Banks: Can we keep the peace in Minneapolis?

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The alphabetic arms of federal law enforcement threw a raid last week in Minneapolis, and almost everyone came out looking bad. This even though almost everyone was at least a little right. Perhaps I’ll look bad for trying to keep a critical but open mind. Let’s start with what we knew as of the workweek’s end.

Fact: On Tuesday, federal agencies bearing the initialisms DEA, FBI, ICE and ATF — wearing military gear and, in some cases, masks — swarmed a Mexican restaurant on E. Lake Street with masked agents and an armored vehicle. The agencies reported no charges or arrests. The action was described as part of an investigation into money laundering and human and drug trafficking by a “transnational criminal organization,” and not immigration enforcement. News of the operation quickly drew a swell of protesters to the scene.

Context: Today, with the way ICE has been plucking people off streets or waiting to grab them outside courthouse doors, every operation is, for practical purposes, part of immigration enforcement. And the way the Trump administration has been conducting immigration and deportation policy at the outskirts of legal legitimacy, every operation is possibly unjust. Skepticism and protests are no surprise and are vastly preferable to silent acquiescence. But …

Fact: Elected officials and allies of immigrants swarmed the scene along with the protesters, assuming immigration enforcement only and scuffling with officers. All of it escalated on social media. Other elected officials later criticized their colleagues for actions that could have incited significant violence.

Context: Initial conclusions are often wrong. Word of mouth is unreliable. Social media agitates people for both the right and wrong reasons. Minneapolis has criminal activity with or without migrants. Everyone knows these things. Everyone should act accordingly, especially when a situation is intense.

Fact: Minneapolis police were present at the operation, even though Minneapolis has been a “sanctuary city” by ordinance since 2003, meaning that police aren’t supposed to ask people about immigration status or enforce immigration laws. Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his department was asked to help with crowd control and de-escalation after about an hour.

Context: Sanctuary city policies are motivated in part by the understanding that the federal government has its own immigration enforcement capabilities and does not need permission or cooperation to perform them. Such policies also are motivated by the notion that immigration enforcement is — perhaps depending on the administration, or perhaps inherently — unjust. It cannot be seen as a net positive for society’s governing divisions to subvert one another’s missions. In any case, Minneapolis police are responsible for keeping the peace in the city.

Fact: Those at the scene and others in the aftermath criticized the militarized nature of the operation. The use of masks by some of the law enforcement agents was a particular trigger.

Context: We’re seeing more of that masking — not just helmets and shields, but concealments — especially among federal agents. It diminishes accountability and enhances the intimidation factor, whether on purpose or not. Todd Lyons, the acting ICE director, belittled that concern when he said “is that the issue here, that we’re just upset about the masks? Or is anyone upset about the fact that ICE officers’ families were labeled terrorists?”

Those in law enforcement have hard jobs. We ask them to deal with the worst elements of society, but also to be better than those elements at all times. We demand this professionalism regardless of circumstance, regardless of political culture and regardless of their own psychological wounds. These are reasonable expectations. They’re necessary for the consent of the governed.

Fact: Some officials criticized the excess of the raid. O’Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called it tone-deaf. Frey said community members had “understandable fear. I had the same concern myself.” On Thursday, the Minneapolis City Council ordered a review of the city’s involvement.

Context: All well and good, especially the review, but this is an election year in Minneapolis, and questions of public safety and justice are again where battle lines are being drawn, even though there are other matters, including the evolution of the tax base, that are equally important to the city’s future. Obviously, law enforcement raids like Tuesday’s won’t be announced in advance. Current federal policies will only add to instability. I don’t think the mayor is caught off-guard by the community reactions, but if he wants a sensible public safety milieu to prevail in November, he needs to be seen as not running behind.

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Look around. Look at this week’s other big blowup, between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. There’s so much about government right now that’s unserious. So much as well that’s seriously improper. It’s going to be up to all of us to make that right. We start by — all of us — respecting the fundamentals.