Yesterday, I spent the day in my home state of Minnesota, and I wanted to share some photos and stories from our visit. For those of you who are on the ground in the Twin Cities, I hope that you are staying safe and warm. For those of you who are watching from afar, I hope this email can give you some insight into what things are like on the ground right now.

First, we headed to the Minnesota DFL headquarters, where we had a conversation with my friends and former coworkers.

The Minnesota DFL team has barely slept. In the wake of tragedy, this team had to help win two special elections. And, last night, DFL candidates Shelley Buck and Meg Luger-Nikolai clinched victories in their respective Minnesota House District 47A and House District 64A races.

With these victories, Minnesotans now have two more Democratic champions who will fight to lower costs, protect health care, and protect our community from federal overreach and violence.

From there, we headed to the Capitol to catch up with my friend, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. AG Ellison and I discussed how he is leading the charge to hold ICE accountable in the courts, and he shared what is giving him hope during these dark and difficult times.

After my conversation with AG Ellison, my team and I volunteered at a Minneapolis church that is providing supplies to families who are scared of leaving their homes, for fear of being targeted by ICE.

We dropped off food and helped receive and organize donations. The church was bustling with activity. There was a steady stream of cars dropping off donations, and people showed up from all over the city to volunteer. Two of the most requested items were diapers and baby formula.

Then, I was humbled to visit the memorial sites of both Renée Good and Alex Pretti.

Renée Good and Alex Pretti’s lives were taken far too soon. Both were valued members of their community here in Minneapolis. Both were labelled immediately as “domestic terrorists” by the Trump administration.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Renée was a poet and a mother of three killed while monitoring ICE activity after dropping her kids off at school.

Alex was an ICU nurse at the VA, who, before he was shot dead in the street, was helping a woman who was shoved to the ground by federal agents.

Yesterday, my team and I paid our respects to these Minnesotans who embodied our values. We mourn their senseless deaths, and stand with all who have faced brutality at the hands of Trump’s federal agents.

This month of so much heartbreak and fear for Minnesotans has only steeled our resolve. But I also know we are not alone. The country is watching and with us. Trump may have thousands of federal agents, but we have our neighbors. And if we have learned anything from the movement in Minnesota, it’s that there’s strength and power in community, and our resistance makes a difference.

On Monday, the news broke that Greg Bovino, the public face of Customs and Border Patrol who oversaw crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis, would be demoted and removed from that role. His removal would not have been possible without a successful public pressure campaign, both from folks on the ground in Minnesota and every single person raising their voices in opposition across the country.

But our work is not yet done. While Bovino might be on his way out, we need to keep doing everything in our power to hold Donald Trump and his administration responsible for the campaign of cruelty and chaos.

Tonight, we are gathering virtually to hear how Democrats and community groups are responding to ICE’s harmful actions in Minnesota and how you can help. I hope you can join us.

Click here to sign up to join our virtual Rapid Response Call on Minnesota with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison at 7 PM ET tonight, Wednesday, January 28.

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Thanks for reading,

Ken

Ken Martin
Chair
Democratic National Committee

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