Sending pictures and video to the Sheriff’s department and using far right media to demonize immigrant justice organizers was how Rep. Rigas responded to being called out for criminalizing immigrants

On Sunday, I posted an article about a Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE action where activists confronted state lawmakers for their co-sponsorship of bills that would criminalize and acts of compassion or solidarity with immigrants and attempt to limit local municipalities to adopt ordinances that would impede ICE from terrorizing undocumented immigrants.

One of the State Representatives that the group visited was Rep. Angela Rigas, who lives in Alton, MI. She would not come out to talk with people and the only time people went on her property was to knock on the door to give her a document demanding she retract her support these anti-immigrant bills. Movimiento Cosecha has as one of its core principles to practice non-violence in their organizing and resistance work.

Despite there being no real threats against Rep. Rigas, other than to challenge her co-sponsorship of bills that will punish even allies who act in solidarity with the undocumented community, here is how she responded on social media:

Today, far left extremist protestors unlawfully trespassed on my property in an attempt to intimidate and harass me for co-sponsoring a package of bills aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. When extremists don’t get their way, this is the kind of abhorrent behavior they resort to, and I will NOT cave to their insane demands. I will ALWAYS prioritize the safety of American citizens over dangerous illegal criminals! A police report has been filed and all Ring recordings have been turned in to the Kent County Sheriff’s Department.

This is how those who are part of systems of power and oppression respond, which is to say in petty ways on social media. However, the more problematic issue is that Rep. Rigas sent pictures to the Kent County Sheriff’s office, which has a long track record of working with ICE. Equally problematic is that Rep. Rigas shared her information with a far right news outlet know as the Midwesterner, which posted a story on Sunday entitled, VIDEO: Masked leftist agitators vandalize Rep. Angela Rigas’ home over anti-illegal immigration bills.

Before talking about how awful this story is I think it is important to note that the founder of The Midwesterner is Kyle Olson. Before he founded this awful far right echo-chamber, Oslon used to do a radio show and before that he a reporter for Brietbart News. In addition, Kyle Olson was a campaign advisor for Tudor Dixon’s failed gubernatorial campaign in 2022, plus Olson is a regular on Tudor Dixon’s podcast.

The article on The Midwesterner is problematic in the following ways. First, the article is essentially a form of stenography, where Kyle Olson essentially just reports on what Rep. Rigas shared with him. Second, there was no vandalism, nothing was broken and nothing was destroyed.

Third, most of the people who had a mask on were wearing COVID masks, since long COVID is a reality that those who believe in science acknowledge. Therefore, calling people masked leftists agitators is just a way to over-simplify and distort who came to the home of Rep. Rigas. Labeling people who oppose oppression is part of the far right playbook, since it appeals to supporters of the far right and allows them to easily demonize anyone who opposes what politicians like Rep. Rigas are advocating for.

Fourth, in The Midwesterner article it states, “Video obtained exclusively by The Midwesterner shows a large group of pro-illegal alien agitators, including several masked, chanting outside the home of state Rep. Angela Rigas on Saturday.” The video that Kyle Olson is referring to was from a person who showed up and sat on the from porch of the home of Rep. Rigas. This was a guy who was called by Rep. Rigas, who not only tried to hit people standing along the road with his truck, but had this decal on the rear window of his truck.

Fifth, in the subheading from The Midwesterner, it reads, Rigas unintimidated: ‘I will ALWAYS prioritize the safety of American citizens over dangerous illegal criminals!’” Again, this is standard far right playbook tactics, which does two things. The subheading merely wants to demonize immigrants by calling them “dangerous illegal immigrants.” However, actual facts can dismantle the mantra of “undocumented immigrants are criminals.” The National Institute of Justice wrote in September of 2024, “An NIJ-funded study examining data from the Texas Department of Public Safety estimated the rate at which undocumented immigrants are arrested for committing crimes. The study found that undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crimes and a quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes.”

The other issues with using this quote from Rep. Rigas is that there is no effort to verify that Rep. Rigas actually does anything to keep American citizens safe. In fact, Rep. Rigas has always supported the funding of cops, which doesn’t keep people safe, and is well documented in this report by Interrupting Criminalization. Rep. Rigas also has voted to take away Trans rights and workers rights, which also do not keep residents of Michigan safe.

Sixth, as I wrote in my article from Sunday, Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE attached a document to the front door of the home of Rep. Rigas, demanding that she retract her support for these anti-immigrant bills, which also included signatures from several of the people who participated. Kyle Olson wrote in his article, “Remarkably, several of the agitators signed their names to the sign.” People signed the document because they are committed to being in solidarity with undocumented immigrants, even if these anti-immigrants bills are adopted. For Kyle Olsen to say this was :remarkable” demonstrates his ignorance of history where people signed similar documents as a public show of solidarity. One example from history would be from the Confessing Church in Germany, where they made it publicly know through the Barmen Declaration that they would resist the Nazi Party and harbor Jews and other communities being targeted by Hitler’s regime.

Lastly, what is important for people to understand apart from what State Rep. Rigas did by using state carceral violence as a response, is the fact that people on her Facebook page and those that are likely consumers of The Midwesterner are not shy about saying that those who showed up to confront Rep. Rigas should be met with violence and repression. What Rep. Rigas did, along with The Midwesterner, was to dox those who were non-violently resisting those who have an anti-immigration agenda. Doxxing by the far right is always dangerous, but especially now since the White House overtly supports the doxxing of activists who are resisting state violence and groups on the far right that are engaged in their own forms of violence in the streets.

For those who want to learn more about doxxing and how to better protect yourself from being doxxed, check out this zine from Sprout Distro.