Kat

I think I might actually try a song I've wanted to do for a while but haven't felt confident enough to do. The crowd has been really nice tonight.

I decided to do karaoke tonight, and I do not regret my choices. I need to do more singing in my life.

Wow, was not expecting that result in men's figure skating.

I think it would be fun on a sled if I was sitting up the whole time.

I love luge so much. Like, who thought this should be a sport? Or that throwing yourself down an icy hill on a sled in a way where you can't see where you are going was a good idea?
And that you slow yourself down by sitting up? And, they're going like 79 mph!

Who wants to go do luge with me?

Not even on the airplane can I escape.

On way home from Gallifrey 1, which means I'm at an airport and cannot escape the superb owl.

Just a quick update from the Twin Cities. (Please forgive the unsolicited message). THINGS ARE NOT BETTER IN MINNEAPOLIS. The media is mostly moving on, Trump is focused on other stuff, BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE GROUND. More than 2,000 DHS thugs continue to roam the streets, abducting people 24/7, assaulting legal observers with impunity, and routinely denying 1st, 4th, and 5th amendment rights. Drones and helicopters are overhead every day. Hundreds and hundreds of terrified families have not left their homes since mid-December ... relying on the community to bring them food and help with rent and other necessities. (Those people are NOT violent drug cartel sex offending murderers, as DHS would tell you. Most are legal residents or citizens.) If anything, things have just become more stressful and intractable (think trench warfare as a suitable metaphor): The resistance is better organized and numerous, but DHS has become more clever and better at disguise... and the county sheriff's office is increasingly supporting them . Do not let anyone tell you that Homans (the new person in charge of the occupation) is making anything better. Do not let anyone tell you that 700 ICE agents leaving the city has made much of a difference; the remaining force (again, ~2,000) is still larger than the entire city's police force (which is legally unable to do anything). Please call your congressional reps ... especially if there is any chance the administration might listen to them.

A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:

Blocking observers from the Whipple Building means that when the feds dump people outside without jackets, phones, or money, its going to be even harder to keep them safe while getting them home.

DHS’s account of two Venezuelans shot by border patrol falls apart in court: ‘A smear campaign’ Immigration officials said agent shot two ‘vicious gang members’ in Portland, but records obtained by the Guardian reveal US prosecutor contradicted claims

After Border Patrol shot two people in Portland, DHS claimed they were "vicious gang members" tied to a past shooting.

But records I obtained reveal a US prosecutor has since directly contradicted DHS, saying, "We're not suggesting he is a gang member." My dive into how DHS' claims have collapsed:

Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raym...

This article is a very good example of why "more training" and "more vetting" isn't the answer. Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez joined Border Patrol in 2018 and 2014 respectively. These aren't new agents. www.propublica.org/article/alex...

It's just.....delusional to think that an agency who has already violated 96 court orders since Jan 1st will change their ways if we just put some guardrails in place. I did not stutter when I said Abolish ICE and no more money.

I cannot adequately express how f*cking mad I am right now.

If you want to help keep whistles flowing in WA, here are some great options:

Hanwiskan has NINE 3D printers running fullstop on whistles. Help him out with some new hotends: www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...

Ryan in West Seattle - www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...

2. On Saturday, January 24, 2026, at about 8:50 am, I was getting ready to go to work when I heard whistles outside. I knew the whistles meant that ICE agents were in the area, so I decided to check it out on my way to work. I've been involved in observing in my community because it is so important to document what ICE is doing to my neighbors. Connecting to your local community and knowing who your neighbors are is something I profoundly value. 3. I drove to Nicollet Ave. and 26 where I could hear the whistles coming from. I turned south onto Nicollet. There were already several ICE agents there and they'd set up a sort of vehicle convoy on Nicollet and 28. There were also about 15 observers there, recording and observing ICE. 4. I saw ICE agents surrounding cars and punching car windows. I also saw them stopping vehicles further down Nicollet, so I backed up because I didn't feel safe continuing on. 5. I noticed a man sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly. He helped me find a place to park. I got out with my whistle and my camera. I went over to him and said something like, "I'm going to film and use my whistle." 6. It seemed like most ICE activity was happening a little farther down the street from us, near 27th. Someone was being thrown to the ground.

7. I started recording. There was an agent by a car across the street. Two observers were a few feet away from the agent, blowing their whistles. One was wearing a backpack. 8. I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man's hand recording a video. 9. An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk. 10. The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun. 11. Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him. 12. Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. All three of the observers looked to have been badly affected by the pepper spray. I could feel the pepper spray in my eyes.

13. The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn't see him touch any of them—he wasn't even turned toward them. It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times. 14.1 don't know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him. 15. The video I recorded of what happened accurately depicts the events leading up to the agents shooting him and several minutes afterwards. The video is attached as Exhibit 1. 16. I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong. The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground. 17. I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they're not telling the truth about what happened. I've heard that other witnesses might have been arrested and taken to the Whipple Building.

The request includes a declaration from a witness who filmed today's shooting of Pretti.

Read their words:

"I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me.

ICE Threw Thousands of Kids in Detention, Many For Longer Than Court-Prescribed Limit Former immigration staffers argue ICE is choosing to detain families for prolonged periods to speed deportations and compel them to leave.

Below is our story about the skyrocketing number of kids detained by ICE.

We cover the facility where Liam is now being held-- parents said food had worms and mold, and kids were so distressed they hit themselves in the face and wet themselves.

www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/17/c...

3. And because I can't quite wrap my mind around it: don't forget that ICE kidnapped a 5 year old, used him as bait, and also kidnapped 3 other kids from the same school. (4/4)

2(a). You know what is violent? Shoving people to the ground is violent. Kneeling on people is violent. Shooting people in the face with pepper spray is violent. I think we all know who exactly is being violent here, and no one needs to meet violent thugs halfway. (3/4)

2. It is not violent to yell at law enforcement. I say this as someone who hates being yelled at and finds loud noises painful. The idea that protesters, the public, and observers are being violent because they are loud is ludicrous. (2/n)

I have many thoughts related to Vance's press thing.

1. So, we like ALJs having authority? Does that mean we're going to stop calling the NLRB unconstitutional? That we now like Social Security ALJs? No? Gee, I wonder what the difference is. (1/n)

Okay.
Liam Ramos is five.
Taken from his father after school.
His family didn’t know where he was for 24 hours.
He’s NOW in a federal detention facility in Texas.
At least one other student is there too.
Two other elementary school students were taken and the school doesn’t know where they are.

I'm sorry, abolishing ICE is now off the table as the centrist compromise.

The floor is now The Hague.

pulling this reflection on white silence/fear over here, too:

She said she was headed to a doctor's appointment. Federal agents still attacked her.

Earlier today in Minneapolis, journalist Amanda Moore (@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social) documented a tense, chaotic federal operation near 34th Street and Park Avenue.

220,000 Fewer Workers: How Trump’s Cuts Affected Every Federal Agency New data offers the first clear view of the impact of the buyouts and firings.

From personal experience, I'm pretty sure this is an undercount of the cuts. And it truly does not adequately capture that this is on top of the decade long hit that federal agencies have been enduring since sequestration.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I suspect that Noem and I have different ideas about who the domestic terrorist is.

Sincerely hope you don't need to have watched any Jurassic Park other than rhe first for Rebirth to make sense because I have decided only dinosaurs will make me feel better tonight.

At least, Katie Wilson won.

And frankly, the idea that Dems have been fighting for us as they have continued to confirm Trump appointees, stood aside as agencies have been gutted, and filed lawsuits instead of into the streets.....its infuriating. (2/2)

I do not really feel like accepting Rep. Jeffries' thanks for my service as a federal employee because frankly, I'm still so pissed that the Dems caved. (1/2)