This morning, I’ve been thinking about the heavy sense of isolation and powerlessness that many of you are carrying. I feel it, too. In trying to process that weight, I’ve sought to pin down why the silence of our local elected officials, police chiefs and Sheriff feels like such a profound betrayal.
As we prepare to school ourselves in the disciplined non-violence of Gandhi, Mandela and King, we have to acknowledge a terrifying new variable. When students sat down at that segregated Woolworth’s counter in Greensboro in 1960, they were facing a local police force that was both identifiable and accountable. There was a federal court system standing behind the movement, and the officers acting against them where both identifiable and accountable — they wore names and badges. No masks.
That is not what we are facing today. Look at the chaos in Minneapolis: a woman murdered, residents assaulted, and relative silence from those who should be documenting these crimes. Our nation is facing masked, unidentifiable agents in our towns and cities who operate with the swagger of gang members rather than responsible federal officials. Who is making the case against them? Who is filing the charges?
The real crisis isn’t just federal overreach; it’s the vacuum left by our local leaders. I’ve written the following to help us get “up to speed” on the core of the problem as I see it. We cannot hold the line if our local guardians refuse to even see where it is drawn or having seen it, remain silent.
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The Broken Covenant
When Local Police Standby
Who will protect us? Our nation’s cities are being invaded. Masked, unidentifiable agents are stalking our neighborhoods, engaging in “snatch-and-grab” tactics that look more like state-sponsored kidnappings than lawful enforcement. But the most terrifying part of this “invasion” isn’t the presence of federal agents—it’s the deafening silence of our local police.
We are witnessing a slow-motion collapse of the U.S. Constitution at the street level.
First, local police stood back, paralyzed by “institutional caution.” Their unions supported this. In fact, they advocated they should be helping ICE in their raids! Our police have watched the abuse and said nothing.
Now, the mask has slipped; even local officers are being mistreated and disrespected by the very federal “colleagues” they were told to accommodate. Yet, where are our leaders? Where is the Mayor, the Chief, or the Sheriff with the courage to say: “Not in my town. Not on my watch.”
The legal reality is simple. The courage to act will be difficult.
The “Duty to Intervene” is not a suggestion—it is a binding mandate under both federal and state law. ICE agents do not possess a license for these abuses. They are subject to the same restrictions on excessive force and unlawful detention as any local police officer or sheriff’s deputy. The moment a federal agent steps outside the “scope of their authority,” their immunity evaporates. They become an individual breaking the law, and it is the job of local police to stop them from harming us.
When a resident calls 911 to report an assault or an illegal detention, inaction is not acceptable. Our local police officers and sheriff’s deputies have a sworn, fundamental duty to:
- SHOW UP: Inaction is betrayal.
- DOCUMENT THE TRUTH: Record the actions of federal agents with the same scrutiny used for any other suspect.
- INTERVENE: Physically, if necessary. If a resident is being unreasonably beaten, a life threatened, or abducted without cause, the local officer must stand between the abuser and the victim.
To stand by while a resident is assaulted, even if they are not a citizen, is a violation of our Constitution, the Policing Code of Ethics and their Oath of Office. If the people we pay to protect us will not stand against masked, abusive agents in our own streets, then the badge has lost its meaning and the “Thin Blue Line” in our towns and cities has become a white flag of surrender.
Trust is not a permanent gift; it is a daily earn. If local police want to keep the support of the community relations they have spent decades building, they must prove they are worthy of it. They must hold the line against any lawbreaker.
Protect us now, or lose our trust and support forever.
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 