Woman shot dead by ICE agent in Minnesota
Protests against the violent actions of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and Donald Trump's harsh immigration policy spread across the US over the weekend. They began after an officer shot and killed a woman who was acting as an observer in her car during an ICE raid in Minneapolis on Wednesday. According to US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, the government will deploy an additional 2,000 federal police to the city.
Absurd belief in might is right
Trump is once again trying to twist all the facts to suit his own narrative, observes columnist Özay Şendir in Milliyet:
“On Friday evening I watched Trump on CNN Türk. He showed not the slightest sign of grief; on the contrary, he claimed that the woman who was killed had not been 'normal' and that her car had been heading towards ICE officers. On the one hand there is what we have seen, and on the other there are Trump's statements. … Last week, a violation of international law was committed with the kidnapping of Maduro; now the shooting of a 37-year-old woman provides further proof that the principle of might is right prevails here. It is this absurd belief, and not a decline in dollar trade, that will bring the global dominance of the US to an end.”
Europe must open its eyes
Europe must no longer turn a blind eye to lawlessness, violence and the distortion of truth in the US, warns De Volkskrant:
“The Netherlands, too, should ask itself whether it cannot show a little more courage, just like the American resistance. Where are the diplomatic condemnations? Where is the support for dissidents? When will defence and trade relations cool? Consumers, too, can ask themselves: what do I still buy from America? What do I do about the football World Cup? At some point, we must give up our naivety and the belief that everything will somehow be okay. Unless, that is, we consider this normal.”
Exploiting the tragedy
Both political camps in the US are politicising the incident in an irresponsible manner, criticises the Neue Zürcher Zeitung:
“Trump is pursuing a ruthless policy of mass deportations. Meanwhile, the left has helped to make a violent collision inevitable because the backdrop to this case includes Democratic politicians branding the basically legitimate actions of the immigration authorities as a fascist threat - first and foremost Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who called ICE a 'modern-day Gestapo'. ... Instead of stopping to reflect for a moment, both Republicans and Democrats regard the tragedy as nothing more than a vehicle to deepen their dispute.”
Trump revels in lawlessness at home and abroad
Info.cz sees the internal structure of the US under threat:
“With his latest foreign-policy actions, Donald Trump has made clear what everyone has long known but refused to admit – that international law is an illusion. National law and legislation, by contrast, have not been an illusion so far. Now he apparently wants to call them into question, too – and America is pushing back, as the protests show. … The question is whether these protests will continue and succeed. If Trump manages to apply domestically what he declares to be the truth for the international order – namely that it is only determined by his 'own morality' – it will be difficult to find a way back.”
War against his own country
Renee Nicole Good fell victim to Trump's policies, Il Manifesto concludes:
“In a country where lethal police violence still causes a thousand deaths a year, this tragedy could be attributed to a perverse and militarised normality in which disobeying a police officer's orders can easily turn into a death sentence. However, Good is a victim of a war that Donald Trump has declared on his own country, on immigrants, on states and cities that do not accept his policies, and on those who resist the ethnic cleansing of the 'great deportation'.”
Strategy of dehumanisation
El País fears for the rule of law in the US:
“Behind this repression is Stephen Miller, a fanatical racist and deputy chief of staff in the White House. ... Under his ideological leadership, ICE has gone from being a civilian law enforcement agency to a paramilitary force. ... It is pursuing a strategy of dehumanisation. ... The damage goes beyond that: trust in institutions is being undermined, the rule of law is being disregarded and the use of lethal force against civilians is being normalised. ... Institutional violence against immigrants means that the state can treat anyone it defines as 'the others' with brutal harshness. ... The death of Renee Good is a warning: when the law is applied unequally and violently, it ceases to be the law.”
Martyr to the cause
The Guardian applauds civil society's revolt against ICE operations:
“These protesters are among the best of America, ragefully and rightfully facing down the armed forces of a would-be autocrat in an effort to protect the innocent. ... Renee Nicole Good represented the spirit of the movement: a hatred for injustice, a desire to protect the innocent, a sense of responsibility to those around her. Now, she has become a martyr to the cause. ... Everywhere ICE goes, they have been met with ridicule, resistance, and contempt from ordinary Americans, unarmed and unbending, who have faced down the kidnappers and bullies in persistent protests and street actions ... This, too, is a truth of this country: that people ... like Good, are more numerous than the racists and the autocrats.”
A politically explosive act
This could become a dangerous issue for Trump, Der Standard postulates:
“The current escalation is nothing more than the result of Trump's inhumane political power struggle against his political opponents. Stirring up fear among his own citizens so that he can play the saviour in a non-existent apocalypse is not going to end well in the long run. And Trump's henchmen have now taken this despicable game too far. This deadly incident certainly has similar potential to the violent death of George Floyd in 2020, and the subsequent 'Black Lives Matter' protests. Trump may still get his personal apocalypse.”
Escalation must be avoided
Trump could exploit violent protests for his own purposes, warns The Economist:
“[Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob] Frey urged Minnesotans to stay calm and peaceful in the aftermath of the shooting. He is no doubt remembering how quickly protests escalated in his city after the murder of George Floyd by police in 2020. For months Mr Trump has seemed to want to provoke protesters to violence in order to justify cracking down even harder on Democrat-run cities. ... He has long toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to send troops to cities.”