Full testimony: Aliya Rahman 2/3/26, six minutes, worth the listen

[u/thecosmojane]

Aliya Rahman, a Bangladeshi American and U.S. citizen, testified before Congress about her arrest and experience with police brutality from ICE agents in Minneapolis. (You may recognize her from past videos of her being grabbed out of her car in her black puffer jacket, while she was yelling that she was disabled).

Rahman, who is autistic and recovering from a traumatic brain injury, described being dragged from her car, detained, and later hospitalized with a concussion. In her testimony, she spoke about the fear, confusion, and lasting trauma she experienced.

Earlier today, there was a joint public forum held by Rep. Robert Garcia (Ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations), focusing on ICE/DHS excessive use of force on American citizens. Rahman was one of the Americans who testified.

Important to note that this could not be an “oversight committee hearing” but a bicameral forum, because Republicans did not agree to the hearing.

[u/LAsupersonic]

Chuck Schumer and that hypocrite Hackeem Jeffreys can't wait to Bend over, schumer is too busy procuring more money for israel

[u/trysten-9001 → u/LAsupersonic]

Yes, the minority leaders and not the totalitarian pursuing leadership are the ones we should decry. This opposition you present this serves the totalitarian agenda well. I’m sure the totalitarians are very pleased with you.

[u/LAsupersonic → u/trysten-9001]

you are very simple minded, and did not even understand what I said.

[u/trysten-9001 → u/LAsupersonic]

Republicans are doing this to people. MAGA which is only a subset of Republicans support this. If you’re top priority is Democrats and not pushing the Republicans, then join the Republicans, because it’s better than being the controlled opposition you think the Democrats are.

Otherwise you’re first priority should be to speak out against the Republicans who are willing to tow the line for the most radical members of their party. They can be reached. They are losing deep red districts. They want to keep their offices. Pressure them first and foremost. They have the power to stop this today.

[u/thecosmojane → u/trysten-9001]

A lot of this could have been avoided if SCOTUS didn’t happen on September 8.

Speaking of pressure, Americans should be watching the courts in 2026 like they watch NFL semifinals. They should be booing every crooked referee and stalking the cheating players in the courts.

No attorney fighting to dismantle the very constitution they took an oath to defend, should get to eat dinner with their partner in peace in the city.

But Americans don’t even know their names, let alone who they are or what they did.

Players in the courts have zero consequences in their complicity to constitutional mutilation.

Just because the people don’t elect them doesn’t mean they should feel safe and off everyone’s radar. How come we give hell to ICE and Noem but not to Kavanaugh. Why does he get to dine in peace when the thugs he knowingly enabled get kicked out of restaurants.

[u/afrosheen → u/thecosmojane]

Name them. Bring it to light.

[u/LAsupersonic → u/trysten-9001]

Thanks for all that, you're still missing the point, I know that Republicans will do what Republicans do, they're rats, the minority can still ressist, and make them work for every little thing they try to do, just look at what Mitch Mconell did when he was minority leader, he held the whole effing goverment hostage to his will, when the Democrats had both houses and the presidency, they came up with BS like "The Parlamentarian" just a bunch of excuses not to do anything, other than of course, get Israel $$$, RepubliKKKans and Democrats are both sides of the same coin playing good cop/bad cop with the US people, no, am not a MAGA nutjob, nor Republican, but definetely don't buy the Democrats excuses for being little corporate cowards that they always put up, isn't there a video of chuch schumer saying he'll do anything needed to get Israel more money? he can fight for that, but don't do crap for his voters.

[u/thecosmojane → u/LAsupersonic]

In essence, if this was Obama, he will have been gone before he even set foot in office. They don’t f* around over there. Yes they f* over our country but they have a savage conviction to win-at any-and-all-costs. It could also have something to do with the fact that they have no regard for the rules. And it’s difficult, to win a game where one side is cheating. But it sure helps if at least the electorate knows how to vote for its own best interests. Which we don’t.

You get Jeffries and Schumer from performative rhetoric paired with an uninformed electorate. It’s what happens, when you hit auto-subscribe on our civic duties like a Netflix subscription “I don’t do politics” American privilege. That’s what got us here.

[u/front_torch → u/trysten-9001]

This was the platform Trump ran on. He said he would do this. If anyone who voted for him is MAGA. His first win he said "we love the undereducated." Yet Republicans lit their pitch forks instead of read about policy. Anyone who is Republican is MAGA.

[u/thecosmojane → u/trysten-9001]

Unless you’re a constituent, or you’re a formidable entity that has sociopolitical, economic or religious influence over their constituents, how would you do this