How Phone-Camera Vérité Defeated Action-Flick Propaganda in the War to Define Minneapolis

Minneapolis Residents Turn to Citizen Journalism as ICE Operation Intensifies

As ICE agents continue their weeks-long operation in Minneapolis, residents are using their smartphones to document and challenge the government’s narrative about what’s happening in their city.

The scene in Minneapolis has become increasingly dystopian as thousands of armed, masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents patrol the streets in SUVs and on foot. Local restaurants operate behind locked doors, vetting customers before allowing them inside. Parents stand guard at school bus stops, and car horns now serve as warning signals for approaching ICE convoys.

“The movie has become exhaustingly overlong,” says one local resident, describing how the federal operation known as “Metro Surge” has transformed daily life in the Twin Cities.

What makes this situation remarkable, beyond the scale of the operation itself, is how Minneapolis residents have responded. Armed with smartphones, ordinary citizens have essentially become documentarians, creating an unprecedented real-time record of federal law enforcement activities. These impromptu citizen journalists are providing a counter-narrative to official government communications.

The Department of Homeland Security has been utilizing official social media accounts to distribute what critics describe as propaganda videos celebrating ICE operations. One particularly controversial video set to the theme from Pokémon declared ICE has “gotta catch ’em all,” while another repurposed music from pop star Sabrina Carpenter without permission, prompting the singer to condemn the administration’s actions as “disgusting and evil.”

These government-produced videos reflect what observers call a “distinctly Trumpian aesthetic” – deliberately provocative content designed to appeal to the president’s online supporters while antagonizing critics. The approach initially caught traditional media and political opposition off-guard, as conventional responses seemed inadequate against such tactics.

However, the balance has shifted as Minneapolis residents have created what amounts to “the inverse of a panopticon” – a collective surveillance system watching and documenting the activities of government agents who operate with limited transparency. The raw, unedited nature of this citizen journalism has proven particularly effective at cutting through official narratives.

This became evident following two fatal incidents involving ICE agents. After the killing of Renee Good, officials claimed she was a “domestic terrorist” who attempted to run down an agent with her vehicle. This account was quickly contradicted by multiple video angles showing the agent was not in the car’s path.

Similarly, when Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino described Alex Pretti as a man intending to “massacre law enforcement,” bystander videos showed a different story – Pretti never removed his gun from its holster before being shot in the back by agents, with one agent having already taken Pretti’s weapon moments before the shooting.

Bovino, known for posting action movie-style supercuts of ICE operations set to heavy metal music, was eventually replaced by Tom Homan, who maintains similar objectives but employs a less flamboyant approach – a tacit acknowledgment that public perception matters, even for an administration that has often dismissed media criticism.

The citizen videos collectively paint a portrait of ICE operations that contrasts sharply with official accounts. Clips of agents slipping on ice have become symbolic of what critics see as the operation’s poor planning. An agent telling a legal observer in Maine she would be added to “a nice little database” of domestic terrorists has raised constitutional concerns. Most recently, an unmasked agent was recorded warning a protester, “you raise your voice, I erase your voice” – a statement many view as emblematic of the operation’s approach to civil liberties.

The surge of citizen documentation represents a significant shift in how government actions are witnessed and interpreted. When every bystander is a potential journalist, the ability of officials to control the narrative diminishes dramatically. Through these collective efforts, Minneapolis residents are ensuring that what happens in their streets cannot be erased or rewritten.

“This is how a cultural narrative changes,” notes one observer. “By chipping away, bit by bit, at the veneer to show what’s actually happening underneath.”