Behind the Bastards

It Could Happen Here Weekly 216

January 24, 2026

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  • The episode highlights the escalating, violent tactics of ICE, framing them as a rolling ethnic cleansing campaign where community support and visibility are crucial countermeasures against the state's efforts to disappear and terrorize vulnerable immigrants like Albeiro. 
  • The discussion contrasts the rapid fundraising success for the case of white victim Renee Ann Goode with the comparatively slow support for immigrant Albeiro, underscoring how white supremacy influences public empathy and resource allocation in activist efforts. 
  • Federal authorities arrested four alleged members of the 'Turtle Island Liberation Front' for conspiring to carry out a New Year's Eve bombing plot, with the indictment detailing extensive operational security measures allegedly planned by the group, including the use of burner phones and specific clothing protocols. 
  • The indictment against the Turtle Island Liberation Front details alleged plans for ICE bombings, including discussions of operational security and extremist rhetoric, all while the group was infiltrated by federal informants. 
  • The conflict surrounding the Federal Reserve's independence, highlighted by threats against Chairman Jerome Powell, represents a major struggle over control of the U.S. economy's primary macroeconomic policy lever. 
  • The response to ICE raids in Minneapolis reveals deep community solidarity against federal occupation, juxtaposed with the federal government's aggressive use of law enforcement and legal statutes like the Klan Act against protesters. 
  • Donald Trump's aggressive foreign policy, exemplified by threatening NATO allies over military exercises in Greenland (which he confused with Iceland), triggered discussions about the EU's powerful 'Trade Bazooka' (Anti-Coercion Instrument) and the potential for economic retaliation that could threaten the US dollar's reserve currency status. 
  • The political discourse is shifting, as evidenced by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at DAVOS explicitly calling the 'rules-based international order' a convenient fiction that the US has historically exempted itself from. 
  • The conflict in Syria is rapidly deteriorating into a full-scale inter-ethnic conflict, marked by the Syrian Transitional Government's forces committing documented atrocities against captured fighters and displacing Kurdish populations, while ICE appears to be broadening its authority to use force when entering homes based on administrative warrants. 

Segments

Compilation Episode Introduction
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(00:01:08)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode is a compilation of the week’s content with fewer ads.
  • Summary: Robert Evans introduces the episode as a compilation of the week’s content for listeners who prefer a single, condensed package.
ICE Repression and Ethnic Cleansing
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(00:01:44)
  • Key Takeaway: ICE and Border Patrol are carrying out a ‘rolling ethnic cleansing’ involving violence and raids.
  • Summary: Bia Wong and Ellie Bell discuss the ongoing crisis of ethnic cleansing carried out by ICE, highlighting recent hideous shootings and the general state of detention.
Focus on Albero’s Detention Case
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(00:02:49)
  • Key Takeaway: Ellie Bell is organizing to free Albero, a father detained in Indiana after being transferred from Chicago.
  • Summary: Ellie Bell introduces her specific focus: helping Albero, a father and husband, who is currently detained in an ICE center.
Shifting ICE Raids and Tactics
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(00:03:40)
  • Key Takeaway: ICE raids are shifting locations (e.g., Minneapolis) but continue elsewhere, often with reduced personnel.
  • Summary: Discussion on the fast-moving nature of ICE repression, noting that raids continue even where ICE has nominally pulled out, though frequency is down due to personnel shortages.
Recent ICE Shootings and Murders
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(00:05:36)
  • Key Takeaway: ICE has recently killed at least 11 people, including the execution of Renee Ann Good in the street.
  • Summary: Ellie details recent egregious ICE actions, including the killing of a woman named Renee and subsequent shootings in Portland, framing these as escalation tactics.
Albero’s Character and Inhumanity
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(00:08:08)
  • Key Takeaway: Albero is a vital community figure, but the hosts stress that no immigrant deserves inhumane treatment regardless of their status.
  • Summary: Details about Albero’s life in Chicago, his role as a father figure, and the community’s high regard for him are shared.
Details of Albero’s Illegal Arrest
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(00:10:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Albero and his wife were seized in the early morning without a warrant, violating Chicago’s NAVA consent decree.
  • Summary: The specific events of the Monday morning arrest are recounted: windows slightly down, heading to work, and ICE agents acting without prior identification.
Racial Disparity in Public Empathy
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(00:11:41)
  • Key Takeaway: White victims receive vastly more financial support than non-white victims, which fuels ICE’s belief that they can target brown people without consequence.
  • Summary: The host contrasts the massive fundraising success for Renee Ann Goode with Albero’s meager campaign funds, linking this to systemic white supremacy.
The Need for Collective Witnessing
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(00:15:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Paying attention and witnessing is crucial, as ICE targets individuals when they are alone; collective presence deters violence.
  • Summary: Discussion on how ICE prefers to ‘pick off people when they’re on their own’ and the importance of showing up in solidarity.
Labor Imbalance in Activism
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(00:17:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Privileged individuals are failing to utilize their privilege, placing undue labor burdens on already vulnerable organizers.
  • Summary: Ellie Bell calls out those with privilege who are not contributing labor (donating, sharing, calling Congress) to support vulnerable community members.
ICE Deceit and Weaponized Fear
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(00:19:46)
  • Key Takeaway: ICE agents used deceit, including trying to trick Albero’s wife into signing voluntary deportation papers in English.
  • Summary: The story continues with details of the arrest, including a gun pointed at the wife, and the subsequent attempt to trick her into signing documents she couldn’t read.
ICE Hiring Lapses and Control
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(00:32:58)
  • Key Takeaway: ICE is hiring agents with zero background checks, indicating their priority is terrorizing people, not justice.
  • Summary: News that ICE is conducting zero background checks on applicants is discussed, reinforcing the idea that the goal is control and annihilation, not accurate enforcement.
Incentivizing ICE Agents to Quit
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(00:34:32)
  • Key Takeaway: The difficulty ICE has in recruiting suggests that making their lives miserable could lead to mass resignations.
  • Summary: The hosts discuss making life hell for ICE agents (e.g., do not let them buy groceries) to encourage them to quit their jobs.
Albero’s Life-Threatening Health Conditions
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(00:26:59)
  • Key Takeaway: Albero has a severe seizure disorder, and missed medication doses could be fatal, highlighting the immediate danger in detention.
  • Summary: Focus shifts back to Albero’s micro-level conditions, specifically his need for twice-daily seizure medication and the terror of missed check-ins.
Precedent Setting and Deaths in Custody
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(00:38:07)
  • Key Takeaway: What happens to Albero sets a precedent for how ICE treats others; his survival is crucial to prevent more deaths.
  • Summary: The discussion returns to the broader context, mentioning other recent deaths in custody (like Marie Angeblais) and the need to fight for Albero to set a positive precedent.
Legal Advantage: NAVA Decree Violation
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(00:42:59)
  • Key Takeaway: The illegal nature of Albero’s stop in Chicago (violating the NAVA consent decree) provides a legal opening for his release.
  • Summary: The hosts identify the illegal nature of the stop as a key advantage, allowing lawyers to file a habeas petition based on the violation of the Chicago-specific decree.
Firearms Training and ICE Plot
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(01:12:56)
  • Key Takeaway: Paige allegedly planned to shoot ICE officials and sought firearms training.
  • Summary: Discussion of Paige asking about firearms training and detailing a plan to shoot ICE officials, stating ‘we shoot first, we ask questions later.’
Security Folklore and Informants
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(01:14:34)
  • Key Takeaway: Defendants used security folklore while working with federal informants.
  • Summary: The host finds it interesting that defendants recommended security practices like deleting messages while working with an FBI informant and an undercover agent.
Future Attacks and Black Lotus
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(01:15:08)
  • Key Takeaway: Plans were discussed to target ICE agents with pipe bombs in early 2026.
  • Summary: Paige and Carol discussed targeting ICE agents with pipe bombs after the New Year’s Eve plot. They added co-conspirators to the ‘Order of the Black Lotus’ chat.
Radical Chat Messages
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(01:16:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Members expressed extreme anti-USA and pro-terrorist sentiments in group chats.
  • Summary: Paige messaged ‘death to Israel, death to the USA,’ and Carol responded, ‘I identify as a terrorist, and I am a Hamas fangirl.’
Sourcing Bomb Components
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(01:17:36)
  • Key Takeaway: The group used a chat to coordinate sourcing materials for bombs and testing sites.
  • Summary: The Black Lotus Group chat was used to discuss sourcing bomb-making parts (PVC pipes, potassium nitrate) and coordinates for explosives testing.
Bomb Testing and Arrests
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(01:21:25)
  • Key Takeaway: The group conducted a test run in the desert before being arrested by the FBI.
  • Summary: Carol explained the desert trip was a test run for the New Year’s Eve bombing plot. FBI personnel intervened and arrested Carroll, Paige, Garfield, and Lai at the campsite.
Federal Reserve Structure and Power
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(01:29:19)
  • Key Takeaway: The Fed’s independence is crucial because it controls the money supply and economic levers.
  • Summary: The host explains why the Supreme Court balked at Trump firing Fed members, noting the Fed is the central institution of global capitalism and controls macroeconomic policy levers.
Fed Money Creation and Interest Rates
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(01:38:20)
  • Key Takeaway: The Fed prints money as debt (Federal Reserve notes) and controls the economy via interest rates.
  • Summary: Discussion on how the Fed prints money as U.S. debt and how the target federal funds rate, influenced by the interest on reserve balances (IORB), sets the cost of borrowing.
Asset Keynesianism and Market Bubbles
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(01:54:13)
  • Key Takeaway: The ‘Greenspan put’ (lowering rates to prop up markets) caused past bubbles like 2008.
  • Summary: The host explains that the Greenspan era policy of lowering rates whenever the market dipped, called asset Keynesianism, is responsible for major economic collapses.
Minneapolis ICE Raids Fallout
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(02:06:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Community resistance is high against federal agents following the shooting of a bystander.
  • Summary: Details of an ICE chase in Minneapolis where bystanders intervened, leading to an agent shooting one man. The community is highly organized in watching out for ICE.
Trump on Renee Good’s Parents
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(02:19:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Trump expressed concern that the parents of a victim killed by ICE might stop supporting him.
  • Summary: A clip shows Trump discussing the death of Renee Good, noting with apparent distress that her parents were ’tremendous Trump fans.'
Trump’s Fan Distress vs. Real Crimes
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(02:21:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Trump appears genuinely upset over a fan’s disapproval despite his administration’s severe actions.
  • Summary: Discussion on Donald Trump’s apparent genuine upset over a fan not liking him, contrasting this with the fact that his ‘secret police murdered that guy’s daughter.’
ICE Fraud Focus vs. Trump Pardons
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(02:22:12)
  • Key Takeaway: ICE targets COVID relief fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community while Trump pardons white-collar fraudsters.
  • Summary: Coverage of ICE Operation Metro Surge targeting COVID relief fraud in Minnesota, contrasted with Trump pardoning 11 white-collar fraudsters.
Greenland vs. Iceland Confusion
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(02:23:42)
  • Key Takeaway: Trump confuses Greenland and Iceland, leading to a discussion referencing The Mighty Ducks.
  • Summary: The hosts discuss Trump calling Greenland ‘Iceland’ and use a quote from The Mighty Ducks to help distinguish the two locations.
Trump’s Greenland Tariffs Threat
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(02:25:44)
  • Key Takeaway: Trump levied tariffs against NATO allies for deploying troops to Greenland, viewing it as a personal slight.
  • Summary: Detailing how Trump reacted to EU/Danish military deployment in Greenland by threatening 10% tariffs, which he later backed off from.
Unhinged Texts to World Leaders
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(02:28:02)
  • Key Takeaway: The release of Trump’s unpunctuated, demanding texts to world leaders highlights his erratic communication style.
  • Summary: Reading and analyzing Trump’s released text messages to the Norwegian PM and French President Macron regarding the Nobel Prize and Greenland.
EU’s Trade Bazooka Options
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(02:37:04)
  • Key Takeaway: The EU has two main retaliatory options against US trade coercion: targeted tariffs or the extreme ‘Trade Bazooka.’
  • Summary: Explanation of the EU’s planned retaliatory tariffs (hitting red states) and the much more severe ‘Trade Bazooka,’ an anti-coercion instrument.
Dollar Reserve Status Under Threat
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(02:44:32)
  • Key Takeaway: The threat of the EU dumping US Treasury bonds endangers the dollar’s reserve currency status, panicking markets.
  • Summary: Analysis of a Deutsche Bank report suggesting the EU could stop buying US Treasury bonds, threatening the dollar’s global status, which may have caused Trump to back down.
Carney Calls Out Rules-Based Order
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(02:48:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Canadian PM Mark Carney publicly admitted the ‘rules-based international order’ was a fiction serving US hegemony.
  • Summary: Reviewing Mark Carney’s Davos speech where he stated the international order was a useful lie that is now broken due to great powers weaponizing integration.
Trump Claims Leaders Call Him Daddy
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(02:53:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Trump claimed European leaders called him ‘daddy’ after he confused Greenland with Iceland.
  • Summary: Playing a clip of Trump at Davos confusing Greenland and Iceland, and his press secretary’s weak defense that he called it an ‘ice land.’
Horrific Violence in Iran Protests
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(02:56:15)
  • Key Takeaway: Hundreds have been killed in Iran protests, with victims identified only by viewing brutalized remains in mortuaries.
  • Summary: Update on the ongoing protests in Iran, detailing the scale of state violence and the horrific process families undergo to identify the dead.
Syria Conflict Escalates to Ethnic War
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(02:57:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Fighting in Syria is accelerating toward interethnic conflict following tribal flips and summary executions of SDF fighters.
  • Summary: Discussion on the rapid loss of AANES territory, the involvement of Iraqi Kurdish groups, and the fear of ethnic cleansing in Syria.
ICE Gains Power to Enter Homes
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(03:03:53)
  • Key Takeaway: ICE believes it can now use force to enter homes with only an administrative warrant, signaling increased violence.
  • Summary: Reporting on the change in ICE policy allowing forced entry into homes based on administrative warrants rather than judicial warrants.