in the streets does nothing to hurt them.No, wrong — and dangerously wrong. Visible opposition is what made the MSP invasion a failure for them. The murders, the kidnapping, horrible video after horrible video have direly eroded the popular support they need to consolidate power. Until they reach North Korea / Iran levels of total control over all the workings of society, an authoritarian does still need support. And the Trump regime has substantially less now than they did when the invasion started.
Only half wrong. We need visible opposition AND mass withdrawal from all the big tech and big finance "transaction tax generation/surveillance machines".
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@inthehands
When I read the report about Homan's statements, my immediate thought was that he wants to divide the resistance and the solidarity community, because many people are naturally tired and want to believe that the paramilitary troops will withdraw when the demonstrations subside, while others assume that he is a liar.
I think it's a trap, but I'm far away.@elala @inthehands can we acknowledge that Obama brought us Tom Homen? Or is this going to be another comforting blindspot for one of our tribes?
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If I’m guessing, I expect them to go hard on strategies that are much less visible: snatching people from jails instead of streets, mass detention camps that nobody can see inside, that sort of thing. They need to sustain the terror, but they can’t afford to keep looking so bad in videos while they do it.
This is not a retreat, it is a regrouping.
So glad to see that you know this.
We can not let our guard down. Not now, not for the next 80 years.
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@retech You've missed all the videos of agents retreating and even giving up trying to arrest someone because of the crowds confronting them?
It is almost a certainty that observers have raised the alarm that gives targeted people time to find safety.
And it is people standing toe to toe with them that have brought multiple legal judgments down on them, making it absolutely clear the regime is breaking the law with impunity.
1/2
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Standing in the streets has certainly awakened many people around the world, sends encouragement to those are being targeted and did actually result in a rebuke of the government's actions by ICE by some on the right. It has served an invaluable purpose.
But this is an attack on many fronts and the frontline will soon be everywhere. We need to adopt every tactic we can, so yes, stop feeding their machine. Stop supporting the people who are enabling him. Don't wait until they are at your door,
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@retech You've missed all the videos of agents retreating and even giving up trying to arrest someone because of the crowds confronting them?
It is almost a certainty that observers have raised the alarm that gives targeted people time to find safety.
And it is people standing toe to toe with them that have brought multiple legal judgments down on them, making it absolutely clear the regime is breaking the law with impunity.
1/2
@retech Not to mention that morale among DHS agents is absolutely in the shitter, and that is 100% because they have been made crystal clear on how poor their image is to the public.
They get evicted from hotels. Barred from renting vehicles. Good old Bovino got tossed out of a Vegas bar.
It all adds up. Money isn't everything. 2/2
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@inthehands
YES.
We need to be taking our surveillance to the next level.
I am thinking that we have creativity and competence on our side. Like, can a roomba get into a detention camp?@geonz @inthehands That’s….actually genius.
The ICE watch I belong to got a good tip from a hotel’s cleaning crew (not a roomba) about certain guests at the hotel. Very helpful when tracking vehicles!
I’m thinking too that if detention centers have deliveries of things like laundry and cleaning supplies, those lists (or even just the number of deliveries) could give insight as to how well detainees are being cared for.
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From where I sit, I don’t think it’s a trap. It’s been clear for a while that they’re digging themselves deeper in a hole the longer they keep doing what they’ve been doing, and that they’re going to need to declare “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” so they can switch to some different awful thing.
However, this is very much a “don’t let your guard down” moment. They’re gearing up for some different horrible thing. They’re not disappearing.
@inthehands I think they're going to sit back and plan how to assault the election. They consider all this civil violence a "theatre of combat", so all these people are considered to have training/experience now.
I have no doubt they're going to put a couple guys a lot of polling stations as a powder keg and just start throwing lit matches.
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Hold on to this:
Operation Metro Surge was a catastrophic failure for the Trump regime. Yes, as a terrorist operation, it succeeded: they meant to hurt and terrorize black and Brown people and the whole opposition, and they succeeded at that. But in doing so they lost their credibility, they lost the support of mushy institutions and politicians, they lost much of the popular support a would-be authoritarian needs to consolidate power.
And they lost it because we stood up to them.
3/
No doubt when we get our democracy back the people of Minneapolis will be seen as national heros. Their stories will be in our history books like Harriet Tubman, MLK and others. What they've (you've) done is incredible.
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@retech Yes, we are in an arms race. They've changed tactics.
And guess what? We found out. Because they're being watched. Because people are out there and being alert. And because that open outrage actually makes the media pay attention.
People are rallying against those warehouses, forcing their local gov'ts to refuse approvals. The new offices? Building management can decide the risk is not worth the rent.
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@retech Yes, we are in an arms race. They've changed tactics.
And guess what? We found out. Because they're being watched. Because people are out there and being alert. And because that open outrage actually makes the media pay attention.
People are rallying against those warehouses, forcing their local gov'ts to refuse approvals. The new offices? Building management can decide the risk is not worth the rent.
@retech I think the important thing to remember is that *we* are forcing *them* to change tactics.
Which means yes, standing in the streets is most definitely hurting them. They can't bring in the numbers being demanded of them. We're slowing them and costing them money.
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From where I sit, I don’t think it’s a trap. It’s been clear for a while that they’re digging themselves deeper in a hole the longer they keep doing what they’ve been doing, and that they’re going to need to declare “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” so they can switch to some different awful thing.
However, this is very much a “don’t let your guard down” moment. They’re gearing up for some different horrible thing. They’re not disappearing.
@inthehands Probably redirecting effort toward rigging the midterms.
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Even if they do leave, they’ll still exist, they’ll still be funded like a national military, they’ll still be an authoritarian secret police in the making.
And the damage they did to my city, to the lives of my neighbors, will echo through generations.
2/
@inthehands
It definitely feels like they're past the "in the making" stage. They're an authoritarian secret police which commits thefts, destroys property, harasses, spies, kidnaps, and murders innocent people. -
Honestly, I’ve been expecting the “mission accomplished” banner since the day they murdered Alex Pretti. Maybe they were hoping for an ICE officer to be shot in retaliation so they could go for martial law, but a few days later when that hadn’t happened and the country was still seething, the writing was on the wall.
@inthehands
> Maybe they were hoping for an ICE officer to be shot in retaliation so they could go for martial law...Yes, they desperately want to invoke the Insurrection Act, declare martial law, and suspend elections and civil rights.
