Ben Whalen
@whenbalen.bsky.social
Organizer with ISAIAH/Faith in MN leading on affordable housing and zoning reform
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Operation Metro Surge is not making Minnesota safer. Today's announcement is a step in the right direction, but we need a faster and larger drawdown of forces, state-led investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and an end to this campaign of retribution.
With the immediate removal of 700 federal agents from Minnesota, border czar Tom Homan put the total number of agents remaining in the state at approximately 2,000.
That’s still a dramatic increase from the normal immigration and enforcement staffing in Minnesota of around 150 agents.
That’s still a dramatic increase from the normal immigration and enforcement staffing in Minnesota of around 150 agents.
Live: Border official Tom Homan announces hundreds of agents will leave Minnesota
White House border czar is negotiating with local officials on a deal for county jails to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
www.startribune.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Operation Metro Surge is not making Minnesota safer. Today's announcement is a step in the right direction, but we need a faster and larger drawdown of forces, state-led investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and an end to this campaign of retribution.
Reposted by Ben Whalen
It should be noted this drops the number of ICE agents in Minnesota from 3000 to a still alarming 2300. There were 80 in the state before the surge.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
Trump Administration Live Updates: Border Czar Plans to Pull 700 Agents From Minnesota
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:41 PM
It should be noted this drops the number of ICE agents in Minnesota from 3000 to a still alarming 2300. There were 80 in the state before the surge.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
February 4, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Reposted by Ben Whalen
If you're from outside MN and feel weird about sending a "Hope you're okay!" text to someone here, don't. Haven't talked since high school? Ex-coworker from 6 years ago? Already sent one a week ago? Doesn't matter.
Every time I get one it's a big relief that people are paying attention.
Every time I get one it's a big relief that people are paying attention.
January 29, 2026 at 12:34 AM
If you're from outside MN and feel weird about sending a "Hope you're okay!" text to someone here, don't. Haven't talked since high school? Ex-coworker from 6 years ago? Already sent one a week ago? Doesn't matter.
Every time I get one it's a big relief that people are paying attention.
Every time I get one it's a big relief that people are paying attention.
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Senate Dems needn’t come to agreement on everything right now. That’s a path to the lowest common denominator. They simply have to agree to filibuster DHS approps. As to which of a host of anti-brutality and anti-authoritarian proposals to advance, let a thousand flowers bloom.
January 25, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Senate Dems needn’t come to agreement on everything right now. That’s a path to the lowest common denominator. They simply have to agree to filibuster DHS approps. As to which of a host of anti-brutality and anti-authoritarian proposals to advance, let a thousand flowers bloom.
Reposted by Ben Whalen
There’s a rally going on in Boston rn and they’re chanting “we’re not cold, we’re not afraid, MN taught us to be brave!” and I might cry
January 25, 2026 at 12:34 AM
There’s a rally going on in Boston rn and they’re chanting “we’re not cold, we’re not afraid, MN taught us to be brave!” and I might cry
Reposted by Ben Whalen
🕯️ SHINE A LIGHT FOR MINNESOTA
Tonight • 7:00 PM CT
Step outside and light a candle — on our street corners, with our neighbors, for our communities & Alex.
Together we call for #ICEOutNow.
🔁 SHARE WIDELY!
Tonight • 7:00 PM CT
Step outside and light a candle — on our street corners, with our neighbors, for our communities & Alex.
Together we call for #ICEOutNow.
🔁 SHARE WIDELY!
January 24, 2026 at 8:44 PM
🕯️ SHINE A LIGHT FOR MINNESOTA
Tonight • 7:00 PM CT
Step outside and light a candle — on our street corners, with our neighbors, for our communities & Alex.
Together we call for #ICEOutNow.
🔁 SHARE WIDELY!
Tonight • 7:00 PM CT
Step outside and light a candle — on our street corners, with our neighbors, for our communities & Alex.
Together we call for #ICEOutNow.
🔁 SHARE WIDELY!
Reposted by Ben Whalen
SHINE A LIGHT FOR MINNESOTA
Tonight at 7:00 PM CT,
step outside and light a candle.
On our street corners.
With our neighbors.
For our communities.
ICE Out Now.
SAT. JAN 24 · 7PM CST
Tonight at 7:00 PM CT,
step outside and light a candle.
On our street corners.
With our neighbors.
For our communities.
ICE Out Now.
SAT. JAN 24 · 7PM CST
January 24, 2026 at 8:16 PM
SHINE A LIGHT FOR MINNESOTA
Tonight at 7:00 PM CT,
step outside and light a candle.
On our street corners.
With our neighbors.
For our communities.
ICE Out Now.
SAT. JAN 24 · 7PM CST
Tonight at 7:00 PM CT,
step outside and light a candle.
On our street corners.
With our neighbors.
For our communities.
ICE Out Now.
SAT. JAN 24 · 7PM CST
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Immigration is a fake problem. We have politicians on the one hand who want to use immigrants as scapegoats for our real ones and politicians on the other who are too cowardly to stand against them and tell the truth. That is the entire situation. Until that changes, people will continue to die.
January 24, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Immigration is a fake problem. We have politicians on the one hand who want to use immigrants as scapegoats for our real ones and politicians on the other who are too cowardly to stand against them and tell the truth. That is the entire situation. Until that changes, people will continue to die.
Reposted by Ben Whalen
If you’re not from here, I need to explain this execution was on Eat Street, a commercial corridor of restaurants and coffee shops that literally everyone goes to. Normies, queermos, weirdos, neighborhood folks. Whatever that place is in your city, imagine ICE executing someone in cold blood there.
January 24, 2026 at 4:45 PM
If you’re not from here, I need to explain this execution was on Eat Street, a commercial corridor of restaurants and coffee shops that literally everyone goes to. Normies, queermos, weirdos, neighborhood folks. Whatever that place is in your city, imagine ICE executing someone in cold blood there.
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Why Minnesota? It's not merely the most horrific kind of ill-luck that delivered another caught on video state mandated murder. Minnesota represents a direct assault on the white nationalist narrative & thus claim to power. 🧵
January 13, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Why Minnesota? It's not merely the most horrific kind of ill-luck that delivered another caught on video state mandated murder. Minnesota represents a direct assault on the white nationalist narrative & thus claim to power. 🧵
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Reposted by Ben Whalen
“We are here to make sure that we can protect our freedoms and get ICE out of Minnesota.”
That’s right.
📅 Friday, January 23
✊🏽 #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
❌ No Work.
❌ No School.
❌ No Shopping.
#ICEOutOfMN #ICEOutForGood #BeGood
That’s right.
📅 Friday, January 23
✊🏽 #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
❌ No Work.
❌ No School.
❌ No Shopping.
#ICEOutOfMN #ICEOutForGood #BeGood
January 21, 2026 at 5:29 PM
“We are here to make sure that we can protect our freedoms and get ICE out of Minnesota.”
That’s right.
📅 Friday, January 23
✊🏽 #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
❌ No Work.
❌ No School.
❌ No Shopping.
#ICEOutOfMN #ICEOutForGood #BeGood
That’s right.
📅 Friday, January 23
✊🏽 #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
❌ No Work.
❌ No School.
❌ No Shopping.
#ICEOutOfMN #ICEOutForGood #BeGood
Reposted by Ben Whalen
“Silence in the face of oppression is not neutrality. It is permission.”
Minnesotans refuse to give permission. We reject business as usual.
📅 Friday, January 23
✊🏾 #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
❌ No Work.
❌ No School.
❌ No Shopping.
#ICEOutOfMN
Minnesotans refuse to give permission. We reject business as usual.
📅 Friday, January 23
✊🏾 #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
❌ No Work.
❌ No School.
❌ No Shopping.
#ICEOutOfMN
January 20, 2026 at 9:18 PM
“Silence in the face of oppression is not neutrality. It is permission.”
Minnesotans refuse to give permission. We reject business as usual.
📅 Friday, January 23
✊🏾 #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
❌ No Work.
❌ No School.
❌ No Shopping.
#ICEOutOfMN
Minnesotans refuse to give permission. We reject business as usual.
📅 Friday, January 23
✊🏾 #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
❌ No Work.
❌ No School.
❌ No Shopping.
#ICEOutOfMN
Reposted by Ben Whalen
🔁 SHARE WIDELY: This Friday, Jan 23, Minnesotans are taking unified action.
✖️ No Work.
✖️ No School.
✖️ No Shopping.
We refuse to accept the violence ICE is inflicting on our communities.
🔗 Visit iceoutnowmn.com to learn more!
#ICEOutOfMN #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
✖️ No Work.
✖️ No School.
✖️ No Shopping.
We refuse to accept the violence ICE is inflicting on our communities.
🔗 Visit iceoutnowmn.com to learn more!
#ICEOutOfMN #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
January 18, 2026 at 11:57 PM
🔁 SHARE WIDELY: This Friday, Jan 23, Minnesotans are taking unified action.
✖️ No Work.
✖️ No School.
✖️ No Shopping.
We refuse to accept the violence ICE is inflicting on our communities.
🔗 Visit iceoutnowmn.com to learn more!
#ICEOutOfMN #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
✖️ No Work.
✖️ No School.
✖️ No Shopping.
We refuse to accept the violence ICE is inflicting on our communities.
🔗 Visit iceoutnowmn.com to learn more!
#ICEOutOfMN #DayOfTruthAndFreedom
Reposted by Ben Whalen
🔊🎯 Rev. Dr. Karen McKinney has a clear message for Target: “You have an opportunity to speak truth to power. And the truth we want you to speak is to say: Get out ICE, get out of Minnesota.”
We look forward to meeting with Target CEO Brian Cornell and call on him to do just that. #ICEOutOfMN
We look forward to meeting with Target CEO Brian Cornell and call on him to do just that. #ICEOutOfMN
January 17, 2026 at 6:24 PM
🔊🎯 Rev. Dr. Karen McKinney has a clear message for Target: “You have an opportunity to speak truth to power. And the truth we want you to speak is to say: Get out ICE, get out of Minnesota.”
We look forward to meeting with Target CEO Brian Cornell and call on him to do just that. #ICEOutOfMN
We look forward to meeting with Target CEO Brian Cornell and call on him to do just that. #ICEOutOfMN
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Jan 23
General strike
Day of Truth and Freedom
Pass it along
General strike
Day of Truth and Freedom
Pass it along
January 16, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Jan 23
General strike
Day of Truth and Freedom
Pass it along
General strike
Day of Truth and Freedom
Pass it along
Reposted by Ben Whalen
🚨 On Friday, January 23, MN stands together.
🛑 No Work. No School. No Shopping.
📍 March in Downtown Mpls at 2PM
We demand:
➡️ #ICEOutOfMN now
➡️ The officer who killed #ReneeGood must be held legally accountable
➡️ No additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming budget
Join us!
🛑 No Work. No School. No Shopping.
📍 March in Downtown Mpls at 2PM
We demand:
➡️ #ICEOutOfMN now
➡️ The officer who killed #ReneeGood must be held legally accountable
➡️ No additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming budget
Join us!
January 16, 2026 at 8:21 PM
🚨 On Friday, January 23, MN stands together.
🛑 No Work. No School. No Shopping.
📍 March in Downtown Mpls at 2PM
We demand:
➡️ #ICEOutOfMN now
➡️ The officer who killed #ReneeGood must be held legally accountable
➡️ No additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming budget
Join us!
🛑 No Work. No School. No Shopping.
📍 March in Downtown Mpls at 2PM
We demand:
➡️ #ICEOutOfMN now
➡️ The officer who killed #ReneeGood must be held legally accountable
➡️ No additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming budget
Join us!
Reposted by Ben Whalen
🔊 MN clergy got Target CEO Brian Cornell on the phone.
Target’s motto: “Expect more. Pay less.”
More like expect the bare minimum and get… hung up on? 🤔
We’re not leaving Target HQ until we get a meeting with Brian Cornell.
#ICEOutOfMN #ICEOutForGood #ReneeGood
Target’s motto: “Expect more. Pay less.”
More like expect the bare minimum and get… hung up on? 🤔
We’re not leaving Target HQ until we get a meeting with Brian Cornell.
#ICEOutOfMN #ICEOutForGood #ReneeGood
January 15, 2026 at 11:24 PM
🔊 MN clergy got Target CEO Brian Cornell on the phone.
Target’s motto: “Expect more. Pay less.”
More like expect the bare minimum and get… hung up on? 🤔
We’re not leaving Target HQ until we get a meeting with Brian Cornell.
#ICEOutOfMN #ICEOutForGood #ReneeGood
Target’s motto: “Expect more. Pay less.”
More like expect the bare minimum and get… hung up on? 🤔
We’re not leaving Target HQ until we get a meeting with Brian Cornell.
#ICEOutOfMN #ICEOutForGood #ReneeGood
Reposted by Ben Whalen
America has always been an argument. An argument between a wealthy white few ready to kill or control the rest to seize more money & power and the bravest possible people determined to make the promise of life, liberty & yes happiness apply to all, no exceptions.
On the ground here in Minnesota, it’s hard to reconcile the immense bonds of community that have been built in a week with the fact that we live in a country whose government appropriated billions of dollars to an unaccountable paramilitary force whose sole purpose is ethnic cleansing.
January 15, 2026 at 4:03 PM
America has always been an argument. An argument between a wealthy white few ready to kill or control the rest to seize more money & power and the bravest possible people determined to make the promise of life, liberty & yes happiness apply to all, no exceptions.
The current stress and violence we're facing in MN made me tear up at this simple tribute to the culture here. It's true, we will continue standing up for each other even in the face of this.
I would, I think, normally have dismissed or at least shrugged at the Governor’s invocation of MN as a special place with its own ethos and distinct moral identity.
But I lived there. And it’s true.
But I lived there. And it’s true.
January 15, 2026 at 2:18 AM
The current stress and violence we're facing in MN made me tear up at this simple tribute to the culture here. It's true, we will continue standing up for each other even in the face of this.
Reposted by Ben Whalen
🚨 On Friday, January 23rd, Minnesotans aren’t shopping.
We aren’t going to work.
We aren’t going to school.
We’re using our economic power, our labor, and our collective voice to get #ICEOutOfMN and stand for justice and safety in our communities.
#DayOfTruthAndFreedom
We aren’t going to work.
We aren’t going to school.
We’re using our economic power, our labor, and our collective voice to get #ICEOutOfMN and stand for justice and safety in our communities.
#DayOfTruthAndFreedom
January 14, 2026 at 7:34 PM
🚨 On Friday, January 23rd, Minnesotans aren’t shopping.
We aren’t going to work.
We aren’t going to school.
We’re using our economic power, our labor, and our collective voice to get #ICEOutOfMN and stand for justice and safety in our communities.
#DayOfTruthAndFreedom
We aren’t going to work.
We aren’t going to school.
We’re using our economic power, our labor, and our collective voice to get #ICEOutOfMN and stand for justice and safety in our communities.
#DayOfTruthAndFreedom
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Today at the vigil for Renee Good, neighbors and strangers alike stood together in peace and love, grieving a life lost far too soon.
We honor Renee by caring for one another and by continuing the work to ensure accountability and justice.
We honor Renee by caring for one another and by continuing the work to ensure accountability and justice.
January 10, 2026 at 12:31 AM
Today at the vigil for Renee Good, neighbors and strangers alike stood together in peace and love, grieving a life lost far too soon.
We honor Renee by caring for one another and by continuing the work to ensure accountability and justice.
We honor Renee by caring for one another and by continuing the work to ensure accountability and justice.
Reposted by Ben Whalen
📣 Today, 200+ Minnesotan clergy across faith traditions gathered in Minneapolis at the site where #ReneeGood was killed by an ICE agent yesterday.
This violence is unconscionable. We will not stand for it.
“It has to end,” said Pastor James Erlandson. “And it stops here in Minnesota.”
This violence is unconscionable. We will not stand for it.
“It has to end,” said Pastor James Erlandson. “And it stops here in Minnesota.”
January 9, 2026 at 3:43 AM
📣 Today, 200+ Minnesotan clergy across faith traditions gathered in Minneapolis at the site where #ReneeGood was killed by an ICE agent yesterday.
This violence is unconscionable. We will not stand for it.
“It has to end,” said Pastor James Erlandson. “And it stops here in Minnesota.”
This violence is unconscionable. We will not stand for it.
“It has to end,” said Pastor James Erlandson. “And it stops here in Minnesota.”
Reposted by Ben Whalen
Tomorrow we observe a Day of Unity in honor of Renee Good, who was killed by ICE.
10AM - STATEWIDE MOMENT OF SILENCE
4-5:30PM - VIGIL OF ACTION AND MOURNING, MN Capitol
In the face of such extreme violence, Minnesotans stand up for our neighbors. We will seek accountability and justice.
10AM - STATEWIDE MOMENT OF SILENCE
4-5:30PM - VIGIL OF ACTION AND MOURNING, MN Capitol
In the face of such extreme violence, Minnesotans stand up for our neighbors. We will seek accountability and justice.
January 9, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Tomorrow we observe a Day of Unity in honor of Renee Good, who was killed by ICE.
10AM - STATEWIDE MOMENT OF SILENCE
4-5:30PM - VIGIL OF ACTION AND MOURNING, MN Capitol
In the face of such extreme violence, Minnesotans stand up for our neighbors. We will seek accountability and justice.
10AM - STATEWIDE MOMENT OF SILENCE
4-5:30PM - VIGIL OF ACTION AND MOURNING, MN Capitol
In the face of such extreme violence, Minnesotans stand up for our neighbors. We will seek accountability and justice.