Posted by Joshua Scheer
I have reported this time and time again, and it bears repeating: where are our so-called “leaders”? As democratic norms erode in real time, we are left with fewer and fewer options. What we are witnessing is not abstract—it is a direct attack on press freedom itself.
As the former president of the Minneapolis NAACP @leslieeredmond warned during a today at a press conference,
“We are under attack. It’s not a joke. It’s not a drill.”
She asked what we should ask where are Waltz and the rest of the leadership class. They watch as the machinery of democracy grinds to a halt, clinging to elections and courts that no longer protect the people in real time. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to confront the assault on our rights—and the reality is stark: waiting for permission from the so-called leadership class is no longer an option.
"We are under attack. It's not a joke, it's not a drill."
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) January 30, 2026
Former President of the Minneapolis NAACP @leslieeredmond has a warning for the rest of the world in the wake of the arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. The journalists were arrested Thursday night and Friday morning,… pic.twitter.com/k2rgPW0c8h
That warning followed the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, who were detained Thursday night and Friday morning by federal agents. Both were covering an anti-ICE church protest in Minnesota that had taken place weeks earlier. Their arrests raise profound questions about the criminalization of journalism and the use of federal power to intimidate those documenting dissent.
As Leslie Redmond made clear, this is not just a local issue. It is a warning to the rest of the country—and the world.
She urged people not to retreat into despair: “Don’t complain—activate.” As she put it, you can lock up a revolutionary, but you cannot lock up a revolution.
Theres are plenty of great speakers to listen to in the video below
Footage and full remarks from the press conference, as well as the livestream, are available via BreakThrough News’ YouTube channel.
For more of our reporting on immigration here:
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Nearly 80% of Americans Think Immigration Is Good for the Country, Poll Show
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Massive Expansion of Trump’s Deportation Machine Passes With Little Press Notice
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LA Residents Hurl Profane Insults at Border Patrol After Agents Sweep Local Park
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GOP Budget Bill Would Make ICE ‘Largest Federal Law Enforcement Agency in the History of the Nation’
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Here’s What’s Happening to the People ICE Arrests in Immigration Court
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Trump’s ICE Agents Are Arresting US Citizens. GOP Budget Would Hire 10,000 More
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Local Police Departments Are Enabling ICE’s Deportation Machine
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‘What Authoritarians Do’: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander Speaks Out After ICE Arrests Him in Courthouse
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Led by LA, Anti-Trump, ICE Protests Sweep US
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Chris Hedges: American Concentration Camps – Read by Eunice Wong
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Trump Sends Military To Repress Protests in Los Angeles: US Empire’s Tactics Come Home
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Does Trump Have White Working-Class Support for Deporting Undocumented Workers?
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As Trump Sets Military Against Civilians, Service Members Have Duty to Disobey
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Dennis Kucinich: The Untied States of America?
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‘What People Have Feared’: ICE Impersonator Zip-Tied Woman and Stole $1,000
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