That organizing began as “block clubs”—text message chains and emergency phone trees, created during the pandemic. Since then, they have evolved to encrypted Signal groups, where residents carefully vet any new members and coordinate specialized roles for emergency response: drivers who shuttle people to work or school, grocery shoppers, delivery volunteers, fundraisers, and neighborhood patrols.

Witte’s neighborhood has created this division of labor, which is designed to keep people safe while meeting community needs. “People have chosen the thing that they’re best suited to be doing in Minneapolis,” she explained. “We’re trying not to cross streams”—meaning those providing rides, for example, can’t also be the most visible protesters, as that could endanger people they’re protecting.

But no matter the role, whistles have become ubiquitous. “Everyone and their mom has a whistle,” Witte said. She hears them constantly—multiple times daily, she estimates—mixing with the sound of helicopter blades overhead. Following whistle bleats, community members emerge from their homes at a moment’s notice to respond like watch-dogs. Rapid responders say that if the agents know bystanders are filming and watching, they are less likely to abduct their targets.

“In the media, you’ll hear them say things like, ‘You can hear the ‘activists’ blowing their whistles,’” Witte said. “But these are just neighbors.”

At Moth Oddities in northeast Minneapolis, volunteers navigate floor-to-ceiling stacks of community donations: diapers, formula, cleaning supplies, nonperishable food, books, and games for children who have been confined to their homes. Vendors from Olio Vintage, a few doors down, come over to help their neighbors sort the supplies.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with the love from everybody,” Isabel Moran, store manager of Moth Oddities, told CBS News Minnesota, describing the outpouring of donations. “We’re going to be working pretty tirelessly to get all this to the people that need it throughout the week, month, however long it takes.”