SimplyWren
@simplywren.bsky.social
Midwestern by choice. Humanist by upbringing. Staunch fan of the Minnesota Twins. Reader (sci fi, spec fiction, fantasy), writer (meandering essays, mostly), and lover of many geeky things. She/her.
Reposted by SimplyWren
Before Keith Porter, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti… ICE killed a father after he dropped his kids off at school.
We didn’t hear much about it because he was undocumented.
They said he was trying to flee & shot him in the back of the neck.
Silverio Villegas-González.
Don’t forget him.
We didn’t hear much about it because he was undocumented.
They said he was trying to flee & shot him in the back of the neck.
Silverio Villegas-González.
Don’t forget him.
February 7, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Before Keith Porter, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti… ICE killed a father after he dropped his kids off at school.
We didn’t hear much about it because he was undocumented.
They said he was trying to flee & shot him in the back of the neck.
Silverio Villegas-González.
Don’t forget him.
We didn’t hear much about it because he was undocumented.
They said he was trying to flee & shot him in the back of the neck.
Silverio Villegas-González.
Don’t forget him.
Reposted by SimplyWren
#DefundICE So apparently white Americans in Minneapolis are putting Mexican flags on their cars so ICE agents waste time pulling them over. They call it ICE fishing. 😂 🧊🎣🧊
February 7, 2026 at 2:36 AM
#DefundICE So apparently white Americans in Minneapolis are putting Mexican flags on their cars so ICE agents waste time pulling them over. They call it ICE fishing. 😂 🧊🎣🧊
Reposted by SimplyWren
If you are one of the many christians who condemned me for being queer/trans based on your interpretation of 6 verses of the bible, you better get in the streets and organizing against ICE, because care for the foreigner and the oppressed is unambiguously demanded over 2000 times in scripture.
February 5, 2026 at 8:08 PM
If you are one of the many christians who condemned me for being queer/trans based on your interpretation of 6 verses of the bible, you better get in the streets and organizing against ICE, because care for the foreigner and the oppressed is unambiguously demanded over 2000 times in scripture.
Reposted by SimplyWren
Context: this speech is from SIR THOMAS MORE, a history written, as near as scholars can tell, in the early 1600s by 6 or 7 people including Dekker, Heywood, Chettle, Shakespeare, and Munday.
It was never performed, because Jacobean England was a police state and it was banned by the censor.
It was never performed, because Jacobean England was a police state and it was banned by the censor.
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Context: this speech is from SIR THOMAS MORE, a history written, as near as scholars can tell, in the early 1600s by 6 or 7 people including Dekker, Heywood, Chettle, Shakespeare, and Munday.
It was never performed, because Jacobean England was a police state and it was banned by the censor.
It was never performed, because Jacobean England was a police state and it was banned by the censor.
Reposted by SimplyWren
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
![…
25. This Cibola jail was horrible. It was cramped. I was chained up again.
The officers mocked
me and called me their enemy. They laughed at me. I was kept at the jail for what felt like around three hours. I wasn't given an explanation for why I was there.
26. Security
guards then put me on a bus. I think it was around January 27.
No one said
anything about where I was going. I was handcuffed. It felt like the middle of the night. It was freezing cold in the bus because the driver had the AC on. We had no jackets. The bus eventually took me back to El Paso in the carly morning of Tuesday, January 27th.
27. I was put in a cold cell where I had to sleep on the bare cement floor. Around 10 in the morning my cellmate asked to speak to an ICE officer. Three officers came into the cell so I had a chance to speak to them too. One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." She told me that if I fought my case, I would spend two to three more months here in El Paso. She offered me $2600 to self-deport. I refused. I wanted to talk to my attorney. They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota. If I hadn't managed to talk to my attorney who told me a while back that I was ordered released. I might have given up at this point and signed the self-deportation forms because the conditions were so unbearable.
…
30. When I was taken back to the detention center from the airport, after missing the flight, I overheard an ICE officer saying in English, "the judge in Minnesota wants this one back." I was put in a cold jail cell again until early next morning (January 28). But again no one had told me directly that a judge had ordered my release
…
32. When I arrived in Minneapolis, I was handed off to ICE
… I had to sign lots of papers saying that I wasn't going to be a part of any "groups." I didn't know what they meant by "groups." They never told me why I was detained](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5cn3kbi4g5blrtahon34xbu4/bafkreiccqxmfncofjqinoveiqscwale2ox5xpiqt46veqjdh3jmimkrxhq@jpeg)
February 5, 2026 at 6:04 AM
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
Reposted by SimplyWren
The thing is, it’s not just a drop in the bucket and it hasn’t been just a drop in the bucket.
Every small step we take, even incremental, to support our neighbors in the most local sense adds up in powerful ways.
Do not let perfection diminish the impact.
Shop *more* locally than you had.
Every small step we take, even incremental, to support our neighbors in the most local sense adds up in powerful ways.
Do not let perfection diminish the impact.
Shop *more* locally than you had.
It feels like a drop in the bucket, but I really am committing to a "shop local" mode of consumption. Thank goodness for the co-ops in this city.
February 4, 2026 at 7:08 PM
The thing is, it’s not just a drop in the bucket and it hasn’t been just a drop in the bucket.
Every small step we take, even incremental, to support our neighbors in the most local sense adds up in powerful ways.
Do not let perfection diminish the impact.
Shop *more* locally than you had.
Every small step we take, even incremental, to support our neighbors in the most local sense adds up in powerful ways.
Do not let perfection diminish the impact.
Shop *more* locally than you had.
Reposted by SimplyWren
My spouse has a theory that the UMN turkeys on the east bank have formed a community with the students where they mutually reinforce each other's norms of walking around the area.
The free-roaming turkeys of Saint Paul, Minnesota:
- are enormous
- don’t know where they’re going
- have no plans or motivations
- don’t understand roads
- or anything at all, really
- are enormous
- don’t know where they’re going
- have no plans or motivations
- don’t understand roads
- or anything at all, really
February 4, 2026 at 7:44 PM
My spouse has a theory that the UMN turkeys on the east bank have formed a community with the students where they mutually reinforce each other's norms of walking around the area.
Reposted by SimplyWren
sort of want to do this on the streets of Minneapolis, I think the people need moments like this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eff2...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eff2...
GIVING SIDE QUESTS TO STRANGERS
YouTube video by sidequestz
www.youtube.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:00 PM
sort of want to do this on the streets of Minneapolis, I think the people need moments like this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eff2...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eff2...
I'm probably way behind the curve here, but I just heard that ICE agents have DAILY QUOTAS on how many people they turn in to get full pay and benefits? And there are 3,000 of them? 1) The audacity!, and 2) how stupid are they to fall for that incentive package? Please tell me I've been spoofed.
February 3, 2026 at 9:49 PM
I'm probably way behind the curve here, but I just heard that ICE agents have DAILY QUOTAS on how many people they turn in to get full pay and benefits? And there are 3,000 of them? 1) The audacity!, and 2) how stupid are they to fall for that incentive package? Please tell me I've been spoofed.
My daughter has stuggled with mental health issues most of her life, and her hallucinations with "the shadow man" have terrified her (and me, for her). So when she showed me this, it brought me to tears. (She lives across from the Renaissance Depot in DT Mpls, which houses ICE.)
February 3, 2026 at 2:19 AM
My daughter has stuggled with mental health issues most of her life, and her hallucinations with "the shadow man" have terrified her (and me, for her). So when she showed me this, it brought me to tears. (She lives across from the Renaissance Depot in DT Mpls, which houses ICE.)
Rep. Kelly Morrison (MN 3rd Congressional District) shared her thoughts after visiting Whipple federal building. First hand knowlege, people. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SxP...
Rep. Morrison details her oversight of the federal Whipple building
YouTube video by Rep. Kelly Morrison
www.youtube.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:04 AM
Rep. Kelly Morrison (MN 3rd Congressional District) shared her thoughts after visiting Whipple federal building. First hand knowlege, people. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SxP...
Reposted by SimplyWren
This goes so hard
February 2, 2026 at 11:16 PM
This goes so hard
Reposted by SimplyWren
Minnesota folks: if you know someone who needs a flight to MSP after being detained in Texas, standwithminnesota.com has collected donated SkyMiles to help them get home -- spread the word!
if you are in MN and hear of anyone in need of a flight home from detention please send them my way (contact@standwithminnesota.com)
February 2, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Minnesota folks: if you know someone who needs a flight to MSP after being detained in Texas, standwithminnesota.com has collected donated SkyMiles to help them get home -- spread the word!
Reposted by SimplyWren
A small child wields the Hammer of Truth and Justice to destroy the ice man of cruelty at the #Minneapolis #ArtShanties
February 1, 2026 at 9:23 PM
A small child wields the Hammer of Truth and Justice to destroy the ice man of cruelty at the #Minneapolis #ArtShanties
Reposted by SimplyWren
Some jawdropping CBP crime statistics here...
February 1, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Some jawdropping CBP crime statistics here...
Reposted by SimplyWren
Beautiful design by Tsmishian (Alaska Native) artist to support those in MN via the ACLU NARF fund
www.customink.com/fundraising/...
www.customink.com/fundraising/...
Support Ptarmigan Squadron for ACLU and NARF
This rebel design, representing the Alaska state bird: the willow ptarmigan, along with the Big Dipper and the North Star, was created to stand in solidarity with the people of Minnesota and with ever...
www.customink.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Beautiful design by Tsmishian (Alaska Native) artist to support those in MN via the ACLU NARF fund
www.customink.com/fundraising/...
www.customink.com/fundraising/...
Reposted by SimplyWren
liam and his dad are home!
and someone please get rep. castro a coat!
and someone please get rep. castro a coat!
February 1, 2026 at 4:36 PM
liam and his dad are home!
and someone please get rep. castro a coat!
and someone please get rep. castro a coat!
Reposted by SimplyWren
This morning, federal agents staged at the Powderhorn Park Recreation Center lot and began to throw chemical irritants at observers. They also kidnapped an observer. Our parks are meant for our children, youth, and neighbors. They should never be militarized zones meant to separate families. 1/
February 1, 2026 at 3:23 PM
This morning, federal agents staged at the Powderhorn Park Recreation Center lot and began to throw chemical irritants at observers. They also kidnapped an observer. Our parks are meant for our children, youth, and neighbors. They should never be militarized zones meant to separate families. 1/
Reposted by SimplyWren
10/10 ICE protest sign
January 31, 2026 at 10:20 PM
10/10 ICE protest sign
Reposted by SimplyWren
Just moments ago the parkway was TAKEN OVER by winter cyclists. At first I thought hundreds, but they just kept coming. Thousands and thousands! I almost cried. I’m so dang proud of MN right now.
January 31, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Just moments ago the parkway was TAKEN OVER by winter cyclists. At first I thought hundreds, but they just kept coming. Thousands and thousands! I almost cried. I’m so dang proud of MN right now.
Reposted by SimplyWren
Cyclists pass through the Alex Pretti memorial on Nicollet Avenue during a memorial bike ride. Pretti was an avid cyclist.
Ongoing coverage: bit.ly/3MMvefi
📽️ Casey Darnell/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Ongoing coverage: bit.ly/3MMvefi
📽️ Casey Darnell/The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 31, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Cyclists pass through the Alex Pretti memorial on Nicollet Avenue during a memorial bike ride. Pretti was an avid cyclist.
Ongoing coverage: bit.ly/3MMvefi
📽️ Casey Darnell/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Ongoing coverage: bit.ly/3MMvefi
📽️ Casey Darnell/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Reposted by SimplyWren
Key quote from the judge's order releasing Liam Ramos & his father: "Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned."
Federal judge has ordered the release of Liam Ramos (the bunny hat boy) and his father. A brief and rather remarkable order. Clearly written to be shared widely, so please do. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 31, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Key quote from the judge's order releasing Liam Ramos & his father: "Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned."
Reposted by SimplyWren
ICU nurses in Minneapolis are getting a wee bit suspicious about ICE agents stories about injured captives. Gee... wonder why?
ICE claim that a man shattered his skull running into wall triggers tension at a Minnesota hospital
Intensive care nurses immediately doubted the word of federal immigration officers when they arrived at a Minneapolis hospital with a Mexican immigrant who had broken bones in his face and skull. Imm...
www.yahoo.com
January 31, 2026 at 3:27 PM
ICU nurses in Minneapolis are getting a wee bit suspicious about ICE agents stories about injured captives. Gee... wonder why?
Reposted by SimplyWren
Momma stopping by to remind everyone that we are not built for the constant engagement of our Fight or Flight reflex. We all have different ways to turn off that part of our brain. Remember what works for you and do it. Regularly. This is a marathon not a sprint.
Guys, I'm exhausted. How's everyone's nervous systems?
January 31, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Momma stopping by to remind everyone that we are not built for the constant engagement of our Fight or Flight reflex. We all have different ways to turn off that part of our brain. Remember what works for you and do it. Regularly. This is a marathon not a sprint.
Reposted by SimplyWren
I don’t think any of us quite realized just how fucking brave people would be during this assault on Minnesota.
"It is my responsibility to ensure that our students and staff and families are safe, and if that means (agents are) going to target me instead of them, then that's what we need to do," she said.
"Are they trying to intimidate me to stop? Yes. Will I stop? No."
bringmethenews.com/minnesota-ne...
"Are they trying to intimidate me to stop? Yes. Will I stop? No."
bringmethenews.com/minnesota-ne...
Federal agents accused of following Fridley school officials who condemned ICE
The school district's superintendent says she will not be intimidated.
bringmethenews.com
January 31, 2026 at 3:41 PM
I don’t think any of us quite realized just how fucking brave people would be during this assault on Minnesota.