Transcript

LIVE STOP TRUMP’S ICE TERROR Protest in -18 Degrees | LIVE From Minneapolis

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 1 h 28 min · 11,468 words · 174 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "LIVE STOP TRUMP’S ICE TERROR Protest in -18 Degrees | LIVE From Minneapolis", an episode of MeidasTouch published January 23, 2026 (1 h 28 min, about 11,468 words). It mentions 3 people, works and ideas, including ICE, general strike, Fort Snelling.

What this episode is about

In freezing conditions, protesters gather outside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis to voice their dissent against the Trump administration's immigration policies and ICE operations. The demonstration aligns with a planned general strike aimed at protesting family separations and community disruptions caused by aggressive enforcement tactics targeting the Somali community in the region.

Key takeaways

  • In -20° weather, Minnesotans show that solidarity is warmer than any winter coat.
  • When no one else shows up, alternative media shines—proof that passion often outruns corporate interests.
  • A general strike reflects not just anger, but unity; watch out, winter—social change is coming.
  • Trumps' tactics are cold-hearted and resemble winter: harsh, uninviting, yet rallying hearts to protest.
  • In an era where voices are frozen out, grassroots reporting defrosts the truth in real-time.

Who speaks in this episode?

  • JT Saskowski (Host) · 53 min speaking
  • Scrimp (Guest) · 13 min speaking
  • River (Guest) · 13 min speaking
  • Dan (Guest) · 9 min speaking
  • John (Guest) · 4 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: general strike, Fort Snelling
  2. – 20:00: ICE
  3. – 30:00: ICE, Fort Snelling
  4. – 50:00: general strike
  5. – 1:00:00: Fort Snelling
  6. – 1:10:00: ICE
  7. – 1:28:01: general strike, Fort Snelling

Notable quotes from "LIVE STOP TRUMP’S ICE TERROR Protest in -18 Degrees | LIVE From Minneapolis"

  • Good morning from sunny and beautiful scenic Fort Snelling, Minnesota, where it is a balmy -20° outside, plus a slight breeze that makes it feel Oh my goodness. And do you feel every.
    about Fort Snelling · at
  • Before I do, I want to note what today is Friday, January 23rd, which is the day of a planned general strike in the state of Minnesota. The goal is for no work, no school, no…
    about general strike · at
  • Was like two. I mean this is just it's not even they're going it's like even if they were going after bad guys like ICE has been around and they were doing it in a little bit…
    about ICE · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

Companies & orgs

  • ICE — Company · Business focus · 3 mentions · first at
    Central to the protest, representing the immigration enforcement operations criticized in the episode

Places & events

  • general strike — Event · Core topic · 4 mentions · first at
    The planned strike as a form of protest against the Trump administration's policies
  • Fort Snelling — Place · Setting · 4 mentions · first at
    The location where the protest is taking place

Full transcript with timestamps

Good morning from sunny and beautiful scenic Fort Snelling, Minnesota, where it is a balmy -20° outside, plus a slight breeze that makes it feel Oh my goodness. And do you feel every negative degree of that right now? But that has not stopped the people of Minnesota from coming out here to the Whitell Federal Building, the headquarters for ICE and the other Department of Homeland Security agencies that are conducting immigration enforcement operations here in the Twin Cities area. from coming out to this place and having a bit of fun in the sun Minnesota style outside the Whipple Federal Building. They're planning direct action here this morning and the protests are already well underway.

Several dozen people gathered here. We will be hearing from in just a moment. Before I do, I want to note what today is Friday, January 23rd, which is the day of a planned general strike in the state of Minnesota. The goal is for no work, no school, no shop, and grinding to a this state as a show of protest and a flex of strength against the Trump administration for the cruel tactics that it has employed here against the people of Minnesota, ripping apart families, tearing apart communities. Much of that coverage we have brought you here on Status Coup and on our partners, the Mouch Network, who I am reporting in conjunction with here in the great state of Minnesota.

We've been here on the ground since early December when Operation Metro Surge first got underway by the Trump administration at the president's direction, prompted by his racist remarks against the Somali community out here. That operation continued through the month of December where we saw abuse after abuse, including the dragging of a pregnant woman that we reported on extensively here at Status 2 up through the Christmas time. And then in the beginning of January, right after Nick Shirley, a right-wing YouTuber, published a

Innesota by sending another a thousand agents. It is hard to go anywhere in the Twin Cities area as they are out on operations. We saw just yesterday agents uh take into custody a girl who was John's old uh two or three years old here on Minneapolis's South DHS and used his date to try and grab other members of his family. He is now in El Paso, Texas with his father, having been detained by immigration enforcement agents, being shipped out a lot of these people so quickly that lawyers are not able to get to them before they are taken out of this community. I don't want to dillydally any longer other than to say that if us reporting out here in -20° temperatures and more with the wind chill is admirable to you to be able to lift up these voices and show you what is happening on the ground here in the way that Minneapolis, Minnesota is being brutalized right now and by the way in ways that are being drastically under

reportported by the mainstream press by corporate media in this moment to be able to show you that the tactics the Trump administration is using and to be able to hear in their own voices from motans about how they plan to stand up and resist the Trump administration. If that work is important to you, please go to statuscq.com/join or as always $5 a month you go to sustain our on the ground reporting here. It cost us $15,000 a month to be live on the ground in the way we are right now. And the other thing that I will say is that you look around here, there's no one else out reporting in this weather out here right now. It is just us. There is no CNN. There is no MS Now. There is no Fox News. None of these corporate outlets are out here right now. It is Status Coup and the Midas Touch Network.

And that is it. So if this kind of work is important, we're the only ones doing it. Please support us, sustain us. The other things you can do are get subscribed so you are notified when we go live as we plan to again later today around 3:00 Eastern, 2:00 Central time from the general strike march and rally that is planned for downtown Minneapolis this afternoon. And the last thing you can do is like and share this stream because this on the ground reporting is not supported in and of itself by the uh by uh social media networks. We need to send that signal to those algorithms to boost our messaging and get our reporting out there. With that, John, let's go into this crowd. We're going to report for

section. Good morning. Would you mind if I interviewed you about why you wanted to be out here this morning in the cold?

I think there are better choices. Better choices. Understood. What's up, column?

Oh, yeah. What's up? Tech issues. Yeah. Hey, Colin. What's going on? I mean, I'm pretty sure it's probably because our HDMI cable is frozen and when we move a little bit, it's going to Yeah, the stream will go dark. I I can't do anything about that. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. Yeah, we got to soldier through. All right. Bye. I'm just being told you're seeing technical difficulties occuring occasionally our video will go out here. I want to just note that that is because uh I think because the cable that connects our camera to the equipment that we use to go live is completely frozen and so that connection will just go out on occasion when we bend that cord in certain ways. You hear the noise that people are making out here as immigration uh as immigration agents are coming and going from the building here.

cold. Would you guys mind talking to me for a few minutes? I'm okay. You want to?

I keep it pretty easy on you. I trust that you trust me. I don't know. It's really just why you wanted to be out here this morning. message you came to deliver.

Um, wait, hold on. I'm like pre-thinking. Sorry. She's preparing. I guess I can.

Yeah. Yeah. All right. This is my cameraman, John. My name is JT. What What's your name? Or how do you want to be identified?

Scrimp. Scrimp. How do you spell scrimp? Doesn't matter. S K R I M P. Sound good to you?

Sure. All right. Uh, can you talk script about the just since you're going to go by that uh that that alias, why it's important to be going by an alias out here as you're doing these these actions and and these this protesting?

Well, um I think we're seeing that they're starting to target people who are observers as it becomes increasingly more fascist. So, it's important to remain anonymous um so that we can keep doing the good work and being out.

And speaking of that good work and being out, why did you want to be out here this morning? I mean, it's -20. There are other days to protest. You wanted to be out here this morning. Why was that important to you?

We're stronger than them. And I think being out here on a cold morning like this really shows that. Um I hope they get frostbite.

What about yourself? Are you worried at all about frostbite? How are you bundled up here this morning?

No, I'm good. You're good. All right. So, the uh the message you came to deliver was what?

Um we are strong and we are together. Um you cannot divide us. We love our neighbors. We love our community. And go home.

Go home. The Trump administration has said that its actions in this city and in others are nominally about keeping people safe, about arresting criminals. Can you describe to people who are not here in the Twin Cities area who are the kinds of people that the Trump administration is targeting?

Um, honestly, anyone. Uh, they are not arresting criminals. Um, they are arresting our neighbors, our like fellow people. Um, they're not making the community safer. They're making it much more dangerous actually, just even with just their driving. Um, so yeah, I don't know what they're talking about. They're just spreading lies, propaganda, whatever they want to say. It's not true. If you're not here, you don't get it.

Describe that that that driving that you're talking about. How are agents conducting themselves on the roads here in in Minnesota communities, neighborhoods that they're driving through?

Um, they get scared when they see us, so they'll speed up. I heard um stories of them going 60 down to 30. Um my roommate said she watched one almost hit one in a crosswalk. They run red lights all the time. Um they just drive erratically and like they're not from here so like they don't the ice like on the ground um is already dangerous without the ICE agents present driving crazy. So um even just that and they block cars in, leave them in the intersections, leave running cars in the streets. Neighbors have to take people's cars to their homes um when they get kidnapped to prevent them from being in the streets.

Yeah. Vehicles abandoned. And just to back up what Scrimp is saying, we've been out ourselves documenting what ICE is doing in these neighborhoods that involves following some of these convoys where Yeah. I've seen agents do 90 and 55. I've seen them weave between traffic. I've seen them run red lights more than I could count, whip illegal U-turns, etc. And that is not even to mention the the munitions, the chemical munitions that they're deploying in some of these communities where we've seen young children be teargassed. Not to mention just the people who are out there to peacefully protest what ICE is doing in these communities. Scrimp, thank you very much. It's cold. I won't make you continue to focus on talking too much longer, but I still do like to always give people the opportunity. Is there anything else that you would want to say while you had the platform?

Uh, [ __ ] Ice. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time. Are you guys available for interviews about why you wanted to be out here this morning?

Uh, sure. What What's your name? River. River, spelled like a river. Regular river. Okay. All right. River. Uh, what made you want to be out here in -20° temperatures this morning? Why did you want to be out here? What did you come to say to the federal government?

Well, I mean, this is ridiculous. Like the violence against our community and like everyone is just insane. Like I don't know how this is even allowed to be honest. Like it's baffles me. I mean they took like that little baby boy and then another little girl last night. She was like two. I mean this is just it's not even they're going it's like even if they were going after bad guys like ICE has been around and they were doing it in a a little bit of a better way. I mean this is just evil. Yesterday, Vice President JD Vance used Minneapolis as uh you know, the backdrop for for uh you know, for the some propaganda that he was trying to to spin some of those arrests that you were just talking about. You're referencing that 5-year-old boy who was taken uh and he tried to make it sound as though ICE was was rescuing him. when you see when you see the vice president come in here and try to portray the agents as as the you

know the unsung heroes, what's the reaction that you that you have to that? I mean like they've just been lying the whole time. Like the propaganda is crazy. Like the woman who was arrested yesterday, the activists, like they like AIDed her face to look like she was crying. Like they're just spinning everything. So I mean I don't like anything they say is not real to me at this point. And like but the sad thing is like I do think some of them think they are being heroes and I don't know how like that they're what's happening in their brains. You know the uh you referenced there that activists who one of the one of the uh several activists who were arrested yesterday in connection to the pro uh protest that was staged at uh city's church in St.

Paul over the weekend. Trump administration uh there the DOJ uh federal officers staged raids at a hotel here and ended up arresting several activists in connection to that to that raid. Uh what do you think the message is that the Trump administration was trying to send by by arresting activists for staging protests?

I mean I don't know the message. I mean I think the message has just been like we hate the people. You know what I mean? I think it's pretty simple and they're just trying to do a power move and I think they're trying to make us feel defeated but we aren't obviously.

How how are you feeling in this moment if not defeated? Um I mean I feel horribly upset. I've been like on the verge of tears for weeks now. But I also feel also on the verge of tears in like a beautiful way that we're all together and like it's a community and I love everyone here. So, I do think we definitely have like a togetherness that is magical.

A togetherness that is magical. And we've certainly seen the community rally together here in the way that it is, you know, that you see the community groups, the volunteers that are out watching for ICE on the streets, blowing whistles, honking horns, uh notifying rapid response groups. Are there other ways that you've seen the community come together in your own day-to-day life?

Oh, I mean, yeah, like constantly. Um, I mean, I get like a little scared to talk about things cuz I know that they're infiltrating things, so I don't want to like give away too much if that's okay.

Yeah. I guess I was just looking for like mutual aid in the ways like that. Oh, so much mutual aid. I mean, like I've donated hundreds of dollars and I mean, I'm doing we're doing everything we can, volunteering, um, distributing. Um, but like those now are being infiltrated by ICE. Um, so that's scary. They're like pretending to be volunteers and stuff. So, I don't know. That's why like I don't know what to say cuz I don't want to give away too much.

Yeah. Yeah. And that is something that we've been hearing now out here is that ICE is uh ICE is presenting themselves as as being part of these mutual aid networks that are distributing aid here in the Twin Cities area as a as a guise to to it seems try and identify people that they could that they can deport. Uh and that's something that we're working on reporting out more robustly here. River is there anything else you want to add while you have the platform? I mean, I I guess I love you and I love Minnesota and you know what I mean. I love us all here. Um, and just stay strong. I know we can do it. So,

all right. Stay warm. Stay safe out here. All right. You, too. Thank you. I want to make the way down the down the road here. I apologize. Our signal goes out. hundreds of protests. Glad to be out here.

It is it has been a cold week here in Minnesota. And just just to back up what Sean is saying there about, you know, the ice age is not necessarily being used to the cold. as we've been out looking to document, you know, some of the abuses that ICE has been committing in these communities. They have been out to be sure, but certainly in uh fewer numbers or in shorter stints that they do go out and conduct these operations over these cold days. So, it does go to kind of speak to what you're saying, these, you know, out of state agents not necessarily being used to Minnesota conditions. What was the what was the message? If I mean, if you came to uh say one thing here to the federal government, what was that thing that you came to to say to make your voice heard today?

Stop kidnapping and murdering our people. Yeah, absolutely. And get out, please.

Get the f out of our state. Nice. Yeah. Where does it say about the current state of our country that you have to tell the federal government not to murder its own its own citizens? It's tyrannical and and we're falling under a fascist regime very quickly.

Exactly correct. Couldn't have said it better. Fascism. I mean, is that is that where you think I mean, are we there? Is this 1930s Germany? Is that is that what you see the

how it start it started in 1930s Germany. Sean would be able to Yeah. Get the historical part. But yeah, it's

we're following the exact pattern of what happened then. History repeats and we're just letting it happen. I mean, we're not trying to let it happen, but the administration is, obviously, so that's why we're out here.

Uh, I want to get your reaction to JD Vance's visit yesterday, came out here, uh, tried to make ICE sound like the, uh, the unsung heroes in what is happening out here in Minnesota. But when you saw the vice president come out here and speak, use Minneapolis, the Twin Cities as the backdrop for the propaganda that the administration is is putting out, what was what was your reaction to what he had to say?

Everything they say is lies constantly. I mean, what else can be the reaction just to almost It's not It would be funny if it's this wasn't so detrimental to our nation. My lips are starting to freeze, but uh yeah, I mean, it's just it's complete BS.

Pure propaganda, that's all. That's all I thought for that is is is no. This is not the right place for that.

Given that you guys are lips are starting to freeze, I want you to be able to cover them up here. So, I'll draw this interview to a close, but I always ask the same question. Is there anything else you want to add while you have the platform?

Ice needs to leave. Yeah, they need to get out of here before things get worse for them.

Thank you both very much. I appreciate Sean and Mary. And John, if you just want to pivot the camera around just a little bit. I'll talk to camera here just for a moment. I I want to point out that so far everybody we've talked to when we ask them is there anything else you want to add they just say ice out they're using it as a platform to just continue their protest everybody here speaking with ostensibly one voice that they want immigration agents out of their communities out of their city and you could see here the dozens it's like 50 plus people some of it is media to here there's a couple of cameras here but um most of It is just protesters who are out here to make their voices heard this morning in these frigid temperatures.

You know, last I said I I said last I checked it was -4 with the windchill and these motans are out here to to make their voices heard all the same protesting seemingly undeterred. I mean, I'm seeing I'm seeing icy icicles form on people's uh people's eyelashes out here on mustaches on eyebrows from just the condensation from their own breath freezing against against their face. I don't know if I have any on mine. I'm seeing some ice hanging off of John's beard right now uh behind the camera. Poor John has to hold the camera, the cold metal camera in his hand as we talk here. Luckily, I've seen him set it down on occasion. But I just want to say that if this reporting is important to be able to show that as you know as as this administration has been want to do to frame uh the that it's a it's you know the vast majority of motans are behind the administration's efforts that ICE agents are the unsung heroes that there

isn't much in the way of uh uh anti-ICE demonstration and protest. I mean, I think this is pretty irrefutable out here this morning that this many people are willing to come out in these temperatures. There is not the mainstream press out here. It's us. It's us and just a few other independent journalists. It's us and just a few other independent journalists out here. So, supporting independent media in this. We're getting word that uh demonstrators are uh blocking the road here down the ways. You'll notice all this chain link fencing that we're walking past. This is new. This was put up not last night but the night before. Uh I've been told that it's a uh was a combined effort between federal authorities and local authorities. The Henipin County Sheriff's Office doing a lot of the management out here.

And all of this chain link fencing is about trying to deter the protesters, not let them get into the street where they have been want to be as a way to try at least slow at least slow uh the immigration enforcement efforts that are happening up here. So, we were standing outside of one entrance to the WLE Federal Building. We are walking around to the other entrance uh to the WLE Federal Building right now where we've been told there are demonstrators who are attempting to block the road over there. And I am seeing one sheriff's office vehicle across the road. I know

to walking the opposite direction from us. And they're they're telling us that yeah, there are demonstrators who are disobedience against the federal government. Holding up, John. Yeah. Okay, I see now just coming into view here and John will be able to turn the camera in just a just a moment. And I apologize if our signals going out. It is the weather getting to our equipment. But we see here demonstrators who are out along blocking the road here that leads up to the Whitull Federal Building.

And the sheriff's office is on a megaphone trying to tell these protesters to to get out of the road.

The arm bars assume this is the sidewalk, right? Okay. Ah [ __ ] people to get on the sidewalk.

See photo. These protesters are chanting whose streets are streets. I apologize for the dead air just there. We were having to move a little bit to get out from uh underneath uh some uh uh train crossing uh arm bar that would come down uh to block the road when the uh little mo system comes across. So here you see protesters chanting whose streets are

free to note. Sheriff's office is repeating its orders to these demonstrators to get out of the roadway.

Now chanting Nazi scum off our streets. Uh-huh. I mean, now the direct I mean, the direct action is starting right now. Okay, I can try and do that.

How How long have we been down? Okay. All right. Palestine will be free. Are we still down or we back?

No, we're back now. But he wants us to not move. Every time we move, we go down. Yeah. If we're just coming back now, uh I apologize for these technical difficulties, but it is so cold that our equipment fails uh when we move our our cord that we use to connect the camera to our live equipment is uh is frozen frozen in these temperatures and when we move that connection goes out uh cuz we break that connection in our cord. So, um, but we're going to try and remain a little bit more stationary here so that way we don't have, uh, that same connection issue.

Though obviously depending on how these demonstrators depending on what these demonstrators do, we may be forced to move

or on what the law enforcement response to them is, we may be forced to move as well.

Just let them know that we're going to record anything that happens. Yeah. Anything that happens here, we'll be recording on it. And so this is another good opportunity to remind you to get subscribed to Status Coup and to our partners at the Midas Touch Network because anything that we do record out of this if we're not able to be live will be uploaded to our YouTube channel. So get subscribed to us and you'll be able to see all of our recording here regardless of the technical issues we have with our live streaming ability.

So far, the sheriff's office has just been content to get on its loudspeaker on occasion and just tell the protesters to get out of the roadway

right now. They're chanting Minnesota's got the ice belt. Minnesota's got the ice melt.

MINNESOTA'S GOT THE ICE BELT. MINNESOTA'S GOT THE ICE. MINNESOTA'S GOT THE ICE.

Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice.

Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice. The ice belt. Got the ice.

Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice.

Minnesota's got the ice. Minnesota got the ice. Minnesota's got the ice. got the

I don't know that the protesters right now seem pretty content to just remain remain stationary behind their barricades and to block off this one entrance to the Whitull Federal building. This one approach to it. I'll note that it's not the only approach. ICE agents uh also use uh a different road uh basically the same road that you're looking at but from the other direction. It connects into the local highway uh and agents are also able to use that entrance and exit. So unless there is a mirror demonstration happening down there

While an inconvenience for federal agents, it certainly doesn't stop them from doing their work. This one roadblock and see if

Oh, we're hearing I'm hearing uh someone who appears uh to be an organizer of some kind or at least has a a walkie-talkie on him just told some of the groups here that they were apparently they're apparently trying to deploy a blockade on the other side of the building as well at the other

at the other entrance to the building that I was just referencing. So the goal is to completely block traffic to and from the Whipple Federal Building so that the federal agent it's out of this building. The Department of Homeland Security is coordinating all of its operations here in the Twin Cities area. So the goal is to completely block access. And if that's the case, it would that would severely hamper the Department of Homeland Security's ability to conduct its immigration enforcement operations cuz at least what we have been hearing from some of the people who have been detained by federal agents is that they've been brought to the Whipple Federal Building. So this does seem to be the uh you know uh central place where they are keeping people until they are deported. Now it's not to say that the federal government couldn't adjust on the fly and perhaps maybe use uh local jails etc

if they have contracts with any uh county sheriff's offices if those are even uh permitted here in the state. or the federal government could try and use other federal offices in the area. But it does certainly it does certainly complicate the federal government's mission if both both approaches to the Whipple Federal Building are blockaded because this is where you see all of the uh ICE agents coming and going here.

Unfortunately, John and I can't be in two places at once to know if that other blockade is deployed. I'm going to try and talk to some folks around here and see if I can't get uh some more information and maybe some some interviews going here. But we're going to try and leave the camera stationary just to keep the uh the live view uh the live feed up. John, how you holding up? All right. All right.

Is there a is there a zero blockade of this one at the other end? I was just told by some folks who were walking this way that there is not another blockade up the other uh other end of this roadway.

While we wait for developments out here, I do want to just note that today is today is uh the day of a general strike here in the state of Minnesota. There's going to be a march and rally as part of that general strike this afternoon at 3:00 Eastern time, 2:00 Central, uh where John and I will be going live again from that march and rally. Mercifully, the rally will be held indoors. So, we should be able to have a much more comfortable live stream. we'll be able to more freely talk to you back home and where we won't have some of these same technical difficulties. But please plan to to tune in to to that live stream as well where we're expecting labor unions to turn out turn out as many people as as they can to this march and rally as a way to try and show the states flex the the states of power in as a direct protest to the Trump administration.

I've got like two sets. Yeah, like that. Stand up. Stand up. No, mine's good. Yeah, my my core is good. Yeah. Yeah. The hands and feet.

Raven working. Uh, I'm not trying mine right now. Usually in the cold. Yeah. Palestine will be free.

The Palestinian flag Palestine will be free. Why are they fight? So they uh they're waiting for the blockade to start over there and then they probably got to move this

JT. Yeah. So we could uh go and talk to talk to him about the house playing and how uh things are you know.

Yeah. This is my status. You guys been seeing it recorded probably on the streets.

Can I interview you guys about the significance of the Palestinian flag out here?

Sure. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. John, how do you all want to be identified? Uh, I'd rather not.

Well, like uh anything I can call you? Uhhuh. I don't know. I don't know. Well, okay. So,

my first time doing this. Yeah, John, if you want to get the shot there of the Palestinian flag that you guys are holding up here. I'm not sure if you were the ones that that painted this to bring it out yourselves, but

maybe you could just speak to the significance of why you felt the or why you feel the Palestinian flag is significant all, you know, half a world away here in the state of Minnesota and the events that are happening here in the Twin Cities.

Uh the struggle against fascism is global. Uh though obviously not on the same scale as Palestine. are struggling against the fascist occupation of our city and Palestine is struggling against the fascist occupation of an apartheid state that's been happening for decades.

Yeah. You say not to the same extent, but what are some of the ways that you see you know some of those uh you know that you see some of those similarities? What are some of those similarities that you're seeing? Complete oversight from agents representing the federal government. No due process, no law. They grab people off the streets. They throw them in cars. They keep them in detention for unknown periods of time or move them to also parts unknown. Uh just absolutely disgusting, evil, spiteful, petty behavior.

Anything you would want to add to that? I mean, it's the same same fascist government that's, you know, doing all this, right? You know, they're they're training each other. They're they're, you know, they're fight our fight. where like we're all just fighting against the same imperial power that just, you know, wants to crush people under its foot for its for the small handful of people at the top, you know? So, it's a same fight.

Why was it important for both of you to be out here this morning? I mean, in these temperatures putting your, you know, potentially your your bodies on the line here the way you are st, you know, occupying this roadway. Why was it important for you to be a part of this action?

No one's coming to save us. uh our state and uh city government are, you know, they'll stand up and they'll say a naughty word on for TV, but they're not going to [ __ ] do anything about it. The police are the police aren't going to help us. Obviously, no one thinks that's going to happen. If if we don't protect it, no one will.

Yeah. What what what observation were you just making about the police? I mean, they're over there. They're like facing us. They're like they're, you know, they're not on our side protecting us from the the invading like corrupt feds. They're, you know, protecting the feds. Like it's it like they're not protecting us, the people who are getting abducted, who are getting killed on the streets by, you know, some some guys out of state, you know? It's like it's just

Yeah, it's insanity. How how long are you guys prepared to to be here occupying, you know, this this roadway? Obviously, there's inherent limitations given that it's -21° out. It feels like -40, but as long as we possibly can.

I mean, my toes are already kind of freezing, but like, you know, I can stick it, right? Like, you know, as long as we need to be out here, as long as we need to obstruct them and keep them from abducting more of our neighbors, like the these are our neighbors. We got to protect them,

you know? And so, you feel compelled to do to do something here. And you are taking you are taking this action. So, you certainly can't be accused of doing nothing out here. Uh, can I just can I get you to just kind of lay out the geography for people who who might not be familiar like occupying this road has has what significance? Uh, this is one of the entrances to to the Whipple Disc Center part of Fort Snelling which ICE has been operating directly out of and in which people are being uh held. If they can't move in and out of the Whipple, they can't uh imprison our neighbors. They can't deport our neighbors. They can't perform their jobs to the degree that they'd like to. You mentioned that uh there you there hasn't been the leadership from local leadership that you would like to see, the action that you would like to see.

What would real uh beyond just saying, you know, we want the ICE to get the [ __ ] out of Minnesota or to get the [ __ ] out of Minneapolis, what would be to your mind more concrete action or better leadership that you would like to see your local your state leaders actually exhibit in this moment?

Not sure. Off the top of my head, I don't have an answer for that essay question. Um,

you got something? you know, freezing rent would be a big thing, right? You know, a lot of people can't go out and work and get money and they can't even get groceries. So, there's like, you know, any support directly and like there there are direct things that could help each help people. Like that's what neighbors are doing. There's mutual aid groups doing what the government should be doing, which is actually helping few people and keep people in their houses from being evicted. And there there's already been progress in that uh at the city level, but trying to get that to waltz. uh you know also like keeping feds off of you know state property just trying to obstruct every at any level the city can the state can would be great. Um, and there's been some, from my understanding, there's been some steps towards that, but it's like, you know, so much more could be done. And of course, you know, we have our own police

force is not really doing anything to help, but I guess that's not unexpected. I guess it's just not not not how it should be. Not how it should be. Like they're they work for the police work for us for in this city. They like they should be protecting us. That is their job. Thank you both. I'll let you get back to this because I know you've got to keep an eye out here for the authorities and thank you for talking to me. I appreciate at Status School. We're not afraid to put ourselves here on the street here with the activists as a way to hear from them in their own words about why they're taking the actions that they are.

We're not afraid to take that step. We put ourselves on the line physically. Not only by putting ourselves here in the, you know, line of fire, so to speak, but also but also by putting ourselves out here in these weather conditions where you just heard them describing it. It's -21° with a windchill that makes it feel like as low as -40 at times, depending on how hard that wind is blowing. We're out here in it. There's no other mainstream press. There's a few other uh journalists milling about here, but the CNN's of the world, the New York Times, where are they to be found? They're not here. They're not here. So, please support Independent Media in this moment. In this moment, please support us. Help keep us warm.

As I said, our hand warmers are sponsored by our generous members. So if you can go to statuscoo.com/join, this is the best way to support the on the ground work that we are doing here in the Twin Cities. We have been on the ground since early December. We've been on the ground here since early December. We didn't parachute in few days ago or even a day ago or even a week ago or two weeks ago or when Renee Good was killed. We were here on the ground for a month before even Renee Good was killed, showing what the Trump administration was doing here on the ground in Minneapolis more than more than any other national outlet was doing.

And I think the work that we've done out here has spoken for itself. And I'm seeing now more demonstrators just here behind the camera. We have to be careful uh how much we move the camera because of uh the effect that it has uh on our uh ability to be broadcasting live. But I just want to note that there are more protesters who are now making their way over here and kind of and joining the demonstrations here on on this end of the Whipple Federal Building. As I said, there's two different approaches here and they are these demonstrators are just occupying the one side.

Let's go look back down at the side. Yeah. Would you mind if I interviewed you?

Not at all. I I watch you. Oh my god. I am I'm ging out a little bit. God, I get to meet Jason.

I've been watching you guys on my [ __ ] my first day I managed to get out. I live in the North. So I got two kids and I got to do. So

what's your name? I'm Dan. Dan. Would you mind if you came over our camera ride?

No. Tough for us to move it in this cold. All right. Dan in the coveralls. Oh yeah.

That is a Minnesota look right there. Oh my god. Yeah. All right. So motans like to play in the cold.

Yeah, we're learning that here today. It is evident. So I'm here with Dan. Hi. And Dan, you say this is the first day you've been able to get out protesting. First day I've been able to get out and protest. Well, since No Kings. I was out for No Kings. I was out for Hands Off. Um, local things up. Uh, I live in Forest Lake. So,

a suburb here of the Twin Cities. Yes. Uh, Forest Lake is a suburb about a half hour out of uh downtown St. Paul. Incidentally, it's where our uh secretary of defense because it's not the Department of War. Uh, came from graduated from Forest Lake High School, where my children go to school. Um, teachers that were there in 1999 say he was always an [ __ ] The reporting on the ground here from the folks in Forest Lake who can attest to Pete Hegath's uh personal personal affect. All right. So, Dan, I I want to I want to ask why why you made today the day that you came out when it's -20° outside. This is the day you decide to come out and protest when there's all this direct action happening outside of the Whipple Federal Building. Why did you want to be here this morning? Well, the the minus 22 JT is just a multiplier that just makes our resolve more real.

Um I came out today because um today is the day walk out day of protest. Um, it was finally a day when I could like get away from the rest of my responsibilities and like make a day of it. Um, I would dearly love to be part of uh mutual aid or any other thing going on in the cities, but I live way the hell out in the sticks. So, I it kind of had to schedule it. But, it was my opportunity and I'm here and I don't give a [ __ ] about cold.

Clearly not. You don't even have your face covered. You're a You're a different kind of metal.

Oh, believe it or not, I'm I'm wearing uh cargo shorts underneath the car hearts. I'm I'm a 365 shorts guy. So,

okay. Well, you put out the car hearts cuz I'm going to be outside for a while.

Well, you're earning that moniker as a 365 shorts guy today. Oh, hell yeah. Yeah, you're living it. I want to talk to you a little bit about your sign that says, "Every person is a story. Ice out of Minnesota." Can you explain that message? Every person is a story. So every every person, every life is a story that begins at birth and ends at death. And your life is your story. Your story is your life. Um all of these people that ICE and the Trump administration are [ __ ] over. Every single one of those per every single one of those people is a story. And they've had their story interrupted. They've had their story uh what's the word I'm looking for? co-opted by this [ __ ] fasc fascist regime who wants people to do what they want them to do. And I these people need to remember that these people that they're hauling off, these 5-year-olds that they're shipping to detention facilities in Texas, that

child's story is the story isn't [ __ ] The story isn't over. But that child's story is dark. And every person is a story. Every every story deserves to be told. Every story deserves its chance to come to its rightful conclusion. Um to be honest, I was kind of between this message and hey Bavino, go [ __ ] yourself. But uh I figured I'd do something more constructive.

Absolutely. So Dan, yesterday Vice President of the United States JD Vance paid visit to your home here in the Twin Cities area. Use it as a backdrop where he essentially, you know, declared ICE as the unsung heroes. You were just making reference to a 5-year-old who was abducted. JD Vance shared that same story except portrayed the ICE agents who took the child as as heroes that they were rescuing that child.

Savior, they they they saved that child from freezing in the snow after they chased off his father. Uh who is incidentally fact check uh following an asylum procedure. He does not have a removal order. He is not even guilty of being an undocumented immigrant. He's guilty of being brown in a state where ICE is in is enforcing.

So when you when you see the vice pre when you saw the vice president come here and speak and and and you know you know use it as a backdrop for his propaganda, what what was your what was your reaction as someone who who lives here?

Burning crimson rage. I cannot I I mean I hear JD Vance is going to be on and my and my pulse starts to race a little bit and then I watch him and that smmy face making the just lying just outright lying to demonize uh the parent of a 5-year-old who is now um traumatized and staying in a Texas correction facility. JD Vance coming and using that as a backdrop for this is aborant. It's atrocious. It's I I there aren't words. There really aren't words.

There aren't words. Um sorry. And speaking of it not uh there not being words. It's so cold it's difficult to think out here sometimes.

Yeah. Uh so Dan, how long do you you know you said make a day of it. How long do you intend to to be here in the streets protesting today?

Um unfortunately I'm only going to be out for a couple hours. Um my uh I have to go help my wife set up with she's got an event tomorrow. Um that has not been cancelled, which I think is fantastic. Um I'm not going to go into too many specifics cuz I don't want to get people in trouble. Um but uh I need to go help her set up for that so that we can make it as fun an occasion for the kids as possible in this [ __ ] time. Uh so I'll be out for a couple hours. I figured I'd I'd come here because I've I've seen a lot of this. I mean, I I've been steeped in this. I've been watching it. I've been watching everything and and just heartbroken that I haven't been able to get out and do anything. So, like, yeah, today's my day. And even at that, I only have a couple hours. when you uh uh with the uh with the vice president trying to declare that ICE agents are the unsung heroes out here.

Uh I want you to as someone who who lives who sees this not only on the national press as some people might be seeing or on our broadcast but also like it's inundated like it's every day. You're probably talking to your friends and neighbors and family about this all the time and it's on your local news as well. It's everywhere. Can you just describe for folks, you know, really character are are ICE agents the the heroes the way JD Vance framed them and and if not, you know, what how how are they comporting themselves here in the Twin Cities area?

Uh they are not the heroes. They are uh barely restrained criminal thugs, barely trained. Um there it's a crowd of Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, 3enters that they're still wearing the same [ __ ] and they just threw on an ice patch over it. Um so no, they are not the heroes. Uh they are not making anybody safer. They're not making anybody feel better. Um except for actually I'll I'll be honest. Um, I I live in Red Country, so there are a lot of people in my like day-to-day life that while they may not support ICE, they they're like I I get a lot more of the Well, she shouldn't have been there, which is

in in response Renee. Good. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Sorry. Um I got assume knowledge.

Yeah. Yeah. Um but no, I are not the heroes. Dan, uh, before I let you get back to your get back to your protest, I always do like to say, is there anything else you want to add that I haven't asked you about yet? Uh, that you or anything you would just want to say while you have the platform?

Um, this isn't M. Well, this this is Minnesota. ICE and um like our our uh immigrant neighbors having to be in hiding. That's not Minnesota. That's not Minnesota. This isn't America. And honestly, this is the beginning of a fight that's going to last until November. We need to I just want everybody to know it's important to go out, be seen, be heard, just make we This is how we refute their lies. We show up in numbers and they can't say we're just a fringe. They can't say that we're just lunatic leftwing. So get out there, be seen, be heard, so that all those undecideds and unengaged people in the middle know that what the administration says is lies. And we all need to band together and uh take back power in November. And we need to take it back big because there are big changes that have to happen in like every every silo.

Dan, thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah. I'm Can we take a selfie?

Yeah, of course. Taking a selfie break here at Status Coup. Not something I've ever been asked before during an interview.

Oh my god. I I I watch you guys. No, I I I work um so this whole like uh no one has to take off work to go protest. I work 50 hours a week.

I I I run a saw. I I listen to podcasts and I and I listen to YouTube and so I get all your guys. I get the Midas. I get the pod say it like all that.

Um and Carol and all like the locals. Um Oops. Come on. There we go. Oh, here. Let me

Oh, yeah. Hopefully my nose ain't details because I can just take a picture. Oh yeah, that's great. Thank you.

Awesome. Thank you so much. No worries. Would you mind giving like talking to me for a little bit? I work with the Economist magazine.

Daniel's very good. The Economist magazine. Yeah. Okay. So, I'm just watching the uh right behind what's happening uh

Would you guys mind standing off a little bit? Just a little bit here. I'm just watching what's happening here on the other side of the camera since we aren't able to really move it because the stream will go in and out. I'm just watching the way authorities are reacting to the roadblock that's been constructed here by the protesters. And I'm seeing that uh the authorities have been moving there. They've been moving car cars around. We're back to having three police cars on the other side of the camera here. Uh we're facing the protesters, which is the amount that was there earlier as well when we first walked up here. For a while, it was just one that had parked itself kind of crosswise across the street here to as a way to I assume try and block any advance from the protesters if they were to make one. Um though I have not not heard that they are necessarily attempting to do so.

Two people aren't Oh, I'm Yeah, John is telling me here that he's hearing from folks in the crowd that he's talking to and some of our reporting colleagues out here as well that there were two people arrested on the other side where we started this stream. So, couple of people arrested here outside of the Whipple Federal Building, but I'm just noting uh that there so the all of the security being provided out here. Um while there are some got to cover my face here again, while there are some federal police vehicles that are parked here, uh and nominally keeping an eye on these protesters, a lot of the security is actually being provided by the Henipin County Sheriff's Office. Henipin County is the county in which Minneapolis is located and the Henipin County Sheriff's Office has drawn a lot of fire from people here locally because they have been acting as de facto security for immigration

enforcement agents as they're out on these raids here uh in the Minneapolis area that there's even been a number of there's even been a number of incidents where uh ICE agents uh have called on the Henipin County Sheriff's Office to clear uh to clear away protesters so that ICE agents uh can make a getaway with people that they have abducted. The Minneapolis police have not done the same. So it, you know, if Minneapolis police are not pro are not providing that security and that response to to ICE, the fact that Henipin County is is drawing a lot of drawing a lot of frustration from the protest uh from from uh people out here in the Twin Cities area and has made Henipin County already a a bit of a lightning round. The Henipin County Sheriff is running for reelection and that has not gone unnoticed by at least some of the activist groups uh here in the Twin Cities area as well.

And they're the ones who provide de facto security here outside of the Whipple Federal Building. It's all Henipin County Sheriff's Deputies squad cars that you will see up and down this road here that we are uh streaming to you live from uh right now.

Stand up. Right back. the person who's been in charge much of the Trump administration's immigration agenda. In fact, it's been his championing of a lot of the tactics that we've seen here on the ground in the Twin Cities of things like, you know, raiding uh raiding like Home Depot parking lots and the like. and he is the one who is really pushing for the Department of Homeland Security to get as high as a million deportations per year or a thousand per or 3,000, excuse me, per day. And uh the protesters just there were uh recondensing themselves into the street that some of the demonstrators had started to scatter a little bit as they were just milling about talking and uh the uh or uh uh somebody was yelling for them to try and get the group uh more concentrated in the street.

I own stick figure. Yeah, that's how Yeah, organizers here again still uh still condensing the crowd by the demonstrators who are blocking entrance to the Whit Federal Building. And so that's where you're like 150 years ago.

Okay. I apologize. I'm not being my normal uh talkative self. I normally try and keep it so there's no dead air here on these streams, but it is just so cold that it's all I can do to, you know, keep walking around. And that's what I'm doing here behind the camera is pacing a little bit or moving side to side to just try and keep myself warm. And even just the act of talking, you know, is exhaling uh a lot of that warm air it feels like inside me. I know that's not how it works, but having to take those deep breaths as I'm talking is uh quite the wears on you.

So, at least when I'm not talking, I can take shallower breaths and taking in less of that cold air here.

-20 air. I like I like the process. That's the difference between you and that bro. You're you're a pro. You're a pro [ __ ] ass [ __ ] bro. You living this [ __ ] bro. Come on now. You you done?

I I'm getting there. I just kind of want to get my toes a bit warmer. Yeah. Yeah.

So, it's like how they're talking. We hold this for just got to hand the car. That'll unlock the door. Start it. Start this whole thing against the start and it will start out. I don't reply no more.

You got to pay 10 seconds. Okay, we done in the car till some [ __ ] goes down.

And I just took another break there on the microphone uh because I was handing uh my keys off to We're out here with a small group of uh we're out here with a couple of other journalists. Uh we carpooled over here this morning and one of them needed to get back to the car just to warm up a little bit. So, I was handing him the car keys and that's something that we're trying to keep a close eye on. We're all checking in with each other here about the how we're holding up physically because we don't want to push ourselves, you know, beyond our physical limits. We gota we've still got to cover this marching rally later today. And when you're talking about being outside for potentially hours in these temperatures, exposure becomes a real concern. But I've seen the comments. I've seen our YouTube comments. You all are very concerned about me and John. And I just want to stress that we do not push ourselves

further than uh further than we uh further than we're comfortable with. Sometimes we do. That's John. John making the rare appearance on the microphone just just to remind us all how crazy he is.

I'm missing fingernails. Yeah, John. John. And we should tell that story here really quick because that was How does How does today compare to Chan Hassen? Because John was out at a construction site. This was back in December. a construction site at a a a minneapolis suburb called Chanhassen where a couple of construction workers had taken refuge on a roof while ice was I mean literally freezing them out trying waiting them to come down and those men ended up going in ambulances. Uh John, how does today compare to Chanhass?

I think the only difference today I think is because we had the sun were lucky we're lucky that we have the sun out. I think in Chanhass that day there was no sun out so it felt much colder. Uh and I have better gloves now so I'm I'm more prepared.

Yeah. John ended up getting not quite frostbite is what the doctor told you, right?

I think it was. Yeah. Yeah. John's fingers turned uh turned black and then he lost a couple of fingernails as they've been healing now.

Yeah. It's it's uh it's been a month. So, December 13th, that was uh it's been a month and I'm just now starting to be able to use my fingers to like tie my shoes and do the basic stuff, you know, get dressed and [ __ ] like that. But that's I mean, and now John is the biggest advocate of any of the journalists out here of telling people to wear proper gloves and to be warm and all of that. Uh, and I mean John was recounting the story again on our way over here this morning, but just talking about how the feeling went in his hands.

Uh, you know, and he didn't even realize it. It just, you know, they just stopped feeling. It's not that he felt cold. It's that he felt nothing. And that's what allowed it to get so bad. So now John is uh very conscious for all of us about making sure that we're keeping our extremities warm. And as I say that, I feel the cold creeping into my fingers. So, I'm going to tuck my fingers back into my glove here to grip around my hand warmers that I have in.

Ice gets crushed here. Say goodbye here. Say goodbye. Ice gets crushed here. Say goodbye.

Ice gets crushed here. Say goodbye. Ice gets crushed here. Say goodbye. What time do you want to call it?

I don't know how much longer we wait for them to do something here. I don't want to go too much longer only because I'm starting to feel it in my toes quite a bit. You want to go talk to the organizer?

Yeah, probably won't tell me anything. Our streets. Our streets. Our streets. Our streets. Our streets. Our streets. Our streets. Our streets. Our streets. Our streets. Our

streets. WHO STREETS? OUR STREETS. WHO STREETS? Our streets. Who street? Who street?

Our street. Who street? Our street. Who street? Our street. Who street? Who street?

Who street? Our street. Who street? Our street. Who street? Who street? Who street?

Who street? Who street? Who street? Who street? Who street? Who street? Who street? I was just talking to I don't know if you would call him an organizer, but somebody who's got a walkie-talkie here and has been uh helping corral some of these uh demonstrators that you see here on the streets. And I was just asking if they had any plans to try and move up because it affects, you know, how John and I are evaluating our own cold and uh our ability here to to be out demonstrating.

Yeah. The amount of time that we're exposed here. And uh they were just telling me that they don't have any plans to move up. There there are some attempts at the other end, I've been told, to try and block the street on that end. But the goal was to try and block both ends and then to uh to just respond as authorities responded. But given that authorities are not doing much and they don't have any plans to move up, John and I will likely be ending the stream here soon just so that we can also get warm. I was starting to starting to feel it in my toes a little bit finally despite my two layers of socks, my boots, and my foot warmers that I've got in. It still creeps up on you.

So, John and I are going to go down to that other end to check out what's happening down there. But because our stream has been cutting out because our stream has been cutting out whenever we move because again our equipment is frozen solid and just the simple act of moving it breaks the stream. We're going to sign off now. So I'm going to use this as another opportunity to one if you're appreciative of John being John and I being here on the ground. We're going to continue to be here reporting, but we're going to go down to the other end, check it out, go back to our car, get warm, and continue to keep an eye on this situation until we have to go live again this afternoon in downtown Minneapolis. So again, if you're not, get subscribed. Uh, subscribe so you can see us go live for that rally and march in downtown Minneapolis. The state of Minnesota is now in a shutdown. A general strike as a message against the

Trump administration and the tactics that it is using here in this state and the way it is brutalizing people, get subscribed. But also, if you're appreciative of the work that we've been doing, the fortitude that we have shown being out here in negative 20° temperatures and as low as -40 with the wind chill. If you are appreciative of our efforts, please go to statuscoo.com/join. Again, the national press is not out here. We saw one, it looked like a national camera. I'm not sure who they were with that they filmed. It was an ABC camera. I'm being told there was an ABC camera that came out here and filmed a very quick like the reporter got in front of the camera and did a like a 4se secondond uh standup that'll likely be on uh be on World News Tonight. Uh and uh but then but then they're gone. They disappeared. They're not out here watching this action. They come out, they record, they use this as a, you

know, as a set basically for their reporting and then they're gone. We stay out here for as long as we've been live. I've not dared to check my phone, take off my gloves, and to check the time here, but we've been out here for a while. And if you're appreciative of us actually continuing to monitor these situations and do actual on the ground reporting, please go to stratosc.com/joy. Independent media is the future. It's the present right now for what is happening out here. And to support independent media, please go to statuscu.com/joy.

I want to thank uh our small but mighty team here at Status Co. Uh Colin, Michelle, Ty, Jordan, myself, John behind the camera. Again, I stress everything that I'm doing if what I do out here in these temperatures is impressive. John's doing it all with a whole bunch of weight strapped to his back and his hands on the cold metal camera. So, it's even more intense what he's doing. Uh I also want to thank our partners at Midas at the Midas Touch Network for supporting our reporting here on the ground. Uh, but for now in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, I'm JT Saskowski. Talk to you later.

[ __ ] gang. What's up? What's up?

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "LIVE STOP TRUMP’S ICE TERROR Protest in -18 Degrees | LIVE From Minneapolis"?

JT Saskowski (Host), Scrimp (Guest), River (Guest), Dan (Guest), John (Guest).

What is "LIVE STOP TRUMP’S ICE TERROR Protest in -18 Degrees | LIVE From Minneapolis" about?

In freezing conditions, protesters gather outside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis to voice their dissent against the Trump administration's immigration policies and ICE operations. The demonstration aligns with a planned general strike aimed at protesting family separations and community disruptions caused by aggressive enforcement tactics targeting the Somali community in the region.

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

3 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including ICE, general strike, Fort Snelling. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "LIVE STOP TRUMP’S ICE TERROR Protest in -18 Degrees | LIVE From Minneapolis"?

The episode runs 1 h 28 min; the transcript is about 11,468 words in 174 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 27, 2026.