Why “The Nation” nominates Minneapolis for the Nobel Peace Prize On this 4th of July, Minneapolis reminds us what Americans can be.
Protesters against the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in St. Paul, Minnesota, Friday, January 16, 2026.(Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images) America approaches its 250th anniversary with the national ideals of democracy, equality, and opportunity on dangerously shaky ground.
Yet thousands of people remain determined and committed to making these ideals a reality. As proof, let’s take the residents of Minneapolis, appointed by The nation for the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year. Although its winter of violence and terror is thankfully over, on this Independence Day, the city remains an inspiring example of what love of country looks like when the country in question goes off the rails.
In the wake of a cynically sensationalized welfare fraud scandal that fomented the fury of the right In Minnesota’s immigrant communities, Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Metro Surge in December last year. Minneapolis was flooded thousands federal agents – many of them newly hired, poorly trainedAnd hastily checked. Often in in civilian clothesdriving unmarked vehiclesand hiding their faces with masks, they broke into homes, workplaces and even schools. Some 3,800 Minnesotans were arrested by immigration officials; most had no criminal record.
Faced with an assault of unprecedented magnitude, residents banded together and took “a stand for this land and for the stranger among us,” as Bruce Springsteen says in his book. catchy protest song“The Streets of Minneapolis.” Locals made donations and food delivered to those who are too afraid to venture out of their homes, drove strangers to work to help them escape federal agents, and organized neighborhood watch monitor and document the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol agents.
Each of them assumed considerable risks. In January, ICE and CBP agents were shot Renee Bon AndAlex Prettimurders that horrified the nation with their completely unnecessary brutality. But police also became violent in countless other encounters, drag people out of cars, deployment of tear gasand, in one case, shoot a man through the front door of a residence as he tried to flee towards his home. Nearly a third of Minneapolis residents have had at least one encounter with federal agents — and almost a quarter among those who did so reported experiencing physical attacks.
Elected officials also mobilized to defend the city. Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan joins the protesters in the streets and delivered food to immigrant families. And, after pursuit to arrest After the federal push, Attorney General Keith Ellison was among the Minnesota officials targeted for retaliation. Department of Justice investigations.
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But no resistance has proven as powerful as the mass mobilization of ordinary people. It’s hard to think of a more striking recent illustration of the First Amendment’s right to assembly than huge crowds – organizers say attendance at 50,000 for a rally – which braved both deadly violence and subzero temperatures and took to the streets. Or a more powerful reminder that our government is a government by and for the people than the public school students who appealed to their elected legislators in demonstrate on the marches from the Minnesota state capital.
America’s civic ethos was also echoed in the names of the organized volunteers who filmed federal agents to deter misconduct: Today, 30,000 Minnesotans were trained to serve as “constitutional observers.” Many of these same local activists are now mobilize to defend The November midterm elections against a almost certain onslaught of interference and disinformation.
By protecting their community from state violence, racial profilingand violations of due processthe people of Minneapolis embody values that America often extols but too often fails to achieve. But that’s not the only reason Operation Metro Surge is worth revisiting this July 4th. Even though the Trump administration reduced its invasion in February, government retaliation against Minnesota continues: earlier this month, 15 activists in the state were indicted for conspiring to obstruct DHS agents during the surge, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to criminalize left-wing protest. The officers who shot Good and Pretti, meanwhile, have so far avoided prosecution.
In its move toward autocracy, the United States is not alone. Almost a quarter of all countries are less democratic than they were a few years ago, which means that Minneapolis is not only an example for America but for communities around the world.
This is why The nation nominated Minneapolis residents for the top award prestigious award. A city may appear as a surprising candidate, and a magazine as an unlikely sponsor. Indeed, Minneapolis would be the first municipality to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although many organizations and collective entities have won it in the past, ranging from UNICEF At European Union. Not to mention that The nation has had the honor of counting among its contributors and staff more than one Peace Prize winner, including Martin Luther King Jr. and anti-war activist Emilie Balch.
A petition supporting the Minneapolis nomination has already been raised more than 40,000 signatures. The Free Cities Pact, an international network of progressive mayors, also supported the effort, writing that the city’s victory I would celebrate “a form of local peacebuilding, democratic in its method and universal in its meaning – which would affirm that when cities unite for their citizens, they can face the most formidable threats to their freedom. »
As the country marks 250 years of rule by a rogue federal government, this type of local peacebuilding and freedom defense is urgently needed. Minneapolis has proven that in this time of crisis and conflict, dissent is one of the truest forms of patriotism. After all, as Dr. King reminded the world in his final speech“the greatness of America lies in the right to protest for the right.”
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Editor and Editor, The nation
Katrina Vanden Heuvel Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor and publisher of The nationAmerica’s leading source for progressive politics and culture. An expert on international affairs and American politics, she is an award-winning columnist and frequent contributor to The guardian. Vanden Heuvel is the author of several books, including The Change I Believe in: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obamaand co-author (with Stephen F. Cohen) of Voices of Glasnost: Interviews with Gorbachev’s Reformers.
