Sometimes, the value of a criminal indictment is the headlines it can get, not the charges that can stick. On Tuesday afternoon, a federal prosecutor in Minnesota, U.S. attorney Daniel N. Rosen, held a press conference about what he characterized as an indictment of more than a dozen people allegedly associated with “antifa groups that violently opposed the enforcement of federal law in our…

We could all breathe a sigh of relief if Donald Trump had fired Kristi Noem for the right reasons. If, for example, Trump had determined that a Cabinet member who accused two American citizens of engaging in “domestic terrorism”—after they’d been shot at point-blank range by masked agents under her charge—had crossed a bright moral line, rendering said Cabinet member an unsalvageable liability,…

This time last week, I had accountability on my mind, and the need for liberal leaders in a post-Trump future to transform frustration into lustration by bringing the agents and enablers of Trumpism to heel and forcing them to pay a price for their misdeeds. One thing I could have been more forthright about is what put me in the mood: It’s the old and ongoing story of the abuse being meted out by…

I found out about Chairman Paul Birdsong and the new Black Panther Party the same way everyone else did—very suddenly, and via Instagram reel. Just days after Renee Good was shot dead by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis, Birdsong and his group of organizers went viral at a protest in Philadelphia—dressed in all black, toting semiautomatic weapons, and daring…

Sunday’s Super Bowl was mostly an exercise in foregone conclusions: Bad Bunny’s halftime show would show off his talent and creativity, the Seahawks would grimly dominate the pitiable Patriots, and I would shout “Get fucked!” at the television when the inevitable commercial for ICE aired. But there was one surprise discussion that sprang to life the morning after the big game—involving lost dogs,…

In a viral video captured during the ICE surge in Portland, Maine, an agent pointed his phone at a constitutional observer, snapped a photo, and offered a chilling, off-the-cuff warning: She was being added to a “database” of “domestic terrorists.” The brief exchange offered a glimpse into the petty and vindictive mindset of ICE agents. It also offered us a window into the mechanics of a…

Lately I’ve been wondering what it might be like for the residents of the embattled Twin Cities to receive one of those trademark email solicitations from the Democratic Party. You know the ones: The sender is Chuck Schumer, the subject line reads “THIS IS THE END,” and the body of the email explains how the gyre is widening and the falcon can’t hear the falconer and it’s up to you to send $5 to…