This is NOT a Sunday story – It’s a very political look at our times.
Marathon Training
I am not a marathon runner. In fact, after decades of coaching and running distance, my knees won’t handle “the strain” of running anymore. I am relegated (on the shelf) to an elliptical machine. You just don’t get much scenery or companionship on those “runs”.
But I’ve been around plenty of marathoners over the years, and I understand the dedication it takes to cover 26.2 miles on foot. One of the “sacred” moments in marathon training, is the Sunday “long run”. The marathon distance has a different impact on the body than shorter races. It’s actually pretty simple. Most well trained human bodies can store about twenty miles worth of energy. But, somewhere around that twenty mile mark, the marathoner hits “the wall”. All of the regular stored energy is exhausted, and muscles have to “switch fuels”, literally in mid-stride.
Some runners can’t get through that transition, cramp up, and are unable to continue. The Sunday “long run” takes runners to that edge, without pushing too far beyond it. That way their bodies learn to adapt, without needing as much post-run recovery (they’ll need that after the full marathon). It’s a physiological necessity to “teach” a body how to deal with “the wall”.
ICE Block
Even folks my age still compete. And that leads us to a whole different story. A sixty-seven year-old marathoner was coming home from a Sunday “long-run” with his training team in Chicago. Of course he was tired; long-run days burn a lot of fuel, even you don’t get to the twenty-mile mark. He turned his car onto his street and found ICE blocking the way.
He rolled down his window and asked to go home, only to be “greeted” with demands that he move his car. As he started to explain, the car door jerked open, and two “bully-boy” ICE agents in full combat regalia dragged him out of the car. Did he resist? Maybe, he didn’t have a lot of choice. He was a “skinny” distance runner against powerful young agents. He was surprised, even shocked at their response. Wouldn’t you resist in the same situation (Reddit)?
Neighbors
The neighborhood, already on the street, reacted. Folks ran up to the ICE agents, screaming for them to release their friend. (By the way, the runner was a US citizen). Profanity rang out, as ICE agents threatened any civilian who dared to get in the way of their “apprehension”. Ultimately, the sixty-seven year old was hospitalized, with broken ribs and internal bleeding. Those injures were from the knees driven into his back as he was thrust face-down on the pavement.
This is America: a normally quiet street on Sunday in Chicago, prepared for their annual kids Halloween parade. Instead, tear gas filled the air. If it was your community, your neighbor face-down on the ground, what would you do?
Violence Begats Violence
Five years ago we watched George Floyd murdered in slow-motion on the street in Minneapolis. Police stood “guard” over their fellow officer as he slowly crushed the life from Floyd over nine minutes. We know, because we could watch all nine minutes on cell phone video, courageously taken by a bystander. The officer on top of Floyd, Derek Chauvin, was convicted and sentenced 22 ½ years in prison for second degree murder.
Bystanders recorded their neighbor in Chicago on the ground as well, despite ICE agents aggressively ordering everyone to stand aside. Violence begats violence. So how long will Americans stand aside and let ICE act as “bully-boys”? At what point will the neighbors say that this terrorizing campaign is enough? What will the consequences be when ICE creates violence and a neighborhood responds in kind?
Respect
We are all taught to respect authority. On a local level, I have a ton of respect for the police, prosecutors, and those others who risk their lives to protect mine. I know them, and I know how difficult their job can be. But at what point does the Trump Administration depend on that “respect”, to cover their own atrocious behavior? That’s exactly what they want: folks terrorized in their own streets and homes. ICE directs violence to enforce Trump’s own political views. In fact, there’s not enough violence for Trump yet. Some ICE Regional directors aren’t “all-in” on the abuse. They are being removed, and more compliant replacements inserted to do whatever it takes to keep their job.
That includes injuring kids, pregnant women, and sixty-seven year old runners home from “long-run Sunday”. And what about those who really are undocumented migrants? Well, God help them, because ICE is on the way. What will the bystanders, us “regular” American citizens do: continue to stand by and watch, or take action? What do you expect?
