LaMonica McIver and Schrödinger’s Baraka
As I noted the other day, Alina Habba rushed to announce the indictment of LaMonica McIver, which names Ras Baraka as Individual-1, at 6:56PM on Tuesday night, an hour before polls closed in the election in which Baraka won the second-most votes. But it took most of a day before the indictment was docketed, meaning most coverage of the indictment relied on Habba’s press release. As a result, that coverage didn’t point out some of the gaping holes and contradictions in the story AUSA Mark McCarren, which Habba’s presser identified as part of a “Special Prosecutions Division,” told to get a grand jury to approve the charges (NPR addressed a few of the issues on Wednesday).
Those gaping holes and contradictions surely explain why McIver continues to express confidence she’ll be exonerated.
The facts of this case will prove was I was simply doing my job and will expose these proceedings for what they are: a brazen attempt at political intimidation. This indictment is no more justified than the original charges, and is an effort by Trump’s administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do. But it won’t work–I will not be intimidated. The facts are on our side, I’ll be entering a plea of not guilty, I’m grateful for the support of my community, and I look forward to my day in court.
The holes in the indictment — about permitting concerns raised by Newark, about GEO Group’s ownership of Delaney Hall, about the property lines at the facility, about McIver’s completion of an inspection after she allegedly assaulted several cops — obscure the complexity about who had authority to do what at the facility.
The ways in which DOJ has changed its story about key events will undermine key witnesses, starting with alleged victim Ricky Patel and extending to a guard whose story appears to have changed three times.
And the key disputed facts, about where Mayor Ras Baraka was, when — whom DOJ treats like he is Schrödinger’s cat — may blow this entire case out of the water.
The government has told more than six versions of the story about what happened at Delaney Hall on May 9:
- DHS’ initial statement
- Alina Habba’s initial tweet and early interview comments
- The complaint charging Ras Baraka, sworn out (at uncertain time) by HSI Newark Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel
- The complaint charging McIver, treating Patel as Victim-1, sworn out by HSI Newark Special Agent Robert Tansey (who presumably reports to Patel)
- The press release from Habba announcing the indictment
- The McIver indictment
In addition, WaPo did a comprehensive analysis of what happened, and Baraka included a detailed timeline in his complaint against Patel and Habba. I’ve tried to document those competing stories in this table.
Start with several key details that do not appear in the McIver indictment — and so may not have been shared with the grand jury.
Unlike the complaint Victim-1 Ricky Patel swore out against Ras Baraka, neither the complaint nor the indictment charging LaMonica McIver mention that GEO owns Delaney Hall, the site of the confrontation (see the pink boxes). In the criminal complaint against Baraka, that relationship was a necessary part of claiming that Baraka trespassed on a federal facility, without which DOJ would not and likely does not have jurisdiction.
The Delaney Hall Facility currently operates as a federal immigration facility pursuant to a contract between the GEO Group, Inc., the entity that owns the Delaney Hall Facility, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”). As a result of this contract, the Delaney Hall Facility has been acquired for the use of the United States and is under the jurisdiction of the United States.
That property relationship underlies several key other aspects of the confrontation that don’t show up in either of the McIver charging documents. First, Newark claims that Delaney Hall is not certified for its current use, over which Newark has actually sued the facility. Once you have even a dispute over the certification of the facility, than the Mayor of Newark has official business at the facility.
The fact that GEO, and not ICE, owns the property goes to whether Baraka was even trespassing at all. In the complaint against Baraka, Patel relied exclusively on the normal restrictions on entry — the chainlink fence, the No Trespassing signs, and the guard — to claim Baraka was trespassing. The problem with that is that at one point, a guard employed by GEO invited Baraka in.
The testimony of the guard (yellow boxes) is wildly inconsistent, as follows:
- McIver complaint: Baraka was originally told he could not enter but was subsequently admitted because “the guard was under the impression that the Mayor was part of the Congressional delegation”
- McIver indictment: Baraka was originally denied entry when he claimed he was part of the Congressional delegation, but then was let in because the guard was concerned for Baraka’s safety
- Baraka lawsuit: The guard told Baraka he let him in to “calm the crowd”
That inconsistent testimony is important, because according to Baraka, when Patel told him to leave, Baraka told Patel he was invited on to the property, which the government now concedes but which, in real time, Patel disputed. This is, undoubtedly, a big part of the reason why Habba dismissed the complaint against Baraka. Not only is it not clear she had federal jurisdiction over a private facility in Baraka’s city, but when Patel filed the complaint, he at least knew that Baraka claimed to have been invited onto the property by a representative of GEO, and he may well have known that Baraka was right when he charged Baraka.
In other words, Victim-1 in the McIver indictment, Patel, left out key details in his sworn complaint, if not outright lied to a judge when claiming that Baraka was trespassing at all.
And that — the good faith understanding from both Baraka and the members of Congress that Baraka was not trespassing — is important background to the biggest discrepancy between the claims Baraka has made, what WaPo shows, and what Special Prosecutions Division AUSA Mark McCarren appears to have told the grand jury.
In the McIver charging documents (which include no timeline), Patel ordered Baraka to leave, he told him to place his hands behind his back, the members of Congress came out and started to make a stink, Baraka somehow exited out the gate, which is where the key confrontation took place.
Even in that story, there are two key discrepancies. The McIver charging documents call the land outside the gate, vaguely, “the unsecured area of the facility” or “just outside the security gate for the facility.” That is, the McIver documents imply that GEO (though they don’t mention GEO) owns the property both inside and immediately outside the gate. But Baraka calls that area, “public Newark property.” DOJ says GEO owns the land where the confrontation took place. The Mayor of Newark says it’s the city’s public land.
Perhaps the craziest discrepancy — and the reason I’m treating this as Schrödinger’s Baraka — is the description of how Baraka came to leave (green text).
- Baraka complaint: He never left!
- McIver complaint: “the Mayor was then moved outside the gate”
- Habba presser: “the Mayor was escorted outside the secured gate” (in context, suggesting HSI did it)
- McIver indictment: he “was escorted by his security detail”
Both Baraka’s lawsuit and the WaPo describe something totally different: he walked out, “arm-in-arm” with Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (Baraka’s lawsuit mentions that first he retrieved her phone from one of her staffers), by all accounts a successful effort by members of Congress to deescalate the situation.
In none of these scenarios was Baraka moved outside the gate by HSI. He left, whether arm-in-arm with Watson Coleman or escorted by his detail, of his own accord.
And then he was arrested.
He was ordered to leave, he left (even though he believed he had been invited by the property owner), and then he was arrested for trespassing.
Those discrepancies would be bad enough. But there’s a far bigger one. As the McIver charging documents tell it, the attempted arrest, Baraka’s departure, and then the successful arrest were one continuous event: Ricky Patel orders Ras Baraka to leave, attempts to arrest him, is thwarted by McIver, then proceeds outside the gate immediately to conclude the arrest. The effort by members of Congress to deescalate is instead portrayed as the beginning of an effort to thwart the arrest.
WaPo (and Baraka’s lawsuit) say it happened in two phases. First HSI ordered Baraka to leave, the members came out from the GEO waiting room, attempted to de-escalate, he left, then the members returned inside only to hear HSI premeditating a plan to arrest him even though he had already left the facility, after which they re-joined Baraka, this time in that area that DOJ claims is the unsecured property of GEO (only they don’t tell you it is GEO) and that the Mayor of Newark claims is public property.
For nearly 45 minutes, Baraka remained just inside the secured area, occasionally chatting with members of his security detail, according to time-stamped videos. Then, at around 2:33 p.m., Homeland Security agents exited the building and confronted Baraka. In snippets of the conversation captured in video, agents told Baraka he had to leave because he was not a member of Congress. The three members of Congress joined the discussion as it grew tense.
Minutes later, video shows, an agent took a step toward Baraka, and Watson Coleman can be heard urging calm.
Referencing that moment, the Justice Department’s complaint said a Homeland Security agent ordered the mayor to “put his hands behind his back and displayed his handcuffs.”
McIver grew animated, calling the agent’s intervention “unnecessary” and “ugly.” One of the agents can be heard in videos saying: “All right, then. Walk out.”
At 2:39 p.m., within moments of that remark, and six minutes after agents first confronted Baraka, he turned and walked away, arm-in-arm with Watson Coleman. The guard reopened the gate, and Baraka exited to an area in front of the facility, recessed from the sidewalk.
With concerns about Baraka’s presence seemingly resolved, the three House members returned to the building for a tour, according to interviews with congressional staffers. The mayor remained outside the gate, speaking with reporters and protesters. Inside the building, congressional staffers said, lawmakers saw agents huddled and overheard them discussing plans to arrest the mayor.
Menendez then quickly exited the building and approached the gate, videos show. He spoke to Baraka through the chain-link fence, warning that agents were going to arrest him.
According to Baraka’s timeline, five minutes elapsed between the time he left, HSI plotted his arrest, and then everyone came out and had that confrontation. And the members of Congress knew (this detail doesn’t make any DOJ documents and it’s likely they don’t have testimony from any of them) that HSI planned Baraka’s arrest even though he had already left. Or at least left the secured property, whatever the property status of the land outside the gate.
Here I am 1,700 words into this post, and I haven’t even gotten to several other key discrepancies in the documents.
The McIver charging documents mention that McIver was at Delaney Hall “allegedly to conduct a congressional oversight investigation,” but they don’t provide much detail, aside from Patel’s comments distinguishing Baraka from the members, about the legal protection for such things. They certainly don’t mention how long DHS kept the members waiting, which Baraka alleges (and WaPo backs) was over an hour. They claim that the Democrats planned a protest, but Baraka says that, instead, McIver invited Baraka for a press conference after the members toured the facility, which would have happened just before 2PM, over 40 minutes before the alleged assaults, if DHS hadn’t kept the members waiting.
That is, the McIver charging documents totally obscure her right to be on the premises.
Crazier still, even though both the complaint and indictment claim that McIver was “allegedly” there to conduct an inspection, neither explains that she did, in fact, conduct that inspection, nor do they explain that she did so — she was allowed back inside Delaney Hall — after she allegedly assaulted two different officers outside it.
This is how DOJ describes the second alleged assault: “McIVER pushed past V-2 while using each of her forearms to forcibly strike V-2 as she returned inside the secured area of Delaney Hall.” But then the story just ends. It appears that Special Prosecutions Division AUSA Mark McCarren didn’t bother to tell the grand jury that she didn’t just allegedly show up for an inspection, she did in fact conduct that inspection, with the victims’ permission, after she allegedly assaulted them.
Maybe I’m skeptical of cops who lie, but if I were in the jury, I’d acquit on all charges in less time than DHS left the members of Congress waiting that day.
Meanwhile, there’s unrest in Delaney Hall because — detainees say — they’re getting fed shitty food at irregular hours, precisely the kind of problem that oversight from Congress and Newark might have avoided.
Francisco Castillo, a Dominican immigrant who has been held at Delaney Hall since last week, said in a phone interview from the detention center on Tuesday that the facility was so overcrowded when he arrived that some detainees had to sleep on the floor. He said on Tuesday that the crowding issue had been recently resolved.
But he said detainees were being served dismal meals at irregular hours, an issue that was particularly affecting detainees who are diabetic and need to eat at regular times to control their blood sugar levels. He said detainees were often served small cartons of expired milk for breakfast. Dinners were sometimes not served until around 11 p.m., he said.
The living conditions grew so bad, he said, that a group of about 30 detainees had begun drafting a petition detailing the conditions that they could get to the public through their relatives and lawyers.
“Every day is a disaster with the food here,” Mr. Castillo, 36, who was detained by ICE at an immigration courthouse in New York City on June 4, said in Spanish.
At about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, a woman who lives in Elizabeth, N.J., said she got a call from her partner, who has been detained at Delaney Hall since early last month. He was crying, she said, and described rising tension within the facility linked to frustration over food.
To her great credit, McIver remains on the case, issuing the following statement about the rising unrest at the facility.
I am carefully monitoring the situation unfolding at Delaney Hall, and am in contact with local and state law enforcement and officials. I have serious concerns about the reports of abusive circumstances at the facility. Even now, as we are hearing reports from news organizations and advocates on the ground about a lack of food and basic rights for those inside, the administration appears to be stonewalling efforts to learn the truth. My office has reached out to ICE for answers. ICE has not yet provided them.
This case is dogshit, and it looks likely that Mark McCarren only succeeded in getting his indictment by keeping key details from the grand jury. But it may not even survive to trial, because when laid out side by side, there’s far more evidence of DHS lying to judges than there is of crimes by Democrats trying to fulfill their jobs as Mayor and Members of Congress.
Update: This was just beginning to be reported when I first posted this post. But four detainees at Delaney Hall escaped through an external drywall wall.
Wow, thanks for this!
Link to “this table” links to one of the source documents, not the table.
Thanks. Should be fixed.
Yes, fixed thanks.
Table is terrific, color coded contradictions all in one place.
Sorry of sprawling. I got this up just before going on with Nicole Sandler. I may tidy later.
This is a great bit of reporting. Thanks.
“Patel, left out key details in his sworn complaint, if not outright lied to a judge.”
Oh dear.
Lying in a press conference is not just allowed, but in many cases, expected.
Lying to a judge, though, is a whole different thing.
And lying to a judge in writing? Oh my.
McIver’s lawyer is going to have a helluvan opening statement, if this ever gets to court . . .
Fortunately for the rule of law, Alina Habba doesn’t know the difference between lying to the press and lying to a judge.
You’d think they’d teach that in Parking Lot Lawyer School…
Book titled Paved paradise : how parking explains the world by Henry Grabar
Includes shenanigans by parking lot owners, I imagine with help of their lawyers.
I watched the videos of the incident. Out of one of the corner shots, I saw a man’s arm reach over the people and push you into that officer that kept standing behind you. It looks like a set up, but if you look at the footage, you can see someone pushing you on your left shoulder, they had on a gray suit whose arm that was pushed you into the officer. I re-round it and looked at it several times it was A fast move. But you need to go look at it. It’s in the upper right hand corner of the screen. I hope that helps your case. So there was a lot of pushing and shoving going on.
Wow, thanks for documenting this.
I didn’t even realize the background of reports of poor conditions at that facility, only the incidents and the aftermath.
Great post. Exposure and more exposure of the retribution regime. Lies and more lies by DHS will bite them in the butt.
It has become blindingly, glaringly obvious that nothing this administration or its henchpersons do is in good faith. Yesterday Kristi Noem said the loud part on the record, declaring at that LA press conference that whatever pose they might strike, it is always pretextual: the endgame is a totalitarian obliteration of democratically elected leadership whenever it resists their will.
“We” she began, employing the Trumpian pronoun that has come to sound unmistakably monarchical, will “liberate you” from what Noem termed “socialist” leaders like the governor and mayor that Californians had, in fact, voted for.
Propaganda once more serves to sugar-spoon the signature move of tyrants, which is negating the one means we have of asserting our will as citizens: our votes. Trump and his crew would “liberate” us of that freedom, the better to pave the road for themselves. They would love to liberate us of the law too, and they are working on that.
Four detainees from this facility in Newark escaped through an *external* drywall wall in a prison? LOL. And the govt’s paying these GEO bozos for this sort of work? Even the 3/4 inch drywall common in commercial buildings can be gotten through with a little determination, in minutes if they have the tools and the talent, to paraphrase Ernie Hudson.
Mr. EW and I keep laughing that when your cage up a bunch of migrants, there are bound to be some very skilled homebuilders (or unbuilders) inside.
…especially if you picked some of them up at Home Depot.
They must have been quite amused when they realized
the quality of workmanship taxpayer money is being thrown at.
[Not to be too flippant…these “escapees” are being searched for.]
If GEO wasn’t feeding them crap and making them sleep on the floor, they might have offered to fix the problem. I’d be a little surprised if they didn’t leave a note about that on the way out …
LOL.
Who the hell uses drywall for an external wall, anyway?
SMH.
A for-profit pig.
It’s not exterior-grade material, AFAIK. You use something else that is, and finish with a couple of coats of stucco or of bricks or even wood.
Of course not. That’s why, if true, it’s bonkers. After a good rain, you could poke through it with a plastic spoon.
I used to work in construction. Back in the 80’s we started seeing stick framed homes with celotex (1/2 cardboard like material with R value of 30) being used to fill the large areas, then either plywood or OSB on the corners to provide stability. I remember some other workers saying how easy it would be to just use a utility knife to gain entrance, because you only had to cut through vinyl siding, celotex and drywall. It was one of the national builders that was big on modular construction. This was residential and have no idea what the code allows for in commercial.
I want to come back to Marcy’s conclusion here:
From the Newark city code (link):
Sounds to me like McCarren and Habba could be liable to a fine if they don’t clean up the dogshit they left lying around the courthouse.
This is super, super important the property issues Dr. Wheeler discusses as protests against this administration are only going to grow. Understanding this NOW can decrease arrests and provide a defense for those criminally charged.
If you’re going to protests, you figure out pretty fast how important the property you’re on should you be arrested, can have on what you’re actually charged with.
I have a necessarily lengthy comment I’m still working on paring down to post this evening. It builds on what Dr. Wheeler has pointed out that shows the decimation of the FBI is going to hamper DOJ’s ability to successfully prosecute dissenters and Trump’s perceived enemies. If that weakness can be leveraged and citizens educated on how to use the knowledge of property status, hopefully it can help provide solid defenses for any folks charged and tamp down this circus of terror a few notches performed by true clowns.
Public property is usually okay. If you’re on private property, you need permission from the owner – and it should be in writing, with everyone getting a copy.
Bonnie Watson Coleman posted a long video to her Instagram (here: https://www.instagram.com/repbonnie/reel/DJcfBRhyxHv/) that shows events unfolding from the point at which the members of Congress come out of Delaney Hall and see Baraka until long after he’s arrested and driven out, though it’s not possible to hear all of the important exchanges. FWIW, the man saying “circle the mayor” is an aide to Watson Coleman. Wikipedia actually has a pretty good description pieced together from different news reports: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark_immigration_detention_center_incident And the Jersey Vindicator also had a photographer there who put up a decent timeline with photos: https://jerseyvindicator.org/2025/05/12/how-it-unfolded-the-arrest-of-newark-mayor-ras-baraka-at-the-controversial-delaney-hall-new-jersey-ice-site/
What I want to know is why Habba decided not to charge any of the agents with assaulting a member of Congress (ok, rhetorical question).
TY,
That is a good timeline.
I was badgering the LA US Attorney about whether he’d charge any of the men who assaulted Padilla the other day. There’s IMO honestly not enough of that. He was acting in his official role when he wsa assaulted.
I’ve now looked at your table, and I suggest a few changes (based on having watched a few of the videos and heard some of what the MoCs said about what occurred). I’ll also just add a few details about what was going on:
* In your “Press conference” row, you include info about the protest crowd. You may want to create a separate row for info about the protesters. There have been a number of protests at Delaney Hall, and the protesters were there for hours that day, with some already there when the members of Congress first arrived ~1pm, and many remaining at least until the press conference ends ~4pm. Also, if you want the rows to be ordered by time, you should shift the “Press conference” row below “MoC reentry.” The press conference occurred after the tour. (Since they arrived ~1pm, Baraka arrived ~1:40pm, figuring that they’d be finishing up their tour around then and would be coming out shortly for the press conference, and he’d join them in the press conference.)
* I’d insert two rows below “Baraka entry.” The first one would be something like “Baraka waits” or maybe just “Waiting,” since the MoCs were also waiting inside. Move “On or about May 9, 2025, notwithstanding the above, Ras Baraka …” into the Waiting row. The second addition would be something like “Baraka warning.” Move several pieces of info into the “Baraka warning” row: “A federal officer then informed the Mayor …” (which didn’t occur until ~2:33, about 45 minutes after he entered), and everything that’s currently in the “MoC warning” row except the first cell, and probably also “The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass …”. The MoCs join Baraka/ICE/HSI shortly after ICE/HSI started telling Baraka to leave or be arrested. The entrance/exit to the Delaney Hall building is separated from the fenced gate by a parking lot. Both ICE/HSI and the MoCs had to walk from the building entrance across the lot to the area just inside the gate where Baraka had been waiting. After a couple of minutes with Baraka, ICE/HSI, and MoCs talking inside the gate, Baraka exits, with Watson Coleman accompanying him to the exit. I think the MoCs had been trying to convince ICE/HSI to Baraka join them for the tour, as he’d also been trying to arrange one.
* Move “MoC warning” after Baraka’s exit. What happened here is that after he exited, the MoCs and ICE/HSI walked back across the parking lot to the building entrance, and then the MoCs saw ICE/HSI huddled outside , with one of them on the phone. They figured something was up because the NJ immigration brass were already at Delaney Hall, so the MoCs are wondering if they’re on the phone with someone who has more authority. They heard half the conversation, and that ICE/HSI were still planning to arrest Baraka, at which point Menendez walks back across the parking lot to the gate and warns Baraka through the gate. Baraka responds that he’s now on public property.
* Then I’d add a row for the scrum. ~20 agents and the women MoCs walk down the parking lot to the gate (Menendez was already there), and then they all go out the gate. Watson Coleman’s aide yells “circle the mayor,” and the 2 women MoCs join the aide around Baraka to prevent his arrest, with some protesters also trying to get between the agents and that inner circle. As she moves to Baraka, McIver yells “Hell no, hell no” about the arrest. I’m not sure why Menendez wasn’t part of the inner circle, but he’s a bit further away in the crowd. The agents are pushing to get at Baraka, McIver is saying “Don’t touch us” repeatedly, the aide is saying “Don’t touch her” (probably referring to Watson Coleman, who is 80 years old), and there’s lots of pushing and shoving. A couple of minutes later, Baraka is pulled out towards the gate, arrested and handcuffed, and brought back inside the gate. McIver, Mendendez and other agents move back inside the gate, but there’s still a lot of pushing and shoving going on in the crowd, and they’re all jostled until the get inside the gate. Watson Coleman’s aide asks people to part to let her walk back in the gate without being jostled, which they do. Once inside the gate, McIver can be heard telling one of the agents that another agent assaulted her. This verbal exchange continues for a while, but the MoCs eventually walk back across the lot to the building and are finally given their tour, though I think one of them said they had to wait a bit more before the tour. They come back out ~3:45 and give their press conference. In the meantime, Baraka has been driven elsewhere and detained, and at least 2 of the MoCs drive there to wait with a crowd for his release.
[Moderator note: A typo in your username triggered auto-moderation; it’s been fixed. Your comment has also had line returns added for improved readability as large unbroken swaths of text are hard to read online. /~Rayne]
Rayne, thank you so much, and I apologize for having taken up your time.
I’ve always wanted to attend a parade where they prepare for a J6 riot, more than 18 miles of “anti-scale fencing”. They must have borrowed fencing from the Zoo’s tiger exhibit.
How come they’re not using the lions’ den water barrier around the parade?
It’s a shame their preparation for the riot is 4 1/2 years behind schedule.
Will there be an investigation as to why it took so long to prepare for the riot?
Off topic, but maybe not by an order of magnitude.
I have been continually outraged and alternately fired up and listless about the fate of the country since January 20. I don’t think the political situation is going to change until Republican members of Congress feel the heat from their constituents. That may not happen until the effects of the budget bill land, but I have been wondering if there is a way to affect that constituency prior to the Senate reconciliation vote through a grass roots communication campaign, alerting red state voters to what the effects of that bill are going to be on them and their neighbors. I don’t know how people who vote for vulnerable Republicans get their “news and opinions” other than Fox, OAN and the like. I don’t imagine letters to the editors of vanishing small newspapers are the way to go, and Front Porch Forum (popular here in VT) is thin on the ground in Missouri. I despise being involved in X or Facebook but what is the alternative for effective communication? I fear that a lot of people who put in office the emasculated GOP reps and Senators who are afraid to vote against Trump won’t even understand who is responsible for their further immiseration unless their information silo is penetrated somehow. My exhortations to Becca Balint, Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch are largely attaboys and preaching to the choir, but how can I affect their red state counterparts? Any suggestions?
Thank you to Marcy and the other contributors here, your attention to detail and deep commitment is inspiring.
I want you to think more carefully before you publish a comment like this one at this site.
You could have left off the roughly 200 words of demoralizing self demoralization and simply asked for suggestions on pressuring elected GOP. That would have been both concise and effective and less demoralizing to commenters and contributors who may already be doing quite a bit. Your first step is not undermining those who are in red states and/or have GOP members of Congress.
Secondly, pay more attention when Marcy says what’s working. Figure out how you can apply that from where you are to red states and GOP electeds.
Thirdly, watch for other organizations offering suggestions. Teen Vogue ran an article today by Amnesty International USA today which had a good action item list applicable not only to those who couldn’t attend a rally today. Evaluate their action items and consider how to apply them, ex. phone banking from a blue state for special elections in red states.
See: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-to-be-an-activist-when-youre-unable-to-attend-protests
Fourth, hammer on media local and national for their failures. Nothing has ever stopped you from writing a letter to managing editors when media outlets distort news in favor of fascism.
Lastly, find local groups and participate in some way to support democracy and/or provide mutual aid. You will feel less need to dump your feelings online about being “alternately fired up and listless about the fate of the country” if you are fully engaged in preserving this nation.