As I started writing this post, January 25th, 2026, a second citizen has been shot to death in Minneapolis, Minnesota by an ICE agent two days ago. People are horrified, and searching for a narrative, trying to figure out “what happened” by poring through the reams of ubiquitous video that accompanies and records our lives. The other narrative, “whose fault is this?” doesn’t necessarily align with what can be seen and heard. From the President and the Director of Homeland Security, these two individuals were “domestic terrorists”. The first victim, Renee Good, was behind the wheel of a car when she was fired upon, three shots fired, one to her head. Alex Pretti, who was shot on Friday, was filming ICE agents on his mobile phone. He apparently was also in possession of a duly licensed handgun and ammunition, although there is no evidence he ever reached for this weapon or made any threats towards the agents. Ten shots were fired while he was on the ground.

Thirty-odd years ago, “domestic terrorist” conjured up Timothy McVeigh and his co-conspirators,, who bombed the Murrah Federal Building, killing 75 people, including 25 children. Or David Koresh, who led the Branch Davidians, a religious sect that was raided by federal forces and 76 members, including 28 children, died. Then came the 1999 Columbine school shootings, which seemed to create a template for disturbed people, mostly but not exclusively young nor men, to act out a nihilistic homicidal canon in a new form of terrorism, whose targets seem to be other young people and children, besieged in the classroom.

This year, Minnesota has already seen horrific violence. Two state legislators and their spouses were shot in their homes, two fatally. On August 27th, 2025 a deranged transgender person, Robin Westman (f/k/a Robert Westman) barricaded the doors at Annunciation Catholic church and school in Minneapolis, during Mass, killing two young children. Twenty-six children and three adults (parishioners in their 80s) were injured. Prior to this shooting, the local Catholic bishops had entreated Governor Walz for funding for school security (which had been bestowed on public school) but Walz couldn’t find time to meet with them. In the aftermath, Mayor Jacob Frey belittled the faith of the victims and implored people not to seek vengeance on the transgender community.

On August 26, the day before the Annunciation attack, another mass shooting occurred outside Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis, injuring six and killing one. This shooting did not attract national attention, or any outside of the local police department. Such is our level of numb resignation to horrific violence, or perhaps a callous assessment that this is not newsworthy.

As I get older, I am still shocked and traumatized when I see the degradation of basic norms and civility, let alone the unchecked descent into lawlessness and even violence. When I realize how very close we can come to criminals, who one day were co-workers or neighbors, and the next are revealed to be remorseless people capable of distressingly bad acts against innocent people, or if they are not committing those acts themselves, can contort themselves to justify and even rejoice over the senseless acts committed against people they disagree with.

In 2012, the NATO Summit was held in Chicago. In my professional role at the time, I was responsible for coordinating the facility security response for my client, a global bank with a significant facility footprint in the city. Alongside their internal security department, the FBI, Homeland Security, and state and local law enforcement, we planned for months for this event. Some of the training involved reviewing what happened at other NATO and G-20 summits, and what was learned.

After more than a year of dealing with Occupy Movement protesters, who were already significantly disruptive, this was a step-function change, levels of magnitude increase of potential threats. We learned that in many cases the NATO or G20 ‘protesters’ were actually anarchists, and not locals but outsiders who traveled to these events, solely to disrupt them and cause havoc – not any sort of legally permissible protest. This gave us some insight as to strategies to mitigate the risks. By the grace of God, nothing material happened to us in Chicago in 2012. But the plots uncovered and thwarted were chilling. Who does these things? WHY?

I am sure the public had no idea (outside of some televised clips of confrontations) what we were up against. I was deeply depressed to be confronted with the depravity of these anarchists, who only wanted to cause mayhem and terror to a city full of people they have never met. I was also amazed when the protesters who were arrested, screaming about their rights being violated, turned out to have chemicals and bomb ingredients in their backpacks, yielding clues that led to raiding stash houses with things that I will not enumerate here.

I ended 2012 working for a different client, and spending a lot of time in Boston, MA (also dealing with Occupy protesters) including Election Day. Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, was the GOP candidate and was in Boston that night, and so was I. The hotel I always stayed in was full of a cohort of guests that I strongly suspected were federal law enforcement. On the news, Romney was said to be at another hotel that night. I have reason to believe that was a ruse for security purposes, and he was actually in my hotel. In the very early days of smartphones, it was perhaps easier to pull off.

In 2025, as I watched ICE conduct showy raids, drag people off the street, out of their homes, once I recovered from my shock and horror at this approach I also thought, this is a very strange way to go about locating and apprehending dangerous criminal aliens. I would think you would want to keep an element of surprise, study their patterns, and then make an arrest when you have the right person(s). Instead we have ICE officers in riot gear piloting armored personnel carriers down the street brandishing assault rifles. This is not about protecting Americans from criminals but on putting on a show of force, even impunity. I had the benefit of a close experience with law enforcement, but you can watch any police procedural on TV, this is not how you capture dangerous criminals, this is a catastrophe getting ready to happen, and even if they do something typical or legitimate of law enforcement, it’s all going to be captured on video.

I am in no way condoning the violence. I have never voted for Donald Trump. I have grave concerns about his fitness for office, and the people he has chosen to surround himself with. I can’t identify anyone in his administration who seems to be capable of competently executing what might in “normal” times be directionally sound policies – who really has a problem with arresting criminal illegal aliens? – instead have turned into pretext for suspending the rule of law. However it happened, I believe that the Biden Administration actions – and inactions – were extremely disruptive and did extensive damage to the country. But now, 12 months into a second term, Trump’s first year has been even more disruptive and chaotic, and the institutions we rely upon to protect us all are fraying and buckling. In his column in First Things (to be published in March 2026), Liel Leibovitz writes that ordinary people are now in the maws of radical, destructive rage are being egged on – especially by Democratic leaders – to believe that they are not subject to the rule of law, either:

https://firstthings.com/madness-in-minneapolis

Even ordinary people have taken leave of their senses in the maelstrom of chaos and violence. Disoriented and overwhelmed and frightened, I need to remember that I need to look to Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior.

I came across this unfinished draft on April 2, 2026 as I was moved to write again about what was going on. I decided to post it, to put a marker in time. If it were in a paper journal (which I also keep) it would be manifest in ink already.