A future Democratic-controlled Congress should take up the job that Obama and the party’s old guard abandoned: put strict limits on the use of drones that won’t simply be alternately loosened and tightened by whichever president comes to power, explicitly outlawing “targeted killing” and any other attempt at finding a loophole for the already existing ban on assassinations; finally repeal the 2001 Authorization of the Use of Military Force that has been serially abused by presidents to fight often secret wars all over the world; end mass surveillance, whether in the form of the National Security Agency’s warrantless backdoor searches that Democrats actually expanded under Joe Biden, or in the warrantless spying that the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies now do through private data brokers; close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp that Trump is now trying to send migrants to; and embark on a twenty-first-century version of the Church Committee to investigate and lay bare national security abuses.
Archiv: Minnesota
Rep. Angie Craig‘s Campaign Is Quietly Distancing the Minnesota Senate Hopeful From AIPAC
As the Minnesota Democratic primary to succeed the retiring Sen. Tina Smith in the United States Senate heats up, Rep. Angie Craig is privately distancing herself from AIPAC. While courting the crucial endorsement of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party, Craig’s campaign staffers have told DFL delegates that the pro-Israel lobby is not funding her candidacy, according to messages obtained by Drop Site News. AIPAC has held at least a dozen fundraisers for Craig, however, over the course of the past year.
Craig’s behind-the-scenes communications are an indication of AIPAC’s growing toxicity in primary races as it advocates blanket U.S. support for a state committing an unpopular and brutal genocide in Gaza. In two recent races, AIPAC’s millions in support, once firmly understood as a moniker of credibility with the DC political class and financial protection from grassroots-funded challengers, has proven it can do more harm than good.
DHS Insiders Spill What Really Got ICE Barbie Fired
The axe fell on the 54-year-old Homeland Security secretary almost immediately after her humiliating performance on Capitol Hill. Noem testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. They were her first congressional appearances since federal agents under her command killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis in January.
Already facing backlash for Good’s killing when Pretti was shot dead just a few days later, Noem sparked outrage by falsely describing Pretti as a domestic terrorist—and then privately trying to pin the blame for the fiasco on White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
“She was blaming Miller for a lot. No way Trump lets her stay after that,” the DHS insider said.
US-Heimatschutzministerin entlassen: Umstrittener Werbefilm war offenbar ein Fehler zu viel
Das politische Genick brach Noem eine Anhörung vorgestern im Senat. Es ging um eine TV-Werbekampagne für die Arbeit ihres Ministeriums, bei der vor allem Noem zu sehen war, auf einem Pferd, zu Füßen des Mount Rushmore. Kostenpunkt der Werbung: 220 Millionen Dollar.
Trump fires Homeland Security Secretary Noem after mounting criticism over her leadership
Noem has faced waves of criticism as she’s overseen Trump’s immigration crackdown, especially since the shooting deaths of the two protesters in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration enforcement officers. In the immediate aftermath of the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Noem portrayed both of them as aggressors, contradicting widely viewed videos and descriptions of their deaths from bystanders. She declined to apologize for her description over two days of Congressional testimony.
The former South Dakota governor was also criticized over the way her department has spent billions of dollars allocated to it by Congress.
As Federal Surge Ends, Governor Walz Proposes $10 Million Relief Package for Minnesota Small Businesses Impacted by Federal Surge
“The campaign of retribution by the federal administration has been more than a short-term disruption; it has inflicted long-term damage on Minnesota communities,” said Governor Walz. “Recovery will not happen overnight. Families, workers, and business owners are feeling the effects, and our responsibility is clear: we will help rebuild, stabilize these businesses, protect jobs, and ensure Minnesota’s economy can recover and thrive.”
Under the proposal, one-time funding would be distributed in forgivable loans ranging from $2,500 to $25,000. Eligible businesses must be able to demonstrate substantial revenue loss during specified dates tied to the surge.
Border czar says Minnesota ICE surge is ending: „I don‘t want to see any more bloodshed“
Border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday that Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota is concluding, with a drawdown of federal immigration officers set to occur over the course of next week.
„I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude,“ Homan said in a news conference held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis.
Watch Live: Bondi testifies at House hearing amid scrutiny over Epstein files
What to know about the Bondi hearing today:
– Attorney General Pam Bondi is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as the Justice Department continues to face questions about its handling of the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
– The department has published millions of pages of documents related to Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in federal custody in 2019. But extensive redactions and the delayed nature of the release have fueled allegations that the department has failed to fulfill its obligations under the new law requiring the disclosures.
– The hearing also comes after the Justice Department tried and failed to indict six Democratic members of Congress over a video they filmed in November telling members of the military and intelligence community that they must disobey illegal orders. A grand jury declined to sign off on charges against the lawmakers on Tuesday, multiple sources told CBS News.
– Bondi is likely to face questions about investigations by the Justice Department and FBI into the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration officers in Minnesota last month.
– The hearing can be live-streamed in the video player at the top of this page. Follow live updates below.
Rep. Thompson kicks off Homeland Security hearing by saying federal officers acted like „goons“
In his opening statement at the House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson heavily criticized the Department of Homeland Security for “running roughshod over Americans’ rights.”
Thompson, who focused on the killings of two US citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota last month, accused DHS of “threatening our very democracy,” adding that the federal government’s refusal to investigate Good’s shooting was akin to an admission of guilt.
Watch Live: ICE chief, immigration officials testify at House hearing
What to know about the ICE hearing today:
– The leaders of three major immigration agencies are testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday for the first time since the administration‘s recent crackdown in Minneapolis.
– The witnesses at the hearing are Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection; and Joseph Edlow, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
‘This Occupation Has to End!’ Omar Argues After Homan Says Most Agents Will Stay in Minnesota
President Donald Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, announced Wednesday that 700 immigration agents are leaving Minnesota, but with around 2,000 expected to remain there, Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, whose district includes Minneapolis, declared that the drawdown is “not enough.”
As part of Trump’s “Operation Metro Surge,” agents with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have invaded multiple Minnesota cities, including Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and committed various acts of violence, such as fatally shooting Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
BREAKING: For the second week in a row Minneapolis came out in full force for the nationwide shutdown demanding ICE out of everywhere.
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Photos: Thousands once again protest ICE in Minneapolis and across the U.S.
For the second week in a row, thousands of people in downtown Minneapolis marched to protest the presence of immigration enforcement agents in their city. Demonstrations were also organized in other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Portland, Maine.
These protests came after the Department of Justice announced a civil rights probe into the shooting death of Minneapolis resident and ICU nurse Alex Pretti but not of Renee Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7.
Minneapolis Residents Wear Their Passports, Desperate to Ward Off ICE
In the past two months, federal immigration agents have arrested thousands in the Twin Cities, detaining citizens, asylum-seekers, refugees and the undocumented. They have killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. And they have stopped people seemingly at random, asking for identification or simply demanding: “Where were you born?”
Now, many people here are asking a question that is a novel one in America: Is it safe to leave home without proof of citizenship? Has the United States turned into a show-me-your-papers nation?
For many Minnesotans, the answer has been an unequivocal yes.
ICE claim that a man shattered his skull running into wall triggers tension at a Minnesota hospital
The explanation from ICE is an example of recent run-ins between immigration officers and health care workers that have contributed to mounting friction at Minneapolis hospitals. Workers at the Hennepin County facility say ICE officers have restrained patients in defiance of hospital rules and stayed at their sides for days. The agents have also lingered around the campus and pressed people for proof of citizenship.
Takeaways from AP report on ICE claims that immigrant shattered his skull running into wall
According to his lawyers, Castañeda Mondragón entered the U.S. in 2022 with valid immigration documents. Minnesota incorporation filings show he founded a company called Castaneda Construction the following year with an address listed in St. Paul. He appears to have no criminal record.
His lawyers told a court that Castañeda Mondragón was racially profiled during the crackdown, and that officers determined only after his arrest that he had overstayed his visa.
“He was a brown-skinned, Latino Spanish speaker at a location immigration agents arbitrarily decided to target,” his lawyers wrote in a petition seeking his release from ICE custody.
The Interview – ‘A Terrifying Line Is Being Crossed’: Mayor Jacob Frey on the Turmoil in Minneapolis
We’ve got 600 police officers. They have between 3,000 and 4,000 federal agents. They are saying, and I’m hopeful that they are being honest and candid, that those numbers will be significantly drawn down. They are saying that the way that ICE and Border Patrol have been conducting themselves will change dramatically. So not these marauding gangs of guys just walking down the street indiscriminately picking people up, but having more of a targeted operation. This is not about ICE doing regular ICE stuff. What we have seen feels like an invasion.
Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort taken into custody after Minnesota church protest
(updated 57 minutes ago)
Lemon was in L.A. to cover the Grammy Awards and was arrested after 11 p.m. local time in a hotel lobby in Beverly Hills.
He was arrested by a team of agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the operation. His case is being led by HSI.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement Friday morning. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
Federal Agents Arrest Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Protest
The former CNN anchor Don Lemon and three other people have been arrested on charges that they violated federal law during a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minn., this month, lawyers and Justice Department officials said on Friday, reviving a case that was rejected last week by a magistrate judge.
The arrests of Mr. Lemon, a second journalist and two protesters came a little more than a week after three other demonstrators who took part in the action at the Cities Church on Jan. 18 were taken into custody.
US Senate, Do the Right Thing and Refuse to Fund ICE
More Americans now support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, than keeping it.
Trump and Schumer Move Toward Possible Deal to Avert a Shutdown
The Senate would pass those bills before a Friday midnight deadline, and Congress also would consider a short-term extension for homeland security operations, which would prevent an interruption of services by the Transportation Security Agency, Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
That stopgap bill would provide time for talks between lawmakers and the White House to draft a new homeland security spending bill that would include new restrictions that Democrats have demanded on the tactics of immigration enforcement officers and more accountability for those accused of using excessive force.
Trump administration considers new guidelines for immigration officials in Minnesota
The Trump administration circulated a draft memo this week regarding potential new guidelines for federal immigration officers on the ground in Minnesota, including plans to avoid engaging with “agitators” and only targeting immigrants facing criminal charges or convictions, officials familiar with the talks told CNN.
The draft memo comes as the White House and Department of Homeland Security have had multiple behind-the-scenes discussions this week about how to best conduct immigration operations in the state moving forward.
Alex Pretti‘s Sister Slams ‚Disgusting Lies‘ About Her Brother After Fatal Shooting: ‚Absolutely Gut-Wrenching‘
– The sister of Alex Pretti said it‘s been „gut-wrenching“ to hear „disgusting lies“ spread about her brother, as she paid tribute to him after he was fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis
– Micayla Pretti issued a statement on Monday, Jan. 26, calling her late brother a hero, according to the Associated Press. “All Alex ever wanted was to help someone — anyone,” she said, per the news agency. “Even in his very last moments on this earth, he was simply trying to do just that.”
– Without going into too much detail, Micayla criticized the misinformation being spread about her brother, insisting, “When does this end? How many more innocent lives must be lost before we say enough?“ per the AP
Trump says he doesn’t ‘like’ that Alex Pretti was carrying a gun and ‘two fully loaded magazines’
Video recordings of the interaction appear to capture a Border Patrol agent taking Pretti’s weapon from him before one of his colleagues opened fire.
Pretti was a legal gun owner with a permit to carry. Trump administration officials have zeroed in on that fact, with FBI Director Kash Patel even suggesting over the weekend the presence of a gun at a rally could be evidence of malicious intent.
Office of Rep. Ilhan Omar Statement on Agitator at Town Hall
MINNEAPOLIS–The Office of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) issued the following statement following the incident at her town hall in North Minneapolis.
“During her town hall, an agitator tried to attack the Congresswoman by spraying an unknown substance with a syringe. Security and the Minneapolis Police Department quickly apprehended the individual. He is now in custody. The Congresswoman is okay. She continued with her town hall because she doesn’t let bullies win.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar continued town hall after attack “because she doesn’t let bullies win,” office says
Omar was uninjured in the attack, according to CNN affiliate KARE, which cited a police incident report. The man was charged with third-degree assault and was booked into Hennepin County Jail on the charge, the report said.
Man sprays unknown substance at Rep. Ilhan Omar during town hall
A man attacked Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar tonight, spraying an unknown substance with a strong odor toward her, just seconds after the Democratic congresswoman called for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to resign and urged the abolishment of ICE.
Audience members of the town hall meeting with local and state officials started to clap as she made her remarks. Then the man rushed her podium, yelling at the congresswoman and appearing to spray the substance through a syringe at her.