All Eyes on Minneapolis: Lessons on Resisting Authoritarianism

In this bonus episode, PRA researchers discuss the deadly ICE crackdown in Minneapolis and the powerful resistance we’ve seen on the streets. ICE continues to kidnap thousands with impunity, and the brutal murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti show the naked brutality of this authoritarian administration. But everyday people continue to defend their neighbors and communities: by organizing in neighborhoods, on street corners, at airports, and at City Hall; and by grinding business as usual to a halt and showing the entire country, and the world, what it takes to stand up in this moment. To make sense of the moment, PRA’s Ben Lorber talks to fellow Senior Research Analysts Annie Wilkinson and Ethan Fauré, as well as Principal Research Advisor Steven Gardiner. They discuss the decades-long advance of today’s anti-immigrant movement from the margins to the MAGA mainstream; the strategies of lawfare, repression and fearmongering at the heart of the authoritarian playbook; and what we can expect from the Right moving forward. They also explore what the resistance in Minneapolis can teach us as we sharpen our own strategies to block the Right and build a better future. This episode was recorded on Friday, January 30th.Episode ResourcesBen Lorber, “The Right Is Shocked by Anti-ICE Organizing,” Religion Dispatches, January 26, 2026, https://religiondispatches.org/2026/01/26/right-shocked-anti-ice-organizing. Annika Brockschmidt, “Make No Mistake About Trump’s Minnesota ‘De-Escalation,’” Religion Dispatches, January 30, 2026, https://religiondispatches.org/2026/01/30/make-no-mistake-about-trumps-minnesota-de-escalation. Kelly Hayes, “In Chicago, We Run Toward Danger Together,” Organizing My Thoughts, November 8, 2025, https://organizingmythoughts.org/in-chicago-we-run-toward-danger-together. Ethan Fauré, “‘We Must Fight for Everyone’ for Immigrant Justice,” The Public Eye, September 23, 2025, https://politicalresearch.org/2025/09/23/we-must-fight-everyone-immigrant-justice.