Minneapolis readers, how are you? We are watching the news and thinking about you all the time. My friend, who lives in south Minneapolis, told me that ICE came to his daughter’s school last week; agents threw the vice principal on the ground, shot tear gas into a crowd of students, and hauled off two teachers and a student. Elliott Payne, the president of the City Council, told the New York Times that “it feels like a military occupation.”

This morning, I asked my friend how things were feeling in the city, and here was his reply:

“Scary. Sad. Enraging. I don’t believe these ICE tactics will ever look good in history. There is a strong community spirit here, and we are doing our best to look out for each other. There are times when I kind of numb out to the current injustices, and then I’ll watch a video and just bawl. I feel different impulses at different times. My strongest instinct is to ask ‘Who can I feed?’ Who is suffering right now? The school is collecting food/toilet paper/basics for people who are scared to leave their homes. I also have a strong instinct to be a witness and ensure my kids/neighbors are safe. My brain can cope with the absurdity of this inhumane upside-down world by meeting it with more absurdity. Right now instead of hollering ‘fuck you,’ I fantasize about going up to ICE agents, asking a barrage of dumb questions like, ‘So, what do you like most about your job? Hey, can you guys please stop all the people trying to work around here? Hey, when you guys are done here, could you go up to the border and stop the ounces of fentanyl coming down from Canada?’ I really hope cooler, kinder heads will eventually prevail.”

I’d love to hear, if you’re up for sharing: How are you feeling, if you’re in Minnesota? How are you feeling, if you’re watching the news from elsewhere? What news sources or outlets do you find helpful? (We regularly listen to The Daily and Pod Save America.) And here are ways to help those in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Sending so much love, as always.

(Photo of a memorial for Renee Good taken by Charly Triballeau/Agence France-Presse.)