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Minneapolis is showing the country what resistance looks like when it is practical, disciplined, and rooted in community protection. We have a lot to learn from them.
In my latest Substack Live, I spoke to Common Power Executive Director Charles Douglas, who is on the ground in Minneapolis. He flew in with a delegation from Seattle that includes Indivisible groups and someone from Mayor Katie Wilson’s team to glean lessons from Minneapolis. We had a truly fantastic conversation packed with insights.
Charles told me about how neighborhood-based “ICE Watch” networks have made it harder for federal agents to operate openly. The tactics are not performative. They are operational: dispatchers, databases, license plate tracking, observers on corners, mutual aid delivery, and rapid neighborhood communication.
This matters because the story isn’t simply that “people are protesting.” The story is that people built a system of resistance. One that adapts as quickly as ICE adapts, and one that pulls regular people into meaningful roles using skills they already have.
You can watch our full Substack Live conversation above and read key takeaways below.
What’s Happening In Minneapolis And Why It Matters
One of the clearest insights from my conversation with Charles was that Minneapolis represents a shift from mass protest to community-based organizing. This is no longer just about outrage or symbolic messages. It is about making enforcement harder to execute and more costly to sustain.
Charles and I discussed Tom Homan announcing the pullback of roughly 700 ICE personnel from Minneapolis, while thousands remain elsewhere. The number itself matters less than what it reveals. Sustained community resistance is forcing tactical adjustments. That alone tells you something important is happening.
Key takeaways:
The pullback signals pressure, not victory. Enforcement scaled back because the cost of operating openly increased. Not just the public opinion costs after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, but also the literal cost of having to navigate an organized Minneapolis.
This is a posture, not a moment. Charles emphasized that even if ICE reduces visibility or changes tactics, the organizing infrastructure remains intact.
Visibility disrupts routine enforcement. When neighbors are watching, documenting, and communicating in real time, raids stop being quiet or efficient.
Core point: Minneapolis shows that organized communities can constrain federal power without waiting for courts, elections, or permission.
The Minneapolis Model Is Decentralized By Design
A major theme of our conversation was how intentionally non-hierarchical the Minneapolis organizing model is. There is no single leader, no central command, and no obvious choke point for repression to target.
Charles and I talked about how neighborhood-level autonomy allows tactics to spread quickly while keeping risk distributed. What looks chaotic from the outside is actually a form of resilience.
Key takeaways:
Autonomous cells are a strength. Independent neighborhood groups copy what works and adapt locally without needing centralized approval.
Digital infrastructure is disposable by design. Signal chats get burned, rebuilt, renamed, and reconstituted constantly.
Organizing scales outward, not downward. Charles stressed starting with your block, then your neighborhood, then connecting nodes.
Core point: Centralized movements are easy to disrupt. Decentralized networks absorb pressure and keep functioning.
The Tools Of Resistance Are Ordinary And Effective
One of the most grounding parts of the conversation was how unglamorous the work actually is. There are no secret tactics or heroic maneuvers. What works is organization, repetition, and logistics.
Charles emphasized that Minneapolis succeeds because people treat community defense like an operations problem, not a branding exercise.
Key takeaways:
The core tools are basic. Spreadsheets, schedules, dispatch systems, and shift coordination do most of the work.
License plate tracking became a key adaptation. As uniforms and vehicles changed, identification shifted to shared plate databases.
Low-tech methods still matter. Whistles, reflective vests, and visible corner presence remain fast, legible, and effective.
Core point: The effectiveness comes from logistics and discipline, not aesthetics or online momentum.
ICE Is Adapting Because The Pressure Is Working
Charles and I spent time unpacking how ICE has changed tactics in response to resistance. Those changes are not signs of confidence. They are signs of weakness.
When ICE starts hiding, trying to blend in, and targeting observers, it means the environment has become contested.
Key takeaways:
Shifts to plain clothes signal concealment. Reduced visibility lowers immediate backlash but confirms resistance is being felt.
Deception tactics are increasing. Reports of impersonation and misleading signals show how unstable operations have become.
Observers are being targeted for intimidation. Detentions often lead nowhere legally, but function as a disruption and deterrence.
Core point: When ICE changes behavior, it is responding to resistance, not ignoring it.
Mutual Aid Is Central To Sustained Resistance
Another critical insight from Charles was that resistance cannot survive on confrontation alone. It requires material support that stabilizes people under pressure.
Mutual aid is not separate from organizing. It is the condition that makes organizing possible.
Key takeaways:
Rent relief is essential. Families in hiding are far more vulnerable without housing stability.
Churches function as logistics hubs. Charles highlighted DHH Church as a central node for sorting supplies and coordinating drivers.
Capacity builds confidence. When 40 drivers are requested and 100 show up, momentum becomes self-reinforcing.
New people can plug in immediately. Mutual aid creates concrete roles that build trust through action.
Core point: Durable resistance depends on keeping targeted communities housed, fed, and connected.
Nonviolence Requires Planning And Discipline
We were explicit about the importance of nonviolence, not as a moral slogan but as a strategic necessity. Even minor escalations would hand the state justification for overwhelming force.
Charles stressed that nonviolence only works when it is organized and enforced internally.
Key takeaways:
Discipline protects the movement. Small deviations can be exploited to justify mass repression.
De-escalation teams matter. Trained volunteers quietly prevent actions from spiraling out of control.
Nonviolence is active. It requires preparation, coordination, and restraint under stress.
Core point: Nonviolence is a strategy that must be operationalized, not assumed.
Proximity Changes The Math Of Enforcement
One of the deeper lessons from Minneapolis is how much proximity matters. When neighbors know one another, enforcement becomes a public event instead of a quiet extraction.
Charles described how integrated neighborhoods fundamentally alter the social dynamics of raids.
Key takeaways:
People defend people they know. Relationships convert abstract injustice into immediate action.
Mixed neighborhoods complicate enforcement. While acknowledging gentrification’s harms, proximity can create protective friction.
Solidarity scales through familiarity. People act faster when the stakes are personal.
Core point: Community defense grows out of relationships, not online outrage.
Where To Learn More And How To Help
If people want to understand how this work is actually being done on the ground, or are looking for ways to support it responsibly, there are real organizations doing that work right now.
During the conversation, Charles and I talked about the role of local churches as logistical hubs. One of the central nodes in Minneapolis has been DHH Church, which has been helping coordinate mutual aid, supplies, and support for families under threat. Their website is a good place to learn more about how faith communities are functioning as stabilizing infrastructure, not just symbolic support.
We also discussed Stand With Minnesota, which has become a critical coordination point for community response, rapid mobilization, and public education. Their site lays out how people can plug in, whether that’s through volunteering, donating, or helping amplify verified information during moments of escalation.
The larger lesson from Minneapolis is that this isn’t about heroics or viral moments. It’s about systems. People building things that last. If you’re looking for a place to start, start by learning how they did it.
And then ask what it would look like to build something similar where you live.
