Prosecutors are alarmed by the administration's response to Renée Good's killing.

More resignations of federal prosecutors are expected at the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota amid ongoing frustration over the Trump administration’s response to the fatal shooting of Renée Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.

“I have heard there may be more people leaving, people I would consider senior and respected career prosecutors,” said Anders Folk, a former acting US attorney in Minnesota, who left the office in 2021 to work for the Justice Department in Washington, DC, under former President Biden.

Minnesota Federal Defender Katherian Roe, in a staffwide email obtained by the Sahan Journal, also wrote that “more resignations are anticipated” at the US Attorney’s Office. “It’s a sign that something is not right” there, added Folk, who is still in touch with colleagues in the office and is now running for Hennepin County Attorney.

Already this week, at least five federal prosecutors in Minnesota announced their resignations. Among them was the office’s second-in-command, Joseph Thompson, who was overseeing the welfare fraud investigation involving Somali immigrants that President Trump used as a pretext to send his immigration force to Minneapolis.

  • theMacerena@lemmings.world
    1273·
    4 days ago

    I wish they would ‘quiet quit’ instead of resign, do the worst job imaginable and whenever possible help out people who need it. Resigning let’s them fill the spot with sycophants.

    • njm1314@lemmy.world
      222·
      3 days ago

      Yeah I’ve heard this said a lot but it just doesn’t line up with reality. The truth of the matter is people who stay in the fascist regimes tend to just perpetuate the fascist regimes. They keep the wheels moving. Even pretending that you’re helping, which statistically you’re not, is still keeping things running. Your presence is lending legitimacy and competency to an organization that without you would lack both. There’s got to be a line in the sand for people and frankly I think the line should be Nazis.

      Also want to point out that the sycophants tend to actually gum up the works. They don’t know what they’re doing they do a bad job and thus it’s easier to fight against them. They’re easier to dismiss out of hand, and to invalidate everything they do due to their illegal appointments.

      • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        121·
        2 days ago

        The US Military “Simple Sabotage” handbook literally says that if you can’t overtly sabotage things (like attacking supply lines, bombing factories, etc.), then you should try to covertly sabotage things by getting a job in middle management. Then just do your very best to embody the phrase “middle manglement”.

        Demand unreasonable deadlines from other departments, to force them to drop what they’re doing and focus on your stuff. Fail to forward things where they need to go. Miss your own department’s deadlines, so their projects are delayed. Fire too many employees, or “encourage” them to quit. Fail to hire employees to fill vacancies. Implement tons of repetitive busywork to force employees to spend extra time on projects. Make sure vendors don’t get paid on time. Etc, etc… Basically, do everything you can to gum up the works.

        • BanMe@lemmy.world
          2·
          2 days ago

          It says to encourage people in these jobs to think in reverse and do a shit job, it doesn’t say to take a job for the purposes of doing a shit job. You’re supposed to find people already employed, use a sense of humor, encourage them to fuck off and be careless, do the opposite of what’s told. The subjects are people who aren’t going to quit their jobs because they can’t. They have families depending on them, they may be employed in compulsory positions, like required military service.

          In any case it was written about mechanics and guards, not career civil rights attorneys, a different beast entirely.

        • njm1314@lemmy.world
          2·
          2 days ago

          That’s nice that they have that theory. The problem is there’s no evidence that’s ever worked. On the other hand the US military has helped to prop up and put in power multiple fascist regimes. So I’m not sure where they’re coming from with that one. Now if they were saying bomb them out of existence yeah that the US military is a great fucking source of information. So it seems to me that you should try that one.

          • azertyfun@sh.itjust.works
            11·
            2 days ago

            Can’t easily prove a negative but here’s an example.

            On 19 April 1943, the twentieth transport left Mechelen transit camp carrying 1,631 Jewish men, women, and children

            Three young students and members of the Belgian resistance including a Jewish doctor, Youra Livchitz and his two non-Jewish friends Robert Maistriau[a] and Jean Franklemon [fr], armed with one pistol, a lantern, and red paper to create a makeshift red lantern (to use as a danger signal), were able to stop the train on the track Mechelen-Leuven, between the municipalities of Boortmeerbeek and Haacht.[1] The twentieth convoy was guarded by one officer and fifteen men from the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo-SD), who came from Germany. Despite these security measures, Maistriau was able to open one wagon and liberate 17 people.[1]

            Other prisoners escaped from the convoy without any connection with the attack. The train driver, Albert Dumon, did all he could to keep the slowest pace between Tienen and Tongeren, stopping whenever it was possible and justifiable, and so allow that more people could jump without killing themselves. In all, 233 people succeeded in escaping from the train.[1] 89 were eventually recaptured and put on later convoys.[1] 26 others were killed, either by shooting or by the fall, and 118 who succeeded in escaping.[1] The youngest, Simon Gronowski, was only 11 years old.[1] Régine Krochmal [fr], an eighteen-year-old nurse with the resistance, also escaped after she cut the wooden bars put in front of the train air inlet with a bread knife and jumped from the train near Haacht. Both survived the war.

            Emphasis mine. Albert Dumon “did his job” (the French version of the article goes a bit more in-depth). He didn’t overtly defy the orders given to him under the threat of immediate execution (!). He didn’t quit his job knowing that if he didn’t drive the trains a German train driver would take his place. He followed the regulations to the letter of the law, as incompetently as he could afford. And his malicious compliance saved 118 lives.

        • njm1314@lemmy.world
          22·
          3 days ago

          First of all let’s go ahead and disabuse you of the notion that whistleblowing against corrupt corporations is the same as standing up to fascism. That’s an absurd comparison.

          What more proof do I need than the entire history of fascism? Where are these examples of fascism being brought down by internal destruction? In the history of fascism if it’s not brought down by an external War then it lasts for decades. So I think the track record for your hypothesis is rather poor. Shouldn’t you be the one providing proof? Proving that resisting fascism from within works?

          The sad truth is that during fascist regimes a lot of people work for the fascist because it’s easy. They’re just cogs in the wheel. And staying a cog helps the wheel turn.

          The CIA isnt protecting you from fascism. They are directly responsible for its continued existence.

        • Sharkticon@lemmy.zip
          29·
          3 days ago

          Lol. The CIA guide to sabotaging fascism. The CIA. The organization that has aided and preserved fascism more than any other organization probably. Maybe MI6 deserves an honorable mention. There’s a source I trust. Wow.

          I really hope you’re being mocked mercilessly every time you post that.

          • wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works
            52·
            2 days ago

            You should at least get your damn info correct. There are plenty of ways to critique it without demonstrating that you havent even read the damned cover. It was written by the office of strategic services, which was the precursor to the CIA. It was written for distribution to citizens within axis countries — you know, the fascist ones?!— to give them ideas for how to safely sabotage their own governments and industries. At least read the damn year, you loon.

            • Sharkticon@lemmy.zip
              25·
              2 days ago

              Lol. I don’t know where you got the idea that I didn’t read the damn thing. That’s partly why making fun of it so much. Cuz the oss, who had a history of helping Nazis flee justice so I don’t know why you’re invoking them like there’s some kind of Paragons, was founded in 1942. We were already at War for 3 years. They weren’t dropping this in 1933 to the bureaucrats were they? So explain to me again how this proves sticking around and working for Nazis helps? This manual endorsed by organizations that have never ended a fascist regime.

              What are you people even talking about?

              " I’m going to change the police department from the inside."

              " I’m going to change the prison industry from the inside."

              " I’m going to change the Nazi party from the inside."

              Lmao

              • wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works
                52·
                2 days ago

                1. if you’re talking about the US, then “we” were definitively not at war with the Nazis for three years at that point, nor had the OSS done anything paperclip-related at that point. You might need to get the part of your brain responsible for subtraction checked, because the united states went to war with Germany and Italy on December 11th, 1941. The OSS was founded 6 months afterward. This manual was created 2 years and 1 month after the US entered the war. Operation Paperclip would be put into effect about a year and a half later, when the US realised it was actually pushing into Germany, and there were a bunch of scientists with loose morals who could see which way the wind was blowing, and who were happy to tell them in which random mine shaft they hid all their rocketry research.

                2. I actually tend to agree that the time for changing things from the inside has passed. I’m just annoyed at your apparent inability to comprehend numbers and their significance. Also, your refusal to even acknowledge that the whole purpose of the OSS at its inception was to infiltrate and fight the fascists. It’s not some “Paragon”, it’s just what they were tasked with, and they did it.

                3. the idea that the US Government had nothing to do with the end of a fascist regime after this thing was published is laughable, but I suppose it makes sense if you can’t get your years straight. That must be very confusing for you.

                4. as I said, there are so many ways that you can critique this thing that don’t involve a fundamental misunderstanding of the operational goal of the US government during WWII. There are MANY problems with it, and it shows a fundamental lack of care for the safety of the saboteurs, since they were just random non-US citizens, and let nobody claim that the US government has ever given a fuck about the lives of individuals.

        • njm1314@lemmy.world
          21·
          2 days ago

          That’s a fair point. If we get to the point where people are literally being shoved into ovens yeah try to gum up the works from the inside. However before we get there I think you’re better off trying to stop them from the outside. Cuz you’ll notice Schindler being on the inside didn’t stop them from getting to the oven part. Nor did all the other cogs in the wheels stop them from getting to that point. In fact that wheel turned pretty fast. So I don’t know why we should keep the wheel turning.

      • Miles O'Brien@startrek.websiteEnglish
        661·
        3 days ago

        I’m a big fan of “fuck quitting, make them fire you” and collecting a paycheck while doing basically nothing until they actually do it themselves. I’m not making their job easier when they deserve to get fucked over.

              • wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works
                4·
                2 days ago

                That document was created before the CIA existed, for use during WWII. It was written to encourage citizens under fascist regimes to work against their government and industries.

                If you would prefer, it’s hosted on Project Gutenberg. Just search “simple sabotage”

                  • wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works
                    1·
                    2 days ago

                    Oh, totally fair, i kind of figured that was your concern. Just telling you where to find it. Also, giving an explanation as to why the CIA is being cited, and why it is actually much more reasonable than trying to take anything the modern CIA would produce at face value.

                    That being said, the document demonstrates an almost farcical lack of care for the safety of the saboteur, giving many suggestions which surely, even at that time, must have been near-guaranteed to lead to capture of the saboteur.

          • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
            41·
            3 days ago

            Just say you are and drag your feet. Take SL randomly, make all sorts of errors that will cause paperwork and court filings to have to be redone. Just play idiot until they eventually fire you.

        • forrgott@lemmy.zip
          9·
          3 days ago

          Well, it’s all about the politics.

          In other words, reality is irrelevant. All that matters is the messaging. If you resign, you get to start all the political bullshit on message. If you are fired, whoever fired you sets the stage instead.

          Career politicians are a cancer on society. And if they cared about achievements or legacy, they would absolutely not be successful in making politics their career.

      • Signtist@bookwyr.meEnglish
        12·
        3 days ago

        Well, you’d at least be able to do one good thing from the inside to earn that “not contributing” badge of honor before you leave. Better than leaving without it.

          • Signtist@bookwyr.meEnglish
            11·
            3 days ago

            What I mean is that you’re already on the inside, an opportunity a lot of people would love to have. Even if all you do is call one person to warn them they’re being watched before putting in your resignation, it’s better than quitting without doing that.

            I work for a normal company, but even I’d be able to do a lot of damage in a couple hours if I really wanted to screw over my employer before leaving. Information is a big part of any conflict; even just sending whatever sensitive information you happen to have on hand to some interested parties can really throw a wrench in the works.

            • saimen@feddit.org
              1·
              2 days ago

              So what are you doing? In a fascist regime even normal companies are enabling the regime. You are supporting its economy and generating taxes. Ideally there would be a general strike (I am afraid this is the only way for this to end peacefully).

              • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
                2·
                2 days ago

                Public unions. Not everyone in the federal government is appointed, most of them aren’t. Most of the rest are still protected by a union.

              • Signtist@bookwyr.meEnglish
                31·
                3 days ago

                That’s why I mentioned damage done in a couple hours - you’re not going to be fired until you do the thing you’re being fired over. It’s not like they automatically know when someone is planning to do something they’re going to be fired over; even if they somehow immediately knew you were up to something, you could probably at least attach some sensitive documents to one email before they grab you and throw you out of the building.

                  • Signtist@bookwyr.meEnglish
                    21·
                    3 days ago

                    Bud, what? We’re talking about people who were working day after day without being fired who suddenly had enough and decided to leave. They weren’t in imminent danger of being fired prior to their resignation. So, the morning when they come in to turn in their (unexpected!) resignation, they do what they can to fuck things up a bit beforehand. Yeah, you’re right that the government could go after them for it if they weren’t smart enough to cover their tracks, but let’s be honest - the current government will likely go after them for leaving regardless.