Soldier of Fortune Magazine The Journal of Professional Adventurers
ANALYSIS by Susan Katz Keating
The agent’s helmet fell off, and a loaded 30-round magazine fell out of its pouch, our correspondent tells us. He recovered his helmet, but not the ammunition.
A lone federal agent running on ice never should become an object lesson in the workings of crowd mentality. But that is exactly what unfolded on Wednesday, and our correspondent was there to watch it happen.
During a night of kinetic street activity in Minneapolis, an ICE agent became separated from his unit. As he ran to rejoin his team, about 60-75 agitators broke off and chased him, according to our on-scene reporter, Owen Thorne. As the crowd closed distance, the agent slipped on ice and went down hard.
His helmet fell off. A loaded 30-round magazine fell out of its pouch.
The crowd screamed at him as he scrambled to get up.
City police were on hand at the larger scene. They did nothing.
Our correspondent, Owen Thorne, recognized the danger immediately.
“I thought I was going to have to go in and help him,” Owen told me. “I couldn’t leave that kid alone. I thought they were going to beat him.”
Video from Owen Thorne. Some in the crowd are screaming; others are observing or are journalists. We trimmed this to remove identifying information about the ICE agent.
Owen knows what that moment looks like.
He fought in Mogadishu. He has reported extensively from combat in Ukraine. He has lived through urban conflict when it collapses into close-range violence. He understands when a crowd is merely loud, and when it is primed for violence. He knows the difference between protest and rage.
That distinction matters.
Last night, the agent who fell managed to regain his footing. He picked up his helmet, but did not recover the ammunition. People in the crowd scooped it up, Owen told me. Its whereabouts is unknown to Soldier of Fortune.
The agent made it safely across federal lines to join his team.
Only then did the situation de-escalate. Not because the crowd went home, and not because police intervened. But because the agent reached a boundary that for now still means something.
READ MORE: Wrong Turn, Right Tactics: Surviving a Riot From Behind the Wheel
I am not concerned that protesters were angry. Anger is common. I am, however, concerned that a crowd felt empowered to chase a lone federal officer while local law enforcement apparently did nothing.
This is not “civil standby,” as many police departments do. It is abdication.
Minneapolis police did not immediately return a call from Soldier of Fortune.
Recognizing the results of abdication requires experience, not hindsight. It falls under risk assessment. That is why Soldier of Fortune has long relied on correspondents who understand personal risk firsthand. For that reason, many have written under pseudonyms. I have done so myself. It is not theater. It is protection, prompted by necessity.
Thorne writes under a pseudonym because he understands risk as a professional. His background is not hypothetical. When he says a situation was on the brink, that judgment carries weight.
READ MORE from Owen Thorne: New Use For Old Howitzers: On the Front Lines With Ukrainian Artillery Unit
This incident was not a clash of ideologies. It was a stress test of whether an angry crowd can restrain itself once it builds up a head of steam. On Wednesday night, the crowd chased a lone ICE agent. The crowd cheered as the man fell. But it did not continue to chase him across the line of yellow police tape.
That’s the good news.
The most troubling detail may be the simplest one. Police were close enough to watch, yet did nothing.
Once crowds see that pattern, they remember it.
Susan Katz Keating is the publisher of Soldier of Fortune and has reported extensively from conflict zones and periods of civil unrest.
