I'm sorry, I just don't think I can go along with your depiction of the Clarinetist as an innocent bystander. Kristi "Nacht" just assured us that they were NOT detaining American citizens and ONLY arresting the worst violent criminals. Surely no one in the Trump administration would lie to us!
Sure, we've recently learned that instead of ARRESTING the worst of the worst they seem to be HIRING the worst of the worst, and sure they do seem to enjoy playing with their toys; tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper balls, and, of course, they are willfully defying federal judges, but anyone can have a bad day...or bad weeks...or many months.
But I think its still possible that they were simply trying to inform her that her clarinet was out of tune...in their own, inimitable way.
Quite the contrary I'm afraid. I bet they see themselves as america's saviors, and it is all too obivous that they are enjoying smacking prople around.
Like many prison guards, these ICE guys are high school dropouts that enjoy beating people up. That they can do so without being publicly identified is added catnip.
The recruiting ads for ICE do however try to convince potential hires that they'll be saving the country, in addition to getting a $100,000 signing bonus.
Unfortunately, I believe you're correct. Those who are committing such violent acts as shooting a pepper ball at a priest, throw tear gas from their vehicle windows into a crowd of protesters, point their guns at protesters and arrest US citizens on trumped up charges have the same mentality as those 1/6/2021 insurrectionists, the Felon pardoned.
I know it is a rhetorical question and calling them demons is fine. I sometimes call them the Trump Gestapo/SS. One of their bosses, Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino looks like Heinrich Himmler, only without the SS skull on his hat. see my Substack re. him: - https://halbrown.substack.com/p/border-patrol-chief-greg-bovino-is
I haven't seen a really appropriate name, although Trump's Psychopathic Sadistic Sycophantic Supplicants is a good description.
I live in downtown Chicago and my city and its residents have been on the receiving end of the type of violence seen in Portland. In addition to the incident and arrest you described (of a congressional candidate) in Chicago, there are many, many other horrific stories to tell. It all started with the shooting death of an immigrant who tried to evade arrest. What “worst of the worst” crime did he commit? He had some prior motor vehicle violations. Fast forward to the immigrant who was arrested and detained while his 16 year old daughter is being treated for Stage 4 cancer. An immigration judge just ordered him released. In between is the daily use of tear gas thrown at protestors, all of whom are deemed “rioters”. Now they have started using tasers. And we all know about the 2 am raid using an Blackhawk helicopter, military vehicles and 300 masked, armed, camo wearing Feds who raided a 5 story apartment building, broke down every door, tossed every unit, herded every resident into rented box trucks. They were sorted by race and all of them, including children in pj’s were zip tied and held in the cold for hours. Immigrants are being held in small, over crowded cells, are being denied medical care and are being treated in an inhumane manner.
NBC Chicago just reviewed the records of immigrants detained/arrested in Chicago since the start of ICE/CBP invasion. 84% have no criminal convictions. Only 7% were found to have charges or convictions which could be deemed “worst of the worst”.
ICE and CBP who are not content with terrorizing adults, conducted a raid last Sunday in the proximity of a large group of children who were lining up in their costumes for a Halloween parade. The Feds let loose some tear gas for good measure. The children’s parade was cancelled and the terrorized children went home in tears. Governor Pritzker asked DHS secretary Noem to cancel immigration raids over the Halloween weekend so that children could enjoy the holiday. Noem, ever the humanitarian…oh, right…she shot her dog for disobeying, unsurprisingly denied the request.
It's state terrorism: strategic and targeted. The Republicans have concluded that the only threat remaining to their seizure of absolute state power is the possibility of some kind of public uprising which could lead to sustained public action and a powerful voter turnout in 2026.
Even when the national press refuses to cover protests and pushback (still reeling from the minimal coverage they gave to the recent seven-million-person strong No Kings demonstrations!) the word is getting out. People know that there are patriots in the streets: keeping watch, protecting their neighbors, blowing whistles, playing clarinets, bringing the Church to people who have been terrorized into hiding in their homes when ICE agents lurk outside places of worship hoping to ensnare those who seek comfort in prayer and community.
What the Republicans want to do is to make protest so frightening, so painful, so potentially lethal, that even the bravest patriots give up and slink home.
With Kristi Noem deploying her masked thugs against the innocent and Tricia McLaughlin gleefully smearing and sliming dissenters and ICE and CBP escalating their violent tactics and Pam Bondi recklessly weaponizing the justice system against good citizens, this is building toward a strategic crisis that will allow the GOP to unleash the dogs of war: literal war, as the mass purge of competent officers allows the Republicans to repurpose the Pentagon into a domestic police force.
He lives in a house painted white. A house with the east side torn down without a permit. The man living in that house is a convicted criminal, convicted 34 times, for fraude matters. The man is also known for having cheated on all his wives and in every golf outing he ever did. He has even bankrupted his own casino's. He's a person who is known for stiffing all the contractors that ever did work for him. The man is also a "friend" of a dictator like Putin.
Them ICE boys just can’t stand that a women with a wooden tube that is harder and more entertaining than anything they can get up is making them look like the pussies they are (or “is” in their vernacular!!!)
Citizens are responding. Courts are working on it. The bottom line is voting: Americans cannot afford to sit out elections. I heard that 36 million sat out the election which led to the nomination of this horrendous administration.
I live in Portland and follow all of the news about what is happening with ICE here.
I suggest that everyone who has a NY Times subscrption read today's editorial board piece about how far along we are to losing democracy. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/31/opinion/trump-autocracy-democracy-report.html I have been trying to convince the some of the crew at The Contrarian just how bad things are so they stop holding out unrealistic hope. Jennifer and Norm, I hope you read this even though I doubt you read my Substacks which I take advantage of the perk of being one of the readers who paid to be a founding member and therefore can make comments. For those who want a diaily dose of what some may call pessimism and I call realism here's the link: https://halbrown.substack.com
Thank you for this story. I can't give this a heart because the actions taken by the thugs in CBP and ICE are so reprehensible. Such actions are a continuation of the Felon's making the US an authoritarian theocracy, with the Felon as leader and the American oligarchs running the Country (Putin's Russia).
I'm sorry, I just don't think I can go along with your depiction of the Clarinetist as an innocent bystander. Kristi "Nacht" just assured us that they were NOT detaining American citizens and ONLY arresting the worst violent criminals. Surely no one in the Trump administration would lie to us!
Sure, we've recently learned that instead of ARRESTING the worst of the worst they seem to be HIRING the worst of the worst, and sure they do seem to enjoy playing with their toys; tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper balls, and, of course, they are willfully defying federal judges, but anyone can have a bad day...or bad weeks...or many months.
But I think its still possible that they were simply trying to inform her that her clarinet was out of tune...in their own, inimitable way.
Very cute skit.
I imagine these ICE agents must wear their masks at home for fear of looking at themselves in the mirror. I mean, how could they?
Quite the contrary I'm afraid. I bet they see themselves as america's saviors, and it is all too obivous that they are enjoying smacking prople around.
Like many prison guards, these ICE guys are high school dropouts that enjoy beating people up. That they can do so without being publicly identified is added catnip.
The recruiting ads for ICE do however try to convince potential hires that they'll be saving the country, in addition to getting a $100,000 signing bonus.
Unfortunately, I believe you're correct. Those who are committing such violent acts as shooting a pepper ball at a priest, throw tear gas from their vehicle windows into a crowd of protesters, point their guns at protesters and arrest US citizens on trumped up charges have the same mentality as those 1/6/2021 insurrectionists, the Felon pardoned.
Another excellent article by Tim Dickinson.
Fellow Oregonian thanks you for keeping up the visibility and the pressure, Tim.
We now live in an Autocratic Fascist state.
Have you noticed?
These federal agents are demons. How else can you describe them.
Pointing a gun at a protester is just evil.
Unlawful
I know it is a rhetorical question and calling them demons is fine. I sometimes call them the Trump Gestapo/SS. One of their bosses, Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino looks like Heinrich Himmler, only without the SS skull on his hat. see my Substack re. him: - https://halbrown.substack.com/p/border-patrol-chief-greg-bovino-is
I haven't seen a really appropriate name, although Trump's Psychopathic Sadistic Sycophantic Supplicants is a good description.
I live in downtown Chicago and my city and its residents have been on the receiving end of the type of violence seen in Portland. In addition to the incident and arrest you described (of a congressional candidate) in Chicago, there are many, many other horrific stories to tell. It all started with the shooting death of an immigrant who tried to evade arrest. What “worst of the worst” crime did he commit? He had some prior motor vehicle violations. Fast forward to the immigrant who was arrested and detained while his 16 year old daughter is being treated for Stage 4 cancer. An immigration judge just ordered him released. In between is the daily use of tear gas thrown at protestors, all of whom are deemed “rioters”. Now they have started using tasers. And we all know about the 2 am raid using an Blackhawk helicopter, military vehicles and 300 masked, armed, camo wearing Feds who raided a 5 story apartment building, broke down every door, tossed every unit, herded every resident into rented box trucks. They were sorted by race and all of them, including children in pj’s were zip tied and held in the cold for hours. Immigrants are being held in small, over crowded cells, are being denied medical care and are being treated in an inhumane manner.
NBC Chicago just reviewed the records of immigrants detained/arrested in Chicago since the start of ICE/CBP invasion. 84% have no criminal convictions. Only 7% were found to have charges or convictions which could be deemed “worst of the worst”.
ICE and CBP who are not content with terrorizing adults, conducted a raid last Sunday in the proximity of a large group of children who were lining up in their costumes for a Halloween parade. The Feds let loose some tear gas for good measure. The children’s parade was cancelled and the terrorized children went home in tears. Governor Pritzker asked DHS secretary Noem to cancel immigration raids over the Halloween weekend so that children could enjoy the holiday. Noem, ever the humanitarian…oh, right…she shot her dog for disobeying, unsurprisingly denied the request.
It's state terrorism: strategic and targeted. The Republicans have concluded that the only threat remaining to their seizure of absolute state power is the possibility of some kind of public uprising which could lead to sustained public action and a powerful voter turnout in 2026.
Even when the national press refuses to cover protests and pushback (still reeling from the minimal coverage they gave to the recent seven-million-person strong No Kings demonstrations!) the word is getting out. People know that there are patriots in the streets: keeping watch, protecting their neighbors, blowing whistles, playing clarinets, bringing the Church to people who have been terrorized into hiding in their homes when ICE agents lurk outside places of worship hoping to ensnare those who seek comfort in prayer and community.
What the Republicans want to do is to make protest so frightening, so painful, so potentially lethal, that even the bravest patriots give up and slink home.
With Kristi Noem deploying her masked thugs against the innocent and Tricia McLaughlin gleefully smearing and sliming dissenters and ICE and CBP escalating their violent tactics and Pam Bondi recklessly weaponizing the justice system against good citizens, this is building toward a strategic crisis that will allow the GOP to unleash the dogs of war: literal war, as the mass purge of competent officers allows the Republicans to repurpose the Pentagon into a domestic police force.
I know of a violent criminal.
He lives in a house painted white. A house with the east side torn down without a permit. The man living in that house is a convicted criminal, convicted 34 times, for fraude matters. The man is also known for having cheated on all his wives and in every golf outing he ever did. He has even bankrupted his own casino's. He's a person who is known for stiffing all the contractors that ever did work for him. The man is also a "friend" of a dictator like Putin.
Them ICE boys just can’t stand that a women with a wooden tube that is harder and more entertaining than anything they can get up is making them look like the pussies they are (or “is” in their vernacular!!!)
Thank you for reporting this horror.
Why, why can’t we stop this?
Citizens are responding. Courts are working on it. The bottom line is voting: Americans cannot afford to sit out elections. I heard that 36 million sat out the election which led to the nomination of this horrendous administration.
I live in Portland and follow all of the news about what is happening with ICE here.
I suggest that everyone who has a NY Times subscrption read today's editorial board piece about how far along we are to losing democracy. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/31/opinion/trump-autocracy-democracy-report.html I have been trying to convince the some of the crew at The Contrarian just how bad things are so they stop holding out unrealistic hope. Jennifer and Norm, I hope you read this even though I doubt you read my Substacks which I take advantage of the perk of being one of the readers who paid to be a founding member and therefore can make comments. For those who want a diaily dose of what some may call pessimism and I call realism here's the link: https://halbrown.substack.com
You need to unlock the NYT article so non subscribers can access it. If you are a subscriber, you can unlock by using "free article" option.
First try this: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/31/opinion/trump-autocracy-democracy-report.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xk8.zKpr.vSilk_EVVL2l&smid=fb-share&fbclid=IwY2xjawNyPtxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHssIUc7lTow9tiYJKsfPrgEveT1oAn0-Z1bIp-ig-dNFQX6xnUitNtSeQ6OM_aem_P7PTN5oSQ7VcAA5Jpla6jw If this doesn't work try these: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-get-around-nytimes-paywall-abdul-rahim-roni-v3tlc/
Your Substack was summarized with a link on RawStory: https://www.rawstory.com/oriana-korol/
Why was the title phrased as a question? We all know the answer.
Thank you for this story. I can't give this a heart because the actions taken by the thugs in CBP and ICE are so reprehensible. Such actions are a continuation of the Felon's making the US an authoritarian theocracy, with the Felon as leader and the American oligarchs running the Country (Putin's Russia).