@john-abernathy.bsky.social
Independent Documentary Photographer Bearing witness without permission. No badge. No distance. 📍Minneapolis https://linktr.ee/john_abernathy_
Which is what drew me to take the photo. And very quickly yelled at by security.
23.01.2026 22:10 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0thank you Ger
23.01.2026 02:45 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0This is inside the Warren E. Burger Federal Building, St. Paul.
The courthouse was put on lockdown. Everyone was ordered out. We were told more information might be coming, but no one was allowed to stay to hear it.
Supporters have been told the defendants do not have access to their lawyers.
Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Allen, Monique Doty, and Will Kelly were arrested by federal authorities today for the Cities Church protest.
The Pastor, David Easterwood is also serving as an ICE field office director.
No one has been released.
1.22.26
📍St. Paul
A clash of anti-ICE protestors and border patrol police
A clash of anti-ICE protestors and border patrol police. Protestors are pushed by the agents into the snow.
A female protestor dressed as a clown holds a sign “Assholes go home”.
2/2 January 15, outside the Whipple Federal building. The photos leading up to when I was detained.
1.15.2026
📍Minneapolis
A clash of anti-ICE protestors and border patrol police
Right-wing agitators raise the American flag and use a megaphone to provoke protestors
U.S Customs and Border patrol police stand their grown as they face off protestors
1/2 January 15 outside the Whipple Federal Building. The photos leading up to when I was detained.
Non-lethal munitions were fired and tear-gas deployed. People were shoved, tackled, and pepper sprayed.
Right-wing agitators were also present, largely left untouched.
1.15.2026
📍Minneapolis
Speaking with HuffPost following January 15, Minneapolis.
www.huffpost.com/entry/john-a...
Man known as @dawokefarmer raises the American flag upside down.
Right-wing agitator raises the American flag as ICE agents and border patrol police stand behind him outside of the Whipple Federal Building entrance.
Agents and protestors clash as the American flag divides the crowd.
The American flag was present throughout. Moving through different hands and different meanings as the situation shifted. Present in the escalation, the resistance, and the enforcement.
There was no single version of this moment.
1.15.2026
📍Minneapolis
Man known as @dawokefarmer raises the American flag upside down while standing infront of a line of border patrol police.
Two right-wing agitators both hold the American flag, attempting to rile the crowd.
The American flag flies above signs reading “Inflict Chaos Everywhere” and “Trump is a Traitor”.
Protestors and agents stand off as the American flag remains upside down.
The symbol stays the same. The context does not.
These are the photos leading up to when I was detained on January 15th. Protests continued as ICE activity brought people outside of Whipple Federal Building. Demonstrators gathered while agents forced their way in the crowd as tensions escalated.
Isaiah Blackwell, the man unaffiliated with Lang, who led him out of the crowd later posted to Facebook: “I DID WHAT GOD INSTRUCTED ME TO DO IF A ACT OF LOVE & GRACE OFFENDED ANY HUMAN RACE JUST PRAY...GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR 🤲🏾👽”.
19.01.2026 16:32 — 👍 67 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0
Crowd presses against a stone building as Minnesotans push forward; Jake Lang stands in a window. Multiple photographers raise cameras during a chaotic confrontation. A Somali man not affiliated with Lang stands beside him, trying to calm the chaos.
Minneapolis Police officers in tactical gear stand beside an open police transport vehicle, with officers entering and exiting the van.
Tightly packed crowd scene with protesters and photographers pressed together as a confrontation unfolds at street level. Once again, Jake is guided by men not associated with him.
A person wearing a Donald Trump mask walks across a downtown Minneapolis street as protesters move behind them holding signs opposing ICE.
2/2 Jake Lang’s march ended before it began. SWAT threatened dispersal and use of non-lethal munitions, then left. Jake Lang later fled through a nearby hotel.
Minneapolis · 1.17.2026
One of my favorite comments ever
19.01.2026 14:18 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
1/2 An attempted anti-Islam march led by far-right figure Jake Lang was shut down by community opposition at City Hall. Minneapolis SWAT threatened dispersal, then left without action.
Minneapolis · 1.17.2026
I’m going to the Whipple Federal building in Minneapolis. CNN will be doing a live interview. Maybe in a half hour to an hour
17.01.2026 22:27 — 👍 717 🔁 59 💬 13 📌 2
My last two shots before my world went dark.
17.01.2026 21:55 — 👍 6133 🔁 1628 💬 96 📌 49Be nice. Boy ain’t it nice. Be nice. Take my advice. If you’re in control and have priorities, come with me and hunt down authorities. Be nice. (With your camera).
Taken from Jessy Wells, but changed to meet my needs.
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
17.01.2026 14:57 — 👍 39941 🔁 14682 💬 1329 📌 1049I’m the dude in the photo. And yes, I threw leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. I’m back out today photographing an anti-Islam protest from a far right extremist in a couple hours. IG john_abernathy_ more information on Facebook
17.01.2026 14:55 — 👍 3386 🔁 252 💬 5 📌 24That photo is of me. I am on Instagram and Facebook. Search John Abernathy.
17.01.2026 14:53 — 👍 85 🔁 7 💬 13 📌 0That’s me in the photo. You can see more on Instagram. @john_abernathy_ and even more on Facebook search my name
17.01.2026 14:50 — 👍 43 🔁 7 💬 9 📌 0
