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Connie Cho

@conniedotcho.bsky.social

Likes climate justice and energy transition rabbit holes • now a research attorney at Stanford • rescue dog mama • Midwest expat in California • views/chaos my own 🌈

98 Posts739 Follower628 Folgt
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 9mo ago

You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.

1. I am a resident of the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am over 18 years of age. I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting. 2. On Saturday, January 24, 2026, at about 8:50 am, I was getting ready to go to work when I heard whistles outside. I knew the whistles meant that ICE agents were in the area, so I decided to check it out on my way to work. I've been involved in observing in my community because it is so important to document what ICE is doing to my neighbors. Connecting to your local community and knowing who your neighbors are is something I profoundly value. 3. I drove to Nicollet Ave. and 26th where I could hear the whistles coming from. I turned south onto Nicollet. There were already several ICE agents there and they'd set up a sort of vehicle convoy on Nicollet and 28th. There were also about 15 observers there, recording and observing ICE. 4. I saw ICE agents surrounding cars and punching car windows. I also saw them stopping vehicles further down Nicollet, so I backed up because I didn't feel safe continuing on. 5. I noticed a man sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly. He helped me find a place to park. I got out with my whistle and my camera. I went over to him and said something like, "I'm going to film and use my whistle." 6. It seemed like most ICE activity was happening a little farther down the street from us, near 27th. Someone was being thrown to the ground.7. I started recording. There was an agent by a car across the street. Two observers were a few feet away from the agent, blowing their whistles. One was wearing a backpack. 8. I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man's hand recording a video. 9. An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk. 10. The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun. 11. Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him. 12. Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. All three of the observers looked to have been badly affected by the pepper spray. I could feel the pepper spray in my eyes.13. The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn't see him touch any of them-he wasn't even turned toward them. It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times. 14.1 don't know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him. 15. The video I recorded of what happened accurately depicts the events leading up to the agents shooting him and several minutes afterwards. The video is attached as Exhibit 1. 16. I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong. The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground. 17. I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they're not telling the truth about what happened. I've heard that other witnesses might have been arrested and taken to the Whipple Building. 18. I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbors and my state. I keep alternating between crying and feeling determined it is important to remember the value of documenting injustice. We show up for the people who need us to bearwitness, because it can't just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny. This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy, those things are on the line. He lost his life for those values. I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct. Dated and signed on Jan 24, 2026 in Hennepin County, State of Minnesota.
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social · 9mo ago

JUST IN: Lawyers file declaration in federal court from first-hand witness to immigration agents' shooting of a US citizen onlookers today. Minneapolis Mayor Frey said details would be used to bolster case for ousting ICE from city. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Alejandra Caraballo@esqueer.net · 9mo ago

New video shows the man who was killed moments before the shooting. He was peacefully standing in the street observing before ICE agents started pushing him for no reason.

Connie Cho@conniedotcho.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Just scrolled through a bunch of videos of ICE executing someone in the street — this one has a slow motion breakdown of how the execution occurs after another ICE agent has already disarmed the man (who is also already pinned down and just being pummeled by multiple agents).

Sajid Anwar@sajidanwar.com · 9mo ago

Put together a quick video that appears to show an ICE agent disarming the man in Minneapolis before a different agent shoots him multiple times. (Very disturbing footage.)

Connie Cho@conniedotcho.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Just a casual Wednesday in America. Preparing for Border Patrol, the Coast Guard, and ICE agents to invade our neighborhoods for literally no reason other than to terrorize and rip families apart while cutting off food and health care for others 🙄

Patrick Reinsborough ❌👑@giantwhispers.bsky.social · 12mo ago

BAY AREA: Rumors are flying about ICE targeting Home Depots across the region starting soon. These are RUMORS. But we know it's coming eventually. So time to organize a group of action buddies and spread flyer about planned meet-ups.👇 QR code for sign-up. Together we will defend our communities.

ALT TXT: Cute "Hands off the Bay!" flyer with key info and the QR code to sign up for www.bayresistance.org Text Alerts If Federal Troop Invade the Bay: Day 1 Rally at Justin Herman Plaza in SF at 5 pm Day 2 vigils at Neighborhood Libraries @ 5 pm
Connie Cho@conniedotcho.bsky.social · last yr.

Woohoo! 🎉 The EPA grant to study the health impacts of refinery retirements and retrofits in partnership the incredible leading researchers at UCLA, UC Berkeley, and PSE Healthy Energy has been restored thanks to a class action lawsuit! @apen4ej.bsky.social

@kinesinmotors.bsky.social · last yr.

💥 🏛️ Federal Agencies Ordered to Restore Grants to University of California Scientists 🧪 First class action suit against grant terminations by the Administration Agencies: Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities

Cristian Farias@cristianfarias.com · last yr.

The Supreme Court's disdain for Congress, the statutory design of agencies, and the public services they provide to millions truly astounds. Destroying a 50-year-old Cabinet-level department may be the biggest violation of the Take Care Clause in U.S. history—and six justices simply ... don't care.

Mark Joseph Stern@mjsdc.bsky.social · last yr.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to move forward with the abolition of the Department of Education. It gives no explanation for its order. All three liberals dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25... From Sotomayor's dissent:

Lifting the District Court’s injunction will unleash untold harm, delaying or denying educational opportunities and leaving students to suffer from discrimination, sexual assault, and other civil rights violations without the federal resources Congress intended. The majority apparently deems it more important to free the Government from paying employees it had no right to fire than to avert these very real harms while the litigation continues. Equity does not support such an inequitable result. * * * The President must take care that the laws are faithfully executed, not set out to dismantle them. That basic rule undergirds our Constitution’s separation of powers. Yet today, the majority rewards clear defiance of that core principle with emergency relief. Because I cannot condone such abuse of our equitable authority, I respectfully dissent.
Connie Cho@conniedotcho.bsky.social · last yr.

So my lawyer brain wants to explode because I could spend like 20 posts explaining this with graphs and citations, but it is 6PM on a Friday and my partner gets home soon, so I give you these two screenshots of a summary of a summary of a summary:

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Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)@apen4ej.bsky.social · last yr.

So, what happened this week? Yesterday, @CalEnergy held a hearing on their initial plan to get us out of this hostage situation. But there’s more work to do. Among other things, this plan could lead to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling in Kern County.

Connie Cho@conniedotcho.bsky.social · last yr.

🧵🪡 A thread on my attempt to thread the needle at a @calenergy.bsky.social meeting in a two-minute high-level public comment and taken out of context on (to be fair) a complex subject. ⬇️

Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)@apen4ej.bsky.social · last yr.

Yesterday, @politico.com ran an article about this week’s @calenergy.bsky.social meeting claiming that climate and environmental justice groups are lining up behind a plan that would “pump the brakes” on the transition away from fossil fuels. It’s time to set the story straight ⬇️⬇️

Sherrilyn Ifill@sifill.bsky.social · last yr.

Who was MN Rep. Melissa Hortman in the MN Legislature? READ about her consequential leadership in this THREAD by @taniel.bsky.social. Take the time.

Taniel@taniel.bsky.social · last yr.

Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated last night, was the Speaker of the Minnesota House in the 2023-2024 session, when Democrats ran the state government. That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.

Connie Cho@conniedotcho.bsky.social · last yr.

Dear lord, the full context of US Senator @padilla.senate.gov being forcibly removed, pinned down, and handcuffed? He tried to ask a question…when this regime rationalized the (unconstitutional) commandeering of National Guard troops as ~liberating~ people from their elected representatives.

Sylvia Chi 齊思涵@sylviachi.bsky.social · last yr.

It's mind-blowing how little attention this extraordinary statement has received. It's briefly mentioned in a couple news articles, but this MSNBC opinion piece is the only extended discussion of it I've seen: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Liz Fong-Jones (方禮真)@lizthegrey.com · last yr.

Matching up to 2,500 USD to Immigrant Defenders Law Center, for the first people to DM or reply with receipts. They're EIN 47-4473312 for quickly looking up if you have a DAF.

Chad Loder@chadloder.dev · last yr.

🚨 Support Los Angeles immigrant communities 🚨 Please consider donating to one or all of the following orgs: Immigrant Defenders Law Center: give.immdef.org/donate LA Jail Support / Bail Fund: account.venmo.com/u/jailsuppor... Unión del Barrio: uniondelbarrio.org/main/support...

Joshua J. Friedman@joshuajfriedman.com · 2y ago

Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald said from the bench that she would issue a temporary restraining order blocking immigration authorities from detaining 21-year-old Columbia junior Yunseo Chung for protesting on campus, per NY Post

Columbia student protester Yunseo Chung can’t be detained by feds, judge rules as Trump admin seeks to deport her

The Columbia University student facing deportation after she was arrested at an anti-Israel protest can’t be detained by the feds, a judge ruled Tuesday. Manhattan federal court Judge Nao…

nypost.com

alec karakatsanis@equalityalec.bsky.social · 2y ago

Last night’s article in the Washington Post about D.C. police responding to a 911 call by illegally letting DOGE onto private property is unlike any news story I have ever read. Every single person should read this article and think about where our society is going.

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Lit Hub@literaryhub.bsky.social · 2y ago

“We will not take lectures on antisemitism from segregationists and neo-nazis.” @illdottore.bsky.social, a Columbia University professor, speaks out against the kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil.

A Columbia University Professor Speaks Out Against the Kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil

On March 12, at a rally in front of the New York City courthouse where Mahmoud Khalil’s hearing took place, classicist and Columbia University associate professor Joseph Howley made the follo…

lithub.com