They drank and killed to pass the time
Wearing the shame of all their crimes
With measured steps, they walked in line
-Joy Division, Walked in Line
I read an intriguing post on Threads last night by independent journalist Justine van der Leun. Here it is:
I reported on South Africa for years, focusing on the apartheid era. When I read about Kash Patel's FBI, with the chaos and the whiskey, it reminds me of these murder squad guys I once wrote about.
They were called Vlakplaas. In the 1980s, they were tasked with torturing and killing Black activists/guerillas. The govt denied the existence of the squad. But how did they get land, weapons, paychecks, orders?
When I asked an expert what the culture of Vlakplaas was, she answered: "Drinking."
When I interviewed former members of Vlakplaas, they also recalled drinking, first and foremost: polisie-koffie, or police coffee, a mug of Coke-and-liquor. A brew called lion teeth, a mixture of leftover spirits, peppermint liquor and raw garlic cloves poured into a wine glass. Everyone who came to their secret farm headquarters had to down it. The vast majority vomited it up. Then they partied.
These guys loved apartheid. They really *believed* in executing Black freedom fighters and hiding their bodies. They were proud to go on mission, to be aligned with power, to kill. To fight for racial segregation and white supremacy, for the big men in government whom they served.
But by the time I tracked these ex-soldiers down in 2015, they were all -- each and every one -- destroyed to some degree. Physically, mentally, emotionally, financially.
Doing such violence takes a toll.
I'm not saying they had changed the way they thought or gained great insight into anything. Some were quite nostalgic.
I'm just saying, these men committed atrocities. They had been rewarded for it, paid to do it, claimed to love it. But they'd also had to be absolutely hammered *all the time*, to the point of illness, even as they laughed and joked. And decades on, they were unwell. They couldn't sleep. Some could barely function.
Even if the politics of the time were on their side, history was not. Apartheid fell. These guys, once "heroes," were largely shunned.
Due to the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, they often escaped concrete consequences like prison. But when I talked to them, they nonetheless lived these internal consequences. The members of Vlakplaas had compromised their own humanity, and even if they never really admitted it, even if they never could see it clearly, there was a steep price to be paid.Here in the US it’s not just Piss Drunk Patel and his crew, of course. It’s Stephen-Nosferatu-Miller and, previously Killer Kristi now, the profoundly dimbulbed lap dog, ManyNames Mullin’s vicious and out of control ICEholes. It’s every cop who enables their crimes against humanity. It’s the, theoretically, dry drunk, emotionally stunted, murder happy War Crimes Secretary, Pete Kegseth.
I didn't feel sorry for them. I rarely think of them. But I did recently, when I read about Patel and the hypermasculine, allegedly alcohol-fueled, and utterly chaotic environment that runs through this administration.
It just reminded me of Vlakplaas, that old apartheid murder squad out on a farm in rural South Africa, full of violent white supremacists who believed they were righteous, but were always on the wrong side of history.
They destroyed so many lives - even, unknowingly, their own.
32 people died while in ICE custody in 2025. As of May first of this year, 18 people have died in ICE custody. This includes Geraldo Lunas Campos who was choked out by guards as he repeatedly said (until he couldn’t) "No puedo respirar." (I can't breathe)
Those 18 do not include Renee Good, Alex Pretti or Keith Porter Jr.
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner come to my mind. 
How many ICEholes, like the Vlakplaas, are drugged and/or liquored up in order to perform their insanely barbarous, sadistically vile deeds? Maybe this shit just comes naturally to them though – no chemical enhancements or inebriants needed? Are any of the US versions of the Vlakplaas self-aware enough to know how despised they are? Do they understand on any fucking level that they are failed, disgusting, and barely sentient lifeforms?
They, and their lord and masters, should all be caged in airtight, windowless rooms right next to a large pack of boxers, beagles, golden retrievers and pugs, all of whom have just consumed a bounty of black beans, broccoli, cheesy cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and peas. Maybe some ice cream too. Oh hell, throw in a comfy chair and gas mask (for me), as well a half dozen orders of saag paneer and I'll join the the hounds. Since this is all organic, it's not against the Geneva Protocols, right? RIGHT?!!
Justine van der Leun’s article in The Guardian: The odd couple: why an apartheid activist joined forces with a murderer
