By Reid Hoffman
Published Jan. 29, 2026 • 11:32am
In the year since President Donald Trump took office, too many Silicon Valley leaders have divested themselves of the responsibility to speak out against the administration’s excesses. They’ve spent the last year telling themselves, “We need to work with whoever’s in power” or, “Getting political risks alienating people.” January’s tragic events in Minneapolis should end that posture. We leaders in tech and business have power — economic, social, platform power — and sitting on that power right now is not good business. It’s also not neutrality. It’s a choice. This is not normal.
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Minneapolis has become a national alarm. In incidents just days apart, federal immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — and assaulted and terrorized thousands more. Trump and many of his top officials immediately and falsely vilified the murder victims, even when those lies were eminently disprovable. (Just watch the videos.) It’s not only Minneapolis. In 2026, nationwide, at least six people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody (opens in new tab) . This follows at least 30 such deaths in 2025. And since Trump regained office, federal immigration agents have jailed hundreds of U.S. citizens. Let’s be clear: These are the fruits of Trump’s second term. He promised safer streets and neighborhoods — and, to be fair, homicide rates have continued their decadeslong decline (opens in new tab) . But the civic reality of his policies has meant more death at government hands, more fear, and a widening belief that the federal government is using force not as a last resort but as an affirmative choice — a lethal tactic that American communities must simply endure. Whichever candidates you may have supported in the past — or even if (like many of my friends in Silicon Valley) you don’t usually do politics — you almost surely did not want this.
A Border Patrol agent shoots pepper spray at a person protesting the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good. | Source: Alex Kormann/Star Tribune/Getty Images
Certainly most Americans don’t. Not judging by the plummeting national support for ICE (opens in new tab) . A large and fast-growing majority of us disapprove of the Trump regime’s performative brutality. Americans want stability and safety, at the border and in our cities. They want affordable food, transportation, and healthcare. They want a future of hope and opportunity. We can and should debate how to build that kind of future. That’s what politics is supposed to be for.
But however you think that future should look, surely we can all agree: Heavily armed, poorly trained, masked federal troops wreaking havoc in our towns, in our schools and community centers and homes, have no part in it. I’ve been encouraged in recent days that more Silicon Valley leaders have spoken out to condemn the Minneapolis killings and the policy choices that led to them. It’s a good start to something America needs much more of right now. The America we love will survive the current authoritarian push (not to say putsch) only if enough of us — especially those of us fortunate enough to be in positions of leadership and influence — choose to condemn it, and loudly. We in Silicon Valley can’t bend the knee to Trump. We can’t shrink away and just hope the crisis will fade. We know now that hope without action is not a strategy — it’s an invitation for Trump to trample whatever he can see, including our own business and security interests. And to whatever extent he has stepped back from further escalations in the past couple of days, it’s only because of action and pressure from more people — and more business leaders.
Marchers flood downtown Minneapolis amid sub-zero temperatures Friday. | Source: Alex Kormann/Star Tribune/Getty Images