"I Went to Minneapolis to Bear Witness--and to Make Amends"

[Nevilledog]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/rob-schenck-i-went-to-minneapolis-to-bear-witness-and-to-make-amends/


From the moment I learned of “The Call,” an appeal to religious professionals across the country to come to Minneapolis to join with local clergy and bear witness against aggressive and now deadly ICE operations in that city, I knew that I had to go. Our mission would also involve shielding vulnerable neighbors, community members, and parishioners from the violence inflicted by the federal government.

I had participated in more than my share of protests, and many of them, over decades, when I helped lead an extreme wing of the conservative religiopolitical movement. I blockaded abortion clinics, demonstrated in pro-life marches, and held press conferences after Supreme Court decisions that cut to the heart of the conservative agenda–gay marriage, for instance. Obviously, this Call to Minneapolis was very different, and I answered because, for the last twelve years, I have been trying to make amends for having played such a significant role as an evangelical Christian minister in the aggressive push to transform the United States into a “Christian nation.” I helped lay the groundwork for Donald Trump’s presidency and the imposition of Christian Nationalism as America’s officially privileged and highly destructive religion. I was dead wrong in doing so.

Now, I will spend the rest of my life attempting to put the same level of energy and commitment into causes aligned with the teachings of mercy, tolerance, and love that first drew me to evangelical Christianity. Minneapolis was such a cause.

In view of forecasted double-digit sub-zero temperatures, I had to scramble to procure the necessary gear to spare me from hypothermia. But I was also told to bring something else, which I’ve never packed, much less knew how to purchase: a military-grade gas mask. After watching several YouTube videos on the subject, I had one shipped to a friend’s address in suburban Minneapolis to avoid having it confiscated at airport security. I was ready to meet the moment.

Or so I thought.

*snip*