The purpose of the protest wasn’t only to stop Trump from claiming dictatorial power – it was also part of the ongoing rebellion touched off by the police murder of George Floyd, which happened in a city and state controlled by the Democratic party. As such, the crowd’s chants had as much to do with the George Floyd Rebellion as the 2020 election.

An autonomous zone in Minneapolis is probably the last place I expected to hear of an encounter with Icelandic elves, but that’s the world we live in now. The Uprising has brought people together from wildly different walks of life, and as we get to know each other we hear each other’s stories. This one just happened to involve the elves.

“I just stared at him for a minute, noting that he was insisting on reciprocity — a thing for a thing. It’s an ancient principle, the sort of thing an Otherworldly visitor would ask of you.”

“These men were scared, although what they were scared of was far from clear. They were defending a statue, although they had done nothing to defend it while it was still possible to save it. The scene on their end was empty theater, the meaningless display of a now impotent power.”

“Rather than running off as the police intended, the protesters stood their ground. When they were forced back by tear gas, they advanced again as soon as it cleared. They reclaimed ground repeatedly, and it took the police more than an hour to drive them back. This was only the beginning...”