This Is Neither Unique Nor New

Vice President Vance's X post saying the Minneapolis case is unique because it involves far-left agitators working with local authorities isn't really on the mark: local auithorities have been complicit in the migrant fraud business model everywhere. For instance, I linked to this reporter's conclusions about the Springfield, OH Haitians in a September, 2024 post here:

My investigation discovered a long rotten beam extending from the Mayor down to NGOs, pastors, corporations, and local mediocrities looking to make a fast buck. Everyone is on the take. And Springfield is not an outlier. It is a standard example of local partnerships with federal and corporate resettlement programs working together to profit themselves.

In this post, I linked to a story that suggests the Springfield police were complicit in not enforcing traffic laws against unlicensed Haitian drivers:

An Ohio police chief says his access to Springfield’s police radio frequency was cut off after the beleaguered city became a political lightening rod over its Haitian immigrant crisis.

. . . [Tremont City Police Chief Chad] Duncan told the Blaze that the immigrants are often not licensed to operate vehicles, but Springfield appears to be protecting them from facing any real consequences for their reckless driving.

“People that shouldn’t be driving, they’re out there and they’re allowing them to drive,” Duncan remarked.

. . . Duncan told Rosas about a recent traffic stop in Tremont City involving a Haitian national going 44 mph in a 25 mph zone.

“He didn’t even have a license,” he said, adding that it was the second time over a two-week period that he pulled the driver over so he had the individual’s car towed.

Duncan told [reporter Julio] Rosas that he didn’t think Springfield police would have towed the vehicle in that instance, and speculated why he thought that was the case.

“If you get two misdemeanors, you are subject to be deported,” he explained.

Police chiefs are normally civil service positions subject to removal by mayors or other political bodies. In the case of Springfield, the first link above pointed out that the Springfield mayor himself owns slum apartments that are rented to Haitians, so even if the Springfield police chief isn't in on the boodle himself, if he doesn't get with the program, he'll be out of his job. So let's look at the Minneapolis police chief:

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara warned on Face the Nation Sunday that public anger over a string of federal‑involved shootings has reached a breaking point, saying the city is so overwhelmed that even a finding of legal justification in the latest incident “does not matter at this point.”

. . . He noted that his department recovered roughly 900 guns last year without firing a shot, yet now finds itself managing escalating chaos with only 600 officers. “This is not sustainable,” he said, describing the toll on a force he says is stretched “incredibly thin” as the city waits for leaders “on both sides to come together and figure this thing out.

O'Hara has used the term "unsustainable" before:

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS looked at city payroll records and found between 2020 and 2022, the Minneapolis Police Department had 273 officers leave their jobs.

During that same three-year time period, the city hired 117 new officers, which equates to a net loss of 156 officers and an average net loss of 52 officers over the last three years.

If that trend were to continue, MPD would have fewer than 400 sworn officers. As recent as 2019, MPD had about 900 sworn officers on its payroll.

So by Chief O'Hara's own account, his department is down to 600 officers from 900 before the George Floyd riots, a 33% drop. There's been a general observation that Minneapolis officers have been leaving due to the hostile political emvironment, allegedly now also to join ICE. Chief O'Hara on one hand is trying to support the narrative of his superiors in the city, but his remarks also sound like a cry for help. The story continues,

Chief O’Hara stated that the decedent, 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was legally exercising his First and Second Amendment rights to protest and to be legally armed. The chief left out that Minnesota law requires a person to carry their permit and a photo ID to legally carry a sidearm. Minnesota law also states that a person must be carrying for a lawful purpose. A finding that he was interfering with a federal law enforcement operation could also negate the chief’s claim.

The bottom line is that the Minneapolis Police Department has been, by the chief's own account, in an "unsustainable" position since the George Floyd riots, but now he's trying to shift the blame onto ICE, when it should actually be on the city's political environment.

🚨 BREAKING: Rioters are now DESTROYING the hotel they believe ICE agents are staying at in Minnesota

No evidence suggest there are ACTUALLY agents staying there

Local PD ONCE AGAIN allowing it to happen.

You’re a DISGRACE, @Tim_Walz pic.twitter.com/h8iOSqzCAb

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 26, 2026

As a practical matter, the Minneapolis Police Department is not in a position to enforce the law, a situation that's been fostered by the political establishment, while the chief seems unwilling to go against it himself. But this is precisely the situation we saw in Springfield, OH. If the chief isn't getting kickbacks himself, he's afraid to buck those who are.

Below, we see that Chief O'Hara "avoids the question" when he's asked if the police have been ordered not to protect ICE, but it appears that there's a shortage of officers to perform even routine duties -- nobody needs to order them to stand down, there aren't enough to do even their normal job.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara avoids the question when asked if police have been ordered not to protect ICE.

There wouldn't be so many immigration agents in Minneapolis if local authorities controlled the chaos—but they refuse to do so. pic.twitter.com/OEywNZuw71

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 25, 2026

As of Saturday,

At the recommendation of the Minneapolis Police Chief and out of an abundance of caution, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey formally made a request to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for the Minnesota National Guard to help reinforce local law enforcement resources in Minneapolis. Local law enforcement resources are stretched thin because of the disruption to public safety caused by thousands of federal immigration agents in our neighborhoods.

. . . To be clear, the Minnesota Guard deployment comes at the request of local officials. The federal government has no involvement in their activities. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office has also announced it is requesting the Guard to activate to the B.H. Whipple Federal Building where it needs additional officers to help fill shifts.

However, as of last night, there was no evidence that the Minnesota National Guard had actually been deployed, for instance to protect the local hotels being attacked by rioters. The problem for the political establishment is that the Trump administration's moves are in fact cutting off the money spigot, as they have in Springfield:

Springfield businesses, big and small, are struggling in the aftermath of thousands of Haitians fleeing the town after the Trump administration’s termination of the humanitarian parole program for citizens of several countries, including Haiti, in June. On top of that, the government has ended temporary protected status, affecting the immigration status of more than half a million Haitians, which comes into effect on or before 5 February 2026.

. . . The consequences of these moves are being keenly felt in places such as Springfield.

Since January, when the Trump administration took office, the percentage of manufacturing jobs in Springfield has been falling by double digits as the civilian labor force also declines, something thought to be partly fueled by Haitians leaving the city due to fear of the administration’s anti-immigrant rhetoric.

At Topre America, an automotive parts manufacturing company north-east of downtown Springfield, dozens of jobs that Haitians had once filled – forklift drivers, supervisors and stackers – have remained unfilled on the company’s employment webpage for months.

That is, they remain unfilled at the rates Topre America was willing to pay Haitians. But agsin, what we're seeing is a business model that works across the board, which involves mayors, city councils, police chiefs, businesses, and local mediocrities, all of them on the take. They have slightly more control in Minneapolis than they did in Springfield due to the ability to mobilize protesters, that's the only difference -- and there are rent-a-rioters in places like Portland, OR as well.