Yesterday, Tim Walz declared that he was at "war" with the federal government and called out the National Guard to defend Minnesotans against "rogue" federal agents. As Ed wrote earlier today, Walz appears to be regretting saying that he wants a violent confrontation with Trump quite so openly, of course, but it's pretty clear that is is what he wants. 

Well, the troops aren't out on the streets yet, but as the rhetoric ramps up across the country, the leftist agitators are already attacking federal officers, and the sun has barely risen here in the not-quite-arctic north. 

? BREAKING: At just 8am, radical leftists are already HITTING ICE agents in the streets here in Minneapolis

It’s going to be a LONG day.

HEY @TIM_WALZ: TELL YOUR GOONS TO STAND DOWN pic.twitter.com/HZz4l2rKJw

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 8, 2026

Radical politicians like Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan, our Lieutenant Governor and Democratic Party candidate for Senate, have been calling for confrontations with ICE, and their followers have been dutifully following their advice. 

Democrats call for rioters to “put your body on the line.” Rioters do that. One eventually gets shot while accelerating an SUV into an ICE agent. Democrats and leftists blame the Trump administration and urge for more direct action against ICE. https://t.co/kNErJOxN2p

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) January 8, 2026

The basic idea being pushed by Democrats is that they get the equivalent of a "heckler's veto" on law enforcement. As long as they choose to impede law enforcement for whatever reason, they get to veto any law. 

What happens when a political party spends a YEAR radicalizing their base against ICE agents with increasingly unhinged rhetoric?

Tragically, I fear we're learning exactly what happens right now in Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/FHTqJbGFaK

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) January 8, 2026

For months, Democrats have been calling for "blood" in the streets, and now they have it. Rather than being abashed when the blood arrives, they amp up the rhetoric even more. Lawyers are advising people how to break the law (which, I believe, should get you disbarred, as if that would ever happen), and top Democrats are encouraging more confrontations.

They are so used to a lack of consequences that they admit to conspiring to obstruct federal law enforcement, and they think this makes them the good guys. https://t.co/xSEJZ5L6Tg

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) January 8, 2026

The propaganda machine has spun up—there is a reason why there were so many cameras surrounding ICE agents, and it is to produce propaganda photos and videos from artificially created confrontations—completely distorting reality. 

A masterclass in propaganda. One photo, zero context. The caption says “terrorized innocent man.” The reality - he grabbed the officer’s weapon moments earlier, and that’s pepper spray, not a firearm. This is how outrage is manufactured. https://t.co/qNLQxw8Dpt

— Chef Andrew Gruel (@ChefGruel) January 8, 2026

JUST IN: ?? Anti-ICE protester reaches for federal agent's weapon in Minneapolis.

pic.twitter.com/BqvKDxFQro

— Remarks (@remarks) January 7, 2026

You see how it is done? Completely reframe reality to create an alternate one that shocks the conscience. The CCP spends its money well, I suppose. 

Dan Goldman dumps gas on the fire: “It was an outright m*rder."

“This officer...needs to be charged with m*rder."

Democrats doing their level best to ensure Minneapolis is in flames tonight.pic.twitter.com/io75RP6MrL

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) January 7, 2026

The people pushing these confrontations are thrilled to have the opportunity to have their moment in the sun. Here's a lawyer, moments before an attack on the Minneapolis federal building, where protesters didn't block, but stormed the building and vandalized it, laughing about it. 

Minneapolis (Jan. 7) — I have identified the leftist radical instructing her comrades to physically obstruct a federal courthouse. She is a lawyer (ID 0397165) named Brenna O'Connor (née Rahmlow) who works in the Hennepin County Public Defender's office. pic.twitter.com/iy2R42DOxA

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) January 8, 2026

The whole point of these confrontations is to shift all the responsibility for de-escalation onto the adults in the room, just as a toddler's tantrum is designed to bully the parent into giving in to the child's demands. Moderate people want peace, and their first instinct is to turn to the person they know could quiet the situation and request that they do so. 

Sec. Kristi Noem says that just TODAY, there have been four ramming attacks on federal officers, three of which happened in Minneapolis.

"We've seen over 100 of these vehicle rammings happen in just recent weeks."

Later she reveals that the ICE agent involved in this shooting… pic.twitter.com/2c2xv5P575

— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) January 8, 2026

Everybody is analyzing the video frame by frame, but of course, the incident was not singular, but part of a pattern of escalation in which "protesters" keep attacking officers with the hope that at least once things will go off the rails.

"The courts do not second guess these split second decisions. They look at whether an officer can reasonably believe that he was in danger."

Fox News Contributor and George Washington University Law Professor @JonathanTurley speaking with @foxandfriends.

via #StudiGo mobile… pic.twitter.com/KW1A77i1aw

— StudiGo (@StudiGo_LLC) January 8, 2026

Politicians scream "Gestapo," as Walz has many times, and speak of "war," and officers are meant to feel threatened and under siege. 

Yesterday, Tim Walz declared Minnesota is at "war against the federal government."

Again today, he called it "war with our federal government."

This lunatic is SICK and DANGEROUS! pic.twitter.com/1WRBs1pBxI

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 7, 2026

Then, when something happens, all the blame is put on the people being attacked. And the outrage is used as an excuse to commit more acts of violence. 

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) blatantly lies and says there’s no evidence that the woman in Minneapolis did anything wrong.

You know, except for the video of her driving her car right into ICE officers.pic.twitter.com/92AeacYMVF

— Paul A. Szypula ?? (@Bubblebathgirl) January 7, 2026

There are lots of good and decent people who just assume that the people confronting law enforcement couldn't possibly want violence, because normal people don't act that way. 

?Jimmy Kimmel suggests President Trump is directing ICE to kill Americans.

"He isn't just killing people overseas... Get the f*ck out of Minneapolis! Get the f*ck out of all of these cities!"

Why is ABC allowing this kind of content on its network?pic.twitter.com/z174bXKLjX

— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) January 8, 2026

These are not normal people. They are revolutionaries, and the revolution always happens like this. The revolutionaries don't even try to hide it. They write manuals on how to do it; there are books you can buy, and there is an entire multi-billion-dollar infrastructure built to make it happen. 

Minneapolis Public Schools are closed today and tomorrow "related to [yesterday's] incidents around the city." It's like they're hoping for riots and giving teens the time off for it. Also an admission that schools are not safe places for kids when "incidents" happen in cities. pic.twitter.com/glSIUwvw4P

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) January 8, 2026

It's impossible to predict whether large-scale violence will break out here or elsewhere in the United States, but it's pretty clear that Democrats are egging it on. They want to create confrontations in the hope that they can shut down law enforcement, just as they did for a while in 2020. 

In Minneapolis this morning, the instigators from yesterday’s deadly anti-I.C.E. incident are creating barricades around the intersection where it took place, using wooden pallets, garbage cans, tires and traffic cones.

Those guarding the barricades told CNN they are “members of… pic.twitter.com/u23pc0T5rd

— ?ℎ???????? (@chiIIum) January 8, 2026

Only this time, the rhetoric is ramping up even more, with Tim Walz banging the war drum. For him, the calculation is simple: this is his shot at redemption. His political career has collapsed, but now he can become the hero again. 

? NEW: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Refuses to Say Who is Behind the Large Scale Protests

PSAKI: “How did they originate?”

FREY: “I won't speak to the work that those that have been organizing is doing right now. I won't speak to that.” pic.twitter.com/brxCr8KU7i

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) January 8, 2026

Minnesota politicians are clearly working with the activists who are confronting ICE agents, and they were fully prepared for this to happen. Mayor Frey actually predicted it would happen a day before it did. The warning was not abstract; he said it would happen, and then it did. And now he refuses to say who he is clearly working with. 

It's planned. Anybody who has knowledge of how revolutionaries spark violence can see it. Go read the Antifa handbook. I hear Keith Ellison, our Attorney General, has a copy. 

It is difficult to overstate the radicalism of the top politicians in our state. 

On Monday the Minneapolis city council appointed Democratic Socialists as both the majority leader *and* minority leader (!)

The unprecedented action, creating a one-party state, was done in the name of "diversity," with furious moderate members pointing out the irony. pic.twitter.com/oAUb5v8Mbz

— Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) January 8, 2026 

POLITICAL VIOLENCE: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey refuses to reveal the identities of the NGOs he's working with to organize protests in his city. The DOJ is investigating the groups with funding and directives from Soros and CCP-linked NGOs. pic.twitter.com/C9cWgIZ5VN

— @amuse (@amuse) January 8, 2026

Let's hope saner heads prevail, but don't expect it. 

Yeah Chuck it’s the administration provoking confrontation. ? pic.twitter.com/RhvOqG6dF7 https://t.co/b1cnLvr8Z7

— MAZE (@mazemoore) January 8, 2026