Readers Write: Protest tactics, Holocaust comparisons, ICE and the judiciary

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On Friday, I took the day off to participate in the national strike and protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Minnesota.

My plan that day was to bring snacks to the observers and protesters at the Whipple Federal Building, join them for awhile and then proceed to the protest at Government Plaza downtown.

The two experiences were very different.

At Whipple I encountered hatred and vitriol firsthand. By the protesters. Directed at ICE agents anytime a vehicle drove by. I understand the anger at ICE; I’m angry, too. But what I saw was not productive.

By contrast, the Government Plaza protest was uplifting, calling for justice. It called for people to use their voice and exercise their rights, to stand together.

This is not helpful. It only steels agents’ resolve and their belief that the protesters are agitators wanting confrontation. A young man in fatigues was yelling at the National Guard troops — who are there to help protect the protesters. Rather than feeling like part of a cause, it made me sad and gave me despair. I thought, would you yell that if your grandmother were standing next to you? Or your pastor?

We’re better than this, and we don’t win with these tactics. My dad always said, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” I see people say, “What would Jesus do?” and it certainly wasn’t that. Yes, he flipped tables in the temples, he expressed outrage, but he also exemplified integrity, compassion and empathy.

We need to reach those on the other side, see them as humans and seek to understand them. That’s how you then start to change hearts and minds. Maybe just a simple question that seeks a real answer: Why? Tell me why you do this? Now I know nine times out of 10 you’ll probably be met with hate/violence, but if you can connect with one person who maybe starts to question their beliefs, that’s success.

The people I saw downtown that afternoon seemed to understand that. I stood in one spot with my daughter and her friends — the ones who are starting their lives and deserve better. I told them what I experienced at Whipple. They understood, and that gives me hope.

We are playing the long game. Continue to observe and report and monitor. Continue to protest, write your representatives, and call out business leaders. I saw a sign downtown that is important here, too: Remember in November.

In response to “Hold the Holocaust analogies, please” (Readers Write, Feb. 2): I, too, am an American Jew who is sensitive to Holocaust analogies. Especially sensitive because the Nazis murdered my grandparents. I believe they would have wanted a comparison of what they experienced in Nazi Germany pre-1942 with what some are experiencing in America today.

As were European Jews then, (mostly) American non-Jews today are being “stripped of ... right[s], hunted, deported, enslaved, starved and murdered solely because of their identity.” Demonstrably, for too many accused, immigration law enforcement has not been adequately governed by legal process or oversight. Nor have food, water, shelter or medical care been adequately provided.

There are those who ignore or deny the witnesses of history and the witnesses of today. And while there are certainly unique characteristics to the Holocaust, far too many holocausts have already been suffered.

We act today so that no one suffers a “final solution” tomorrow.

John Mattes, Plymouth

As a Jewish American, I feel compelled to point out that to imagine the Holocaust as a singular, unique event to which no comparison can ever be made is to strip “never again” of any meaning.

The comparisons that have been made by Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (another Jewish American) are apt. The accusations being leveled against our neighbors, without proof or evidence, are no different than the libels that made the Holocaust possible.

To equate what is happening in Minnesota with anything like “immigration enforcement” is to ignore the absence of cause, the warrantless arrests and the abductions that are more reminiscent of pogroms than enforcement.

When public figures invoke the Holocaust to object to wearing masks during a pandemic, they do indeed trivialize the suffering of its victims.

But when they invoke the Holocaust regarding the unleashing of a lawless federal militia acting arbitrarily and capriciously to remove our neighbors to foreign prisons or shoot law-abiding citizens in the face, these comparisons are cogent clarion calls to our consciences and should invite us to consider what “never again” actually means.

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I, too, am Jewish, and while it’s true, the mass arrests in Minneapolis do not yet compare to the 6 million of our people killed in the Holocaust, what is true is that 3,000 masked and armed paramilitary forces with no identification are carrying out mass deportations; picking anyone of color off the street, including Native Americans; breaking into houses without search warrants; yanking people out of their cars; and dragging children from schools. Most of these people are citizens or have temporary legal status but are being “stripped of every right, hunted [and] deported” and sent to prisons (in other states or countries) where they are “enslaved [and] starved.”

This is how a holocaust begins, and as Jews, when we say, “Never again,” we mean never again for anyone. I only hope that when ICE comes to Paris, Ky., where the letter writer of “Hold the Holocaust analogies, please” was writing from, that he, like the thousands of Jews in Minneapolis, will do his part to prevent another holocaust — Jewish or otherwise.

Rondi Atkin, Minneapolis

Regarding “Minnesota federal judge cancels contempt hearing requiring ICE director’s appearance” (Jan. 29): Withdrawing a strongly worded and thoroughly researched “show up and explain why I shouldn’t sanction you!” order is not activism. Letting Immigration and Customs Enforcement off the hook — after outlining its misconduct in incredible detail — is perplexing.

That is not justice. People are dying on our streets. Dying without even a slap on the wrist from Schiltz.