He's taking the civil rights fight home to Minneapolis

Californian is among the attorneys aiding civilians there

- ANITA CHABRIA

IMMIGRATION agents stand guard near protesters in Minneapolis after the Jan. 24 killing of Alex Pretti.

(Photographs by CAROLINE YANG For The Times)

How do you find the missing? If you do find them, how can you help? Oakland civil rights attorney James Cook has been on the ground in Minnesota for months figuring out answers to these question as he goes.

A fast-talking Minneapolis native who still lives in the Twin Cities part time, Cook is one of a handful of attorneys who have dropped everything to aid (for free) those caught up in the federal crackdown — protesters, immigrants and detained citizens — too many of whom have found themselves facing deportation, arrest or even been disappeared, at least for a time.

"They are leaders that are on the ground really helping people through this process," Minnesota school board member Chauntyll Allen told me.

CIVIL rights lawyer James Cook is offering services in Minneapolis.

She's one of the protesters arrested inside a local church, charged with conspiracy to deprive others of their constitutional rights by Pam Bondi's politicized Department of Justice, which Friday also arrested journalist Don Lemon for the same incident.

Cook is one of the lawyers now representing Allen."It shows us that the judicial arm, or some of the judicial arm of our democracy, is willing to step up and ensure that our democracy stands strong," Allen said of Cook and others like him.

While it's the images of clashes in the streets that captivate media and audiences, it's lawyers like Cook who are fighting an existential battle in the background to preserve the rule of law in a place where it is increasing opaque, to put it gently.