This Is What Lawlessness Looks Like

From Minneapolis to Venezuela, power is going unchecked.

On Zoom, tonight, Thursday, January 8th, at 7:00 pm CT, Indivisible is holding a Rapid Response to discuss the killing by ICE in Minneapolis and their lawlessness and harm in communities across the country. They will talk with local and national leaders and provide concrete next steps for you to take action. Here is the link.

I’ve always believed you prioritize the politics closest to you first. Texas Democrats have too often done that backward. We doomscroll DC while Austin is busy writing the rules of our daily lives. Letting polluters off the hook while asthma rates climb, pushing costs onto working families through property-tax games and fee traps, starving public services while poverty deepens, and handing corporate donors the steering wheel on everything from housing to healthcare.

But this week is different. We are watching the federal government normalize violence on a scale this country hasn’t seen since the 1960s. For many of us, that’s our lifetime. Between Venezuela and the murder of Renee Goode in Minneapolis yesterday, it’s becoming increasingly clear we’re in imminent danger.

Slow-mos, BORAC, and the failure of Mainstream Media.

I know many of you were at work yesterday when the shooting was unfolding. I was working on writing about the TX33 debate that happened on Monday (we’ll get back to that another day), but I can tell you that several video angles of the shooting were all over social media before anything else happened.

Then came Kristi Noem’s press conference. She lied. She lied about the circumstances, what happened, and everything.

Of course, there are countless creators at this point who have posted slow-motion videos online, showing that Noem was lying.

But it didn’t matter how many videos or trajectory graphs were posted online. Mainstream media initially repeated what Noem said, though some of them walked back the language rather quickly.

It was too late. Within minutes, the right-wing influencers and personalities were all repeating the same talking points. “If only she followed directions.” Or painting her as the aggressor.

No matter how much evidence, how many videos, or what the truth is. The right has been given their marching orders. Just like with George Floyd. Like with Trayvon Martin. Like with every other case of injustice, when the right chose to embrace a lie.

They won’t let go either, just like they never let go before.

Mainstream media once again failed on so many levels, and more than one on the incident yesterday.

Within an hour after the shooting, as the crowds began to gather near the scene, another video started going viral.

The “officer” who shot the civilian in the face with pepper spray, you may not have noticed his patches, but some on social media have.

That’s BORTAC.

This opens the door to an entire host of other questions, most of all, why the fuck isn’t Mainstream Media talking about BORTAC’s presence at yesterday’s shooting?

First, if you weren’t aware, BORTAC is the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, an elite, paramilitary special operations team within CBP, trained for high-risk raids, counterterrorism, and armed engagements.

BORTAC agents are trained for combat-style operations. They are not trained in de-escalation, civil observation, or routine immigration processing.

Why would they be present in anytype of so-called ICE operations?

BORTAC has a documented pattern of lethal force and rights violations. The “vehicle as a weapon” claim fits BORTAC doctrine. This looks less like a spontaneous decision and more like a doctrinal overreaction by a tactical unit operating in a civilian setting.

Once you know BORTAC was involved, several things snap into focus:

• Why deadly force was used so quickly

• Why the agency narrative escalated immediately to “weaponized vehicle”

• Why local officials are rejecting the federal account

• Why the response feels military, not law-enforcement

This was a paramilitary unit operating domestically, in public, against an unarmed civilian.

Some people on social media are talking about it. I’m talking about it. Where is Mainstream Media?

Questions we all need to be asking:

• Which DHS component actually pulled the trigger (ICE vs CBP)?

• Who authorized a tactical unit in this setting?

• What was the use-of-force guidance on that op?

• What video exists (body cam, dash cam), and who controls release?

As of this morning, Minnesota investigators say the FBI has blocked them from accessing evidence in the deadly ICE shooting. I turned on MSNow for a few minutes, and commentators are saying, “A perplexing move,” “An unusual decision,” and “For reasons unknown.”

Kash Patel’s FBI is now staging a cover-up. How is that not obvious to everyone?

Venezuela.

Mind you, while all of this is going on, we can’t forget what’s happening with Venezuela. Yesterday, we learned that Drunkkard Pete Hegseth has been playing pirate on the open seas, commandeering two Venezuelan oil tankers headed for Russia.

Marco Rubio shortly after said that their plan was to sell all of that oil at a market value and then invest all of that money into fixing the infrastructure in Venezuela.

I’m sorry. What?

Sit with that for a second.

We are now openly talking about seizing a sovereign nation’s resources, selling them on the global market, and deciding unilaterally how the proceeds will be used. No international body. No democratic process. No consent. Just force.

This is imperial extraction.

And if any of this sounds familiar, it should. We have seen this playbook before. Iraq. Afghanistan. “Stabilization.” “Rebuilding.” “For the benefit of the people.” Each time, the people paid the price, and a small, well-connected class walked away richer.

So when Rubio says the oil will be sold “at market rates,” as if that absolves the act itself, the question isn’t how it will be sold. The question is who gets to control the money, who gets the contracts, and who gets immunity when it all goes sideways.

Our federal government believes it can seize, kill, withhold evidence, and then dare anyone to stop them. Our federal government no longer believes it is bound by norms, oversight, or even the appearance of restraint.

The “closest politics first” rule still matters. But it can’t be the only rule right now. Austin is wrecking lives quietly, every legislative session. Washington is doing it loudly, brazenly, and with guns.

If you’re wondering why this feels different, it’s because it is.

The violence is now in our faces. And the institutions that are supposed to check this behavior are either complicit, silent, or still pretending they don’t see what’s happening.

And establishment Democrats are absolutely useless.

Chuck Schumer said to the press about Venezuela, “He has more questions than answers.”

Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) said about Renee Goode, “Everyone needs to take a breath, you need to understand context.”

Meanwhile, in Congress this morning, House Committees on Science and Energy continued as usual, and every Democrat opened with how sad they were about some asshole Republican Congressman from California dying, then proceeded as if it were a normal hearing.

DEMOCRATS SHOULD BE WEAPONIZING EVERY SINGLE HEARING. Not just in “key committees.”

Then, to make it all worse, this morning, AOC endorsed Julie Johnson for TX33, when Julie Johnson isn’t even in favor of abolishing ICE.

Like, wtf was she thinking?

Obviously, the leftists who call AOC “too centrist/moderate” are nuts, but this was a bad endorsement by AOC. I assume she has a personal relationship with Johnson, who is currently in the House, and that the endorsement was based on friendship, not on progressive principles.

We have to get the moderates and establishment Democrats out of Congress. The ones who won’t fight back. The ones who continuously capitulate to fascism. And a lot of that opportunity is going to come on March 3.

This is not a drill.

A federal government willing to deploy paramilitary units against civilians, block evidence from local investigators, and seize foreign resources by force is not “going off the rails.” It is doing exactly what unaccountable power does when it learns there will be no consequences.

And right now, there are none.

Mainstream media won’t say it plainly. Establishment Democrats won’t confront it directly. Too many elected officials are still clinging to decorum, procedure, and vibes while people are being killed, evidence is being buried, and violence is being normalized as policy.

So this is on us.

The closest-politics-first rule still matters because Texas is where so much damage is done quietly. But Washington has made it clear that silence, hesitation, and incrementalism are no longer neutral positions.

If you’re waiting for someone to give you clarity, this is it. If you’re waiting for leadership, you may not get it from the people already in power. If you’re wondering when to act, the answer was yesterday.

Show up tonight. Organize. Ask hard questions. Demand real accountability. And on March 3, use the power you do have to remove the people who refuse to fight.

There are people telling you voting isn’t enough. They may be right. But that doesn’t mean we stop voting. It means we do everything. Organize, disrupt, demand accountability, and still vote, because hope is not a strategy, but surrender is not an option.

• February 2, 2026: Last Day to Register to Vote

• February 17, 2026: First Day to Early Vote

• March 3, 2026: Primary Election

• Who Will Be On The 2026 State Ballot?

• Who Will Be On The 2026 Federal Ballot?

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

LoneStarLeft is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Follow me on Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.