Public Safety Requires Accountability, Not Fear

From Nisha Anand, Dream.Org CEO

The killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Keith Porter by federal agents are enraging. All of which happened in an environment where federal forces are being told, explicitly, that they can act with immunity. When federal actors are perceived to be operating with immunity, trust collapses and every community becomes less safe.

This is not a red, blue, or purple state problem. It’s a 250 year old American problem as old as the country itself. The founding of America and the American dream, one of the greatest human experiments in history, came at the expense of many lives lost either through war, enslavement, genocide, or intentional silencing. While what we are witnessing in Minnesota and across the country is painful and destabilizing, it is not a new crisis. For many people, especially immigrants and communities that have historically felt vulnerable, it’s terrifyingly cyclical.

Since inception, America has made the type of progress that some of our ancestors may have thought was impossible. But the goal post must move forward. We have to stop this cycle of violence and continue to tell the truth about our country, especially when it threatens the guardrails of democracy. 

At Dream.Org, we know public safety is built through accountability, legitimacy, and trust. Not by fear, impunity, or unchecked force. When law enforcement or federal agents can use deadly violence without meaningful oversight or consequence, it doesn’t create safety. It creates instability. It escalates risk. And it makes it harder for communities to work with institutions at all. We must also defend free speech and a free press, because arresting journalists or punishing dissent erodes accountability and makes every community less safe. You can’t have justice when power operates beyond the reach of the law.

We’ll keep doing our work with discipline and focus but we will not normalize political violence or unaccountable force. 

None of us should have to carry this burden alone. So, what can we do?

• Sign the petition and tell Congress to stop funding ICE  – express your concerns with the people who represent you and your community, every voice makes a difference.

• Support local journalists – when we lose local news, we lose local accountability. Find local journalists you trust and subscribe to their work, share their story, or send them a note of appreciation.

• Donate to a local Minnesota mutual aid  – communities stepping up to care for each other is democracy in action.

• Start studying for the midterm elections – Congress could shift after the midterm election. We can elect more people in power who stand with the overwhelming majority of Americans who think ICE has gone too far.

Do you have an everyday act of democracy we should share? Submit yours here. 

Remember to take care of yourselves, check in on each other, and carry with you the strength of the people of Minneapolis who are showing immense courage, discipline, love, and resolve.