The Minneapolis working class has once again demonstrated that the state’s repressive apparatus is not merely a backdrop to capitalist exploitation—it is its very engine. On the night of February 11, 2026, federal immigration agents, under the banner of Operation Metro Surge, unleashed chemical irritants at close range against demonstrators in Minneapolis. The scene was a textbook illustration of how the modern capitalist state, in its imperialist phase, uses violence to protect the interests of capital and suppress the working class.
The immediate trigger was the murder of Renée Good, a garment worker, by ICE officer Jonathan Ross on January 7, 2026. Good was unarmed, yet she was shot three times—once in the forearm, once in the breast, and finally in the head—while speaking to an agent who was recording her on his phone. Her death was not an isolated incident; it was the latest in a pattern of state violence that has become increasingly brazen. Since July 2025, at least 17 open-fire incidents involving federal immigration agents have been documented, a statistic that should send shivers down the spine of any serious student of class struggle.
The February 11 confrontation was not a spontaneous outburst of anger. It was the working class’s response to a state that has made its presence felt in immigrant neighborhoods through aggressive raids, mass arrests, and the systematic intimidation of the most vulnerable sections of the proletariat. The use of chemical irritants at close range is not a tactical error; it is a calculated escalation. It signals that the ruling class is prepared to use any means necessary to maintain its grip on power, even when the cost in human lives and social stability is high.
What makes this episode particularly significant is its connection to the broader class struggle. The garment industry, where Renée Good worked, is a microcosm of the global capitalist system—a system that exploits workers for profit while subjecting them to arbitrary violence. The murder of Good was not an aberration; it was a manifestation of the same logic that drives the capitalist state to crush any challenge to its authority. The demonstrators in Minneapolis were not merely protesting immigration enforcement; they were striking at the very foundations of the capitalist state.
The use of chemical irritants is a reminder of the state’s reliance on terror as a tool of governance. In the early twentieth century, the Tsarist regime in Russia relied on the Okhrana to suppress revolutionary activity. Today, the ICE and other federal agencies play a similar role, but with a more sophisticated arsenal. The chemical irritants deployed in Minneapolis are the modern equivalent of the batons and tear gas used by the police in the early days of the Russian Revolution. They are tools of the ruling class to keep the working class in check.
The Minneapolis episode also highlights the importance of international solidarity. The struggle against ICE is not an isolated fight; it is part of a global battle against imperialism and racism. The capitalist state uses immigration enforcement as a means to divide the working class, pitting one section against another. By uniting workers across national and ethnic lines, the Minneapolis demonstrators have shown that the only way to defeat the state’s repressive apparatus is through collective action.
The February 11 confrontation is a call to arms for the working class. It is a reminder that the state will not relinquish its power without a fight. The murder of Renée Good and the use of chemical irritants against demonstrators are not isolated incidents; they are symptoms of a deeper crisis in the capitalist system. The only way to end this crisis is to overthrow the capitalist state and replace it with a workers’ democracy—a dictatorship of the proletariat that will use its power to dismantle the structures of exploitation and oppression.
The Minneapolis working class has once again shown that it is capable of rising to the occasion. The February 11 confrontation is a testament to the resilience and determination of the proletariat. It is a reminder that the struggle for socialism is not a distant dream but a concrete reality that is being fought on the streets every day. The state may have its chemical irritants and its guns, but it does not have the working class’s resolve. As long as there is a struggle, there is hope.