“Fractured by Design: On the Rising Political Violence in the U.S.,” Essay, Matthew Albertson.
The United States has reached a definitive flash point. Minnesota is once again the epicenter of systemic escalation. This violence didn’t spring out of nowhere; its trajectory is framed by the partisan, cold-blooded murder of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband—an event that signaled a fissure of traditional political boundaries and set the stage for the state’s recent descent into further chaos. That atmosphere of volatility paved the way for January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, where Renee Nicole Good—a legal observer—was shot and killed by a masked ICE agent, later identified as Jonathan Ross.
While the administration may paint these murders as isolated incidents, they are part of a broader pattern of escalating violence in the United States. Different perpetrators, same national condition: political violence is becoming ordinary, whether carried out by private extremists or empowered agents of the state—which quietly took down a government study showing mass shootings were committed more often by right-wing extremists than by Islamic nationalists or the left.[i] [ii] Indeed, academic evidence shows the majority of domestic terrorists in the U.S. hold far-right ideologies.
As historian Heather Cox Richardson noted on January 7, 2026,[iii] these violent actions reflect an administration where:
“the rule of law doesn’t help… the rich [whose] money and fantasyland bubbles only cushion their larger impunity,”
while the White House projects “bullying, thuggery, and cavalcades of lies” onto cities like Minneapolis. The murder of Good was not a beginning, but a continuation.
Beyond the Hortmans’ assassination, history shows us both parallel comparisons and stark contrasts. Consider the murder of Charlie Kirk, a far-right provocateur, on September 10, 2025 and how it exposes the fractured nature of our national mourning. The administration’s response was swift and retaliatory: Kirk was declared a “martyr for truth and freedom,” and within the day, the Department of State announced it would revoke visas for any foreigners found to be “praising, rationalizing, or making light” of his death.[iv] The government authoritatively declared the killing was evidence of rampant terrorism from the “radical left,” despite evidence which conflicts with that narrative.[v] Twelve days later, Trump enacted National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” a thinly veiled targeting of political opponents under the broad umbrella of “antifa.”[vi]
This deeply contrasts with the response to Renee Good, whom Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem labeled a leftist “domestic terrorist,” again despite video evidence which conflicts with the narrative.[vii] This label was not merely rhetorical; it was a direct application of NSPM-7. By weaponizing this memorandum, the Trump administration has bypassed traditional judicial oversight, allowing the DOJ to treat legal observers and non-combatant civilians such as Good like insurgents.
After Kirk’s death, the administration called for a “broad crackdown on dissent,” which led to teachers, government workers, and television personalities being fired for “uncivil speech.”[viii] After Good’s death, the DOJ refused to investigate her killing—offering empty allegations that Good was combative, used her vehicle as a weapon (undermined by footage), and has subsequently opened an investigation into her widow. As a result, six federal prosecutors resigned in protest.[ix] In both cases, the Trump administration fabricated the narrative without due regard for the evidence; this contrast is by design.
The murder of Renee Good carries the ghost of geographic resonance as well. She was shot just blocks away from where George Floyd was murdered by police six years prior. That proximity underscores their shared status as flash points in a consistent national pattern of violence and oppression. The administration’s rhetoric has come full circle: while Floyd’s death sparked demands for reform and abolition—later met with the rollback of diversity programs—Good’s death has been met with claims of “absolute immunity” for federal agents, a standard Vice President JD Vance defended as necessary for “law and order,”[x] a claim disputed by legal scholars.[xi] This is another similarity between Good and Floyd that is dissimilar to Kirk or the Hortmans: the murderer was an agent of the state.
There is a further distinction between Jonathan Ross and Derik Chauvin: whereas Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder within days,[xii] Ross is still being defended by the administration; and whereas Trump initially said his “administration is fully committed that, for George and his family, justice will be served,”[xiii] he immediately attacked Renee Good. It must be said that despite Trump’s initial sympathy, his administration platformed and validated surrogates such as Candace Owens who frequently attacked Floyd’s character and championed his murderer.[xiv] Floyd’s murder sparked international protest in solidarity. Today, international response is hamstrung by concerns of U.S. imperialism and jingoism as Trump threatens the sovereignty of Greenland;[xv] nevertheless, a spokesperson from the United Nations human rights office has called for an independent investigation into Good’s murder.[xvi]
As Richardson argues, this “Good Crisis” reveals a shocking dissonance:
“the usual spin breaks, because the facts are visible… and when Trump starts calling whole states ‘crooked’ while losing them repeatedly, that’s pretext—setting the stage to discredit any outcome he can’t control.”
The response has exposed a widening gap between ideals and reality. At the same time, the opposition party has largely responded with “strongly worded letters,”[xvii] [xviii] in an impotent gesture. All while we are led by a hollow man who respects repressive strongman dictators over elected leaders.
The cruelty of ICE is not merely systemic; it is calculatedly predatory. As we have seen in raids throughout 2025 and early 2026, the agency does not prioritize “high-value targets.” Enforcement is overwhelmingly directed at the elderly, the young, women, and the isolated. These demographics are chosen precisely because they are easier to brutalize—groups less likely to mount immediate physical or legal resistance—allowing the state to manufacture “wins” with minimal risk to its agents. ICE’s records show at least 32 reported deaths in their custody,[xix] followed by six more deaths in the first weeks of 2026, as of this writing. These cases do not reflect the killing of Renee Good, nor do they reflect the two civilians who’ve been permanently blinded by ICE’s less-lethal munitions.[xx] Yet the lack of accountability remains: not one ICE agent has been charged for any of those deaths under their watch.
If the purpose of a system is what it does, the purpose of ICE is cruelty and oppression.[xxi] This is a hallmark of a gilded fascist regime, projecting strength by crushing those least equipped to fight back.
Many compare ICE to the SS. It is rhetorically tempting because they gesture at the abyss, but they are also imprecise—and imprecision is a luxury we can’t afford. The SS was the secret spearpoint of an exterminationist empire.[xxii] ICE is instead akin to something far more recognizably American: the modern inheritor of the fugitive slavecatcher. They are a bureaucracy of retrieval whose purpose is to hunt human beings deemed “illegal” or “out of place” and deliver them back into a system that profits from their dispossession. The logic behind ICE is not foreign, but domestic. Black scholars have long noticed the similarities between ICE and the slave catchers.[xxiii] The state deputizes people to chase people, demand papers, override local conscience, and market terror as “order,” all while insulating its agents behind procedure. The uniform has changed, the language has changed, the targets have changed, but the function remains the same. This is an inherently predatory arm of government designed to make certain classes of people permanently unsafe. They seek to remind us that belonging is conditional, and that the law may be operationalized against them.
This political failure brings to mind a modern variation on the old adage “the pen is mightier than the sword.”
“A pen isn’t mightier than a sword. Pens do not do battle, nor swords poetry. Mighty is the HAND that knows when to pick up the pen, or pick up the sword.”[xxiv]
In a world governed by “might makes right,” the opposition’s “pen” is useless without the “sword” of actual power. So the Democrats’ letters of condemnation land as effectively as a pen in a knife fight. Consider: if those in power are comfortable brutalizing civilians while being filmed by an army of pens, they will only pause when confronted with sharp consequences they cannot spin away.
We may find a blueprint in the Black Panther Party and its modern descendants. Their efficacy lay not in indiscriminate violence, but in armed, strategic resistance paired with strict trigger discipline. By shadowing police and standing on public ground with both firearms and precise knowledge of the law displayed, they disrupted state-sanctioned cruelty.[xxv] Their examples show that state agents operate with far more caution when they see their targets are neither isolated nor defenseless.
For a modern citizenry facing Jan Sixers and paramilitary ICE squads, judiciously exercising the right to bear arms functions as deterrence. Indeed, gun rights groups, including Charlie Kirk, saw the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse as vindication of Second Amendment rights[xxvi] (though whether this will be held equally for anti-ICE protesters remains to be seen).[xxvii] It signals that the era of “easy targets” has ended, that violations of civil rights will be met with a disciplined, lawful, and formidable presence.
Remember, the cruelty of ICE is not accidental; the cruelty is by design.
As the situation continues to evolve, a viable plan against this brutalization must be multifaceted:
1. Abolish ICE. Dismantle the organization entirely to prevent further weaponization by this administration or the next. The U.S. functioned for centuries before ICE was created in 2003. It must be dismantled before any future executive can command it as a paramilitary. We’ve seen the result of its existence. It is without accountability.
2. Resist reformist half-measures. Some think ICE can be made accountable by reform.[xxviii] We must abandon the delusion that we can “fix” an agency that receives more funding per capita than the U.S. Marine Corps yet requires 48 days of training.[xxix] [xxx] [xxxi] Even the police occasionally report their body cams “malfunction,” so why would we think ICE would fare better? Reform is an empty gesture when applied to those who ignore law enforcement rules to maximize public fear.
3. Investigate ICE and DHS. The DOJ’s refusal to investigate the murder of Renee Good is a dereliction of duty. We must demand an aggressive investigation into all reported assaults, disappearances, and deaths under their watch.[xxxii] This includes specific inquiry into the horrific conditions of “Alligator Alcatraz.”
4. Exercise strategic deterrence. Stand ground as the law permits to deter violence. By doing so we signal that the state will not prey upon our neighbors. If the administration continues to falsely claim “absolute immunity,” then a disciplined, lawful, and formidable citizenry must be the check on government oppression. All the while, beware of COINTELPRO-style infiltrators.[xxxiii] [xxxiv]
5. Prepare for escalation. Be ready for a future in which the state intensifies oppression. The administration has already shown it will use the economy as a weapon, as they cut $10 billion in funding from states like Minnesota as retaliation for dissent—a response mirrored in Trump’s posture toward Europe’s resistance to the annexation of Greenland.[xxxv] We must be ready for a future that deescalates as well as a future that escalates when the cavalcade of lies is challenged. Indeed, President Trump has already suggested we may forego elections this November.[xxxvi] The worst-case scenario is if the national guard (currently being mobilized by Governor Walz)[xxxvii] and/or the army (currently on standby)[xxxviii] cause a massacre—between each other or of the protestors. This would risk civil war. But this may be the point.[xxxix]
6. Document everything. Documentation is the pen that must accompany the sword of resistance. When Noem labels a poet like Renee Good a “domestic terrorist” despite all evidence to the contrary, ample documentation is what will dispel their fabrications. This ensures that when the time comes there will be a mountain of evidence ready for civil and criminal prosecution of those who now terrorize with impunity.
The violence is part of a pattern that will only continue until the system itself is dismantled, for the system is oppressive and cruel by design. If we allow mere reform to patch this organization that brutalizes and violates people with abandon, then the next fascist-in-chief will simply pick up where the last left off.
Matthew D Albertson is a writer from Tigard, Oregon. After losing his job during the pandemic, he went back to school for a BS in political science. He originally took creative writing as a filler class. By the end of that term, he had submitted his first piece, "Whiling by Lake Harold," to be published in Sincere Dalliances: Issue #1. This led, in turn, to working as a managing editor for PCC Sylvania's Alchemy. Since then, his work has appeared in Alchemy: Issue 50, Gypsophila: Volume 3, Issue 5, and The Cardinal Anthology: Vol 2. His work has existential themes, sometimes with a satirical bent, covering topics from environmental concerns, the passage of time, the digital age, and our place in the body politic. Throughout the sincere dalliance of writing, his main focus has been on the chaotic field of political science. He plans to attend law school in the coming year.
Works Cited
[i] Steven Chermak, Raven Lewis, and Basia E. Lopez, “What NIJ Research Tells Us About Domestic Terrorism,” NIJ Journal 285 (June 2024).
[ii] Rep. Nanette Barragán, “Reps. Barragán and Kamlager-Dove Lead Letter to Call Out DOJ’s Quiet Removal of Study on Violent Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism” (press release, November 22, 2025).
[iii] Heather Cox Richardson, “January 7, 2026,” Letters from an American (Substack), January 8, 2026.
[iv] "Full Transcript: President Trump’s Address on the Death of Charlie Kirk and Political Violence," Time, September 10, 2025, https://time.com/7316299/charlie-kirk-shot-death-donald-trump-speech-transcript-political-violence/.
[v] “Charlie Kirk Killing: What We Know about Suspect Tyler Robinson’s Motives,” Al Jazeera, September 15, 2025, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/15/charlie-kirk-killing-what-we-know-about-suspect-tyler-robinsons-motives.
[vi] The White House, “National Security Presidential Memorandum–7,” October 4, 2017, https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/national-security-presidential-memorandum-7/.
[vii] “Killing of Renee Good,” Wikipedia, accessed January 19, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Renee_Good.
[viii] “Charlie Kirk Jobs Target Social Media Critics Resign,” NPR, September 13, 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/09/13/nx-s1-5538476/charlie-kirk-jobs-target-social-media-critics-resign.
[ix] “DOJ Push to Investigate Renee Good’s Widow Sparks Mass Resignation,” Truthout, accessed January 19, 2026, https://truthout.org/articles/doj-push-to-investigate-renee-goods-widow-sparks-mass-resignation/.
[x] "The Arena," CNN, transcript, January 10, 2026, https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/arena/date/2026-01-10/segment/01.
[xi] "JD Vance’s Claim ICE Agent in Fatal Shooting Has ‘Absolute Immunity’ Ridiculed," Metro, January 9, 2026, https://metro.co.uk/2026/01/09/jd-vances-claim-ice-agent-fatal-shooting-absolute-immunity-ridiculed-26176035/.
[xii] Chao Xiong and Paul Walsh, "Ex-Police Officer Derek Chauvin Charged with Murder, Manslaughter in George Floyd Death," Star Tribune, May 29, 2020, https://www.startribune.com/ex-police-officer-derek-chauvin-charged-with-murder-manslaughter-in-george-floyd-death/570869672.
[xiii] Donald J. Trump, "Remarks on the Nationwide Demonstrations and Civil Unrest Following the Death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota" (Washington, DC, June 1, 2020), White House Archives, https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-nationwide-demonstrations-civil-unrest-following-death-george-floyd-minneapolis-minnesota/.
[xiv] Hasnain Matloob, “Uncovering the Truth: The George Floyd Documentary That Will Change How You View Racial Justice!,” Factual America, January 15, 2024, https://www.factualamerica.com/documentary-digest/uncovering-the-truth-the-george-floyd-documentary-that-will-change-how-you-view-racial-justice.
[xv] "US Discussing Options to Acquire Greenland, Including Use of Military - White House," BBC News, January 6, 2026, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyg1jg8xkmo.
[xvi] “Did the UN Call for an Independent Investigation into the Death of Renee Good?” Snopes, January 9, 2026, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/united-nations-renee-good/.
[xvii] “Booker Statement on Fatal ICE Shooting of Woman in Minneapolis,” Office of Senator Cory Booker, January 7, 2026, https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-statement-on-fatal-ice-shooting-of-woman-in-minneapolis.
[xviii] “Leader Jeffries Statement on ICE Killing in Minneapolis,” Office of Representative Hakeem Jeffries, January 7, 2026, https://jeffries.house.gov/2026/01/07/leader-jeffries-statement-on-ice-killing-in-minneapolis/.
[xix] Maanvi Singh, Coral Murphy Marcos, and Charlotte Simmonds, "2025 Was ICE's Deadliest Year in Two Decades. Here Are the 32 People Who Died in Custody," The Guardian, January 4, 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/04/ice-2025-deaths-timeline.
[xx] Roque Planas, "US Federal Forces Blind Two Protesters Shot in Face with 'Less-Lethal' Munitions," The Guardian, January 17, 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/17/protesters-blind-us-federal-agents.
[xxi] Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security, "Statement on the Brutal ICE Murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA," January 15, 2026, https://www.lemkininstitute.com/statements-new-page/statement-on-the-brutal-ice-murder-of-renee-good-in-minneapolis%2C-minnesota%2C-usa.
[xxii] "History before 1945," Topography of Terror Documentation Center, accessed January 19, 2026, https://www.topographie.de/en/the-hoistoric-site/history-before-1945.
[xxiii] Karla Mari McKanders, "Immigration Enforcement and the Fugitive Slave Acts: Exploring Their Similarities," Race, Racism and the Law, December 14, 2012, https://racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1551:immigrationfugitiveslavesact&Itemid=145&showall=1&limitstart=.
[xxiv] [deleted], "A pen isn't mightier than a sword. Pens do not do battle, nor swords poetry. Mighty is the HAND that knows when to pick up the pen, or pick up the sword. -Wiegraf Folles," Reddit, June 3, 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/nr2k5l/a_pen_isnt_mightier_than_a_sword_pens_do_not_do/.
[xxv] Zen Bowman, "Book Review: Black Against Empire, Joshua Bloom & Waldo Martin (2013)," Medium, February 11, 2018, https://medium.com/@zenbowman/book-review-black-against-empire-joshua-bloom-waldo-martin-2013-b05f629b4607.
[xxvi] David Siders, "The Lionization of Kyle Rittenhouse by the Right," Politico, November 19, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/19/the-lionization-of-kyle-rittenhouse-by-the-right-523054.
[xxvii] Mary Elizabeth Williams, "Dana Loesch: NRA Did Not Defend Philando Castile Because He Had Marijuana in His Car," Salon, August 10, 2017, https://www.salon.com/2017/08/10/dana-loesch-nra-did-not-defend-philando-castile-because-he-had-marijuana-in-his-car/.
[xxviii] “Leader Jeffries on MS: ‘Now We Need Massive Reform to the Way in Which ICE and DHS Are Currently Conducting Themselves’,” Office of Representative Hakeem Jeffries, January 14, 2026, https://jeffries.house.gov/2026/01/14/leader-jeffries-on-ms-now-we-need-massive-reform-to-the-way-in-which-ice-and-dhs-are-currently-conducting-themselves/.
[xxix] American Immigration Council, "Congress Approves Unprecedented Funding for Mass Detention and Deportation in 2025," March 24, 2025, https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/press-release/congress-approves-unprecedented-funding-mass-detention-deportation-2025/.
[xxx] Svetlana Shkolnikova, "Marine Corps Budget Request for 2026 Includes Billions for Pacific Bases, but Cuts End Strength," Stars and Stripes, June 26, 2025, https://www.stripes.com/branches/marine_corps/2025-06-26/marines-budget-2026-18253650.html.
[xxxi] Louis Jacobson, "Fact-checking Mark Warner on ICE Training Requirements in Trump’s Minneapolis Operation," PolitiFact, January 12, 2026, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/jan/12/mark-warner/ICE-training-requirements-Trump-Minneapolis/.
[xxxii] ImmDef Communications, "Immigrants' Rights Organizations Submit Report to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Documenting Escalating Abuses by U.S. Government," ImmDef Blog, October 20, 2025, https://www.immdef.org/blog/iachr_report_oct25.
[xxxiii] Wikipedia, s.v. "COINTELPRO," last modified January 18, 2026, 14:22, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO.
[xxxiv] Mia Bloom, "Far-Right Infiltrators and Agitators in George Floyd Protests: Indicators of White Supremacists," May 30, 2020, submitted for the record, Police Practices and Law Enforcement Accountability, US House, Committee on the Judiciary, 116th Cong., 2nd sess., June 10, 2020, https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/110775/documents/HHRG-116-JU00-20200610-SD019.pdf.
[xxxv] Emma Burrows, Josh Boak, and Daniel Niemann, "Trump Announces a 10% Tariff on 8 European Countries for Opposing U.S. Control of Greenland," PBS NewsHour, January 17, 2026, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/trump-announces-a-10-tariff-on-8-european-countries-for-opposing-u-s-control-of-greenland.
[xxxvi] Katie Hawkinson, "Trump Says the US 'Shouldn't Even Have an Election' in 2026 Because of All His Accomplishments," The Independent, January 15, 2026, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-2026-election-interview-b2901450.html.
[xxxvii] “Tim Walz Mobilizes Minnesota National Guard amid Protests,” USA Today, January 17, 2026, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/17/tim-walz-mobilizes-minnesota-national-guard-amid-protests/88235378007/.
[xxxviii] “Army Deployment, Minnesota Immigration, Insurrection Act,” Associated Press, January 18, 2026, https://apnews.com/article/army-deployment-minnesota-immigration-insurrection-act-31a28c23045bfdb31b27f68507a68ca8.
[xxxix] Ceci Cohen, "What is accelerationism?," Political Science at Haverford College (Student Voices), January 12, 2024, https://pols.sites.haverford.edu/studentvoices/what-is-accelerationism/.