One single question was around my mind this morning as I took my kids to school in St. Paul and kept an eye out for ICE on the way.

Under what circumstances is it justified to deploy a flash bang grenade against a car with kids in it?

This question is a pretty easy test, right? The answer is clearly “there are no circumstances that would justify that.” And yet, last night the paramilitary troops invading the state of Minnesota deployed a flash bang grenade. Next to a car filled with kids.

There are a bunch of other tests that seem simple but the federal government is completely failing at the moment:

• Do all people in the country have the right to due process and presumption of innocence?
• Is it a crime to have brown or black skin?
• Do law enforcement agents have complete impunity to terrorize any commmunity because they are whiny bitches?
• Does the government have the right to knock down doors and drag people out of their houses because an armed man doesn’t like the look of the people inside?

In a functioning democratic country, the answers to these questions are yes, no, no, and no. If a country believes in freedom, and supposedly has built up a large set of norms and laws to perpetuate freedom, then the people who live inside that country are not at risk of being kidnapped, beat up, tear gassed, or shot in the goddamn face when they leave their houses. People do not shelter in place to avoid masked paramilitary forces in a free country.

They do that in a country that is not free. Which means, right now in Minnesota, we are not free. And since Minnesota is a state of the United States, the country itself is not free.

On the ground, here in the Twin Cities area, the vibe is not one of fear, but of anger. How fucking dare these assholes come here under the rhetoric of “law enforcement” and “safety” and fuck with our neighbors. No laws are being enforced. No safety is being created. The rhetoric is obviously bullshit. These people are here to terrorize and they are clearly enjoying their freedom to destroy our safety.

And so Minnesotans are rising up. Have you ever participated in disaster relief efforts? After a flood, or a hurricane, or a wildfire, or what have you? In those moments the scarcity mindset of capitalism falls away, and people collectively tap into a spirit of care, of generosity, of solidarity. Any need that can be met is, any help that is needed is satisfied.

Right now the Federal Government is the disaster, and ICE are the chaos agents, and my community is a beautiful defensive force that will not be defeated. In Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell she describes disasters this way:

The history of disaster demonstrates that most of us are social animals, hungry for connection, as well as for purpose and meaning. It also suggests that if this is who we are, then everyday life in most places is a disaster that disruptions sometimes give us a chance to change.

In Minnesota right now—despite the ongoing risks presented by untrained clowns who will deploy weapons of war against literal children when they get scared—the change has happened. Our true nature has been given a chance to emerge.

It is so fucking powerful and beautiful that I struggle to capture what it feels like, but here is a small attempt.

In the week since Renee Nicole Good was killed, we have risen up. Our local and state governments are not involved—they seem to be focused on the rule of law and can’t seem to integrate the fact that when ICE arrived and started terrorizing the community, the rule of law was no longer in force. In light of that, we are building the networks we need to exist, in real time, with as much kindness and care as we can muster through the anger.

There are patrols in every neighborhood, at every school, watching for the unmarked cars that suggest the paramilitary terrorists are coming. Those patrols are supported by people who can check tags, relay information, track in real time through trusted networks. When ICE agents get brave enough to step out of their cars, the community swarms to make their jobs difficult. Here is a video with no violence that shows just how this works. People materialize to witness, to confuse, to chase off. To protect everyone that they can.

There are others who cannot be in the streets in this way, who are focused on protecting those most at risk in different ways. Food and supplies being delivered. Care being offered. We are doing our best to ensure that everyone who the goons want to kidnap can shelter in place and still be fed and taken care of.

Still others are patrolling schools, because again, this is not a war zone, there was no danger here until ICE arrived. They believe that tear gassing school kids and abducting beloved teaching staff is part of their job. So we have to build school patrols, to ensure that our children can get to and from school safely, can eat meals safely, can still play safely. It is 10 degrees fahrenheit outside today and the kids should get to play in the snow and ice, but the government agents are denying them that joy.

Solnit continues in Paradise Built in Hell:

Hierarchies and institutions are inadequate to these circumstances [disasters]; they are often what fails in such crises. Civil society is what succeeds, not only in an emotional demonstration of altruism and mutual aid but also in a practical mustering of creativity and resources to meet the challenges. Only this dispersed force of countless people making countless decisions is adequate to a major crisis. One reason that disasters are threatening to elites is that power devolves to the people on the ground in many ways: it is the neighbors who are the first responders and who assemble the impromptu kitchens and networks to rebuild. And it demonstrates the viability of a dispersed, decentralized system of decision making. Citizens themselves in these moments constitute the government—the acting decision-making body—as democracy has always promised and rarely delivered. Thus disasters often unfold as though a revolution has already taken place.

Emphasis mine. Right now on the ground in Minnesota, the revolution has already taken place. We are not waiting for saviors. We are not waiting for heroes. We are strong enough on our own.

In between trying to talk to my kids about this, and participating in mutual aid efforts, and handling my own anxiety and stress, I keep wondering what exactly will get us out of this? Minnesota did not start it. The feds are the ones amping up the rhetoric and the actual violence. There is no peace to be had while they remain in our state, while they understand that they have complete impunity. There is no peace because the instigators refuse to let there be peace. Minnesotans aren’t able to diffuse the situation, only defend ourselves.

There will be no end to the violence until the invading forces retreat. That’s what it comes down to. We didn’t start this, and I’m not sure we can end it, but I can fully guarantee you we will see it through to the end. The revolution has already taken place. In between the tear gas, in between the ICE patrols and loud whistles and constant greetings of FUCK ICE, the revolution has already taken place. We love each other too much, we care for each other too much to let these fucker’s visions for the world succeed. The better futures we hoped to one day build are now present in every single act of defiance. I don’t know how this specific invasion ends, but I know that what we’re building on the ground is beautiful. I love us.