The pathetic Kristi Noem and her ICE thugs are seen here manhandling Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla while she is dressed-up again telling the usual lies we hear from the Trump administration...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrdrWxOYAeA
...during which the senator was "escorted" out of the room, shoved to the ground and handcuffed by FBI agents. Noem seemed completely unmindful of the scene, hypocritically insisting subsequently that she would only talk to him in "private," obviously to avoid the opportunity to go off script with evidence that she has no clue of what the law actually allows her do, or what the Constitution actually says.
This is what happens in an authoritarian regime when the people in "charge" have no respect for simple human decency and civil behavior, allowing their contempt for the law to to be an excuse for the lawless behavior of the U.S. version of the Gestapo, acting even with disrespect for lawmakers whose right to express their free speech is not only held in contempt but is treated as a criminal act.
Interestingly, we are told here that Trump expressed sudden "concern" on Truth Social about reports from his business and farmer friends that it is not good policy to deport needed workers, but he is clearly not in "charge" because Noem was on the podium here justifying the workplace raids in Los Angeles, and other reports are confirming that work permits are being revoked for those 532,000 TPS holders. We are told here...
Of course in "liberal" Seattle you can express your "freedom of speech," or at least within "acceptable" limits. It seems that beginning Tuesday there has been some relatively mild activity by people in Seattle protesting the ICE presence outside the immigration court in the Henry M. Jackson federal building in downtown Seattle to show solidarity with what is happening in Los Angeles. Here are those ICE agents definitely looking like the “trailer trash of law enforcement” in this image provided by the local NPR affiliate:
But on Wednesday night events seemed to ramp-up from merely being an annoyance for ICE agents. I was working in the ancient Central Building all by my lonesome when around 9 PM I heard some shouting that didn’t appear to be the usual exclamations from people off their medication or looking for someone to punch out their frustrations with life on, but the kind of chanting you would expect to hear from people on a “mission.” I looked out a fourth-floor window and there seemed to be some activity on Marion Street, with some people organizing at the corner of Marion and Second Ave., across from the federal building:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25XJjytXieg
Not that this wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before, but something told me that this wasn’t “fun times” like it was during Seattle’s version of the Rodney King riots, when most of the people involved were just there to be part of the crowd and think of how “cool” it was to see people crack a few windows or knock over street corner newspaper stands.
But this time it was “serious,” or at least the SPD thought it was; maybe they were hoping that Trump would see images of “crowd control” against “violent criminal terrorists” and maybe give some of them a medal. Here is one advance contingent on the street, apparently taking the time to toss some pieces of concrete debris back over the fence and into the still unmoving “forward” The Net building hole-in-the-ground:
About 15 minutes later it appeared that the protesters at the corner (many wearing face coverings like those ICE agents) had built a bonfire constructed of random articles of burnable material found in the area:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHcEDcmc41I
The police didn’t try to stop anything at this point, apparently in the expectation that this would just be an opportunity to put on a show, and when people were satisfied with their display of protest, they would go home. If that was the “plan,” it did not go according to “plan,” which I mainly blame on the police, since their very presence contributed to the sense of "danger." Here we see them gathering on Third Avenue with their paddy wagons, discussing what their next move will be:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOUxHw6rP-0
At 10 PM the bicycle cops were ordered to line-up across Third Avenue, since, you know, they need something to do while they wait for an excuse to get some of that “action,” even if like Trump they have to create it themselves.
It seemed to me that the police had grown tired of waiting for the protesters to do something or leave, so they decided to instigate a situation to force them to go away. The protesters seemed willing to test the police, although not necessarily at the risk of life or limb. Previously, firecrackers had only been used to “enhance” the look of the bonfire, but with the approach of the police someone tossed a firecracker at their line, at which point the police rushed forward. Police could then be seen tackling a few people, and one “kid” mouthing off was held on the ground before being led away in handcuffs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPdzbCqhAcc
The protesters were not finished, however. 20 minutes later some of them came back, and this time the police seemed to outnumber them at that particular point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOwH_23smaU
The police helicopter pilot needed something to do too, so I could hear propeller sounds and someone bellowing from a loudspeaker telling the remaining protesters to go home. I tried to get that helicopter into this video—where is it? Oh, there it goes, but I missed the police “advance,” which apparently was uneventful anyways.
Other than a few stragglers mingling in the area, it was all over at this location, although presumably the protesters moved on, probably back to where they started on Capitol Hill. As a wrap-up I think that both sides achieved their purpose, the protesters made their voices heard, got that fire set and even stood their ground for a few seconds, and the police got the opportunity to play the “tough guys” without too much trouble; besides, “normal” police work is mostly pretty boring unless you work in Pioneer Square.
Of course none of this is going to stop the doings of ICE, but if you are a “liberal” you can tell your your grandkids that you did stand up for the rights of those who are denied their rights by the fascist thugs of a fascist president. There is supposed to be a “No Kings” march this weekend here to present Trump with the finger as a “gift” on his birthday; I rather doubt the police will be much in force since their trailer trash comrades are not the “target” and Trump is too much the coward to ever show his face here without calling up the National Guard first.
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