Listen To This Story
Ward Jacobson, a former Lincoln radio show host, joined Dale Johnson on Morning Edition to talk about the situation unfolding in Minneapolis after federal agents shot and killed a second community member in less than three weeks. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can find more local reporting on the aftermath in Minneapolis from Minnesota Public Radio.
Johnson: Minneapolis is home to quite a few Nebraskans, including Ward Jacobson, who was a familiar voice on Lincoln radio station KFOR. He's lived in the Twin Cities through the George Floyd killing and subsequent protests, and now is seeing his city transformed during ICE's occupation in Minneapolis. Protests are continuing after the second killing by federal agents in less than three weeks. I caught up with my good friend this week and asked him what he's seeing in his Minneapolis neighborhoods.
Jacobson: Well, I think the issue here too — so much of it is that just the appearance of these, these ICE people from the federal government. You know, their general appearance. They're either masked [or] they have the appearance of a group that's raiding a bank for a robbery or raiding a residence or a business to take people. And the impunity of it all. They're not answering to anyone. 'What are the consequences for my actions?' It doesn't seem like there are any consequences. That's, I mean, it's night and day. Just the basic look that they're showing us — it's, that's frightening.
Johnson: 3000 federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, according to one report. That's almost three times the total number of police on the streets in Minneapolis and St Paul combined. Does a day go by that you don't see an ICE agent?
Jacobson: Certainly. So far today, I have not seen an ice agent. I drove from my home in Minneapolis to Minnesota Public Radio in St Paul. Haven't seen one yet, but you can, certainly, if you know where to go. Now, I just saw this morning that last night, they were at a hotel within a mile from my house near the University of Minnesota campus. You can find them. It doesn't take long, but you can certainly go out and not see an ICE agent or a group of ICE agents. But yeah, there are a lot of them, and certainly there are pockets where you can almost always find them, if you know where to go.
Johnson: I've done my Google mapping. If I've done it correctly, Ward, the shooting of Renee Good happened less than a 15-minute drive from where you live, and the Alex Pretti's [was] killing about the same distance away. It's 12 to 15 miles, depending on the route you take. How's your neighborhood reacted to the shootings?
Jacobson: Well, like all neighborhoods... fearful and mad. We're enraged. People are very angry, Dale. People are also being very vigilant too. You kind of know what to look for. You look for the masked hoods of these ICE agents. And people in neighborhoods are really helpful with, coming together and saying, 'Look, I saw this. I saw this person there. You may want to... may want to do that.' So all these pockets of neighborhoods have come together. People are helping each other. They're protecting themselves. Because, quite frankly, we don't know how much protection there is in this city. The Minneapolis Police Department, I think, is doing everything they can, but they're not being given access to these crime scenes. They can't even do any kind of investigating. And it gets you to the point where you wonder who is protecting us. So we kind of have to protect each other.
Johnson: I hope you and your family stay safe. We'll call you back again. It'd be best if we could just say for no reason at all, rather than there's been another incident. But stay safe. I appreciate you taking time to talk to me today.
Jacobson: Well, Dale, it's not not a problem at all. And, you know, Minneapolis is a strong city. I told somebody last week, you could drive through the city and not see any of this and think nothing was happening. I mean, there's not smoke billowing, and things aren't being torn down. And destruction, the chaos that you hear from the federal government that's happening in Minneapolis. There's no chaos. It's peaceful protesting. When that was organized the Friday protest, nothing happened that couldn't have been more peaceful. So it's a good city. It's a strong city, and the people are together. And I think of what's on the Nebraska State Capitol, you know that's in stone there, 'the salvation of the state is watchfulness in the citizen.' That's pretty important right now here in Minnesota as well.
Johnson: Ward Jacobson joining me. Ward, be safe.
Jacobson: Thank you, Dale. You too.