Resisting ICE

There’s this video that’s gone viral.

Two unidentified and masked ICE agents are trying to wrestle a man into their vehicle. 

He’s doing his best not to go.

A crowd of people stand around. Cell phones lifted.

They shout things — let him go.

They do their best to help the man, without technically interfering.

The bystanders get close. But not too close.

Someone kicks away a pair of handcuffs when they fall to the ground.

Cell phone cameras held high, the people follow the melee, as the man yells and shouts and twists and squirms.

The officers do their best to contain him.

And then… 

The officers just give up. They walk back to their SUV. Get inside and drive away. 

If the man were alone, the officers would have found a way.

But they knew they were being watched. 

They knew they were surrounded by people filming the scene.

That those videos would be posted. That this scene might go viral.

And it has…

It’s a sign that despite the kidnapping of U.S. residents, the attack on communities, and the authoritarian backslide across the United States, people are resisting, even in the smallest of ways. And it can have an impact.

That day… this one man walked away.

So can others.

Of course, most detentions like this are carried out by ICE agents. 

Despite the people surrounding them. 

And their cell phone raised.

And their voices shouting in the defense of the innocent 

Shouting against the masked and unidentified ICE agents 

Terrorizing neighborhoods

Ripping apart communities.

But people are standing up across the country. 

In the recent #NoKings rally, 7 million people protested across the United States in one day. 

They say it was the largest national protest in the history of the country. 

And resistance against ICE continues…

People have protested continually in front ICE headquarters.

Neighbors in one Chicago suburb coordinated via text message and pushed back on ICE agents in their community by yelling and honking car horns. 

In another neighborhood, residents have handed out more than 17,000 whistles so people can call for help if they are being attacked or raided. 

Even this woman, Illinois State Senator Karina Villa, walking through her neighborhood to demand accountability of ICE officials who have arrived to carry out arrests…

Local news in Portland, Oregon reported on one resident who boxed in the vehicle of ICE agents after they arrived to carry out an arrest and then lied about who they where and refused to provide a warrant for the arrest.

Across the country, in NYC, a crowd of people confronted masked ICE agents who showed up to carry out a raid in Chinatown. 

“Show your face,” a man yells. “Show your face.”

And up and down New York and cities across the country, people have been in the streets…

ICE is going to continue to do its dirty work trying to meet its quotas and arresting thousands of innocent people a day. It doesn’t matter if the vast majority of those detained have no criminal record and are upstanding community members. 

But people are going to continue to stand up. And it seems… the resistance is just getting started.

Hi folks, thanks for listening. I’m your host Michael Fox.

I think that the stories of everyday people, neighbors, friends, family standing up to defend their communities are some of the most inspiring, powerful and important to remember today in these dark times.

I hope you enjoyed this episode. 

I’ll add links in the show notes to some of the stories mentioned in today’s episode.

On another note… folks, I have incredible news… In case you have not heard, this podcast, Stories of Resistance, won a Gold in this year’s Signal Awards for best history podcast. 

It’s really exciting. Thank you for listening, sharing and voting to support the podcast. The Real News’s legendary host Marc Steiner was also in the running for a Signal Award for best episode host. And he also won a gold! Congratulations Marc. So well deserved. 

I’ll add some links in the show notes to more information. 

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This is the latest episode of Stories of Resistance, a podcast series produced by The Real News. Each week, I bring you stories of resistance and hope like this. Inspiration for dark times. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review.

Thanks for listening. See you next time.