The single biggest problem with the rule of law is lack of enforcement. Without an ability to enforce the laws that underpin a democratic society, and the rules based order on which it relies, the rule of law is nothing more than a political instrument.

Newly deputized and ideologically motivated ICE and Border Patrol agents are on a lawless rampage throughout the state of Minnesota. The images are horrifying. Physical assaults, abductions and killings are commonplace. The communities are terrorized and the entire country is shaken.

Minnesota is taking a particularly hard beating. The home state of 2024 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz, the North Star State is directly in the crosshairs of what Donald Trump calls his campaign of, “RECKONING … RETRIBUTION.” Watching the images coming out of Minneapolis leave no doubt that the campaign that is underway there now is designed for that exact purpose.

One dangerous misconception fostered by the White House and echoed all too often in the US media is that federal law enforcement today functions in the same way as it has always functioned in the past. The reality is that there has been a radical shift during the past year in the way federal law enforcement agencies interact not only with state based law enforcement but with the public.

Central to perceptions of what federal law enforcement embodies in the second Trump era is the conduct of immigration enforcement agents. Immigration law enforcement is not new. The efforts of the current Trump administration are not dramatically more effective in terms of reducing undocumented residency in the interior of the country than recent preceding administrations. What is very different are the tactics being employed.

Never before has the U.S. seen a paramilitary force present in American cities with the level of violence and blatant disregard for the law we are seeing not only in Minneapolis but in so called blue cities all over the country. Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz in Minnesota in a recent ruling accused ICE of “lawless” conduct saying, 'ICE is not a law unto itself.’

Far from functioning as traditional American federal law enforcement organizations U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (ICE) and the U.S. Border Patrol Agency, (BPA) have been rapidly repurposed as a heavily armed military force directly under the control of Donald Trump. For all intents and purposes a “Reckoning and Retribution” force, and a law enforcement agency in name only. Fueled by a staggering 175 billion dollar funding appropriation by Congressional Republicans this new Trump army appears more than willing to defy the law and the Constitution at his behest.

The New York Times recently interviewed Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Interviewer Lulu Garcia-Navarro pressed Frey on what he would say to residents, fearful of the tactics they see federal agents using in their communities, who say they want somebody to do something to protect them. Frey dismissed that notion out of hand saying, “You’re not going to outgun the federal government.”

Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner took a different approach warning DHS agents about using the same tactics in Philadelphia that images coming out of Minneapolis show being used there. Krasner was blunt, “I will charge you with those crimes. You will be arrested. You will stand trial. You will be convicted, whether it’s in state or federal court.”

It kind of feels like the Minnesota approach is a false equivalence. Either, as Mayor Frey says, shoot it out with federal government or take no material action to protect local residents. Lawsuits are commendable but they are doing little to stem the tide of fascist violence. There certainly are material steps that can be taken without shooting anyone that would have a high likelihood of restoring order.

The residents of Minnesota, Illinois, California and other “Blue States” who find themselves in the crosshairs of the Trump-DHS-retribution-campaign have made a heroic effort to stand up and resist. But their elected officials must join the fight in a much more meaningful way. The power and the capabilities are there. The time has come to use them, or get out of the way. Yes there will be risks, but these are risky times. We need leaders who will act and we need them now.