Prepared to speak on Item 14 at the Sacramento City Council on strengthening Sanctuary City provisions in Sacramento.
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Speaking To The Sacramento City Council
Prepared to speak on Item 14 at the Sacramento City Council on strengthening Sanctuary City provisions in Sacramento.
Hypocrisy of the Right Regarding Arms
@westmoreland_pops The silence of 2A advocates is deafening! #minnesota #law #secondamendment #freedom #thebackforty ♬ original sound - Will Westmoreland
These Are Our Sacramento Protesters!
Favorable coverage, with video:
Outside the John Moss Federal Building, demonstrators participated in one of many anti-ICE protests occurring across the country. The scene was filled with the sounds of flags waving, cars honking, and people chanting.
Allen O'Brien, an anti-ICE protester, said, "If I had one giant ask of the whole country, my biggest one personally...if we can't abolish ICE yet, we need to abolish for-profit detention centers."
When asked what they would say to the Trump administration, a protester named Faygo responded, "Abolish ICE."
Jayden Crandall, another anti-ICE protester, said, "I want to come out here to stand for my community, because everyone around me is so important to me and I think that even people with the opposing views, for me, I still want to fight for it because I love everyone around me, and I want everyone to be free to live in a life that they want to pursue."
..."ICE has killed a US citizen and I feel so heartbroken that we've been so divided by fake lines that divide this land that we've come to kill each other," Crandall said.
When asked if there was anything positive about ICE, Amanda M. said, "No. I believe that ICE has not functioned correctly since its inception."
Thomas O'Brien, another protester, said, "No child should be afraid to go to school. No family should be afraid to go to a house of worship. No person should be afraid to go to the hospital. So until everybody can go about their lives, unafraid, that's what we're going to be out here for."
A Visitor's Tale
It was a quiet Monday evening at Camp for Justice, but at one point a visitor arrived to tell us a compelling tale. The visitor had been at this very location on November 4, 2025, when several ICE agents came out of the pedestrian gate, out to where protesters had gathered. The agents then began addressing the protesters, like "We understand that you have the right to protest outside this facility, etc." Suddenly the agents tackled several protesters and dragged them into the John Moss Federal Building.
The agents proceeded to ask the visitor what he characterized as a series of "the dumbest questions ever," including who was paying him to protest. He could hear them talking on the phone to a superior about their video of the arrest, which they characterized as unclear and blurry and perhaps unsuitable as evidence. The visitor began loudly complaining about his ankle, slightly-injured when the ICE agents tackled him, which he played up under the circumstances. He threatened to sue ICE. He was taken to a hospital for medical assistance and presented with a citation, which he signed with "Fuck ICE." Several hours after his arrest he was released.
The interesting thing to me was the visitor was able to show us on his phone a compelling video of the arrest, taken by someone else. The video once resided on TikTok (and apparently Instagram as well) but was removed from social media. Apparently the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has enough pull with the social media platforms to censor anything that it deems provocative. Something to know! We can't see everything on social media that we need to see.
What works best when in taken into ICE custody? Be the loudest squeakiest wheel ever! Stoic, silent compliance is a BAD idea! Welcome to 1984!
Sunday, January 25, 2026
The Sacramento Bee Interviews Scott
The Sacramento Bee interviews Scott:
A man who was assaulted two weeks ago while protesting outside the federal building where Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates in Sacramento continued to demonstrate Sunday, the day after the killing of a second Minneapolis protester.
“We’re losing all of our constitutional rights,” Scott Stauffer said about the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti.
Getting To Know One Another
Here's my sign from early November: "Who Murders Fishermen? Bad Guys, That's Who!"
Becoming a member of the protesting class has meant meeting a variety of new people. It also has meant that these new people get to meet me too. Last summer, the average age of protesters was fairly old - forties through sixties - and relatively easy to meet. These days, however, the average age is much younger - in the twenties. So, the affability gap between me and the average protester has grown over time, simply because of age and different lived experiences.
The initial impression I make on people seems to be that of a dotty old guy. Hoka wicasa described the process. Paraphrasing him: "I asked someone 'Who is that old guy with the signs?' The other person replied, "Oh, he's a protester from way back.'" Hoka wicasa then had a question for me. "I saw that sign you had, and I didn't understand it. I want to ask you: Do you have a problem with fish?" I laughed, and replied, "Yes! Have you ever seen fish? Those big eyes, those open mouths! OMG!"
The problem, of course, is that it's hard to keep up with forced march of the fascist Trump Administration. My sign was on the cutting edge of politics early in November, 2025, when fishing boats were being attacked off the coast of Venezuela and Columbia. Now, late in January, 2026, two-and-a-half months later, my sign is just a confusing, cringey relic from the remote past. So it goes.
Last night, milling in the dark on 7th Street, Scott had to corral dotty old me a couple of times. because I was wandering too far from the group. These predatory ICE beasts deliberately target the weakest members of the protester herd, and that could be me under the right circumstances. When the four ICE thugs opened the pedestrian gate, protesters retreated. Not me: I stood my ground and tried to engage them in conversation, as I had earlier conversed with the more-amiable Sac PD cops. Maybe a bad idea, but you've got to face your fears.
Most of the protesters on 7th Street wore black clothes and had black face coverings. I could appreciate their reasons for doing so, but I had decided last summer to be as public as possible and not use face coverings unless absolutely necessary. A young man approached me in the dark and said this was the time and place when face coverings were a good idea. He might have been right! He had a spare face mask, which he gave me. We talked, and he described his Instagram page and prepper mentality. He was prepared to disappear if the heat got too hot, and vanish overseas. Under those circumstances I might be a sitting duck. That's what happens to dotty old people.
A local fascist with the handle "Matthew916" wandered on the fringe of the group doing his TikTok Live for his Placer County friends as we shouted out insults. He retreated to where the Sac PD cops were. Little coward.
ICEy nights in downtown Sacramento in January.
Signs From The Sacramento Resistance
John Moss Federal Building in downtown Sacramento, where ICE has their field headquarters and where there is a makeshift jail.
Across the street from the John Moss Federal Building is a monument dedicated to Greek immigrants to the U.S.
The pipes are leaking at St. Joseph's Cemetery. I bet ICE is to blame.
Protesters gathered at the John Moss Federal Building on January 24, 2026.
Tommy and Allen arrive to help set the world right.
Hoka wicasa and the Dakota Exiles Horse Ride
The anti-ICE protests in Sacramento have benefitted considerably from the presence of Hoka wicasa, who moved to California fairly-recently and to Sacramento for the moment. He is Dakota Sioux and better-known from the Dakota Exiles horse ride.
Busy Day - January 24, 2026
Busy day. Three demonstrations. Sunrise and Greenback (50 people-probably a record for them), Howe and Arden (100 people-definitely a record), and downtown at the John Moss Federal Building (70 people when I arrived, but increased to 140 in minutes).
A Song In Honor of Alex Pretti - Hoka wicasa - Outside ICE's Sacramento Field Office - January 24, 2026
Protesters milled outside the side gate on 7th Street at the John Moss Federal Building in Sacramento, CA, not long after an ICE van departed on business. Sacramento police closed the street to traffic in response. We expected the van to return carrying prisoners, but we didn't know when that would happen, so we waited.
I talked to four Sacramento police department cops, just to gauge their mood. They seemed pretty relaxed.
At one point, four ICE cops came out of the building, out of a pedestrian gate to remove debris that had been placed there that might restrict entry to the facility. One of them carried a gun that looked like it could shoot pepper balls. I was closest to the gate, so I said good evening to them. They ignored me.
The street was still closed, so when I finally left, about 10 p.m., I did four donuts outside the gate in my car. Nothing loud - no screeching tires - but still, a bit of contempt for these people.
Here's a forlorn song by Hoka wicasa in honor of the memory of Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis.
ICE Out Forever Protest March - January 23, 2026
This is the portion of march from the John Moss Federal Building to Cesar Chavez Park in Sacramento, CA. Video includes going through the short tunnel on 5th Street, heading to J Street, next to Golden One Arena. I was lagging behind, with cops closing behind.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)