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Dear Revealer,

Saturday was a day of grief, rage, confusion, and shock.

For me, it began with texts from former neighbors in Minneapolis: “ICE shot another person. There’s a crowd forming. Tear gas.” I watched livestreams from the Twin Cities as reporters dodged gas in the streets, and learned about Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the local VA hospital. I read a statement from his parents ([link removed]) and tried to comprehend not only the loss of a child, but the cruelty of having to defend his memory against the government’s lies.

It was a lot to process—and if you’re still grappling with it, you are not alone.

In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll better understand where this is headed. For now, it’s clear that this moment represents a rupture—perhaps the kind Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described in his Davos speech ([link removed]) : a moment when you realize that you need to adjust to a world that has irrevocably changed.

Reveal and Mother Jones have been reporting from Minneapolis since the beginning. Our journalists’ work—some of which I’ve shared below—has been extraordinary. From the responses we’re seeing, it’s helping people sort fact from fiction and find their footing amid the maelstrom of headlines. We'll have folks on the ground, and investigating behind the scenes, for as long as it takes. (The last newsroom Slack messages I saw on Saturday night were about stopping at Home Depot to pick up gas masks.)

For me, this is deeply personal. Minneapolis welcomed me as a young immigrant more than three decades ago. It’s where I learned how to be a journalist, how to drive in snow, and how to show up for a neighbor. The bravery and decency and refusal to bow to an overreaching government we are seeing on display there right now embodies something fundamentally American and too strong to be easily overwhelmed.

I wanted to share a bit of the journalism our team has produced, because bearing witness is itself an act of standing up. I hope you find some solace—and perhaps something to share—in this work.

I’ll begin with a story of hope. Julia Lurie spent time with Pastor Sergio Amezcua ([link removed]) , whose church offered to help frightened families get groceries. He initially thought they might serve 10 or 20 families. As of this week, that number has grown to 17,000.

For some reporting that transcends the moment and connects the dots, I recommend a powerful Reveal interview with investigative journalist Radley Balko, tracing how immigration enforcement has become the testing ground for a fully militarized domestic force: How ICE Became Trump’s Very Own Paramilitary Force. ([link removed])

Right now, one of the top stories on Mother Jones is a stark and moving video report: “It’s a Horror Show”: Anguish Sweeps Minneapolis After Federal Agents Kill Another Neighbor. ([link removed]) Sam van Pykeren spoke with residents confronting tactical Border Patrol units firing tear gas, flash grenades, and rubber bullets. “I don’t recognize our country,” one neighbor told him.

Alex Nguyen and Noah Lanard also analyzed the videos of the Pretti shooting and noted that the video contradicts the Trump administration's account of the Minneapolis killing ([link removed]) —an example of the kind of precision reporting that matters enormously in moments like this. I was struck by the difference between their headline and the New York Times', the latter strangely hedged that the videos "appear to contradict" DHS's account.

The day before the shooting, Sam joined clergy on a pilgrimage ([link removed]) from George Floyd Square to Renée Good’s memorial in South Minneapolis. Along the way, ICE attacked an observer, smashing his window and injuring a medic. Among those present was Pastor Rob Schenck, whose essay Confessions of a Former Christian Nationalist ([link removed]) we published last year. He’ll be writing about this experience in the coming days.

Other reporting from our team includes:
* Coverage of hundreds of businesses joining a general strike against ICE ([link removed])
* An investigation into the strange green gas used against protesters ([link removed])
* A ride along with George Floyd’s aunt to talk about Minnesota’s long fight for justice ([link removed])
* Reporting on how the right is beginning to question the narrative coming out of the administration ([link removed]) , and
* A devastating piece about the image that so many of us can’t shake: a 5-year-old child detained with a Spider-Man backpack and a floppy-eared hat ([link removed])

That is a lot—and more reporting is already underway.

I also want to share a note of progress. Thanks to our legal team, led by Victoria Baranetsky, and in collaboration with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, we successfully sued to unseal records showing how the government targeted students like Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil. The documents are now public, revealing, as reporter Najib Aminy reported, that these students were targeted simply for expressing views the government did not like. ([link removed])

This, too, is about bearing witness.

The government may lie, and it may succeed for a time. But as we’ve seen this past weekend, when millions of people watch events unfold with their own eyes, the truth has a way of asserting itself. You cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

Which brings me—most importantly—to gratitude.

Thank you for standing with us in this uniquely difficult moment. Your support makes it possible for our journalists to be present, prepared, and fearless. It allows CIR to document what is happening, to challenge falsehoods before they harden into history, and to help people make sense of a world that feels unmoored.

We are profoundly grateful to you—for your trust, your partnership, and your belief that this work, this bearing witness, matters now more than ever.

Onward,

Monika Bauerlein, CEO
The Center for Investigative Reporting

Reveal | Mother Jones | CIR Studios

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