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“If the Minneapolis Police Department didn’t kill anyone in a year of active policing, and my combat unit didn’t kill anyone in over a year of war, Minnesotans are right to ask why ICE and the Border Patrol have killed two people here in two weeks. The answer is uncomfortable but unavoidable. Either this is their mission – or they are operating outside accountability.”

Diana Oestreich writing in HuffPost. Diana is an Iraq combat veteran, author of a book about her experiences in Iraq and peace activist from the Duluth area.

The two murders of citizens in Minneapolis by ICE and Border Patrol agents have sparked a new wave of outrage and protests across the country.

But excessive use of force by law enforcement is nothing new. It has been endemic for our entire history. Nothing will change until individual officers and their leadership are held accountable for breaking the law.

We need serious changes in the way law enforcement interacts with citizens. Officers of all law enforcement agencies  – federal, state and local – need to be told that the use of excessive force will not be tolerated. They are not “immune” from prosecution. They will be prosecuted held accountable.

All people are entitled to respect and proper treatment by law enforcement officers. There are laws and rules of engagement that need to be followed. People have constitutional rights, are innocent until proven guilty, are entitled to due process and protected from unreasonable search and seizure.

Police need warrants and probable cause to arrest and detain people. These rules apply to citizens and non-citizens. Police must act professionally and in accordance with these principles and procedures of the law.

But too often people have been killed over traffic stops, for running away, for driving away, for driving while Black, for holding a cell phone, for having a toy gun, for sleeping in the bedroom, for picking up the garbage in the yard, for resisting arrest, for talking back and for peacefully protesting or filming incidents.

People have been killed, beaten and abused even when in police custody.

Excessive use of force is never justified. Police are not justified in shooting suspects who flee or resist arrest. Even shooting people in the act of stealing is not justified. It does not matter who the suspect is, what they allegedly have done, if they have outstanding warrants or a police record. It does not matter if they are an undocumented immigrant.

Too often law enforcement officers reach for the gun first. They shoot before they have had time to assess the situation. They shoot in situations where it is entirely unjustified. They shoot to kill rather than to wound and subdue. Police are not the judge, jury and executioner.

The only justification for use of deadly force is when there is an active shooter actually endangering the public or law enforcement officers. You don’t shoot unless you or the public are being shot at.

Use of deadly force should always be a last resort. Even when deadly force is justified, shooting to kill, or shooting a suspect multiple times, is rarely justified. Our cities are not battlefields and “warrior” attitudes, training and combat gear are not appropriate for “peace” officers.

In her Facebook video Diana Oestreich says, “There is no reason that ICE should be killing civilians in the U.S.“

I encourage you to watch her video (“What you need to know about ICE in Minnesota from a soldier” facebook.com/reel/4330778653804339) and read her more detailed message in HuffPost (“I Was A Combat Soldier In Iraq. Here’s The 1 Question Everyone Should Be Asking About ICE Right Now,” January 28, 2026).

Diana reminds us that soldiers in war have an “honor code” They are accountable ”to the civilian civil code and the Uniform Code of Military Justice” (the subject of my article The laws of war, Reader, January 16, 2026). Diana says, “ICE does not have accountability to anyone or anything...and those who are not accountable to an honor code or ethic are mercenaries...So be very clear about what we are seeing...ICE are mercenaries and they have been given a mission to terrorize and kill...[and] that is what they are doing.”

In HuffPost Diana says, “If ICE and the Border Patrol cannot operate within the Constitution, with restraint, transparency and accountability, then they are not fit to carry out their mission in Minnesota – or anywhere else...Because when force is untethered from law, our freedom is already in danger.”

Excessive use of force by law enforcement officers is a management problem. As with any organization, management is responsible for the actions of their employees. Law enforcement agency leaders (and the political leaders above them) have the power to end unjustified shootings. Police chiefs, sheriffs and police and fire commissions could issue clear, unambiguous orders that excessive use of force, or unnecessary use of firearms, will not be tolerated.

But rarely have the “bad apple” officers been held accountable. These practices continue because management allows it to happen.

The national “management” under the Trump administration has no intention of reigning in ICE or Border Patrol violence. Their public statements and Trump’s executive orders make this very clear. Militarizing law enforcement to create fear and intimidate the public is part of their plan for an authoritarian police state.

ICE and the Border Patrol officers are clearly not operating within the law. The Trump administration has given them a mission to intimidate and terrorize immigrants and citizens. This includes permission to kill people with impunity.

The immediate, false and ugly statements by Trump and Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, calling the Minnesota shooting victims “domestic terrorists” prove that this administration has no respect for proper police procedures.

Change must come. But it is not going to happen as long as the current administration is in power or not being held accountable for their illegal actions.

Hopefully electing a new Congress in November will bring long overdue change and allow needed accountability. But despite all the numerous unpopular, illegal and corrupt actions of Trump and his cronies, taking back the Congress is far from assured.

How many people will have to die before this rogue administration is stopped?

We cannot wait for a November solution. People have to maintain and intensify the pressure on the existing members of Congress to act now.

They have to become more afraid of the anger of their constituents than of Trump’s retribution.