My name is Tou and I am a former charter school Special Education Paraprofessional. A former student I use to work with reached out to me asking for help because her family is in financial trouble due to an incident her father had with federal agents.

Her father supports a family of six (6) including the youngest child who is five years of age all of whom are citizens of the United States. Her father has not been back to work due to the traumatic incident he had experienced. Her mother works part time at a local big box store but her hours are limited. Her family relied on her father working overtime hours to pay the household bills along with other needs.

Any donations will go to help support this family to help pay for any over due and future bills, counseling, have groceries delivered to their home, and other needs.

This is what her father told me that happened to him that night:

While driving home at night after visiting family in the north suburbs of the Twin Cities in MN, he was forced to pull over by many unmarked vehicles. He was blocked in and forced to stop in an area that was dark and did not have street lights or houses. Many fully masked individuals carrying large guns surrounded his car shining flashlights into his car and on his face. They were all dressed in “SWAT” clothing and wearing vests with the word “POLICE” on them.

One agent pounded on his window and told him to open his door. He asked what he did wrong through the window. (He speaks with an “Asian” accent.) The response to this question was even harder pounding and screaming telling him to open his door or they were going to break his window and drag him out of his car. He told them that he is a US Citizen. The agent screamed at him telling him that he did not care that the father was a citizen and that he needed to “fucking open the door or else!” Fearing for his life and not seeing anyone else on the road, he reluctantly unlocked his doors for them. They ripped his door open and forcibly pulled him out of his car and slammed him against the back door of his car. They forced handcuffs onto his wrists behind his back while twisting his wrists and screaming at him to stop resisting. He told them that he was not resisting. Being a heavier set man, it was difficult for the father's arms to reach back far enough to be handcuffed. He told them that his arms could not reach back far enough and asked if they could use two handcuffs instead of just one. One agent screamed at him to shut up. He informed the agent again that he is a US citizen and that he has an enhanced ID. The agent said that he didn’t care.

They forced him to sit down on the road next to his car and told him not to move, while they searched his car. Two agents with large guns stood in front of him. They took pictures of his ID and cards in his wallet with a cell phone. All he could do was sit and watch as his car was searched and trashed. His shoulders were in horrible pain and his hands were going numb due to the handcuffs being on so tightly around his wrists. After what seemed like hours, they told him to stand up. He slowly worked his way back up to his feet not being offered any help. They forced him up against his car again. One agent told him not to move. They took his handcuffs off and told him to stay out of trouble and once his citizenship gets revoked, they would come back to get him. The agents jumped into their vehicles and drove off while laughing. He does not have any criminal charges nor have had negative interactions with law enforcement before.

He watched and made sure they were gone before he got back into his car. After, he sat in his car and started crying. He wanted to stop but he could not make himself stop crying. He looked around at his belongings scattered throughout his car. He looked for his phone and realized that his phone was missing. He knew that he had his phone with him when he left his family’s house that night. When he finally calmed down enough to drive, he slowly and quietly drove home.

His wife and children were sleeping when he got home. While taking a shower, he found himself crying again. He wondering why this had happened to him. After showering, he quietly crawled into bed. He called off work for one week straight stating he was sick and he stayed in bed the entire week. He finally summoned the courage to tell his wife and daughter about that night because he was afraid his family would be targeted and of retaliation if he told anyone. He is afraid to step outside, when people knock on their door, and especially afraid to let his children go to school. He constantly finds himself checking his surroundings. He said he was relieved that his wife and children were not with him when it happened to him. He has raised his children believing that law enforcement officers are here to help and he no longer knows what to think or believe.

I hope to raise enough funds to help get this family through the next few months of uncertainty while Minnesotans fight the federal government's occupation of Minnesota. Your donations will go towards their rent, utility, groceries, other bills and more.

Should there be money left over, it will be used to help support the many volunteers who are patrolling neighborhoods around schools to ensure our kids are receiving safe transportation to and from their places of learning.

Thank you so much for listening and remember

The stronger we are together the stronger Minnesota is!