Former Vice President Kamala Harris praised protesters who blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Minneapolis, calling the street-level resistance “fantastic” and “beautiful” during a YouTube conversation with education and labor leaders. The remarks landed on video and drew sharp reaction because they framed obstructing federal law enforcement as an act of community heroism. That praise follows a pattern of comments and causes Harris has supported that Republicans say undermine rule of law and public safety.
Harris appeared on a Share My Lesson video with American Federation of Teachers leadership and spoke warmly about bystanders using whistles and phones to interfere with ICE operations. “In Minneapolis, just look at what we’ve been seeing. It’s so fantastic!” she said on the recording. “People coming out with their whistles, their smart phones and videotaping, and, you know, with perfect strangers and aiding perfect strangers! It’s been so beautiful to see!”
The video clip makes plain what she was celebrating, and the imagery is striking: neighbors blowing whistles to alert each other and to draw attention when federal agents show up. WATCH:
Harris then moved from celebration to sermon, leaning into a familiar theme about collective action and moral purpose. “And again, this is what I mean about: ‘We have the light inside of us.’ Like, let’s — we got to focus on this, which is that when people band together and we remember the strength of community and we remember the strength of coalition, and the power in, you know, it’s cliché, the power in the numbers, right?” she said on the tape. “[T]he power of numbers — like that’s part of just that age,” she added. “We teach that to kids, right?”
Those words matter because the whistles aren’t a quaint protest trick; they’re a tactic aimed at disrupting federal immigration enforcement and warning potential targets. The whistles have been used in Minneapolis to tip off residents and complicate enforcement activity, a phenomenon that became more prominent after deadly encounters between federal agents and local residents drew national attention. Critics argue celebrating disruption sends the wrong message to agents trying to carry out court orders and to communities that rely on law enforcement to keep dangerous people off the streets.
Minneapolis was already the center of intense scrutiny after fatal incidents involving federal immigration officers earlier in the year, and the federal response shifted after that spike in attention and controversy. Border officials announced the winding down of a concentrated operation in the state in mid-February, saying personnel would be redeployed after public backlash and operational challenges. For conservatives, Harris’s applause for obstruction only underscores concerns that political leaders are rewarding chaos instead of accountability.
Harris’s comments fit a broader record of siding with activists and policies that limit deportations and support post-arrest relief efforts. She once chanted publicly, “Up, up with education. Down, down with deportation,” during a Los Angeles event, language Republicans point to as proof she prioritizes political theater over enforcing immigration laws. She has also promoted bail initiatives that critics say released individuals later accused of serious crimes, and her current tone on the video reinforces a Republican critique that progressive signaling can have real-world public-safety consequences.
1 Comment
Ahhhh, the lunatic speaks or is that cackles! Look at what the Demoncrap party wanted to install as the Commander in Chief! Thank God she went up in smoke!