To the Editor,

Growing up in the Frazee-Vergas area, where my nearest neighbor was a cornfield away, I learned what it meant to be a neighbor. Hospitality and kindness, watching out for one another. For years I assumed that place would always be home, but then later, relationships drew me to Minneapolis. I arrived a little afraid, shaped by stories of violence and crime. What I found instead were neighbors. People different from me, yes, but familiar in the ways that mattered. They cared about their families, they worked hard, they showed kindness. My neighbors were no longer separated from me by a cornfield, but they were just as caring, compassionate, and loving.

I believe in justice. I support law enforcement and serve on a local police reserve. Crime exists and should be addressed. But justice without mercy, without compassion, without truth, is not justice.

In recent weeks, federal agents have entered Minneapolis and brought fear and harm to my neighbors. A mother shot while trying to help others, a grandfather dragged from his home in front of his grandson, children arrested at schools, and now this morning, a nurse shot in the back while trying to help a woman. The highest office of the country is lying to us, publishing false news and AI edited images. Constitutional rights are being ignored, but these are not strangers, these are my neighbors.

Jesus asked us to consider who our neighbor is and then told us to go and do likewise – I’m asking you to consider who your neighbor is.

I write this because I believe, I hope, the people who raised me would not accept this if they knew. Silence does not make us innocent, but makes us complicit. I ask you and beg you to speak up when you see injustice, to speak up about the injustice that is happening here, now. Talk to your neighbors, call your representatives, do something. This is not happening far away, it is happening to our neighbors.

I am praying for peace, and I am acting for justice. 

Your neighbor,

Tovin Sannes-Venhuizen,

Former Frazee resident