Dozens of neighbors poured into a stuffy Minnesota church basement on a steamy Tuesday evening in June, finding their seats on tables marked with the geographical area where they live.
They had lived through an assault by the Trump administration on the state which killed two local residents and deported many hundreds more.
They knew to take Trump’s threats seriously. They wanted to learn how they could protect elections.
“We’ve got to make sure that everybody who wants to vote can vote, and everybody’s vote is counted, and those votes and the will of the majority is respected,” said David Brauer, who helped lead the training for Monarca, a project of social justice group Unidos MN.
“Basic stuff, but so crucial right now. But that’s just the first step. Once they’re cast, we know we’ll have to defend them.”
The training is designed to get citizens thinking about what Trump and his allies could do to undermine the voting process and election results. The exercises are theoretical, for now, but based on reality: the president has already sought to undermine the results of California’s elections and said they will be investigated, a sign of more to come in the midterms.
Man, if seeing the anger of Minnesotans doesn’t give you a sliver of hope, I don’t know what will. It’s wild to me that people who are known nationally for just being generally nice are also the face of active resistance to the worst machinations of the Donald Admin.