Minnesotans woke up this week to their governor urging citizens to carry phones and record federal immigration agents, telling them to “help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans” and to “bank evidence for future prosecution.” That call to arms from Gov. Tim Walz is not the neutral encouragement of civic oversight he frames it as, it’s a political weaponization of everyday people against federal law enforcement—an invitation to turn neighborhoods into surveillance zones and confrontation flashpoints.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer was right to call out that rhetoric on national television, reminding viewers that conservatives have been warning about the radical, anti-law-enforcement turn of local officials for years. Emmer’s blunt criticism on Fox underscored a simple truth: public servants should be restoring order and confidence in due process, not stoking civic distrust and directing citizens to treat federal agents like enemy combatants.
Make no mistake, asking citizens to film ICE at all hours is reckless. It puts innocent bystanders in danger, encourages obstruction of lawful operations, and hands the left’s grievance industry ammunition to pursue politically motivated prosecutions rather than sober, evidence-based accountability in courts. Local leaders who cheerlead for crowds over cops are chipping away at the rule of law and the safety of everyday Minnesotans.
This isn’t abstract: the governor’s plea comes amid real chaos in the Twin Cities after the death of Renee Good and subsequent clashes that have seen federal agents and protesters trade accusations and gunfire. Emotions are raw, and the last thing the public needs is a governor egging on surveillance theater instead of coordinating with prosecutors and honest law enforcement to get to the truth. Political grandstanding at a moment like this is how unrest metastasizes.
Patriotic Americans should support impartial investigations and the men and women who put themselves on the line to keep our streets safe, not the performative politics of state officials who play to the galleries. If Minnesotans want accountability, they should demand transparent, lawful probes and due process, not a partisan database meant to fuel future prosecutions that begin with a soundbite. Leaders like Emmer are right to push back and to remind voters that law and order, not lawfare and spectacle, protect communities.
The remedy is simple and patriotic: stand with honest law enforcement, insist on clear lines between protest and obstruction, and elect officials who will defend constitutional order rather than weaponize citizens for political ends. If conservatives keep making that case loudly and clearly, Americans will reject the dangerous politics of surveillance and restore common-sense public safety to our neighborhoods.
