Chad Rigsby
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basicwhitetoast.bsky.social
Chad Rigsby
@basicwhitetoast.bsky.social
42 followers 85 following 13 posts
Husband. Dad. English and Politics teacher. Apocalypse Lit.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
volts.wtf
Any beatings or shootings by ICE officers must be preceded by a brief land acknowledgment. Bottom line.
February 5, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
prisonculture.bsky.social
A new edition of the 1 Million Experiments zine is here! It’s terrific as usual and includes a new zine which is a treasure. To jump-start neighborly relations, try one of the 50 (mostly untried) ways to meet your neighbors. Get into some Porchside Abolition. open.substack.com/pub/millione...
#11: Porch Side Abolition
New Zine: "50 Ways To Meet Your Neighbor"
open.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 11:55 AM
basicwhitetoast.bsky.social
Notes on Kindness and Bravery in Minneapolis,Minnesota
chadrigsby.substack.com/p/notes-on-k...
Notes on Kindness and Bravery in Minneapolis, Minnesota
The following is a one-week compilation of notes on kindness and bravery from the zones of federal occupation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
chadrigsby.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
newyorker.com
How did “Infinite Jest”—a novel that mourns addiction and venerates humility and patience—become a glib cultural punch line? www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
“Infinite Jest” Has Turned Thirty. Have We Forgotten How to Read It?
David Foster Wallace’s novel, in all its immensity, became the subject of sanctification and then scorn. But the work rewards the attention it demands.
www.newyorker.com
January 30, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
vetsfighfascist.bsky.social
States are coming together to bring state charges against ICE agents. It's about freaking time!

www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/p...
Philly DA joins nationwide coalition to prosecute ICE agents who break laws
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has joined a nationwide coalition of prosecutors to hold ICE agents accountable for breaking state laws.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
sanders.senate.gov
Kristi Noem AND Stephen Miller must go.
January 29, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
pulmyears.bsky.social
The movement now has its own “Ohio” thanks to Bruce Springsteen‘s “Streets of Minneapolis”:

youtu.be/wWKSoxG1K7w?...
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 29, 2026 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
brucespringsteen.net
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
prisonculture.bsky.social
Image credited to Garrett Peterson, CRNA colleague of Alex Pretti, of his colleagues at the VA hospital where he worked.
Medical staff in scrubs stand silently in two lines along a hospital hallway, heads bowed in respect. One person covers their face in grief. The corridor sign reads "Intensive Care Unit." Yellow lights line the floor.
January 27, 2026 at 3:21 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
maxberger.bsky.social
The people of Minnesota have executed one of the most impressive civil resistance campaigns I can remember:

- Organized a city wide general strike
- Maintained nonviolent discipline amidst violence
- Mobilized 10,000s in subzero temps to protest and watch ICE
- Flipped public opinion against ICE
January 26, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
onestpress.onestnetwork.com
Minnesota National Guard members have arrived at a federal building and were directed to distribute donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate to anti-ICE protesters. Guard members were issued reflective vests so they would not be mistaken for federal agents.
January 25, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
prisonculture.bsky.social
Good morning. I read this dispatch from a comrade in Minneapolis this morning and thought that some of you might appreciate it too.
TEXT: Out on patrol with two friends this morning and I kept seeing the beautiful web being woven in Minnesota right now. Not with new materials but woven with wisdom into what was already here. I could feel this net with my hands, this connection as we passed that group of three on the corner of Cedar and Lake, this connection as we listened to someone doing dispatch while their kid yelled in the room behind them. I thought of this today stopping by a locally beloved Mexican restaurant to grab some food for the family and having the owner step up with tears in his eyes and reflect on how much they feel cared for and then the security guard stepped over and asserted that this is what we do, we care for our own. He said, tell people we have them, we've got them and we will keep them safe. All of the worst stories you read are true and there are more of them than what shows up on social media, but there is also this, everything I am writing here in the same morning, driving over to northeast and a junior high has just done a walk out, they are lining a major road in their "are those pants they look like pajamas" clothes and all are holding signs and I am on the phone with someone and I burst into tears when I pass them. This is a net and I remember this very old fishing net someone showed me years ago, guiding my fingers to feel where the net had been repaired over and over again, like scars in the fibers that strengthen rather than break. ICE is sharp, knives that cut with small knicks and sometimes great full arm thrusts that shove and tear through this connected set of scars and fresh material and there are wounds and this is violence and some of you beloveds are being stopped on the road because of how you are read and I am not being stopped and none of this is ever ok and still, I feel the pull and tug of the net that is larger than anything I have experienced TEXT: before. Is there anyone in these cities not showing up in some way? I can't remember the last time I saw or heard anyone have words other than how can I show up? There is a net and it has always been here, it is always here, it's just that sometimes it's hard to see and all that is happening in Minneapolis is that some of the confusion is fading and what is visible is the link and weave and stumble and steady between us. May we keep repairing it as it frays, from those outside and from the rising tension we hold within and may this net grow with wisdom and may bodies tired of holding themselves up alone someday feel like they can relax into the steady certainty of something much bigger than the size of their skin.
January 17, 2026 at 12:29 PM
basicwhitetoast.bsky.social
Heartening & worth a read. “. . . More immigrants are with their families tonight because of ICE Watch. . .”
nbedera.bsky.social Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 20d
For @msnownews.bsky.social, I wrote an article about how ICE Watch is grounded in sociological theories of violence prevention.

The reality is that most men will only commit public violence in extremely specific scenarios and ICE Watch disrupts the conditions necessary for escalation.
Opinion | I'm a Minneapolis sociologist who studies violence. Here's how ICE observers are helping.
Research into how violence occurs shows that disapproval from the people around you can help reduce it.
www.ms.now
January 17, 2026 at 4:32 AM
basicwhitetoast.bsky.social
The irrationality is the point.

chadrigsby.substack.com/p/arendtoutl...
Arendt—Outlaws by Definition
“The first essential step to total domination,” writes Hannah Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism, “is to kill the juridicial person in man.” When Arendt outlines methods that autocrats use to di...
chadrigsby.substack.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
kenwhite.bsky.social
In case you missed it last night:

No, it is definitively not defamation to call Jonathan Ross a murderer, and people who say it is are liars or ignorant or both.
kenwhite.bsky.social Gambled And Lost Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 27d
Expect to see a surge of proud ignorance and proplawganda about what you can say about ICE agent Jonathan Ross, identified by local media as the person who shot and killed Renee Good.

In particular, expect a repeat of Rittenhouse-era “accusing him of murder is defamation” rhetoric.

It’s not.
/1
January 9, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
the-independent.com
The oil tanker drama is a spectacular reminder the US doesn’t play by the rules
The oil tanker drama is a spectacular reminder the US doesn’t play by the rules
The oil tanker drama is a spectacular reminder the US doesn’t play by the rules
www.independent.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 9:52 PM
basicwhitetoast.bsky.social
Mark Twain, Reconstruction, and ICE deportations

chadrigsby.substack.com/p/twainwhite...
Twain—White Saviors
A rare piece of good news caught me off-guard last summer.
chadrigsby.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
edburmila.bsky.social
It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand there, keep filming, and scream "What the fuck, you asshole" at someone wearing a badge who just shot and killed one of your neighbors in cold blood.
viamarsala18.bsky.social Elle Ess @viamarsala18.bsky.social · 29d
I need people to wrap their minds around the fact that here in Minneapolis, ICE broke the window of a vehicle yesterday, pepper sprayed the occupants, and arrested them, and shot another observer in the face today, and OBSERVERS ARE STILL GOING OUT TO PROTECT THEIR NEIGHBORS AT MASSIVE PERSONAL RISK
wellgoshacs.bsky.social AC @wellgoshacs.bsky.social · 29d
I’m eating lunch, I’m having a panic attack, I’m charging my phone, and then I’m going back out to try and keep my neighborhood safe.
January 7, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
On the blog, I argue that Trump is a literal law breaker: He does not merely violate the law; he and his administration seek to render it inoperative, broken. Examples: might-makes-right military actions; J6 pardons; censure of Sen Kelly; and firing members of independent agencies w/o cause. 👇
Trump Doesn't Merely Violate the Law. He Aims to Destroy it.
In yet another example of how each of Donald Trump's outrageous acts distracts attention from the previous outrageous act, yesterday, which ...
www.dorfonlaw.org
January 7, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
musicologyduck.bsky.social
if you are lucky enough to be represented in Congress, you should do this
celestepewter.bsky.social Celeste Pewter @celestepewter.bsky.social · Jan 3
Call your reps + please read the thread. Do it now, please.

Script.
January 4, 2026 at 2:59 AM
basicwhitetoast.bsky.social
chadrigsby.substack.com/p/twainhuck-...
Twain—Huck and Education
In the early 2000s, as if through some sort of telegraphic, telepathic consensus, English teachers around the United States—myself included—suddenly stopped teaching Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huc...
chadrigsby.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:53 PM
basicwhitetoast.bsky.social
Killer oral history. Couldn’t put it down!
December 11, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
audacityofdespair.bsky.social
I am dead.
wutangforchildren.bsky.social WuTangIsForTheChildren @wutangforchildren.bsky.social · Oct 24
Godfrey doing his Trump impression with Dr. Dre in the studio 🤣💀
October 24, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
larryglickman.bsky.social
This is quite a hed/subhed.
1) Start with Vance. Use strong action verb. Accept the autocratic premise that the “Marines’ Might” are Vance’s to flex.
2) Mention the protest second and absurdly describe them as in the thousands
3) Treat Trump’s strong man use of the military as a partisan scuffle.
Vance Flexes the Marines’ Might as Thousand Protest Trump’s Agenda VP JD Vance’s trips o a military base in California illustrated rising tensions between the federal government and Democratic leaders
October 19, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Reposted by Chad Rigsby
prisonculture.bsky.social
If you think something doesn't matter, you don't respond to it.

He responded. The people have the upper hand.
October 19, 2025 at 2:22 AM