Heidi Li FeldmanLast week, federal trial court Judge Kate Menendez issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting use of tear gas and other riot control weapons by ICE in Minneapolis. She found ICE was using them in violation of protestors’ 1A rights. She also prohibited ICE from violating protestors’ 4A rights by unlawful searches and seizures. Today, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the Trump regime an administrative stay of Menendez’s injunction. 1/ #LawFedi https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca8.113629/gov.uscourts.ca8.113629.00805436077.0_2.pdf
An administrative stay pauses a lower court’s order while the appeals court hears the substantive appeal. Supposedly, it does not indicate the appeals court’s views of the the merits. The Eighth Circuit’s order granting the stay is unsigned and gives no reason or context for it. 2/
The Eighth Circuit is notoriously right wing. It has the largest Republican-appointee majority of any federal appellate court. Trump appointed four of these, 2 of whom were rated “not qualified” by the ABA. https://ballsandstrikes.org/nominations/trump-judicial-nominations-preview-appeals-court-part-2/ 3/
See also https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/us/politics/trumps-appeals-court-judges.html. “…there is increasingly such a thing as a Trump judge. The president’s appointees voted to allow his policies to take effect 133 times and voted against them only 12 times. Ninety-two percent of their total votes were in favor of the administration. That figure far outstrips support for Mr. Trump’s agenda from appeals court judges appointed by other Republican presidents, and from Mr. Trump’s appointees to the district courts.” 4/
I have zero confidence in the Eighth Circuit or the Roberts Court meaningfully adjudicating the Minneapolis plaintiff-protesters’ claims that ICE in Minnesota is violating the 1st and 4th Amendments of U.S. Constitution, often by using violent and retaliatory tactics. 5/
There was no legal compulsion for the Eight Circuit today to administratively stay the trial judge’s temporary restraining order. Grant or withholding of an administrative stay is discretionary. But apparently the 8th Circuit is more concerned with giving permission to ICE continue marauding than with any effort to check it, however temporarily. 6/
Meanwhile, today in Minneapolis, federal agents appear to be pepper spraying a protester WHILE three agents are holding him down on the ground. 7/ original link https://www.startribune.com/ice-raids-minnesota/601546426; archived version https://archive.is/2026.01.22-122948/https://www.startribune.com/ice-raids-minnesota/601546426
Also in Minneapolis today. https://www.startribune.com/ice-raids-minnesota/601546426 8/
If you have a couple of bucks to spare, please participate in the Mastodon for Minneapolis fundraiser, to benefit the Immigrant Rapid Response fund serving metro Minneapolis. https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/doWhZ3Z/Mastodon-for-Minneapolis
More information in my pinned post. 9/9
More information in my pinned post. 9/9
Katykayay
AI6YR Ben
The Orange Theme@heidilifeldman The cool thing about courts is that you can simply ignore illegitimate ones.
C Silva@heidilifeldman This should be on the front page of every newspaper and the opening story of every newscast
Megan Lynch (she/her)@heidilifeldman The cop at UC Davis that did this not only got away with it, he was given disability payout for "PTSD". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UC_Davis_pepper_spray_incident
Douglas Edwards 
@meganL @heidilifeldman In the trials of Japanese torturer war criminals from WW2, we EXECUTED people for less than this. (E.g. for waterboarding.)
EdgeThis just crushes my heart.
Deborah Preuss, pcc 🇨🇦@czarbucks @heidilifeldman that's *torture*.
LisaH@heidilifeldman This is 💯💯💯 because District Judge Katherine M. Menendez specifically said yesterday that ICE is NOT TO USE PEPPER SPRAY on protesters
She issued a preliminary injunction LITERALLY restricting ICE agents in Minnesota from using pepper spray, arresting, or retaliating against peaceful protesters during Operation Metro Surge
the gripe ibis@3x10to8mps like, until an injunction is enforced, that's just a sparkling temper tantrum.
a temper tantrum that they lost on appeal.
laws aren't real. only enforcement. it's why the epstein files won't change anything. it's just another law that won't be enforced.
@heidilifeldman @thegarbagebird There is no rule of law in America anymore. If it's not rock solid everywhere, it's mere illusion anywhere 💔
Nate Allen@heidilifeldman long ago in Humboldt County during the Timber Wars, one officer sprayed a jet stream of pepper spray directly in protesters' eyes, inches away, while they were immobilized in sleeping dragons. The popo had to pay out millions of dollars after the lawsuit as I recall, as this could easily permanently blind a person.
HumToTable@mossyfoot @heidilifeldman I remember that too. They also used cotton swabs to apply it directly to the protesters eyes if I recall.
keith@heidilifeldman this is sickening.
Sepia Fan
Joe Heafner@heidilifeldman Time to start carrying commonly available spray products as defensive weapons. Let 'em taste some Raid. #USPol
@heafnerj @heidilifeldman Or Aquanet!
Ianto Jones@heafnerj @heidilifeldman my partner and myself are already carrying pepper spray. ICE doesn't have the market cornered just yet.
ZenHeathen 🇨🇦@heidilifeldman Intentional misuse like this of *any* "less-lethal" weapon just vastly increases the likelihood of "less" not being enough and "lethal" being the end point. The person holding this can needs to be in front of a judge *tomorrow* on charges of reckless endangerment, abuse of authority, aggravated assault and attempted murder.
Old Hippie Ⓥ Resistance!@heidilifeldman These thugs need some serious karma and quickly.
Sara 
@heidilifeldman I’d be surprised if this individual doesn’t go blind as a result if this. Disgusting. That can specifically is designed to disperse a large crowd. What the fuuuuuck
Dark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️🌈@heidilifeldman WTAF? This is WRONG to the point of obscenity.
🥑 Yours Truly! Unruly 🇨🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦🌻That is much worse than pepper spraying as normally thought of. That is torturing someone to near death.
Thumptastic3@heidilifeldman This is extremely dangerous to do to anyone who may have a heart condition or respiratory problem.
Gerrit 🇪🇺🌍🍉🔻This is torture, plain and simple. The perpetrators should be held to account by any country in the world, should they come in their jurisdiction.
FeloniousPunk@heidilifeldman Imagine the person who even thinks to DO this.
myndrsch@heidilifeldman
That is so cruel. Again they show us that they are cowards.
That is so cruel. Again they show us that they are cowards.
Hey Gus@heidilifeldman there are many, many Americans cheering this on. This is what they get. These woke people are not people. They’re a plague to be wiped away.
I cannot understand how anyone could cheer for suffering.
Bluesberry@heidilifeldman The linked webpage seems to have been changed and no longer has the image you posted.
An archived page is available here:
https://archive.is/2026.01.22-122948/https://www.startribune.com/ice-raids-minnesota/601546426
Alex Rosenberg@heidilifeldman Looks like a war crime to me.
Karl Auerbach@heidilifeldman I wrote about this, and some ways to cure it. We had a chance to do this during the Biden era but now it would take Congress passing a law and overriding a veto.)
"Do We Need Rubber Rooms for Federal Judges? Two Plans To Reduce The Long Tailed Impact of Trump Judicial Appointees"
Do We Need Rubber Rooms for Federal Judges? Two Plans To Reduce The Long Tailed Impact of Trump Judicial Appointees · Cavebear! - Thoughts and Commentary by Karl Auerbach
Do We Need Rubber Rooms for Federal Judges? Two Plans To Reduce The Long Tailed Impact of Trump Judicial Appointees