COLUMN: When 700 officers leave Minnesota and 2,000 stay behind to terrorize

Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti: two names we must never forget

Renee Macklin Good. Alex Pretti. Say those names out loud. Engrave them in your memory. They were American citizens killed by U.S. federal agents on American soil. Not in a combat zone, not during a counterterrorism operation, but on the streets of Minneapolis. Investigators reviewed more than 30 body cameras to reconstruct the events leading up to Pretti’s death. Thirty cameras. And yet, questions remain unanswered. Why did they shoot? Was it necessary? Who is responsible?

Vigils for Forgotten Victims

Vigil services were held. People gathered outside the veterans’ hospital where Pretti worked. Candles, flowers, tears. But the federal agents are still there—masked, armed, indifferent. Life goes on for them. Not for the families of Good and Pretti. Not for the communities living in constant fear of being the next target.

Two dead. Two American citizens. And we’re told this is the price we must pay for security. But what security? Whose security? Certainly not that of the immigrant families who are in hiding. Certainly not that of the children who are too afraid to go to school. Certainly not that of Good and Pretti, who died for nothing. I am angry. I am sickened. And I refuse to accept that these deaths are normalized, that they become mere statistics in Trump’s war on immigration.

Liam Ramos and His Blue Bunny Hat

Do you remember Liam Ramos? That 5-year-old boy with his blue rabbit-shaped hat who went viral on social media? He was detained with his family at a detention center in Texas. A 5-year-old child, torn away from his school, his friends, his life, and locked up in a detention facility. He was eventually released, but the image of that little blue hat will remain etched in our memories as a symbol of the cruelty of this operation.

Six Students from the Same School District Detained

The Columbia Heights School District confirmed that at least six of its students were detained this year. Six children. Two elementary school brothers were released on Wednesday, February 5, with their mother, after recognizing another student from their school in the detention center’s cafeteria. Imagine the scene: children finding themselves in a detention center and recognizing their classmates. It’s surreal. It’s nightmarish. And it’s real.

Half-Empty Classrooms

Educators in Minnesota describe half-empty classrooms. Parents who are too afraid to send their children to school. School districts that have filed a federal lawsuit to block immigration operations near schools and bus stops without a court order. The president of the Minnesota education union has stated that immigration agents are one of the greatest threats to the health and safety of school-age children right now.

Children. We’re talking about children. Five-year-olds wearing bunny hats. Siblings who go to school in the morning and end up in a detention center by evening. How did we get here? How did we allow this to become acceptable? I think of my own children, their innocence, their need for safety. And I wonder how those parents in Minnesota must feel, having to choose between sending their children to school and keeping them safe at home. It’s inhumane.

Sheriff Dawanna Witt Faces a Dilemma

Dawanna Witt, sheriff of Hennepin County—which includes Minneapolis—finds herself at the center of a moral and legal dilemma. She says she has had constructive conversations with Homan. Her office already honors court-signed warrants for individuals held in its jails. But often, ICE does not have these warrants. She receives administrative detentions—requests to hold someone without a warrant signed by a judge. Until now, she has refused. But now, she is considering changing that policy.

The Price of Resistance

Why the change? Because Homan has made it clear: the complete withdrawal of federal agents depends on increased cooperation from local authorities and an end to threats of violence against federal agents. This is institutional blackmail. Cooperate, or we’ll stay. Hand over the immigrants, or we’ll continue to militarize your streets. Sheriff Witt said she’ll have to see how this will make Hennepin County residents safer. But the real question is: safer for whom?

I understand Sheriff Witt’s position. I really do. She’s caught between a rock and a hard place. But here’s what bothers me: we should never have to negotiate with our own government to get it to stop militarizing our cities. We should never have to choose between the law and morality. And yet, that’s exactly what Minnesota’s local authorities are being asked to do. Give in, or we’ll stay. Obey, or we’ll keep going. This is authoritarianism disguised as immigration policy.

Noem’s Announcement on Body Cameras

Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, announced that all DHS agents operating in Minneapolis will be equipped with body cameras. Homan confirmed that the rollout would begin in Minneapolis before expanding nationwide. He acknowledged that some agents had cameras while others did not—an inconsistency he described as unacceptable.

Too little, too late

But this announcement comes after two deaths. After weeks of chaos. After thousands of people were terrorized. Body cameras are a good thing, of course. They provide a measure of accountability. But they won’t bring Good and Pretti back. They won’t heal the trauma inflicted on detained children. They won’t restore the broken trust between communities and the federal government.

Body cameras. As if that were the solution. As if the problem were merely a lack of documentation and not the policy itself. Yes, we need cameras. Yes, we need transparency. But what we really need is a fundamental reevaluation of this militarized approach to immigration. Cameras won’t change anything if the mindset remains the same, if the orders remain the same, if the dehumanization of immigrants remains the norm.

Mayor Frey Calls for a Complete End

Jacob Frey, mayor of Minneapolis, called the withdrawal a step in the right direction but insisted that the 2,000 ICE agents still present do not constitute de-escalation. He has been consistent in his message to the White House: Operation Metro Surge has been catastrophic for businesses and residents. It must end immediately.

Governor Walz Calls for More

Governor Tim Walz has called for a faster and more significant withdrawal of forces, state-led investigations into the killings of Pretti and Good, and an end to this campaign of retaliation. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stated that his team continues to fight to put an end to this unconstitutional crackdown.

Community Groups Reject the Announcement

A coalition of religious, labor, and community groups in Minnesota rejected the announcement, stating in a press release that there are still thousands of masked, unaccountable officers terrorizing the community. They are right. The withdrawal of 700 officers is merely a symbolic gesture when 2,300 remain to continue exactly the same mission.

Listen to these voices. Listen to the mayor, the governor, the attorney general, and the community groups. They’re all saying the same thing: this isn’t enough. And they’re right. But here’s what strikes me: even in the face of this unanimity, even in the face of this clear demand to end the operation, the Trump administration isn’t really budging. It’s just going through the motions. It’s making minor adjustments. It’s throwing us a bone, hoping we’ll shut up. Well, no. We won’t shut up.

The NBC Interview and Empty Promises

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, President Trump stated that he had ordered a reduction in federal personnel in Minnesota and raised the possibility of taking a slightly softer approach, while insisting on the need to remain firm. He said he had learned from the situation in Minneapolis. But what exactly did he learn? That killing American citizens creates bad public relations? That militarizing an American city sparks protests?

The mission of mass deportations continues

Homan was very clear: if you’re in the country illegally, you’re not off the hook. President Trump fully intends to carry out mass deportations during this administration, and immigration enforcement actions will continue every day across the country. Criminals won’t be the only ones targeted. Everyone is fair game. That’s the reality behind Trump’s soothing words.

A softer touch. I almost laugh. But it’s a bitter, desperate laugh. Because that phrase sums up everything that’s wrong with this administration. They think the problem is the method, not the policy. They think that by being a little less brutal, a little less visible, they’ll be able to carry on doing exactly the same thing without the criticism. But we’re not fooled. Mass deportation is still mass deportation, whether it’s carried out with a gentle touch or an iron fist.

A mirror we refuse to look into

Minnesota is not an anomaly. It’s a testing ground. A test to see how far the government can go, how many rights it can trample on, how many lives it can destroy before the country says “enough.” And so far, the answer is: very far. Too far. The images of masked officers on American streets, of children in detention, of American citizens killed by their own government—all of this should shock us. But we’re getting used to it. That’s what’s most terrifying.

The Normalization of the Unacceptable

We’re normalizing the unacceptable. We debate the details—the number of officers, whether body cameras are present, the cooperation of local authorities. But we don’t question the fundamental premise: Is it acceptable to militarize our cities? Is it acceptable to terrorize entire communities in the name of enforcing immigration law? Is it acceptable for children to be afraid to go to school? The answer should be a resounding no. But it isn’t.

I look at my country and I no longer recognize it. Or maybe I do, and that’s even worse. Maybe this America has always been there, just beneath the surface, waiting for the right moment to emerge—an America that values order over justice, security over humanity, force over compassion. I don’t want this America. I reject this America. But it’s right there, before us, embodied by those 2,300 agents who remain in Minnesota to continue their mission of terror.

This is not a victory

So yes, 700 officers are leaving Minnesota. And we’re supposed to applaud. We’re supposed to see this as progress, as a victory for the communities that resisted. But this is not a victory. It’s a calculated concession, a token gesture designed to appease critics without fundamentally changing anything. The 2,300 officers who remain will continue their work. Families will still live in fear. Children will still miss school. And more people like Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti may die.

The Duty to Remember and Resist

We must remember. We must remember Good and Pretti. We must remember Liam Ramos and his blue beanie. We must remember the six students from Columbia Heights. We must remember that this happened here, in America, in 2026. And we must resist. Not just in Minnesota, but everywhere. Because if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. If we accept this, we accept everything.

I end this column with a mixture of rage and sadness. Rage against a system that allows this to happen. Sadness for the shattered lives, the torn families, the traumatized children. But also, strangely, a little hope. Because the people of Minnesota are resisting. Because the mayor, the governor, and the attorney general refuse to remain silent. Because communities are mobilizing. This resistance is our only hope. It is what will prevent us from sinking completely into this normalization of horror. So let’s keep going. Let’s keep shouting, protesting, and demanding better. Because we deserve better. America deserves better.

Signed, Jacques Provost