Inside the battle of the Twin Cities

 by Scott Johnson

We are witness to what I have called “The battle of the Twin Cities.” On one side is federal law enforcement. We support federal law enforcement. On the other side are state and local authorities, the Star Tribune, and a highly organized resistance. We beg to differ with them all.

Not enough attention has been paid to the resistance. It is well-funded, covert, highly organized, and supported by state and local authorities. It seeks to harass and obstruct the federal officers executing federal immigration law in Operation Metro Surge.

The participants present a sort of neo-Confederate scene that used to go under the moniker of “massive resistance,” but it goes beyond that. In 1861 the seceding states could not abide the election of Abraham Lincoln. Although he scrupulously vowed to uphold the Constitution, they feared his view of slavery. Whatever high-minded words they otherwise had to say, their resistance to Lincoln was all about slavery.

Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens made that much clear in his famous Cornerstone Speech. As he explained in March 1861, “This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution.” Would that our current cast of characters were anywhere near so candid.

In 2026 the they cannot abide the administration of Donald Trump. They oppose his execution of immigration law. They support illegal immigration. However they cloak it for public consumption, that is the cause for which they fight. Illegal immigration is the cornerstone of their vision of the United States.

State and local authorities supporting the resistance call the illegal immigrants, criminal or othwerwise, “neighbors.” Suffice it to say that they are less forthright in support of their cause than Alexander Stephens. The most prominent of those among our neo-Confederate officeholders are Governor Tim Walz, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, Reps. Ilhan Omar and Angie Craig, and Mayor Jacob Frey. Their support of the resistance has become de rigueur among Democrats. They are all on board.

One cannot understand the nature of the resistance without a little help from X. Cam Higby has infiltrated the encrypted Signal chat on which the resistance is conducting its business. The X post below is now pinned to his X account here. PJ Media’s Matt Margolis reviews Higby’s work here.

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Margolis notes that “Alex Pretti was a member of the Kingfield Signal ICE watch group. Jeanne Massey, who coordinates rapid response for these networks, confirmed Pretti’s involvement.” I doubt we’ll be reading much about that in the mainstream media, which also supports the resistance.

I would say that in Minnesota the irresistible force of the resitance has met the immovable object of the Trump administration, but the situation is untenable. Something’s gotta give and it won’t be the resistance.

UPDATE: Asra Nomani covers the involvement of the resistance in Alex Pretti’s case.

MORE: President Trump is sending Tom Homan to town to manage ICE operations in the Twin Cities. Homan will be reporting directly to Trump. Homan’s assignment and direct reporting to Trump are both positive developments.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/01/inside-the-battle-of-the-twin-cities.php