So apparently enforcing federal law is now a crime in Minnesota...
At least, that's what you'd think watching what just went down in Minneapolis last week.
An ICE agent is doing his job. Conducting a targeted immigration enforcement operation. A protester weaponizes her vehicle and starts driving it at officers, and the agent, fearing for his life, fires defensive shots.
The woman dies. Tragic. But here's what happens next.
Within hours, people are on Reddit trying to find the agent's home address.
"Doxxing him would be tragic. Does anyone know his home address?" one user writes. Then... they found it. And released it. And the targeted threats against him, his wife and his children began.
This is where we are in America right now. An agent does his job (a job that appears to be a clean shoot based on video evidence) and the mob immediately goes hunting for where he lives. Where his family sleeps at night.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey calls the shooting "bullshit" and demands ICE leave the city. Minnesota politicians pile on.
And while the politicians throw gasoline on the fire, activists are literally trying to doxx federal agents in real-time.
This isn't theoretical. This is happening right now. Today.
At Least Someone's Doing Something
Here's the only good news in this entire mess.
While Minnesota politicians throw ICE agents to the wolves, some of us are actually stepping up.
OfficerPrivacy, a company I've known for years, run by my friend Pete James, has partnered with Law Enforcement Today and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association to offer FREE online protection services for every single ICE agent who is a FLEOA member.
Free. They're eating the cost. They're scrubbing personal information from hundreds of data broker websites - the same information activists are trying to weaponize right now.
That's what leadership looks like when politicians fail.
If you know an ICE agent in Minnesota, or an ICE agent who is a FLEOA member, tell them to get free service at OfficerPrivacy.com/ICE.
This Isn't New... It's Just Getting Worse
If you think I'm being dramatic about the danger, remember what happened in Minnesota just last June.
A guy named Vance Boelter used people-search sites to find lawmakers' home addresses. He showed up at four different houses with a gun.
Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in their home.
Senator John Hoffman and his wife barely survived multiple gunshot wounds.
His list had 45 names on it—including U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin.
He used the same people search sites anyone can access right now. The same sites that have YOUR address on them.
And that's exactly what's happening to ICE agents in Minnesota right now.
This Is Your Reality, Too
Here's what every cop reading this needs to understand: you're next.
Today it's ICE. Tomorrow it's the deputy who arrested someone at that protest. Next week it's the patrol officer who wrote a ticket to the wrong person's kid.
It doesn't matter if you did everything right. It doesn't matter if the shoot was clean.
If the mob decides you're the villain, they will find where you live.
Right now, anyone with an internet connection and an axe to grind can find your home address, your phone number, your family members' names—all of it. Just sitting there on people-search sites. Waiting for someone angry enough to use it.
The Minnesota Problem
Minnesota's leadership has made it clear whose side they're on. And it's not law enforcement.
The mayor calls justified defensive shootings "bullshit." State politicians demand ICE leave. The mob feels empowered to hunt down agents' personal information.
This isn't a bug. It's a feature.
The agent who fired those shots yesterday? He's probably awake right now wondering if someone's going to show up at his house. His wife is probably terrified. His kids probably don't understand why daddy's name is all over the news.
And somewhere on Reddit, someone's still asking for his address.
The Bottom Line
What happened in Minneapolis yesterday is a symptom. The disease is the complete erosion of respect for law enforcement and the rule of law.
This month, an activist tried to run over an ICE agent and the narrative became about the agent defending himself. By nightfall, people were trying to find where he lives.
Last year, a guy used public search sites to murder lawmakers in their homes.
This is not sustainable.
Every single cop out there needs to understand: you are vulnerable right now. Your information is out there. And if you end up in the wrong situation (even if you did everything right) the mob will come for you.
The politicians aren't going to protect you.
So protect yourself.
Pay attention to what's happening in Minnesota. Watch how fast things escalate. Watch how quickly personal information becomes weaponized.
Then ask yourself: am I protected?
Because the people on Reddit asking "And his address is?" aren't waiting for you to figure it out.
They're searching right now.
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