Stuff like this wasn't happening under Obama was it? He didn't flood cities with thousands of armed masked men dragging people out of cars or stopping them on the street demanding to.see ID because they are brown.
Taken from A Mighty Girl on FB....
Christina Rank, a 25-year-old classroom assistant, was pulling into the parking lot of Concord Education Center a special education school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota where she has worked for seven years early Monday morning when an ICE vehicle collided with her car. According to witnesses, agents quickly surrounded her vehicle, broke her window, and dragged her out. As masked agents shoved her into the back of their SUV, Christina could be heard sobbing "Why? Why? Why?" before they drove off with her.
This disturbing incident occurred as 3,000 heavily armed federal agents have flooded the Minneapolis area since early January -- one of the largest federal occupations of an American city in U.S. history. Mayor Jacob Frey observed yesterday that federal agents now outnumber local law enforcement by nearly five to one. Many residents have compared the experience to a military occupation, with masked agents in combat gear carrying assault rifles and patrolling quiet residential streets in convoys of unmarked vehicles.
This mirrors a pattern that has emerged across the Minneapolis area over the past two weeks, with numerous residents reporting that federal agents who are often seen driving recklessly, speeding, and going through red lights have rammed their vehicles. In this case, ICE agents attempted to justify their actions by claiming Christina had hit their vehicle. In video footage from the scene, an agent can be heard saying she "rammed" his car. But multiple witnesses, including coworkers who were present, immediately disputed this account.
One colleague is heard on video saying: "I was right here. I was right here the whole time. You rammed her vehicle." Physical evidence further contradicted the agents' claims. Christina's mother, Sarah Hunkele, noted that the damage was to the passenger side door and rear window not the front bumper indicating that "they rammed her and then broke her window to pull her out of the vehicle."
Christina was taken to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility at Fort Snelling and held for nearly 12 hours. Throughout her detention, her family received almost no information. "You don't know where she is going, where she is at, what is happening," her mother said. "I was told I could not see her and was not able to talk with anyone there. She was told she would get another phone call once they decided if they were going to charge her but we haven't heard anything since," Hunkele added.
"The lack of visibility and accountability is awful," her mother continued. "She is being treated like a criminal for no reason." As of January 15, no charges have been filed against Christina and ICE has not responded to media requests for comment.
Christina's mother questioned why ICE agents were at a special education school in the first place -- and why they used such excessive force on her daughter. "The school is one for students with special needs. Why were they there? What was their purpose being at this location? And what was the purpose behind their excessive force with Christina?"
Concord Education Center is a Level 4 school, meaning it serves students with severe disabilities with very limited verbal skills. Amber Cherrier, a former special education teacher at the school, explained the implications of federal agents operating in such an environment.
"These children will likely not understand the demands shouted by police or ICE," Cherrier observed. "They will likely not be able to comply and are extremely vulnerable around police and ICE, especially if the person does not have extensive training and understanding of neurodivergence and how to de-escalate a situation."
Hunkele said she cannot understand why federal agents showed up with weapons to such a sensitive environment. "The staff is there not only to teach but to protect. For federal agents to show up with guns?" She emphasized that her daughter would never act with ill intent: "She's young. She's very passionate about her work. She's very caring. She would never do anything with ill intent. There was a lot of unnecessary force used in a situation that could have been defused in many other ways."
Christina's case is just one example of the reckless, lawless behavior that federal agents have been engaging in throughout the Minneapolis area over the past several weeks. Numerous videos and witness testimonies have documented agents ramming civilians' cars, detaining U.S. citizens for hours without explanation, and deploying aggressive tactics in residential neighborhoods.
Targeting of vulnerable environments like schools and daycare centers has become increasingly common -- areas that had been designated "protected" or "sensitive locations" under policies dating back to 2011. As one of his first acts in office after being inaugurated last year, Trump rescinded those long-standing protections, eliminating restrictions that had prevented ICE agents from conducting enforcement operations at schools, churches, hospitals, and other sensitive areas without supervisory approval.
In announcing a lawsuit to halt the federal occupation, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison put it plainly: "This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota. And it must stop." U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, who called Christina's detention "shocking," has introduced legislation to keep ICE out of sensitive locations like schools, daycares, and churches. "Schools should be safe places for our teachers to teach and students to learn," she said.
Craig also offered a stark warning to all Americans: "What is happening in America, the path that we are traveling, certainly reminds me of many of the images that we saw in the 1930s in Germany. We should stand up to this lawless administration."
> Here's how to take action against the militarization of U.S. cities: Congress must fund the Department of Homeland Security by January 30, and spending bills require 60 votes in the Senate meaning Democrats have leverage to demand restrictions on ICE. Call your Senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them: No vote for DHS funding without serious guardrails on how ICE operates and accountability for agents who use excessive force.
To help those working on the ground in Minnesota to protect the Constitutional rights of immigrants, you can support the critical work of the Immigrant Defense Network at immigrantdefensenetwork.org/
To read more about Christina's arrest, visit www.twincities.com/2026/01/12/inver-grove-heights-teacher-at-special-education-school-held-by-ice-for-nearly-12-hours and www.yahoo.com/news/articles/twin-cities-teaching-assistant-us-224933908.html
To see a video of the aftermath of her arrest, visit www.facebook.com/reel/1316121270266463
For a new report from The New York Times on the aggressive tactics being used by federal agents occupying Minneapolis, visit www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/us/ice-videos-minnesota-trump-immigration.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EFA.MiAX.iGzKD0OhkViE&smid=url-share
For books for children and teens about the importance of standing up for truth, decency, and justice, even in dark times, visit our blog post, "Dissent Is Patriotic: 50 Books About Women Who Fought for Change," at www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14364
For books for tweens and teens about girls living under real-life authoritarian regimes throughout history that will help them appreciate how precious democracy truly is, visit our blog post "The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism" at www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426
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