Free Jacob Hoopes

A young man named Jacob Hoopes went down to the ICE Building last week with a number of other Quakers to leave flowers in the driveway as a way of telling people who have been abducted by ICE that we remember them and we are doing what we can to rescue them. 

He and his partner returned home, and days later, according to a blood-curdling report made on Instagram by his girlfriend, a flood of more than twenty armed officers turned up at their home, threatened to shoot him, forced them all outdoors in their underwear, and took him away. 

Jacob was arraigned today at 1:30, and my main blip is his father, half an hour before that, addressing the crowd of about 200 people who turned up in support. His father said thank you for coming, we hope for Jacob’s release, and we want you to know that Jacob is a kind, gentle, utterly non-violent person. 

No one knows why Jacob was chosen for arrest, but my guess is that the forces of fascism chose him as a way to terrorize other protesters (violent/non-violent is a false dichotomy) into shutting up, staying home, and keeping quiet. It didn’t work. It won’t work. 

Jacob made bail and is now free, awaiting trial. We hope the charges will be dropped before it comes to trial. It is typical for agents of the state to claim someone assaulted them when in fact they assaulted that person.

Thank you all for the incredibly kind and generous response to my birthday. I am speechless but filled with appreciation for everyone who left greetings in words, stars, and hearts. I feel like Sally Field, saying, “You like me. You really like me!” with amazement, feeling equal parts of embarrassment and delight, undeserving but honored.

One more extra: after the support gathering for Jacob, I met Aimee to take her out to lunch for her 50th birthday, which came a day after my 80th. As so often happens, I forgot to check the settings on my camera before grabbing a photo of her, but I love her expression. She is in recovery from an addiction she has been fighting for a few years, and I continue to root for her.