One strange thing about being very visible in public is that complete strangers often feel comfortable walking up to you and telling you exactly what they think about what’s going on in America. It’s like accidentally becoming a walking opinion poll.
That happened to me again this morning. I was standing at a restaurant counter, finishing my breakfast, when a middle-aged man sat down beside me. He turned and said politely, “I don’t want to intrude.”
Of course, he already had. So I put down my knife and fork, wiped my mouth, looked at him, and asked, “How can I help you?”
He took a breath and said, “I’ve been a Republican my entire life. But what’s happened over the past few weeks made me leave the Republican Party.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” I said, smiling slightly, and turned back to my breakfast.
But he wasn’t done. “I’m from New Hampshire,” he continued. “And a lot of my Republican friends are leaving the party too. What happened in Minneapolis was the final straw.”
That made me stop again. I put my fork down and turned back toward him. I asked if he was talking about the actions of ICE and Border Patrol agents there, and the killings.
“Yes,” he said, shaking his head. “That was awful. But what really pushed me over the edge were the lies. Noem. Miller. Bovino. Vance. Trump. All of them lied straight to our faces. I watched the video. They’re just lying.”
I agreed with him, then explained that I needed to finish eating so I wouldn’t miss an appointment. Still, what he said stayed with me long after he walked away.
There are two very different ways to understand what’s happening in Minneapolis, and in America more broadly. Two possible tipping points.
One way to see it is that the country is sliding further into a kind of authoritarian police state under Trump. ICE and Border Patrol are no longer just enforcing immigration law. They’ve become tools of fear and intimidation. They act as if they are above the law, carrying out violence and even killings without accountability.
This didn’t start in Minneapolis. It began when Trump pushed out federal prosecutors who tried to hold him responsible for his actions after the attempted coup. It continued with pardons for January 6 rioters, pardons for his wealthy friends and political allies, and retaliatory investigations against people he sees as enemies. Step by step, the guardrails have been stripped away.
Now we’re seeing the result. Poorly trained, heavily armed agents wearing riot gear are roaming neighborhoods, threatening, beating, and killing civilians. The federal government refuses to allow Minnesota to properly investigate these deaths. It won’t seriously investigate the shooters. Instead, officials smear the victims with false claims and insist that federal agents have total immunity, no matter what they do.
That’s one tipping point.
But there’s another way to look at what’s happening. And that man from New Hampshire sitting next to me at breakfast represents it.
This is America tipping toward deep disgust and rejection of Trump and everyone enabling him.
The lies have become so obvious, so shameless, and so cruel that even lifelong Republicans are walking away. They see the videos. They hear the excuses. And they no longer accept them.
Across the country, people are responding not just with anger, but with solidarity. In Minneapolis, residents aren’t only protesting. They’re watching out for each other. They’re organizing neighborhood patrols. They’re standing outside mosques during Friday prayers to protect worshippers. They’re sending encrypted messages to warn neighbors where federal agents are operating. They’re filming abuses and sharing them so the truth can’t be buried.
Friends and former students in Minneapolis tell me about an incredible wave of cooperation and mutual support. People are delivering food to families too afraid to leave their homes. They’re buying groceries for immigrant neighbors. They’re driving vulnerable people to medical appointments. They’re walking children to school so families don’t feel alone.
One friend told me he’s lived in Minneapolis for forty years and has never felt the city come together like this.
“We finally understand what community really means,” he wrote.
A former student said that even in brutal, subzero temperatures, nearly everyone he knows has been helping organize — both against ICE and for each other.
“This isn’t just a protest,” he told me. “It’s a whole new way of living together.”
And it’s not just Minneapolis. I’m hearing similar stories from people all over the country.
An old friend in Portland, Maine wrote to me saying he’s lived there for more than twenty years and can’t remember a time when people felt this united.
Both tipping points may be happening at the same time. America may be sliding toward authoritarianism, while also moving toward something better — a deeper sense of shared responsibility and care for one another. In many ways, the second reaction is being caused by the first.
I don’t believe we’re headed for another civil war. I think Americans are better than that. Polls suggest most people oppose the way Trump has handled immigration and reject the idea of a lawless police state.
As the country trembles under the threat of authoritarian power, people are finding strength in unity. They’re stepping up for one another in ways that matter. In the darkness created by Trump, many Americans are discovering a brighter, more humane version of who we can be.
