308 Comments
User's avatar
Zyxomma's avatar

Ta, Dok. You said it all.

insert_something_creative's avatar

In a normal, functional democratic country this testimony would be enough to open multiple criminal investigations and initiate impeachment proceedings against everyone involved.

Sigh.

Hank Napkin's avatar

"Yeah, but my gut sez..."

Sgt JMK's avatar

When I got my yoga teaching certificate, I needed 200 hours of instruction and there's a continuing education requirement to keep my registration current, and my current yoga teacher has 500 hours of instruction - a lot more hours of instruction than these thugs ever get... and neither of us is armed.

Frankly, we'd be a lot better off as a country if ICE was staffed by yoga instructors rather than Proud Boys.

Flashman's avatar

I have a friend who volunteered to follow ICE vehicles in Minneapolis. She said they were incredibly aggressive and nasty. She is surprised only two people have been killed (so far, Inishallah). She was so creeped out, she drafted her own obituary, just in case, and finally had to take a break a couple of weeks ago because the work was so nerve-wracking. I think it's pretty clear that Bongino's mission was to provoke violence, so Trump could claim insurrection.

Wookiee Monster's avatar

All of that is bad, but I still think the bigger problem with ICE isn’t the abbreviated training. It’s the corporate culture and the kind of people they’re recruiting. You can’t training someone not to be a nazi.

I Stedman's avatar

When you're running concentration camps, the solution isn't better training for the camp guards. (lifted from somewhere, probably Wonkette!)

"M"'s avatar

This is what happens when you tell Confederate Republicans that Black people are not apes

https://xcancel.com/i/status/2026689106047033676

eo's avatar

For every sensible comment in there, there's an opposite moronic one.

"M"'s avatar

Whenever someone says something like that, I always wonder how it is they can seemingly give more attention to the comments than they have to the post itself

I mean -- who owns that platform?

How many Nazibots do you think that particular pro-apartheid owner can generate in a minute?

Were you expecting something else? Anything else?

Michael's avatar

Does anyone know if there are any female ICE troopers? Is it just a boys-only incel mob?

"M"'s avatar

I've seen some women agents, but very few

I have no insight as to how they're treated inside ther units

Daniel O'Riordan's avatar

Probably like every woman in every all-American patriarchal organization filled with right wing incels.

Michael's avatar

Condescendingly I suppose.

"M"'s avatar

Violently, quite possibly

cotugirl's avatar

There are. Including one woman who has beautiful long hair. That's not in a pony or bun. Seems dangerous. But maybe she channeling her inner Noem.

Michael's avatar

The situation with DHS training is worse than I imagined. This reminds me of the Vietnam war when both officers and NCOs were given rushed "shake and bake" training before being sent overseas. Now, it seems, with no real emergency to justify it, DHS is sending raw, semi-literate recruits with minimal training to our cities to perform their unconstitutional mission. I won't be surprised if a good number of the lads wind up shooting innocents and each other.

"M"'s avatar

"The situation with DHS training is worse than I imagined."

I'm not sure I understand why

Any historical text that's willing to delve into the topic will detail that all this is also exactly how they trained the Brownshirts

Michael's avatar

I am naive and an inhabitant of an America I scarcely understand.

David N. Brown's avatar

The core takeaway, what MAGA and their much earlier precursors meant when they said "secure the border" was "abridged the rights of native born citizens".

"M"'s avatar

And nobody bothered to force them to define their terms at the time

Bagels of Doom's avatar

This isn't a bug, this is a feature.

HoldOnOldChap's avatar

Whoever formulated these policies belongs in prison. For life.

"M"'s avatar

You know who did it

It's all there in Project 2025

Trux Mint In Box's avatar

They have a cannibal defense training course but it costs and arm and a leg.

JR's avatar

They ignored the training and did what they saw on TV was going on in Minneapolis. So following in the footsteps of their TV Dear Leader.

And next we will have Anthropic institute the Surveillance State led by TV Pete.

We are there. Government by Telescreen.

"M"'s avatar
11hEdited

They're subliterate

You remember all that screaming some of us did about the fact that the median American literacy rate hovers around a 6th grade reading level -- in part because Republicans have spent about half a century deliberately defunding public education -- and yet and still most of those folks in that category who are over 18 still go out and vote ...?

This is the direct result

Resource NW's avatar

Ring had a "Find lost dogs by using entire neighborhood network of Ring doorbell cams" as their superb owl commercial. I do not believe they really though that one through.

Daniel O'Riordan's avatar

They ended their contract with the networking company less than a week later.

Resource NW's avatar

The power of Wonkette!

Sherry's avatar

Pepper sprayed because they’d seen it done in MN can quickly become shot someone in the face because MN.

This whole ramp up is a red flag from tragically shortened training to taking Proud Boys and fat video game players in their mom’s basement. Add that to taking anyone who mouths off at you regardless of whether they’re a citizen or a priest or some already granted asylum.

Resource NW's avatar

Frat house hazing is like that. what one class of hazees gets done to them gets ramped up once they are the hazers. Needs only a few cycles to get way off the hook.

"M"'s avatar

It's not just about the frat houses either -- and I say that as a sorority girl

It's about the stupidity and the subliterate reading level

https://www.wonkette.com/p/whistleblower-new-ice-goons-dont/comment/219656772

It's ALSO about the fact that the training used to be some 300 days and they cut it down to "47" days for the obvious ridiculolus symbolic reason

And I would say "without a thought for what they were truncating" except that I know Russell Vought, Goebbels Miller, and the voracious violent types who favor that "we don't need no stinkin edumuckayshun" type are pretty antithetical to the thoughts of people whom they don't like having any rights at all

There are a lot of straightforward reasons this fell out like this but I think it's a mistake to leave any of them out

I also remain amazed it took a whistleblower coming forward, resigning his position, and possibly putting his life in danger in order to bring all this information forward

That there were so many people who were perfectly fine letting this continue this long when, given that trajectory, this result was nearly inevitable

Resource NW's avatar

Vought is the one that wants federal workers to feel terror. Lyons looked at congressmen asking about secret orders to break down doors without real warrants and asked a very valid question: “How can it be secret when it was in an email that went out to 25,000 people?” And that right there is a very, very good question.

Antifa Commander's avatar

he had seen cadets in training scenarios “who have drawn their firearms on each other, by accident,” that they made simulated arrests of people who hadn’t broken any law, and that they frequently opted for excessive force, opting to use pepper spray or drawing their weapons in the scenarios when that was unwarranted.

See? No wonder they're violent. It's dangerous out there, gotta shoot at everything!