Those of you who might have thought that bad stuff mostly occurs outside of the idyllic little bubble that is Wallingford…Wallyhood is here to shatter yet another illusion! I was spending a leisurely morning meditating with the neighbor’s borrowed (they might say, hijacked) cat Monty, when I saw a Facebook post in the Wallingford-Fremont Group, that ICE-like non-SPD “officers’ were up at Omar’s Tire Shop, at N 45th Street and Corliss Avenue N. So after making sure that at least some of my affairs were in order (it’s not like I’m white, you know), I hustled up in the morning heat to see what was what and document what I could.
What I found was…the Omar’s guys at work, as usual, but a gathering of neighbors milling about smartly. Whatever officers or semi-officers who had initiated all of this had already departed. I got the scoop from the folks who had witnessed the interaction. There were two police officers, one in a vest that read “Police,” the other in plainclothes. There was at least one drawn gun at the beginning. They questioned the employees and checked IDs. They did not apprehend anyone. Then they left. No harm, no foul, right?
Not quite. Despite creeping martial law being imposed in the nation’s lawless (blue only, it seems) urban centers, at least one of us here at Wallyhood believes we still have a reasonable expectation of being able to go about our business without intimidation. I did not speak with any of the fellows working at Omar’s, as I didn’t want to focus any more attention on them than had already been the case. But I was heartened to see neighbors and passers-by gathered out in front and discussing what had transpired. Because it DOES need to be discussed. But what else can be done?
Those of you with iPhones may have heard of the app ICEBlock. This provides a way to report ICE activities and track incidents in your vicinity. A quick check this morning showed only a couple of sightings, including the Wallingford interrogation. But the eyes of Mordor…er, Washington D.C….are increasingly upon the state of Washington. General der Border Waffen Tom Homan was just here. Generalbundesanwalt Pam Bondi has sent a threatening letter to Governor Ferguson about sanctuary cities. As Bette Davis famously said, “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”
The other thing you might consider doing is taking some of your automotive business to Omar’s. After all, they’re our neighbors, and they don’t need no stinkin’ IDs to prove that.
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Thank you for bringing this to light! With wit and humor as usual 🙂
Thank you Gary and Wallyhood for bringing this incident to our attention and providing a resource and suggestions, too. We DO need to discuss. Thinking of all who work at Omar’s Tires.
More generally:
Should the US be able to enforce border crossings and regulate non-citizen entry and residency?
Should ANY country be able to enforce border crossings and regulate non-citizen entry and residency?
If the majority of your fellow citizens answer yes to the first question, is that relevant?
This is not about regulating immigration; it’s about hate. For decades, we have allowed millions of people to come to America to support our economy, but only if they accepted a lower caste status if they were Hispanic. Now they are being treated horribly because some people would rather bully those who are different from themselves to try to feel better about their lives, instead of working together to make things better for all of us.
Look, a racist squirrel!
You made this German-speaking reader spit my coffee in laughter.
I wish Omar's would fix the "MECANIC" typo on their signage!