There's a Reason Minn. National Guard Now Wears Neon Vests

Minnesota's citizen-soldiers may soon look less like troops and more like school crossing guards, at least the way Fast Company is framing it. State officials now say that, if the Minnesota National Guard is officially activated around the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, members will don bright reflective vests so residents can tell them apart from the other uniformed forces already on the streets. The unusual step comes after the ICE shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis and amid a heavy federal presence that includes agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies.

Many of those officers wear camouflage, tactical gear, and body armor that resemble military uniforms, making it harder for onlookers to distinguish between soldiers and law enforcement. In a recent statement, the Guard—which has not been deployed, just mobilized at the request of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—emphasized that its mission would be geared toward protecting life, property, and the right to peaceful assembly, and that the vests are meant to make clear who they are. USA Today notes that, all together, there are about 13,000 citizen-soldiers and airmen in the state's ranks.

Critics say the visual overlap is more than a cosmetic issue, per Fast Company. ICE, which has no single standard uniform, allows agents to combine street clothes with military-style gear accompanied by agency patches or other labels, often adding face coverings to shield their identities. The resulting look, detractors argue, can appear opaque and intimidating, conveying an image of an occupying force rather than typical domestic law enforcement. "You've got cops geared up like they're ready to go fight in Fallujah in order to arrest some cooks and landscapers," one commentator wrote on Reddit.

Retired Marine Col. David Lapan tells Task & Purpose that if even veterans struggle to identify which agency is which in photos and videos, the public is likely to see a monolithic "militarized response" rather than distinct roles carried out by law enforcement. That, he says, risks fueling the perception that the US military is being used against Americans. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore questions why federal agents need camouflage in cities at all, saying it offers no tactical benefit in an urban setting beyond projecting authority. His advice to nonmilitary agencies relying on camo: "Go get your own godd---ed uniforms."