Part 2 Anti-Anti-Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down ...

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Trump Awards Cold Open - SNL
Saturday Night Live
Jan 24, 2026 #SNL #TeyanaTaylor #Geese

President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) hosts the first annual Trump Awards.



Transcript

♪♪
-Live from Hollywood,
at the Donald J. Trump Chinese Theatre,
it's the 1st annual Trumps --
the awards honoring the best in being
or succumbing to President Trump.
And now your host, President Donald J. Trump!
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Hello. Thank you so much.
It truly is an honor to be here hosting the Trumps.
After that lady whose name I already forget
gave me her Nobel Prize, I thought, "I need more awards."
And after what all my little freaks and psychos
in ICE have been doing, I need more distractions.
Look, everything's gold and shiny.
And what a crowd we have tonight.
So many awful, terrible people in the house.
I'd like to get a round of applause going for the nominees,
but my doctors say if I clap,
both my dead purple hands will explode with blood.
It's probably nothing to worry about.
Doctors say I could live to be 120 or current age.
You know, this is such a special night.
Everyone wants to go home with a trump.
Except, of course, Melania.
Hilarious. Well, we've got a six-hour show ahead of us,
so let's keep things spiraling.
Here to present the award for Best Picture (of Me),
our vice president -- for now -- JD Vance
and president forever, Donald Trump.
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
Hi, JD. -Hi, Donald.
Say, did you know if that I win in 2028,
I would be the first president in 100 years to have a beard.
-Wow! And speaking of your beard, how's your wife, Usha?
-Very good, sir. -I'm insinuating you're gay.
The nominees for Best Picture (of Me) are...
-And the award goes to...
It's Trump receiving another fake award.
-This is Donald Trump's first Trump Award,
even though he deserved to win hundreds of them,
but Norway somehow blocked it.
-Wow. Wow. This feels incredible.
I love me. I really love me.
I have so few people to thank.
Myself and, of course, the big man upstairs,
which is what I call my brain tumor.
Yow!
And if I could be serious for a moment,
there is so much horrible stuff going on in our country
and the world right now,
but I promise you, I'm just getting started.
Thank you. Eric, go to bed!
-And now, please welcome the president
of Argentina, Javier Milei.
-[ Speaking Spanish ]
Nada. [ Laughs ]
None.
Ah! But he did include a check for another $10 billion.
This guy is awesome, bro.
-Alright. Adios, amigo.
I'm taking this award,
I'm taking Greenland, and I'm taking Zootopia.
We love Zootopia. I love those guys
I recognize all those animals from my cognitive exams.
Now, here to present the award for Best Kiss
are two legends of horror --
Aunt Gladys from the movie "Weapons"
and my immigration adviser, Stephen Miller.
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
-Hi, everyone.
You know, I thought I was terrifying,
until I met this guy.
-Aww. Thank you.
-The nominees for Best Kiss are...
-Kash Patel -- Trump ass.
-And the winner is Kristi Noem!
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
-Oh, wow. Oh.
Oh, wow. Wow. Well, I am
honored and in no way dead inside to win a Trump.
I feel like I should dedicate this award to President Trump.
-And I accept! Thank you, sweetie.
-Oh, oh, wait, but I won. -I'mma let you finish,
but Trump had one of the best videos of all time.
Of all time. Kanye. You can go.
-Oh.
-I'll keep this short because I have a lot more
awards to win tonight.
I just want to thank my longtime agent Loki,
the god of mischief, trickery, and chaos.
I wouldn't be able to do this without you, man.
I love you, man.
And now, here to accept the
Lifetime Achievement Award for Comedy,
even though he might not always intend it,
my close ex-friend, Elon Musk.
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
-Come on, come on!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Oh, come on. Thank you, thank you!
I'm so emotionless to be here.
And if anyone knows humor, it's me.
You know, no tariffs on humor.
Legalize comedy!
Come on, come on, come on! Let's go!
Unfortunately, it wasn't all laughs this year.
No, not all laughs.
There are a few things we had to say goodbye to
because we destroyed them.
So here to perform a mournful rendition of
"America's Funniest Home Videos" theme,
please welcome Carrie Underwood
and the construction worker for The Village People.
Let's go! Come on! Let's go!
-♪ You're the Red, White, and Blue ♪
♪ The funny things you do ♪
♪ America, America, this is you ♪
♪ America, America,
this is you ♪
-And live from New York, it's "Saturday Night"!

[admin]

Trump alienates America’s allies
Washington Week PBS
Jan 23, 2026

Donald Trump goes to war, rhetorically, with America’s next-door neighbor and largest trading partner. The panel discusses his rift with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and other American allies.



Transcript

Let's acknowledge that Donald Trump's blunt attempts to get European
nations to spend more on their own defense is good for Europe, good
for America, and good for us taxpayers. Let's also state the obvious.
If you are interested in preserving Canada's independence and the
independence of the free nations of Europe. You would build your
militaries the way America has built its military, but there are
ways that allies talk to each other even when they disagree, and
Donald Trump's way is not the usual way these things are done. For
instance, his offensive comments about NATO's contribution to the
war effort in Afghanistan in which more than 1000 European soldiers
died. Do nothing except alienate America's friends. And by the way,
insult the American and European soldiers who fought side by side
in countless battles over many years. The question is, how much damage
is he doing? Joining me to discuss all this, Peter Baker, the chief
White House correspondent at The New York Times. Leanne Caldwell
is the chief Washington correspondent at Puck. Stephen Hayes is the
editor of the Dispatch, and Idriss Calloun is a staff writer at The
Atlantic. Thank you all for being here. I know that myself, I would
rather talk about the snowstorm that's coming, but we're going to
talk about the state of the world instead, because I don't have the
weather equipment behind me. I just have an inaccurate picture of
the White House still. Um, the, um, I just, let me start, let me
start with you, but before we, before I ask you anything, I want
you to listen to a little bit of what the Canadian Prime Minister
said at Davos. Let's listen to that. If great powers abandon even
the pretense of rules and values for the unhindered pursuit of their
power and interests, the gains from transactionalism
will become harder to replicate. Hegemons cannot continually monetize
their relationships. OK, you're an economics reporter. Ken Hegemon's
continually monetize their relationship. Answer that one second.
The first question is, what does this mean? Everybody is talking
about Carney's speech in which he talked about a rupture in the Western
alliance as a rupture itself. This is the moment when everything
kind of burst out. It was called a galvanizing moment at Davos. We
can make jokes about that later, but, but give us the context and
give us the the the the importance of that moment. I think what Carney
did was he, he took the mask off. He, he, one of the most important
things that he said in that speech was that the rules-based International
order hadn't really worked as intended, but Canada went along with
it, that they knew that America sort of didn't abide by the rules
all the time, but they, they adhere to it large and largely enough
that that it was worthwhile for middle income countries to go along
with rules, and now what Carney has said in both in this speech and
in his trip to China when he met with Xi Jinping is that there's
a new world order, um, and if Donald Trump wants to act like the
hedgeman in North America, China in in uh Asia, Russia, and Europe,
then countries like his have to pivot, and they have to deal with
the multipolar world as it exists. Um, and he, he had, he had a lot
of good, good lines for economists, you know, compli complementarity
or positive sum. He's a central banker. Central bankers seem to be
the only people who are really good at standing up to Donald Trump
in this country and in Canada. That's interesting. We're waiting
to see what the Mexican central bank advisor, Peter,
Trump was surprised and upset a little about this. Actually there's
an interesting, um, we have a little montage to show you about their
very unusual kind of slow motion interaction. Why don't we watch
that for a second? I want you to talk about it. We are in the midst
of a rupture, not a transition. I want your Prime Minister yesterday,
he wasn't so grateful
that they should be grateful to us, Canada, Canada lives because
of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make
your statements, but Canada
doesn't live because of the United States. Canada thrives because
we are Canadian. Now there was a certain, you know, nice bottle of
maple syrup you got there, Mark. Hate to see anything happen to it.
Quality to Donald Trump's laconic but threatening posture.
But what does, what does this out and out rupture mean for the relationship?
I mean, they're our biggest trading partner, among other things,
and we share the longest border in the world, peaceful border in
the world. Where are we in the USC Canada relations? Well, if Donald
Trump gets his way, there will be no border. It'll be in another
part of the United States, and he demonstrated that online with a
map that he shows in an artificial intelligence created image of
US flag over the US over what's currently Canada, over what is currently
Greenland, over what is currently Venezuela, as if to demonstrate
that he intends to be the imperial power of the Western Hemisphere,
and you can see why Canada might not take that as much of a joke.
It's not very funny to them And Carney, I think, you know,
it's point is pulled off the mask is a good way to put it. I think
this is the week when our allies discovered that, that um flattery
and uh you know, appeasement only goes so far, right? Why did Donald
Trump reverse course on Greenland. It's very likely that he reverses
course because he saw that it wasn't going to happen, right? For
the first time maybe in his 5 years in the White House, Europe and
Canada and all these countries said no, no, that's not happening.
That's a red line here. We're not going to try to pretend that this
is a reasonable rational policy of trying to take over an ally's
territory, and he and that had effect on the bond markets and ultimately
he went from within a few hours saying I must have it all to, hey,
you know, we'll see what happens. let's go back in time. A full week
ago to when we were going to conquer Greenland, not Canada. And by
the way, remember Venezuela? That was crazy. Um, and remember Epstein
before Venezuela? That was also very interesting. Uh, but go back
to Greenland. um is the crisis diffused, Steve? I mean, I mean, he's
so mercurial that it might just come pop back out next week. Right?
I mean, look, he had said as recently as Wednesday, that he, the
United States needed to control Greenland and the the strong implication
was that we needed to take it. However, he very deliberately did
not rule out the use of force, and multiple times suggested that
we would be using force to take it because we needed it. Of course,
Greenland was not mentioned in the 33 page national security strategy
of the United States, but Trump threatened tariffs on allies on the,
the supposition that not having Greenland constituted a national
security emergency. I mean we haven't had Greenland for centuries,
but not having Greenland now constituted a national security urgency.
I mean, look, his arguments about Greenland have been farcical. I
think for a long time, and people have understood them as farcical
until such point as they can't afford to. They don't, Europeans and
our allies and Canadian s they can't afford to have the seriously
literally debate that people here in the United States does. They
have to take him seriously and literally, and they did, you know,
it's interesting you mentioned that because Mike Johnson
said this week that, you know, we take him, you should take him seriously
but not always literally. This was in the course of explaining, you
know, that he understands why what Trump wants Greenland, but you
know, we're not going to have a war and Leeanne I always, I, I, I
always ask you the same question. It's really groundhog Day, but
when when, when are they going to in Congress, going to say, uh,
no, like stop doing this. There's literally no
it's very hard to find a positive reason to alienate Canada. Like,
and there are a lot of Republican senators who understand that. Give
us a sense inside the Senate Republican caucus, just for starters,
and you can go to Mike Johnson. Give us a sense of
are you seeing any, to borrow a word from Canada, ruptures. Yeah,
well, you get sick of asking me the question. I kind of write this
different version of the same thing all the time, but I will say
with the Greenland situation, um, when I was talking to Republicans
on Capitol Hill. This is really the first time in the second Trump
administration that I I got a lot of anger privately, of course,
from House Republicans. This was a red line for them as any sort
of military invasion
if Denmark came with open arms and said, name your price. Yes, that
is a whole different story. um, but, uh, there was a lot of backchanneling
with the administration
to let them know that not only is this not going that that it's not
going to be approved. Congress isn't going to support it. that he
is actually hurting their midterm chances this is something that
is absolutely unpopular with voters who are like why are we talking
about it? Um, but they were afraid to say anything publicly. They
didn't want to poke the bear. You need to know, right? And that's
the answer, right, which, which means that they were hoping that
this backchanneling and this subtle
conversation with the president and his team would would get them
to the right place. Was it this back channeling or was it the market
dip on the fear that Trump was about to go attack a treaty ally.
Idris. I think I think it was the stock market going down. I think
it was 10 year or 30 year yields going up, mortgage rates are going
to go up as a result of that. It was also the Europeans saying very
clearly for probably the first time
that no, this will not stand you know, if you look at what's happened
over the course of the last year, the Europeans accepted a pretty
not nice trade deal. They basically accepted that America would be
tariffing their goods, and they weren't going to retaliate, and they,
I think I've seen the limits of appeasement. I think that that that
channel was probably very important. Um, I think the Republican pushback,
you know, it's been, it's been real. That's how a lot of the nominees
have gotten pulled. They don't don't sort of get pulled with a public
denunciation but this private backchannel. You do see that and it
does exist, but you know, if it's the president and he really, really
wants to do it, ultimately I think the Republicans in Congress cave.
That's at least what's happened. Well, listen to this. Listen to
this statement made by Senator Eric Schmidt of Missouri, um, who
was a stalwart Trump supporter. He said,
about Greenland. Europe can't protect it. The Danes can't protect
it. That's just an obvious fact at this point. And so it is in the
strategic interests of the United States of America to pursue this.
How many people believe that who say it
and you know, it, it's hard to know what's in people's hearts, but
you have people literally a year ago if you went to every senator
and said name the top 100 issues facing the United States.
Literally nobody would put Greenland on the top 100. No, no, it's
people like Eric Schmidt. It's people like, you know, Bernie Marino.
It's uh um
Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz, um, yeah, so there's a, there's a group of them
who will do anything that the president says, and it will be OK.
They think that what he says is great and and gospel,
you know, but there is a very slim majority in the House of Representatives.
The House has been it's down to like 218 to 214. Yeah, there's a
two seat majority right now, and you know the House has been more
in lockstep
as a whole than the Senate, but you know, Don Bacon, of course he's
retiring. He's one of the few that speaks up, but he said he told
me, he said, look, invading an ally who we have a treaty with is
a high crime and misdemeanor. Um, and so he said that he has talked
to other Republicans about impeachment if that were to be the case,
you know, all of this is bluster right now, um, but it really did
rattle. um
members that this was the path that they were worried that he was
just crazy enough to go down. So the interesting thing, Peter, is
that is that he does seem, the president does seem
somewhat sensitive
to the bridge too far aspect of this. Is that fair? Well, look, there
are a number of instances in the last few weeks we've seen him go
out there and make extravagant threats and then to back off, right?
He said he was sending the army or the military or the National Guard
in Minneapolis, and then JD Vance said this week, well, we don't
really need to invoke the Insurrection Act. It's going to be OK.
He said that he was going to bomb Iran. right? If they killed protesters.
Well, they killed protesters. They killed thousands of protesters.
He did not bomb Iran. I'm not saying he should or shouldn't have.
I'm just saying that he said he would and then he didn't. Similarly,
on Greenland, he was going to tariff Europe. He might use military
force. Suddenly he backs off, and I think it's lending itself to
this feeling that Leanne sort of alluded to here. He used the word
crazy. There is this feeling in Washington among Republicans as well
as Democrats that, you know, is he off the rails here and it's hard
to know when he is because he seems always to be erra tic and mercurial
and volatile, but is there a point where it's going so far that you
have a guy in the White House, ultimate power because he seized it.
Um, all over the place. Yeah, it'd be weird. It would be weird if
Republicans suddenly discovered that the guy who lied about an election
and instigated a soft coup was too crazy to conduct, but I think
this has been an interesting week in the sense that, oh, like, don't
mess with Greenland turns out to be the closest thing, but I don't
think I don't agree with that. I mean, I we got some of the same
reactions that Leanne got in talking to people on Capitol Hill as
well, but like, that's a clarifying moment. You're talking about
invading a NATO territory of a NATO ally.
They're declaring it a red line. They're really angry privately,
but they won't say it public and come on. That's not backbone only
thing that has much more to do with these other external factors
that he's responding to. I mean, he has to just assume at this point
that Republicans are going to support him regardless of what he does
no matter how crazy it is. Leanne, you were going to say, yeah, I
was just going to say the public, the public justification among
Republicans was, look, this is just Donald Trump. This is bluster.
This is a negotiating tactic, and that is what they hid behind,
and you know, you're right, it's Congress has dispelled most of its
authority and power given it away to this administration over and
over again. Speaker Mike Johnson has led that and allowed that.
There is some rank and file frustration among Republicans over that
fact too, but um they aren't going to do anything about it, it seems,
I mean, Idris, I want to ask you this because we have you and and
you're an expert. It's the sort of question that um
I wouldn't even imagine asking a year ago. Uh, but what, what would
be the long-term consequences of a semi-permanent
hostility between Canada and the United States
economically. for starters. I mean, they're massive trading partners
with each other, um, so it would hurt the Canadians more because
they're more dependent on us than we are on them, but it would hurt
us as well. I mean, the fact that Carney took away the tariffs on
Chinese electric vehicles, gives avenue for those vehicles to get
into America, cause a lot of vehicles travel up and down the border,
but there are all sorts of consequences as well
for this rupture between between the two, the fact that you have
a our closest trading partner now triangulating, coordinating with
China, Qatar, other, other countries like that, that's not a situation
that America wanted to be in, um, you know, it is going to in the
pursuit of
uh maintaining kind of hemispheric control and asserting rights over
Greenland and Venezuela. It's going to lose a lot from probably it's
most important ally in in North America, and that, that's um that
that's quite something. I mean, the fact that Mark Carney would even
say things like this. I mean, that's, I think, why so many the reception
of his speech was so was so potent, um, that he called out also his
European counterparts in saying that you've gone too far in accommodating
this. You have to sta stand up and Trump will Trump stopped saying
the 501st state thing after Carney took over. He didn't respect Trudeau,
and he kept saying it. Now that Carney came he went to the White
House, he showed a bit of spine. Trump backed off, and I think that
Carney knows that. I mean, we're actually seeing something that is
very seldom seen in nature, an angry Canadian, right? We don't know
the, the, the, the true latent power, right? It's, it's, it's, it's
fascinating to watch. Steve, step back and talk about America's alliances
in Europe first, you know, so on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Churchill
and FDR and 10 being we're in we're militarily invading
Greenland. Where are we in the in the health of the post-World War
II European order. I mean, 9.5? You think it's that bad. Yeah, look,
do you remember that's bad. Remember January of 2003, Donald Rumsfeld
made an offhand remark in which he referred to France and Germany
as old Europe. That
created weeks-long diplomatic row that threatened the diplomacy on
the lead up to the Iraq War. There was so much chin stroking and
European anger about that. And now Donald Trump is just shrugging
off the deaths of soldiers, of allied soldiers.
In the wars that we asked them to fight with us. He's belittling
their leaders again and again and again. He's forcing them to take
steps that
require them to go beyond just thinking about sort of theoretically
what the relationship with the United States is to making alternative
plans, and that's what that's what we saw this week is this is no
longer theoretical. They're not waiting around. They're creating
additional alliances. They're going elsewhere. Peter, I'm not gonna
let the statement that he made about NATO troops go by without extensive
comment. Um, I mean you've seen it, we've all seen it, we should
take another look at it because it's quite extraordinary. It ranks
up there with the, to me, in, in my mind, it ranks up there in the
uh
norm-breaking power of his comments 10 years ago about John McCain's
war record. You just listen again to this. I'm sure you've all heard
it. They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan or this or that,
and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,
but uh we, uh, we've been very good to Europe and to many other countries.
Yeah, uh, it's worth remembering that the NATO alliance is a mutual
defense pact. It's not an offensive line, it's a defensive alliance.
And the only time in its history Article 5, which is the article
that says attack on one is attack on all. was ever invoked was on
our behalf after 9/11, NATO said, We are on your side. We are with
you. You have been attacked. You are our ally. We are with you. They've
they've never invoked it. We've never actually had to go on, had
to go to them in a combat situation when they were attacked. They
came to our assistance after 9/11. Now, look, you know, they were
not uh the main forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, sure, but proportionately
for countries like Denmark, more than 1000 troops, yeah, a lot of
troops died, and when, and, and when, and they didn't have to, they
didn't have to come. They did. They came because America is their
friend, and, and they came in a proportion to some of these smaller
countries like Denmark that may not be a lot for America, but for
Denmark, a lot of people died and and and and it had lived large
in their politics because they didn't, you know, they had the leadership
had to defend these decisions against a public that wasn't necessarily
sure it wanted to be there. Another line in Trump's speech that I
thought was even more shocking than that was when he was talking
about NATO and he said we would be, we will be there for them, but
I'm not sure if they'll be here for us, and that literally an inversion
of what Peter just described, and you know there's a bipartisan congressional
Code, of course, the bipartisan members were Lisa Murkowski and Tom
Tillis, the two Republicans who are willing to stand up against the
president sometimes, um, and on their Codell over the weekend to
Denmark. They visited the memorial where the Danish soldiers died
in Iraq and Afghanistan and so
it was just counter that statement was absolutely the opposite of
what has actually happened. Let's remember, by the way, what has
Trump actually said about Article 5 defending Europe. He said during
the campaign, if these guys don't pay up, Russia, do whatever the
hell you want for them. His line, not mine. Russia, do whatever the
hell you want with it. So Article 5, he has made clear is to him,
you know, conditional. and not actually an absolute commitment by
the United States to its allies that it had for the last 75, 80 years

[admin]

Noem Panics! Can't Answer After Caught In Criminal Lie By Fox!
Jack Cocchiarella
Jan 25, 2026 Jack Cocchiarella Show
Political commentator Jack Cocchiarella reacts to



Transcript

We begin the day going through the
stunning new overnight developments in
the ongoing story of the second brutal
murder of an American citizen at the
hands of the Trump regime in
Minneapolis, including new
highresolution close-up stabilized
footage which debunks the Trump
administration's lies. They are lying
about the murder of Alex Prey. We have
also heard from PR's family and
Democrats are taking a stand. So, we're
going to go through all of that. But
before we do, if you end up liking this
video and you want to support the
channel, please be sure to hit the like,
subscribe, and alert bells before you
go. All right, folks. We're going to get
into all sorts of things about this
murder throughout the day because, of
course, it's Sunday morning, so the
Trump administration is making the
rounds. Republican lawmakers are making
the rounds trying desperately to spin
the situation in interviews on CBS and
NBC and ABC and other places. So, we
have to dive into their reaction, but I
want to give you the updates about the
shooting itself, including bombshell new
footage, which confirms that when the
Trump administration said that Alex Prey
was using a gun against uh Border Patrol
or ICE, and now we know it wasn't ICE
per se, it was Border Patrol. Still an
element of the Trump administration, so
I want to be, you know, more accurate
here. It was border agents working with
ICE. that when the Trump administration
claims or insinuates that Alex Prey was
attempting to use a gun against law
enforcement officers, it's just not
true. And I have to be mindful of
YouTube's terms of service, so some of
this may be spliced so we don't see the
you most graphic parts, but I want you
to see very clearly this new stabilized
footage, which debunks Trump's lies.
So, here they're wrestling him to the
ground.
right here. And you're going to see it
zoomed in in just a second. One of the
agents is ripping away Alex Freddy's
gun. And then the agent in green shoots
him. Okay. The agent in the the gray
with the gun, Alex Py's gun is running
away. They have disarmed him. And then
the agent in green shoots him. Now
you're going to see the agents again,
slow motion, zoom in. They're grappling
with him. The agent in the center is
reaching into Alex Freddy's back. And
what you'll see here,
right here, his gloved hand is at the
small of Alex Freddy's back because Alex
Prey's gun, which remember he was
lawfully permitted to have, was
holstered in a small of back waistband
holster. It was holstered. He did not
have it out. He was not reaching for it.
It was holstered away from him behind
his back.
The agent, you can see here, he's
fumbling with the gun. And then right,
see right here, he's got the, you see,
he's kneeling. Alex Prey is kneeling.
The agent is gripping his waistband,
trying to get the gun, which is
holstered, that Alex Prey is not going
for, which he certainly doesn't have in
his hands.
And right here, you see
the agent rip the gun away. He's ripping
the gun away while the agent in green
withdraws his gun. Now, as you see here,
the agent who had Alex PR's gun has
successfully ripped it away and is
backing away. He's moving away to get
the gun away from Prey, which pretty did
not have in his possession like in his
hands and that Prey was not reaching
for. The agent in green has already
pulled out his gun. And then, of course,
we know what happens after Alex Prey is
disarmed from a gun that was holstered
in his small of back.
Then the agent in green fires the first
shot, one of about 10.
Okay. In other words, the gun was not in
Alex Freddy's hand. Alex Prey was not
reaching for the gun. He was surrounded
by seven agents. And the gun had been
identified, grabbed, and and withdrawn,
disarmed
before the agent shot. And the agent who
shot saw all of it. He wasn't at a
different location. People can't say,
"Well, he may not have seen that his
colleague had disarmed Alex Pretty."
[ __ ] He was standing right there.
He sees the gun, withdraws his own gun,
the other agent grabs Alex PR's gun and
runs away. And then the agent shoots. It
was coldblooded murder. And if you had
any questions about that, any doubts
about that, consider this. We now have
footage. While Alex Prey is on the
ground, either dead or dying, some of
the other agents are searching him, and
they ask a really important question.
Tell me if you hear it.
They're shouting, "Where's the gun?" So,
the agent's still surrounding Alex
Freddy's body or asking, "Where's the
gun?" And then you see the agent, one of
the agents point in the direction where
his colleague took Alex Py's gun. One of
the agents disarmed Freddy, took the
gun, ran away.
Some of the other agents who are either
are trying to provide emergency
assistance or they're searching Freddy
are like, "Okay, well, you shot him.
Where's the gun?" "Oh, the gun's over
there."
They know they [ __ ] up. They know they
[ __ ] up. This was murder. So, let's go
and get into some of the other updates.
Um, Alex Py's family issued a statement.
Quote, "We are heartbroken, but also
very angry. Alex was a kind-hearted soul
who cared deeply for his family and
friends and also the American veterans
he cared for as an ICU nurse at the
Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to
make a difference in this world.
Unfortunately, he will not be with us to
see his impact. Do not throw around the
word hero lightly. However, his last
thought and act was to protect a woman,
which we discussed in one of the recent
videos. A woman was shoved aggressively
by a Trump regime agent and Alex came to
her defense. He didn't take a swing at
the agent. He didn't get in the agent's
face. He just tried to help her up and
shield her. Then he gets pepper-sprayed
and accosted by the Trump regime's
agents. But let's continue.
The sickening lies told about her son by
the administration are reprehensible and
disgusting. Alex clear is clearly not
holding a gun when attacked by Trump's
murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has
his phone in his right hand and his
empty left hand is raised above his head
while trying to protect the woman Ice
just pushed down all while being
pepper-sprayed. Please get the truth out
about our son. He was a good man. Thank
you. Now, a heartbroken statement. I
can't imagine.
I can't imagine. So, let's look at what
Democrats are doing, what elected
Democrats are doing. Um, because they're
stepping up. Now, before I get to that,
I've got to show you what they can't do.
Dan Feifer of Pod Save America is not
someone that I consider to be, you know,
some uh, you know, accelerationist
far-left lunatic, right? He's a fairly
moderate, I think, all things
considered, probably personally
progressive, but he's considered, you
know, part of the Obama era
establishment. He wrote a really, really
good op-ed or a really good message box
article on his Substack called why
Democrats must block the ICE funding
bill. So, to be clear, even what they
call the Obama pod pros, right, and I
respect them immensely, but I know a lot
of people more left than than they are
denigrate them, but even they are
saying, you know, Democrats need to step
up and block the ICE funding bill. We we
have to lay this out here because we
have to have a correct set of
expectations. All right, so just to be
clear before I show you how Democrats
are responding.
As he notes, there's a much more
complicated situation here than the vote
that led to a shutdown last fall. Here's
a state of play. First, the bill that
funds ICE and DHS passed the House on
Thursday with seven Democrats voting
yes. Before the murder of Alex Prey,
House Democrats, seven of them, seven of
the hundreds of House Democrats voted to
uh pass uh the ICE funding bill. Okay,
they shouldn't have done it. They were
swing state, you know, more moderate
conservative uh Democrats in red
districts. And then of course, Alex gets
shot, gets murdered. Now it has to go to
the Senate. He notes if Congress fa
fails to pass a bill, the Department of
Homeland Security will shut down. The
rest of the government will not shut
down. Congress has either passed or is
on the cusp of passing bills to fund
every agency other than the Department
of Homeland Security.
Funding bills are subject to the
filibuster. So to pass the bill,
Republicans will need at least seven
Democrats to vote with them in the
Senate. Blocking funding will not stop
ICE from doing what it's doing in
Minnesota and elsewhere. And this is
very important, folks, because we want
Democrats to act, but we have to have
realistic expectations. We have to
acknowledge what they do and we have to
celebrate it when they do what we want.
But we can't I don't want people to
leave this video thinking, okay,
Democrats can stop ICE. They cannot. As
Dan Feifer points out, blocking funding
will not stop ICE from doing what it's
doing. Trump decides which government
functions are essential and can continue
during an agency shutdown. during the
government shutdown in 2025, ICE
continued to terrorize communities,
which is true. When we had last year's,
you know, late in the year shutdown,
because Trump can decide what
constitutes an emergency and what can be
funded, ICE still operated unencumbered.
Okay? So, let's be very clear about
that. If you are expecting Democrats to
be able to snap their fingers and bring
this to a halt, it's just not true. We
have to be realistic about this. We have
to be honest.
He says, "Importantly, most of IC's
funding is mandatory funding from the
big beautiful bill and is not subject to
the appropriations process where
Democrats have leverage." So again, that
big beautiful bill that passed,
mandatory funding for ICE already went
in. Okay. And then he says,
"Additionally, um, it's unlikely that
the Republicans will cave. So we have to
set the expectation accordingly." And
then he says, despite all of that,
Democrats have to block the bill. And
the case that he makes for the most part
is ICE is unpopular. Trump is unpopular.
Trump's immigration enforcement is
unpopular. It's also the right thing to
do. And it sends a message to the
Democratic base and to moderates who are
leaving uh Trump because of ICE and
because of his immigration that hey,
when we say that Trump's a fascist and
that ICE is acting like a a fascist, you
know, Gestapo secret police, we mean it
and we're going to use what little
leverage we have to try to stop or
undermine it. Okay? We have to we are
aligning our actions with our rhetoric
and it's also the right thing to do.
Now, in response to this, Chuck Schumer,
the Democratic leader in the Senate,
said the following. What's happening in
Minnesota is appalling and unacceptable
in any American city. Democrats sought
common sense reforms in the Department
of Homeland Security spending bill, but
because of the Republicans refusal to
stand up to Trump, the DHS bill is
woefully inadequate to rein in the
abuses of ICE. I will vote no. And then
he says Senate Democrats will not
provide the votes to proceed to the
appropriations bill if the funding if uh
the DHS funding bill is included. In
other words, he is saying in his
position, he will whip votes against
funding the government if the DHS bill
is included. Okay, that's good. As AOC
notes, this is the strength of the
response we need at People's Calls and
organizing work. Thank you to all who
mobilized. No action is ever too small.
That's why we never give up. Thank you
at Senate Democrats. Now, I want to give
you some clips of Democrats who have now
been speaking up and confirming that
they will not vote to fund DHS,
including, by the way, Democrats who
caved in the last government shutdown
fight. Jackie Rosen, for example, of
Nevada. People who said, "Okay, you know
what? I'm going to I'm going to vote to
fund the government." They are now
committing to not doing it if DHS is
involved in the aftermath of the murder
of Alex Prey. Uh here is Senator Chris
Murphy. Before I let you go, I want to
ask about what your leader Chuck Schumer
says that Democrats are going to vote
against a government funding package
that is before the Senate uh soon and it
includes money for the Department of
Homeland Security. How is that going to
play out?
Well, we can't vote to fund this lawless
Department of Homeland Security. And
remember, it's not just in Minnesota.
They're violating the law all over the
country. I spent last week in Texas
where, you know, they are locking up
two-year-old and three-year-old kids who
are here in the United States legally.
And he goes on to say, but he's
confirming that no, we can't, we
absolutely cannot vote to fund DHS and
certainly not without any concessions
about how ICE operates. Amy Clolobachar,
uh, senator from Minnesota, somebody who
has announced that she's running for
governor to replace Governor Walls since
he's no longer seeking re-election.
Remember, this was in her state that
Alex Prey was killed. Just like Renee
Good,
our Republican colleagues have to stand
up. They are violating right now. ICE
border control what you've seen
violating the first amendment. If they
care about the Constitution, they should
care about this. Violating the Second
Amendment. The NRA has come out and
said, "I'm sorry. You can't blame Alec
simply because he was a legal gun permit
holder. Violating the Fourth Amendment
of search and seizure." So my point here
is our Republican colleagues have to
stand up and stop this and no I am not
voting for this funding.
So she is not voting for DHS funding.
Okay. Adam Schiff, another Democratic
senator who was interviewed this morning
was asked the same question.
And what if any role can Congress play?
Obviously, the government could
partially shut down again on Friday if
Democrats vote against this DHS funding
measure. My question for you, Senator,
are you prepared to vote against DHS
funding if it means partially shutting
down the government again coming on the
heels of an incredibly long shutdown?
Well, I'm not giving ICE or Border
Patrol another dime. Uh, given how this
agency, these agencies are operating.
Dem.
There you have it. I mean, again, we can
play the full clip, but it gets the
message through. He's saying no. Um, and
again, it's Mediite Reports. A few
others, including Senator Kathern
Castow, Cortez Masto, excuse me, of
Nevada and Senator Mark Warner of
Virginia, as well as Jackie Rosen of uh,
Nevada have said that they will vote
against the package, too. They've issues
issued public statements and these were
senators that voted to reopen the
government after the shutdown of last
year. So they're saying, "Okay, we we
folded last time. We're we're actually,
you know, we're not going to fund the
government here if DHS funding is
involved." So I want to wrap up with
this, okay? Cuz I know I threw a lot at
you and I know it's very emotional. Um,
new zoomed in stabilized footage debunks
the Trump administration's lies. Yes,
Alex Prey had a gun on him, but he was
lawfully permitted to have that gun on
him. He has every right to be near law
enforcement, to attend a protest, to be
filming law enforcement as long as he's
a lawful gun owner, which he was. Number
two, that gun was holstered in a smaller
back waistband gun holster. It was
behind his It wasn't It wasn't his hip.
His hands weren't near it. He had a
phone in his hand. He had his other hand
was free. He was on his knees surrounded
by seven agents. They forced him
forward. The gun holstered at his small
back was exposed. One of the agents
grabbed the gun from the holster, was
able to rip it away, ran away. The agent
ran away with the gun to put distance
between the gun and the suspect, Alex
Prey. A second agent in green saw all of
it. All of it. Saw all of it. He wasn't
He wasn't in the front. He wasn't far
away. He was standing right next to the
agent who disarmed Alex Prey. And then
he pulled out his gun as his colleague
was disarming Prey. And again, Prey
wasn't reaching for the gun, wasn't
trying to get the gun. his hands were in
front of him, saw Alex Prey get disarmed
and then shot him to death. And then
some of the other agents, some of the
other seven who were trying to again
either search Alex Py's body or provide
emergency assistance, they were like,
"Where's the gun? Where's the gun?" They
know they [ __ ] up because the gun
wasn't there. He was nowhere near a gun.
And the gun that was holstered that he
was not reaching for was disarmed
successfully before he was shot.
Alex Py's family has issued a public
statement condemning the Trump
administration as well they should. And
now Senate Democrats are prepared to use
what leverage they have to try to send a
message to the Trump administration to
try to impede the Trump administration.
But understand, we have to get this
right. Do not expect Senate Democrats
who are in the minority to be able to
snap their fingers and bring ICE to a
halt. It is not possible. In these very
difficult times, we have to demand that
Democrats do the right thing, use what
power they have, but we also have to set
the proper expectation. And if you think
that Democrats are just going to be able
to snap their fingers and bring ice to a
halt, it's not going to happen. But we
still should demand and expect them to
use what power and rhetoric they have to
push back. And uh as of now, they've
committed to doing so. So, we will be
discussing the reaction and fallout of
this uh all throughout the day because
again, there are a bunch of high-profile
interviews with Trump administration
officials. A lot of new developments on
the fallout of this, but that those are
the new stunning overnight developments
regarding the shooting itself. In the
meantime, let me know what you think in
the comments.

[admin]

BOMBSHELL NEW SHOOTING FOOTAGE EXPOSES ICE
Pondering Politics
Jan 25, 2026 #politics #news #shooting

Bombshell new footage proves the Trump regime murdered an American citizen, Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis and debunks their lies.



Transcript

We begin the day going through the
stunning new overnight developments in
the ongoing story of the second brutal
murder of an American citizen at the
hands of the Trump regime in
Minneapolis, including new
highresolution close-up stabilized
footage which debunks the Trump
administration's lies. They are lying
about the murder of Alex Prey. We have
also heard from PR's family and
Democrats are taking a stand. So, we're
going to go through all of that. But
before we do, if you end up liking this
video and you want to support the
channel, please be sure to hit the like,
subscribe, and alert bells before you
go. All right, folks. We're going to get
into all sorts of things about this
murder throughout the day because, of
course, it's Sunday morning, so the
Trump administration is making the
rounds. Republican lawmakers are making
the rounds trying desperately to spin
the situation in interviews on CBS and
NBC and ABC and other places. So, we
have to dive into their reaction, but I
want to give you the updates about the
shooting itself, including bombshell new
footage, which confirms that when the
Trump administration said that Alex Prey
was using a gun against uh Border Patrol
or ICE, and now we know it wasn't ICE
per se, it was Border Patrol. Still an
element of the Trump administration, so
I want to be, you know, more accurate
here. It was border agents working with
ICE. that when the Trump administration
claims or insinuates that Alex Prey was
attempting to use a gun against law
enforcement officers, it's just not
true. And I have to be mindful of
YouTube's terms of service, so some of
this may be spliced so we don't see the
you most graphic parts, but I want you
to see very clearly this new stabilized
footage, which debunks Trump's lies.
So, here they're wrestling him to the
ground.
right here. And you're going to see it
zoomed in in just a second. One of the
agents is ripping away Alex Freddy's
gun. And then the agent in green shoots
him. Okay. The agent in the the gray
with the gun, Alex Py's gun is running
away. They have disarmed him. And then
the agent in green shoots him. Now
you're going to see the agents again,
slow motion, zoom in. They're grappling
with him. The agent in the center is
reaching into Alex Freddy's back. And
what you'll see here,
right here, his gloved hand is at the
small of Alex Freddy's back because Alex
Prey's gun, which remember he was
lawfully permitted to have, was
holstered in a small of back waistband
holster. It was holstered. He did not
have it out. He was not reaching for it.
It was holstered away from him behind
his back.
The agent, you can see here, he's
fumbling with the gun. And then right,
see right here, he's got the, you see,
he's kneeling. Alex Prey is kneeling.
The agent is gripping his waistband,
trying to get the gun, which is
holstered, that Alex Prey is not going
for, which he certainly doesn't have in
his hands.
And right here, you see
the agent rip the gun away. He's ripping
the gun away while the agent in green
withdraws his gun. Now, as you see here,
the agent who had Alex PR's gun has
successfully ripped it away and is
backing away. He's moving away to get
the gun away from Prey, which pretty did
not have in his possession like in his
hands and that Prey was not reaching
for. The agent in green has already
pulled out his gun. And then, of course,
we know what happens after Alex Prey is
disarmed from a gun that was holstered
in his small of back.
Then the agent in green fires the first
shot, one of about 10.
Okay. In other words, the gun was not in
Alex Freddy's hand. Alex Prey was not
reaching for the gun. He was surrounded
by seven agents. And the gun had been
identified, grabbed, and and withdrawn,
disarmed
before the agent shot. And the agent who
shot saw all of it. He wasn't at a
different location. People can't say,
"Well, he may not have seen that his
colleague had disarmed Alex Pretty."
[ __ ] He was standing right there.
He sees the gun, withdraws his own gun,
the other agent grabs Alex PR's gun and
runs away. And then the agent shoots. It
was coldblooded murder. And if you had
any questions about that, any doubts
about that, consider this. We now have
footage. While Alex Prey is on the
ground, either dead or dying, some of
the other agents are searching him, and
they ask a really important question.
Tell me if you hear it.
They're shouting, "Where's the gun?" So,
the agent's still surrounding Alex
Freddy's body or asking, "Where's the
gun?" And then you see the agent, one of
the agents point in the direction where
his colleague took Alex Py's gun. One of
the agents disarmed Freddy, took the
gun, ran away.
Some of the other agents who are either
are trying to provide emergency
assistance or they're searching Freddy
are like, "Okay, well, you shot him.
Where's the gun?" "Oh, the gun's over
there."
They know they [ __ ] up. They know they
[ __ ] up. This was murder. So, let's go
and get into some of the other updates.
Um, Alex Py's family issued a statement.
Quote, "We are heartbroken, but also
very angry. Alex was a kind-hearted soul
who cared deeply for his family and
friends and also the American veterans
he cared for as an ICU nurse at the
Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to
make a difference in this world.
Unfortunately, he will not be with us to
see his impact. Do not throw around the
word hero lightly. However, his last
thought and act was to protect a woman,
which we discussed in one of the recent
videos. A woman was shoved aggressively
by a Trump regime agent and Alex came to
her defense. He didn't take a swing at
the agent. He didn't get in the agent's
face. He just tried to help her up and
shield her. Then he gets pepper-sprayed
and accosted by the Trump regime's
agents. But let's continue.
The sickening lies told about her son by
the administration are reprehensible and
disgusting. Alex clear is clearly not
holding a gun when attacked by Trump's
murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has
his phone in his right hand and his
empty left hand is raised above his head
while trying to protect the woman Ice
just pushed down all while being
pepper-sprayed. Please get the truth out
about our son. He was a good man. Thank
you. Now, a heartbroken statement. I
can't imagine.
I can't imagine. So, let's look at what
Democrats are doing, what elected
Democrats are doing. Um, because they're
stepping up. Now, before I get to that,
I've got to show you what they can't do.
Dan Feifer of Pod Save America is not
someone that I consider to be, you know,
some uh, you know, accelerationist
far-left lunatic, right? He's a fairly
moderate, I think, all things
considered, probably personally
progressive, but he's considered, you
know, part of the Obama era
establishment. He wrote a really, really
good op-ed or a really good message box
article on his Substack called why
Democrats must block the ICE funding
bill. So, to be clear, even what they
call the Obama pod pros, right, and I
respect them immensely, but I know a lot
of people more left than than they are
denigrate them, but even they are
saying, you know, Democrats need to step
up and block the ICE funding bill. We we
have to lay this out here because we
have to have a correct set of
expectations. All right, so just to be
clear before I show you how Democrats
are responding.
As he notes, there's a much more
complicated situation here than the vote
that led to a shutdown last fall. Here's
a state of play. First, the bill that
funds ICE and DHS passed the House on
Thursday with seven Democrats voting
yes. Before the murder of Alex Prey,
House Democrats, seven of them, seven of
the hundreds of House Democrats voted to
uh pass uh the ICE funding bill. Okay,
they shouldn't have done it. They were
swing state, you know, more moderate
conservative uh Democrats in red
districts. And then of course, Alex gets
shot, gets murdered. Now it has to go to
the Senate. He notes if Congress fa
fails to pass a bill, the Department of
Homeland Security will shut down. The
rest of the government will not shut
down. Congress has either passed or is
on the cusp of passing bills to fund
every agency other than the Department
of Homeland Security.
Funding bills are subject to the
filibuster. So to pass the bill,
Republicans will need at least seven
Democrats to vote with them in the
Senate. Blocking funding will not stop
ICE from doing what it's doing in
Minnesota and elsewhere. And this is
very important, folks, because we want
Democrats to act, but we have to have
realistic expectations. We have to
acknowledge what they do and we have to
celebrate it when they do what we want.
But we can't I don't want people to
leave this video thinking, okay,
Democrats can stop ICE. They cannot. As
Dan Feifer points out, blocking funding
will not stop ICE from doing what it's
doing. Trump decides which government
functions are essential and can continue
during an agency shutdown. during the
government shutdown in 2025, ICE
continued to terrorize communities,
which is true. When we had last year's,
you know, late in the year shutdown,
because Trump can decide what
constitutes an emergency and what can be
funded, ICE still operated unencumbered.
Okay? So, let's be very clear about
that. If you are expecting Democrats to
be able to snap their fingers and bring
this to a halt, it's just not true. We
have to be realistic about this. We have
to be honest.
He says, "Importantly, most of IC's
funding is mandatory funding from the
big beautiful bill and is not subject to
the appropriations process where
Democrats have leverage." So again, that
big beautiful bill that passed,
mandatory funding for ICE already went
in. Okay. And then he says,
"Additionally, um, it's unlikely that
the Republicans will cave. So we have to
set the expectation accordingly." And
then he says, despite all of that,
Democrats have to block the bill. And
the case that he makes for the most part
is ICE is unpopular. Trump is unpopular.
Trump's immigration enforcement is
unpopular. It's also the right thing to
do. And it sends a message to the
Democratic base and to moderates who are
leaving uh Trump because of ICE and
because of his immigration that hey,
when we say that Trump's a fascist and
that ICE is acting like a a fascist, you
know, Gestapo secret police, we mean it
and we're going to use what little
leverage we have to try to stop or
undermine it. Okay? We have to we are
aligning our actions with our rhetoric
and it's also the right thing to do.
Now, in response to this, Chuck Schumer,
the Democratic leader in the Senate,
said the following. What's happening in
Minnesota is appalling and unacceptable
in any American city. Democrats sought
common sense reforms in the Department
of Homeland Security spending bill, but
because of the Republicans refusal to
stand up to Trump, the DHS bill is
woefully inadequate to rein in the
abuses of ICE. I will vote no. And then
he says Senate Democrats will not
provide the votes to proceed to the
appropriations bill if the funding if uh
the DHS funding bill is included. In
other words, he is saying in his
position, he will whip votes against
funding the government if the DHS bill
is included. Okay, that's good. As AOC
notes, this is the strength of the
response we need at People's Calls and
organizing work. Thank you to all who
mobilized. No action is ever too small.
That's why we never give up. Thank you
at Senate Democrats. Now, I want to give
you some clips of Democrats who have now
been speaking up and confirming that
they will not vote to fund DHS,
including, by the way, Democrats who
caved in the last government shutdown
fight. Jackie Rosen, for example, of
Nevada. People who said, "Okay, you know
what? I'm going to I'm going to vote to
fund the government." They are now
committing to not doing it if DHS is
involved in the aftermath of the murder
of Alex Prey. Uh here is Senator Chris
Murphy. Before I let you go, I want to
ask about what your leader Chuck Schumer
says that Democrats are going to vote
against a government funding package
that is before the Senate uh soon and it
includes money for the Department of
Homeland Security. How is that going to
play out?
Well, we can't vote to fund this lawless
Department of Homeland Security. And
remember, it's not just in Minnesota.
They're violating the law all over the
country. I spent last week in Texas
where, you know, they are locking up
two-year-old and three-year-old kids who
are here in the United States legally.
And he goes on to say, but he's
confirming that no, we can't, we
absolutely cannot vote to fund DHS and
certainly not without any concessions
about how ICE operates. Amy Clolobachar,
uh, senator from Minnesota, somebody who
has announced that she's running for
governor to replace Governor Walls since
he's no longer seeking re-election.
Remember, this was in her state that
Alex Prey was killed. Just like Renee
Good,
our Republican colleagues have to stand
up. They are violating right now. ICE
border control what you've seen
violating the first amendment. If they
care about the Constitution, they should
care about this. Violating the Second
Amendment. The NRA has come out and
said, "I'm sorry. You can't blame Alec
simply because he was a legal gun permit
holder. Violating the Fourth Amendment
of search and seizure." So my point here
is our Republican colleagues have to
stand up and stop this and no I am not
voting for this funding.
So she is not voting for DHS funding.
Okay. Adam Schiff, another Democratic
senator who was interviewed this morning
was asked the same question.
And what if any role can Congress play?
Obviously, the government could
partially shut down again on Friday if
Democrats vote against this DHS funding
measure. My question for you, Senator,
are you prepared to vote against DHS
funding if it means partially shutting
down the government again coming on the
heels of an incredibly long shutdown?
Well, I'm not giving ICE or Border
Patrol another dime. Uh, given how this
agency, these agencies are operating.
Dem.
There you have it. I mean, again, we can
play the full clip, but it gets the
message through. He's saying no. Um, and
again, it's Mediite Reports. A few
others, including Senator Kathern
Castow, Cortez Masto, excuse me, of
Nevada and Senator Mark Warner of
Virginia, as well as Jackie Rosen of uh,
Nevada have said that they will vote
against the package, too. They've issues
issued public statements and these were
senators that voted to reopen the
government after the shutdown of last
year. So they're saying, "Okay, we we
folded last time. We're we're actually,
you know, we're not going to fund the
government here if DHS funding is
involved." So I want to wrap up with
this, okay? Cuz I know I threw a lot at
you and I know it's very emotional. Um,
new zoomed in stabilized footage debunks
the Trump administration's lies. Yes,
Alex Prey had a gun on him, but he was
lawfully permitted to have that gun on
him. He has every right to be near law
enforcement, to attend a protest, to be
filming law enforcement as long as he's
a lawful gun owner, which he was. Number
two, that gun was holstered in a smaller
back waistband gun holster. It was
behind his It wasn't It wasn't his hip.
His hands weren't near it. He had a
phone in his hand. He had his other hand
was free. He was on his knees surrounded
by seven agents. They forced him
forward. The gun holstered at his small
back was exposed. One of the agents
grabbed the gun from the holster, was
able to rip it away, ran away. The agent
ran away with the gun to put distance
between the gun and the suspect, Alex
Prey. A second agent in green saw all of
it. All of it. Saw all of it. He wasn't
He wasn't in the front. He wasn't far
away. He was standing right next to the
agent who disarmed Alex Prey. And then
he pulled out his gun as his colleague
was disarming Prey. And again, Prey
wasn't reaching for the gun, wasn't
trying to get the gun. his hands were in
front of him, saw Alex Prey get disarmed
and then shot him to death. And then
some of the other agents, some of the
other seven who were trying to again
either search Alex Py's body or provide
emergency assistance, they were like,
"Where's the gun? Where's the gun?" They
know they [ __ ] up because the gun
wasn't there. He was nowhere near a gun.
And the gun that was holstered that he
was not reaching for was disarmed
successfully before he was shot.
Alex Py's family has issued a public
statement condemning the Trump
administration as well they should. And
now Senate Democrats are prepared to use
what leverage they have to try to send a
message to the Trump administration to
try to impede the Trump administration.
But understand, we have to get this
right. Do not expect Senate Democrats
who are in the minority to be able to
snap their fingers and bring ICE to a
halt. It is not possible. In these very
difficult times, we have to demand that
Democrats do the right thing, use what
power they have, but we also have to set
the proper expectation. And if you think
that Democrats are just going to be able
to snap their fingers and bring ice to a
halt, it's not going to happen. But we
still should demand and expect them to
use what power and rhetoric they have to
push back. And uh as of now, they've
committed to doing so. So, we will be
discussing the reaction and fallout of
this uh all throughout the day because
again, there are a bunch of high-profile
interviews with Trump administration
officials. A lot of new developments on
the fallout of this, but that those are
the new stunning overnight developments
regarding the shooting itself. In the
meantime, let me know what you think in
the comments.

[admin]

Minneapolis shooting: AG Ellison on legal fights vs. federal government [FULL]
FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
Jan 25, 2026

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Sunday addressed Minnesotans about the legal fight his office is undertaking to preserve evidence in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol.



Transcript

Governor Walz, thank you for your
excellent leadership during this very,
very difficult time, this unprecedented
time, Governor, because quite honestly,
there's never been a deployment of
immigration agents this size in the
history of the United States.
There have been times in American
history where they've deported a lot of
people, but a concentrated deployment of
ICE agents in one state, in one period of
time, is unprecedented, and therefore
there's no playbook, and therefore nobody
knows exactly how to deal with this
situation. But it is unique and
particularly puzzling given that Minnesota does not
have the highest immigration in the
United States, given that Minnesota
has a very, very professional
community of law enforcement
professionals, who are taking care of
the safety of our state. Given
the fact that the department of
corrections person with the state law,
hands over people who ICE is looking for,
and they have the proper paperwork for.
Given given all of that, this is a very
curious situation, and would reasonably
lead someone to ask why.

So, let me talk about Alex Pretti. Alex
Pretti was a nurse at the VA. I happen
to have a son who's 31 years old, who
spent five years in the United States
military as a combat medic. But toward
the end of his deployment, and the end of
his service, he wanted to go into
nursing. And so he did. And he ended up
getting an RN degree, and works
in the health care system here in
Minnesota. And when he was at work today,
and last night, he said, "Look, my
colleagues were crying, and in tears, and
they took this hit to one of their own
very personally." And he said, "I did
too." He said, "I didn't find
myself shedding tears, but I could have,
because I was brokenhearted, because
I know the service, and the love,
and compassion he put into taking care of
the people at the VA."

An intensive care nurse, kind, compassionate person to friend and
family, described by co-workers as the
first person who would jump in to help.
He was our neighbor, and he should still
be with us right now.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is a statewide criminal investigative bureau headquartered in Saint Paul that provides expert forensic science and criminal investigation services. The BCA assists local Minnesota law enforcement agencies with complex investigations using the latest technology and techniques, and helps secure arrests for violence-related and drug-trafficking crimes, among others. Notably, the BCA investigates killings by police and similar incidents.

The BCA operates as a subsidiary division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, a major state agency of the Minnesota Executive Branch. The BCA's superintendent is Drew Evans.

History

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was created by the Minnesota Legislature in 1927 to assist police departments statewide in solving crimes and apprehending criminals, under the direction of the Minnesota Attorney General's office. The BCA gathers crime statistics to help state and local agencies identify criminal trends. In 1935, agents received full police power and were licensed police officers throughout the state. In 1947, the BCA Crime Lab was established in St. Paul to assist in solving crimes via forensic science, and was one of the first DNA laboratories in the United States in 1990. Later the BCA was the first law enforcement agency in the U.S. to identify a suspect solely by DNA. In 1969, the agency was moved under the direction of the State Attorney General's Office to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. In 2001, the BCA opened an additional forensic laboratory in Bemidji, and the BCA's Special Investigations Unit began collaborating with federal agencies to aid in multi-jurisdictional criminal investigations. In 2004, the BCA became one of four laboratories in the U.S. the Federal Bureau of Investigation selected to serve as a regional mitochondrial DNA laboratory.

-- Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, by Wikipedia

So, let me just note that Superintendent
Drew Evans of the BCA [Bureau of Criminal Apprehension], another exemplary
professional in our state, the
BCA is the state's investigative agency,
and it is their job to investigate
crime. They have a specialized unit to
investigate the use of force cases. They
arrived on site after the shooting and
were refused access.
They then secured a
judicial warrant, a warrant signed by a
judge, which has never been needed before,
and were still refused access.
This is uncharted territory.

Now friends, this comes at the tail end
of other offenses like a shooting in
North Minneapolis, and another homicide
in South Minneapolis, Renee Nicole Good,
where they also were denied access to
the scene. And investigators are to this
moment still being denied access to the
investigative file.

This is not a rash decision for us to go to court, and to
seek a temporary restraining order
from a judge to preserve evidence, and
prevent the destruction of evidence.
I don't care if you're a conservative,
liberal, or whatever, you should at
least be in favor of conserving evidence
in a homicide.
And to have to go get an order from a
judge to preserve that evidence is
extraordinary, and should alarm everyone
who believes in equal justice under the
law, and who believes that every person,
no matter how this case ultimately is
resolved, deserves to have their case
investigated to get to the truth of what
happened.

This is an extraordinary moment, in an unprecedented time, and
we're doing all we can to step up to
that moment. My office represents the
BCA , and joined the Henipin County
Attorney's Office in a lawsuit last
night, as you know, and we moved
to prevent the destruction and/or
tampering with evidence related to Alex
Petti's shooting.
And this includes any evidence the
federal agents took from the scene of
the shooting preventing the state
authorities from inspecting it.
We've never had to do anything like this
before. Never before.
We filed that motion last night, and for
a temporary restraining order, asking the
court to take immediate action to
preserve the evidence. And last night,
within two hours of the filing, a judge
granted the motion.

The Department of Homeland Security and
the federal government are now enjoined
from destroying or altering evidence
related to yesterday's shooting.
The fact that anyone would ever think
that an agent of the federal government
might even think about doing such a
thing, was completely unforeseeable only
a few weeks ago.
But now this is what we have to do.

As we said in our filing last night, the
irreparable harm we would suffer if the
federal government were allowed to
destroy evidence is so weighty, that any
harm to the federal government, does not even budge
the scales in a court balancing of the
scales. It's imperative that we
preserve as much evidence as possible, so
that the state investigators are allowed
to access the evidence to ensure a fair
thorough investigation.

And I will say, I've heard not one
single law enforcement, or investigative
agent in the state of Minnesota, say that
they won't share information with the
federal government. I've heard quite the
opposite from the federal government.

Now, Operation Metro Surge. As I noted when I
started, this appears to be
the largest single deployment, or surge
of immigration agents, in the history of
the country.
And as a result,
tremendous damage has been inflicted
upon our state. We've had two killings
within two weeks and an additional
non-lethal shooting. We've had countless
numbers of people who have been stopped,
and had the demand for
their papers, to have to show their
papers in America. We've had door-to-door
knocks where people have had
their homes barged into without
cause of right. And we've had
stores have to shutter, schools, students
not going to school. We've had reduction
in employees going to their job
sites. We've had little
markets being shut down, restaurants
being interfered
with. We've had a countless number of
harms.

And so we took the action of
suing the federal government over
Operation Metro Surge.
And tomorrow morning,
I'm going to be in federal court with my
team arguing for a restraining order
against Operation Metro Surge.
I filed this case almost two weeks ago,
and this will be our first hearing. The
lawsuit we filed is one that is
caused by the unprecedented
nature of this surge.

It is a novel abuse of the Constitution
that we're looking at right now.
No one can remember a time when we've
seen something like this when a state
can marshal facts to show that our
targeting is not based on excessive
amounts of undocumented immigrants or
anything like that. But
we're targeted because of politics, which
violates our First Amendment rights. Also the
10th amendment which we are entitled to as
a state to equal sovereignty,
we have been denied that. The
federal government is literally
commandeering and coercing the state of
Minnesota to bend to its will, which is
the prerogative of the people of the
state of Minnesota.

Let me remind everybody, let me take everybody back to
eighth grade civics. The states predate
the United States, and came into the
union preserving their rights as states,
to be the states that the citizens of
those states want them to be within
a constitutional framework.
It is in the
DNA of American history that the
federal government cannot trample over
the prerogatives of the state. And that
is exactly what is happening here. And
that is exactly why we're going to
court. This surge has drained local law
enforcement time and resources.
Jacob Frey, if he were here, could tell
you that they've spent north of $2
million on overtime responding to ICE.
They damage our economy, hurt our
education system, and terrorize
community members. And it must stop. And
tomorrow is a big step in that
direction.

Now, as I noted a moment ago, people
will ask, well, why Minnesota?
I'll say this. Minnesota is dealing with targeted
oppression from the federal government
because of who we are, and who we value.
Minnesota is a place where we welcome
the stranger.
We have number of nonprofits that focus
on refugee resettlement in Minnesota.
Minnesota is a place where we take care
of the vulnerable among us. We're a
state that just passed paid family
leave. We're a state that believes in
feeding our kids who are in school. And
we're a state that believes that
Minnesota is a great place to live for
everyone, no matter where you were born.

Of course we obeyed all laws, but we
still believe that immigration is not a
sin. They're coming after our
state, in my view, because of what we
stand for. Because we voted three times
in favor of somebody not John Donald
Trump, which he has publicly said he
resents deeply and believes is not even
true. I can tell you it's not about fraud.
Because if he sent people who understand
forensic accounting, we'd be having a
different conversation. But he's sending
armed masked men. This is a pretext, and it's not supported by the facts at
all, which has brought us to court,
challenging the justification that the
president has offered.

For those watching around the country,
I would submit to you that just as
Portland, and Chicago, and LA, were
precursors to Minneapolis, Minneapolis
is a precursor to a whole lot of other
places that they have their eye on right
now, including Maine,
and several other states.
If we don't stop this behavior here, it
will only expand, and it won't be good
for anyone in our country.

Minnesota is staying strong, and I want
to join Governor Walz in my
just pride in being a Minnesotan.
No football game victory could ever make
me feel as good about our state as I do
about people standing up, helping their
neighbors, engaging in mutual aid,
giving each other rides to different
places, making sure that there's enough
groceries, protesting, using their first amendment
rights. This state has a lot of spirit,
and "Minnesota-nice" is a real thing.

I wasn't fortunate enough to be born in
Minnesota. I was born and grew up in
Michigan. And I can tell you that this
state has a lot of nice people. It really
does. And a lot of people who believe in
taking care of their neighbor and
welcoming the stranger.
And as we see right now, resisting
tyranny.

So, I just want to say that as the
courage of protesters and others who are
helping their neighbors is so evident on
the streets of this of this great state
of ours, we at the attorney general's
office, and in Minnesota state government,
can do no less than match the courage
you have already shown.
And we will not back down. We won't
blink. We won't bow. We will stand firmly on our
constitutional rights and in favor of
Minnesotans.
We will do that in the ballot box,
at the courts, we will do that in the
streets in a peaceful, legal, First
Amendment protected way. And we will do
it in a multitude of ways. But one thing
we will not down do is we will not back
down, and we will not bend.

And so let me wrap up by saying this.
We will never forget Alex Pretti.
We will never forget Renee
Nicole Good. And we will never forget
any of the Minnesotans who have
suffered so unjustifiably in
this time.

Minnesota is a great place.
That is why I believe we've been targeted.
But it's not going to work. And we'll be
in court tomorrow arguing for the rights
of every Minnesotan to stand up and be the
generous, courageous people that we are.
Thank you.

[admin]

MAGA Fox host SCREAMS at Kash Patel over ICE shooting
Pondering Politics
Jan 25, 2026 #politics #news #foxnews

Donald Trump should be terrified: MAGA Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo is turning on him, grilling FBI Director Kash Patel and Republican Congressman James Comer over the murder of an American citizen by Trump regime.



Transcript

As we continue to cover the fallout of
the second brutal murder of an American
citizen in Minneapolis at the hands of
the Trump regime, something very
interesting happened this morning on
Donald Trump's favorite TV network,
which should absolutely terrify him.
MAGA Fox News/Fox Business host Maria
Bart Roma, one of the biggest Trump
supporters in the Fox orbit, is freaking
out and losing her [ __ ] not just on
Republican members of Congress like
James Comr, but Trump administration
officials like FBI director Cash Patel,
pushing back on the Trump administration
and the Republican regarding this
murder. And when you lose Maria Barter
Romo, you've definitely lost the
American people. But before we unpack
all that, if you end up liking this
video and you want to support the
channel, please be sure to hit the like,
subscribe, and alert bells before you
go. All right, folks. We have several
clips to play here. But I want to start
with uh Maria Barto Romo engaging with
James Comr, the Republican leader of the
House Oversight Committee, and then I've
got several clips to show you from a
slightly earlier interview this morning
with FBI Director Cash Patel. But let's
start with Barta Romo and Comr here.
Another individual is dead at the hands
of Border Patrol. Let's be clear. We do
not know if there was any push back from
this individual who was armed. We do not
have evidence that he was waving a gun,
doing anything to threaten Border
Patrol. He had his phone and he was
shooting [laughter] he he was uh viewing
and recording the incident. That's what
he was doing, recording the incident.
What is your reaction? And you are an
elected official. What can you do about
it? Well, look, I I don't think there's
any question a majority of Americans
want President Trump and ICE to go in
and apprehend the
I just want to know something here. Do
you hear how outraged she is? Do you how
do you hear how panicked she is? I don't
know if it's because she's panicked
about the political consequences for her
political party or if it's because she
is deeply actually personally touched by
this. She is she's offended by this.
She's outraged by this on a personal
level or a combination thereof. But
she's pushing back in ways that very few
MAGA Fox hosts actually will. And quite
frankly, even the allegedly straight
news Fox hosts like Dana Parino wouldn't
push back like this. And also note how
panicked James Comr is. He's trying to
walk a fine line. He knows ICE [ __ ]
up. He knows Border Patrol [ __ ] up. He
knows this is a murder. He knows that
Republicans are getting their asses
kicked in the court of public opinion
about this. But he's also terrified of
Trump. So that's why he's beginning with
the platitude. Well, I think the
majority of Americans really support
Donald Trump.
Criminal illegals. That's what President
Trump campaigned on and he's doing
exactly what he said. I look at what
happened in Minneapolis versus what
happened in Washington DC. When
President Trump sent the National Guard
into Washington DC, the mayor, Mayor
Mariel Bowser supported that. She worked
her her local law enforcement court
worked with the president and in a short
period of time they have really been
successful in reducing the amount of
crime in Washington DC. That was a big
success. Fast forward to where we are in
Minneapolis. We have a governor, an
attorney general, and a mayor of
Minneapolis who are getting people
jacked up, uh, trying to get them, you
know, convinced that this is, you know,
some type of, uh, illegal raid, that
they're all their lives are threatening.
They've got all these white liberals
coming in trying to run over ICE, trying
to, you know, spray them and and and do
everything to disrupt. And
yeah, so again, you hear the stammer. I
mean, Comr is an idiot anyway who should
be made fun of for the rest of his
[ __ ] life. But he's panic here and
he's trying to flip the script. It's
actually it's actually liberals. It's
white liberals. And notice how again
that shot uh across the bow at Renee
Good, the first American citizen
murdered by the Trump regime in the
streets of Minneapolis with they're
trying to run people over. That's not
what happened, [ __ ] Now, let's turn
to Maria Barto Romo's interview with FBI
Director Cash Patel. And she also lets
Patel have it. morning. And I know that
this is a DHS investigation, but there
is outrage across the country that there
is another killing. Someone is dead at
the hands of Border Patrol. What can you
tell us?
Great to be with you, Maria. And look,
Secretary Gnome stated it perfectly. You
do not get to attack law enforcement
officials in this
He didn't
country without any repercussions. You
do not get to do that in Minnesota, LA,
or anywhere else. and the inter agency
is leading the charge out there. We've
already arrested with the inter agency
those that violated the FACE act and
impeded a priestful prayer in church.
We've already just last night arrested
four more individuals uh involved in the
damage of government property that we
saw the videos of online. Um we've
arrested other individuals who've made
threats to law enforcement online. So we
are not messing around. It doesn't have
to be in person. If you threaten law
enforcement officials or civilians, we
are going to come find you. that has
nothing to do with the murder of Alex
Prey.
And as for this latest shooting, yes,
DHS and HSI are the lead and the FBI is
processing the physical evidence. So,
we're in possession of the firearm which
is going to go to our laboratory. But as
Secretary Gnome said, no one who wants
to be peaceful shows up at a protest
with a firearm that is loaded with two
full magazines.
There's nothing about that said
anywhere. There there is no these
[ __ ] [ __ ] who have said for years
the second amendment shall not be
infringed and we got to you know we got
to protect ourselves from a tyrannical
government. It don't matter. You don't
get to tell me Uncle Sam how many
magazines I can have. These people said
that [ __ ] And by the way uh the the
hypocrisy of MAGA on uh the second
amendment has been explored to hell and
back in the past 24 hours. It is truly
truly stunning to see them walk it back.
They don't give a [ __ ] about the Second
Amendment. They don't give a [ __ ] about
the right to bear arms. They don't care
about any of that. They want guns to
kill liberals, but they don't think
liberals can have guns for any reason.
And again, Maria Baromo, to her credit,
pushes back on this [ __ ]
Charge to arrest those.
But but how was he threatening Border
Patrol? You you've collected the
evidence, you said, right? You have the
handgun in your possession.
That's right.
And and how was he using that handgun in
terms of threatening Border Patrol?
He wasn't. The gun was holstered in a
small of back holster on his waistband.
He had a phone in his hand. He had his
free hand. He wasn't reaching for his
gun. He was pepper-sprayed before he
went to the ground. He was surrounded by
seven ICE/Border Patrol agents. And we
just reviewed the footage. Go back to my
most recent video. The footage has been
stabilized. It's been slowed down. It's
been zoomed in. One Border Patrol agent
identifies the gun in PR's holster, rips
the gun out of PR's holster, runs away
uh from Prey to put distance between
Prey and the agents and the gun. The
other agent in green sees this happen,
sees the gun, sees his colleague grab
the gun. Pretty's not reaching for it.
Prety's on his knees, hands in front,
sees his colleague successfully disarm
Prey from the holster, run away. Then he
pulls out his gun and shoots Freddy in
the back. Clear-cut, black and white. It
was murder.
What was the threat? He had his camera,
right? He was filming it.
That's something that I let the DHS and
the prosecutors because they are the
ones investigating that case. I don't
Do you hear this [ __ ] He's like, "You
can't go around threatening uh
threatening law enforcement agents with
a gun." Okay. Well, how is he doing
that?
I mean,
DHS
DHS has to explain that one. I don't
know. I want to stylize that evidence,
but I trust the men and women on the
ground who are trained professionals to
only use it when it's absolutely
necessary. And I trust Secretary Gnome's
leadership and DHS and HSI to do. So
again, Cash Patel is regurgitating
Gnome's propaganda, DHS propaganda, but
when pressed by a MAGA Fox News host,
we'll explain it. You're indicating that
he was threatening law enforcement with
a gun. How was he doing that? You can
see Cash Patel in real time go, "Oh
shit." Uh have to talk to them. But
but it's not stopping. People are mad at
ICE and want Border Patrol to stop. You
saw what's happening right now in
Minneapolis. People are protesting in
the streets pushing Border Patrol out.
How will this end?
This will end thanks to President
Trump's brilliant leadership to always
back the blue. Law enforcement.
He doesn't back the blue. Again, this is
situational. If he backed the blue, he
would be celebrating the capital police
that successfully defended the capital
against his violent insurrectionist mob
on January 6th instead of mass pardoning
the hundreds of copers. Donald Trump,
again, guys, it is outrageous because
people are dying as a consequence. But
please understand, this is not a matter
of opinion. It's a matter of fact. MAGA
is the most openly unprincipled and
hypocritical movement in modern American
history. They care about nothing.
Nothing other than owning the libs. They
don't give a [ __ ] about the Second
Amendment in principle. They don't care
about law enforcement in principle. They
don't care about small government in
principle. They care about nothing. It's
whatever they can pick up to own the
libs, even if they themselves suffer in
the process. That's what they care
about.
How much uh of this has to do with some
of the rhetoric in your view? Just two
weeks ago, the governor, Tim Waltz, told
residents to get their phones and start
filming uh whatever is happening and
when they see Border Patrol. Listen to
this. This is just two weeks ago from
Governor Tim Waltz. Watch.
And Cash Patel goes on, we're going to
skip the walls part because again, it's
just about you use your phones to record
that. You have every right to do that.
Any any person has the right to film and
monitor law enforcement. You just do.
Now, you don't need to be getting in
their faces. You don't need to be
interceding or disrupting. That could,
especially in today's age, get you
killed. But if you see law enforcement
conducting law enforcement operations,
you have every right to take out your
phone and film it. And they can't do
anything about it legally.
Your reaction?
I think that type of rhetoric is exactly
what's leading to violence against law
enforcement that is totally baseless and
unnecessary.
I think calling on people to monitor a
rogue law enforcement organ um
peacefully exercising their rights to
monitor, to film, to record law
enforcement. I think that's the thing
that's contributing to the violence.
These people are not serious at all.
Now, I mean, thousands of people are
marching through Minneapolis. They are
targeting uh the border patrol. I mean,
it it feels like the rhetoric and the uh
the protesting is only ramping up. What
is your advice to the people right now
who are outraged that this is a second
killing at the hands of Border Patrol in
two weeks?
As Christie said, you cannot bring a
firearm loaded with multiple magazines
to any sort of protest that you want.
It's you can you have a he had a right
to open carry in Minnesota in
Minneapolis. Minneapolis law permits
him. There's no law that I'm aware of.
Maybe we should have peace go back on
which says, "Hey,
you can't bring you cannot legally bring
a gun to some sort of public engagement,
public uh protest." Now, maybe it's
unwise. Maybe it's unwise, but it's not
illegal.
He doesn't give a [ __ ] about that.
That's simple. You don't have that right
to break the law and incite violence.
What law did he break and how did he
incite violence?
He had the right to carry the gun. And
I'm going to close with this. Uh Maria
Bard Romo again, she's panicked. She's
freaking out either because she
understands the political consequences
or because she recognizes on a deep
personal level that Trump and the Trump
administration and Cash Patel and
Christy Gnome and Tom Holman and uh
Bumino, the um the little mini Nazi as I
call him, that they all [ __ ] up and
murdered an American citizen. But she
begs Cash Battel to get the [ __ ]
together.
Yeah. I mean, director, somehow I it
you've got to get together with the
president's detractors, whether it is on
the Democrat side or not, to ensure that
we don't have mistakes like we've been
seeing, so that we are actually seeing
what you're talking about, taking down
people who deserve it and not in fact
getting people who are in the middle of
fire and in the middle of these
operations. Why is it that everything
you've just said the the the Democrats
do not agree?
It's not just the Democrats. A majority
of America I'm folks, I'm telling you,
you saw the polls about Renee Good. I'm
I'm confident of very little in politics
to make total predictions because it's
the most complicated field in existence.
For all intents and purposes, politics
and religion are incredibly complicated.
You make very few predictions. But one
thing I am willing to bet on is that the
polling for Trump and ICE and
immigration are going to be disastrous
once the polls take into account what
happened to Alex Prey. It's not just the
other half of this country. It's not
just the other side. It's a majority of
Americans, many of whom supported Trump.
They're losing. They're not holding
their own. It's not a difficult fight.
In the court of public opinion, in the
court of public polling, they are
getting their asses kicked. They're
getting curb stomped on the messaging
and public opinion war over this. They
are losing
in terms of the president's agenda.
Well, the Democrats are just upset that
it was President Trump that delivered
this historic year in law enforcement.
This is
again, he doesn't even address anything.
She's asking like, "Hey, listen." And
notice how she said, "You guys made a
mistake." So, Maria Bart Romo gave the
game away right there. As much as it
pains her to admit it, she knows Trump
was wrong. The Trump administration was
wrong, ICE was wrong, Border Patrol was
wrong, Christy Gnome was wrong, Cash
Patel is wrong. They're the bad guys
here. And Alex Prey was a victim, that
he did not deserve to die, that law
enforcement [ __ ] up. They're the
villains of the story, this specific
story at the very least. And Alex Prey
was the victim. She knows that she just
communicated that. And Cash Patel
doesn't want to address it. Well, Donald
Trump, you know, he gave a historic win.
He's just got a huge penis and everybody
loves a six-pack, too. Like, you know,
he's just one of like he's so muscular
and like he's handsome. Like, all the
ladies love him. And also the stamina.
Like, he he's this guy's not even
serious. He's a loser. Cash Patel is a
loser. And u in a in a more just world,
when a Democrat wins in 2028, all these
[ __ ] will be in jail for the
rest of their lives. So, when you lose
Maria Barto Romo, that should absolutely
terrify Trump. But, we'll see what
happens. In the meantime, let me know
what you think in the comments.

[admin]

https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/1qm90w9/thats_not_a_dog_thats_a_lil_girl/?share_id=1Vxw2Uvn1k-8HK7krGDAs&utm_content=1&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=4

[admin]

“He Was Executed”: Minneapolis Residents Outraged, Defiant After Immigration Agents Kill Alex Pretti
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
January 26, 2026
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/26/ ... transcript



Protests have intensified in Minnesota after federal immigration agents killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked in the Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System, on Saturday. Democracy Now!'s John Hamilton reports from the scene of Pretti's killing, where protesters clashed with federal agents. “We’ve seen everything from people that are unconscious, that have fainted, tear-gassed, bruised, bloody noses, can’t breathe,” said Melissa, a local resident. State Senator Omar Fateh responded to the killing with outrage: “He had a camera on his hand. He was tackled, he was pummeled, and he was executed.”

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Minnesota, where federal immigration agents Saturday fatally shot Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked in the Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System. Pretti’s killing came just over two weeks after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old poet and mother of three. And it came a day after a massive protest in Minnesota against Trump’s immigration crackdown.

As in the case of Renee Good, Trump administration officials quickly claimed Alex Pretti posed a threat. Pretti was a licensed gun owner and was armed, but video shows he never took out his gun. White House adviser Stephen Miller called Pretti a “would-be assassin.” Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino claimed Pretti wanted to, quote, “massacre law enforcement,” unquote. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti had, quote, “brandished a weapon.”

But video from the scene and sworn testimony from eyewitnesses told a very different testimony. I want to read the words of one eyewitness. The witness begins by describing how Pretti had been helping to direct traffic in the minutes before he was fatally shot. The eyewitness wrote, quote, “I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man’s hand recording a video.

“An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk.

“The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers … were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn’t see him reach for or hold a gun.

“Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him.

“Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. …

“The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.

“I don’t know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him.”

That’s the sworn testimony of an individual who witnessed immigration agents fatally shooting Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis Saturday morning.

Video shows Pretti never reached for his gun and that an agent disarmed him by removing Pretti’s gun from its holster before the first shot was fired. A total of 10 shots were fired. Six of the shots were fired at Pretti’s motionless body.

A doctor who witnessed the shooting described what happening next by saying, quote, “I saw that the victim was lying on his side and was surrounded by several ICE agents. I was confused as to why the victim was on his side, because that is not standard practice when a victim has been shot. Checking for a pulse and administering CPR is standard practice. Instead of doing either of those things, the ICE agents appeared to be counting his bullet wounds,” unquote.

After the shooting, the federal government blocked local investigators from reviewing the evidence, just like it did after the fatal shooting of Renee Good. On Saturday night, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring federal officials, quote, “from destroying or altering evidence,” unquote. A federal court hearing is set for today. Several Republican lawmakers have called for joint federal and state investigations. Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said, quote, “The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake,” unquote.

Democracy Now!’s John Hamilton was in the streets of Minneapolis this weekend and filed this report.

JOHN HAMILTON: Nine a.m. on Saturday morning, gunshots ring out across a stretch of the Whittier neighborhood of south Minneapolis, known as “Eat Street.”

Video of the homicide began to circulate across social media, prompting shocked and angry neighbors to pour into the streets despite temperatures below zero Fahrenheit. Within hours, protesters from across the Twin Cities region converged near the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street, the site of the killing. They were met with extraordinary violence.

PROTESTER 1: They will kill me if you let them take me! Stop taking pictures and save my life!

JOHN HAMILTON: Those arrested by the masked federal agents were shoved into unmarked SUVs, many with out-of-state plates.

PROTESTER 2: They took my sister Donna. She was on the corner exercising her First Amendment right to protest. We were standing on the corner. We got separated by ICE. And I turned around to find her, and she was being thrown on the ground. And there was, I don’t know, four or five agents on top of her. And then they drug her to a car or to something. It might be that van down there. Sorry, I just want to find my sister, Donna. Please! Somebody help me find where I can pick her up.

PROTESTER 3: We were just running away from the gas. That’s all we were doing.

PROTESTER 4: OK. Where is she right now?

PROTESTER 3: She’s being arrested by ICE.

JOHN HAMILTON: Just as they did after ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good on January 7th, federal agents blocked state investigators with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from approaching the scene, even after BCA officers obtained a warrant signed by a judge.

KEVIN: My name is Kevin. I live a block away from here. I mean, I woke up today and heard the news and immediately came outside to start protesting. These people are Nazi fascists, and they need to get out of our neighborhoods. They need to be abolished. This entire agency needs to be abolished. The constitutional observers are being dragged out of their vehicles. They’re still breaking their windows, breaking out of their vehicles, pepper-spraying. I’m seeing people being pepper-sprayed who are just lying down and already tackled by three Border Patrol agents. This latest video, this person, six Border Patrol agents around them, and they still shot them five times in the street. It’s just outright murder. They’re just outright murdering us.

JEREMY: Yeah. Hi. My name is Jeremy. And right now I’m standing on Stevens and 26th here. And I’ve got a ton of ICE agents sitting in the street, and they’re all trying to push us back and get us out of the area. Just this morning, six ICE officers shot and killed one person. I came out here to protest. And all they have done ever since is arrest innocent people for walking into the street.

JOHN HAMILTON: About four hours after they were filmed committing homicide in a video that was already racing across the internet, the masked federal agents left the scene.

PROTESTER 5: Where’s the shame, huh? Where’s the shame?

JOHN HAMILTON: They drove away angry but peaceful protesters with volleys of tear gas, concussion grenades and other so-called less lethal weapons.

PROTESTER 5: Time for you to go! I think it’s time for you to go!

JOHN HAMILTON: ICE, Border Patrol and other federal agents left in a convoy of SUVs, tailed by an armored vehicle.

PROTESTER 5: Get out of our neighborhood! We don’t want you here!

JOHN HAMILTON: Vacating a crime scene without any coordination with the state or local law enforcement.

PROTESTER 6: As they were leaving, they just started throwing tear gas and concussion flashbangs into the crowd. Nobody was doing anything. I was literally shaking hands with people I was talking to as they were leaving.

JOHN HAMILTON: Just minutes after federal agents left the scene, uniformed state police officers fired volleys of tear gas as they left in a convoy that was flanked by a pair of armored vehicles. Reverend Genjo Sam Conway lives three blocks from the scene of the killing. He woke up to the sound of a helicopter overhead and rushed to the scene after learning the news.

REV. GENJO SAM CONWAY: This is somebody else. This is the DNR now and the State Patrol, is what it looks like. We don’t understand, one, why they’re here, and we don’t understand, two, why they’re allowed to be masked, as well. They are also refusing to identify themselves and not providing badge numbers or names. Get ICE out of here and be on our side. You’re supposed to protect us, not them. They don’t live here. Help us. Help us right now. This is an occupation.

PROTESTERS: ICE out now!

JOHN HAMILTON: With the stench of tear gas still in the air, protesters gathered by the hundreds at the intersection of 26th and Nicollet Avenue, where they erected barricades cutting off vehicle traffic and erecting a memorial at the site of the killing.

PROTESTER 7: Say his name!

PROTESTERS: Alex Pretti!

PROTESTER 7: Alex Pretti! He was murdered by ICE, by our government! We should be outraged! All of you should be mad! All of you should be angry! We cannot stand for this!

PROTESTER 8: We are! We are!

PROTESTER 7: Say his name!

PROTESTERS: Alex Pretti!

PROTESTER 7: Alex Pretti!

PROTESTERS: Alex Pretti!

PROTESTER 9: One more time!

PROTESTERS: Alex Pretti!

PROTESTER 9: One more time!

PROTESTERS: Alex Pretti!

JOHN HAMILTON: Across the street from where Alex Pretti was gunned down by federal agents is Glam Doll Donuts, where eyewitnesses watched the killing through the restaurant’s front window. Inside, some of the staff who witnessed the violence are feeding donuts and coffee to protesters who’ve come in from the cold.

MELISSA: My name’s Melissa. I’m a volunteer for being a medic. And I’m here because I saw in my neighborhood that a nurse was murdered on Nicollet, and there was a lot of people here getting pepper-sprayed, and so I wanted to come down and provide services to help our community. We’ve seen everything from people that are unconscious, that have fainted, tear-gassed, bruised, bloody noses, can’t breathe, like asthmatic events, just simple things I haven’t seen besides the worst thing that could happen to a human, being murdered. I wasn’t here at that time, but there were several people that are here now that were present. This is my neighborhood. I have to be out here. Right before, when I was coming here, I called my son to let him know where I was going and that I was volunteering as a medic, because I don’t know, it could have been me. We are all Renee Good. It could have been us. The gentleman, I don’t know his name, that was murdered today, that could have been my son or you. It’s random. He was an observer. I am an observer. I’m an — you know, I have this medic badge. But what does that mean? That doesn’t mean anything. They don’t care.

JOHN HAMILTON: Jaylani Hussein is a Somali American civil rights activist and executive director of the Minnesota chapter of CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

JAYLANI HUSSEIN: We are here again at another scene of a murder of, really, a neighbor who decided to be an observer today. You could see the videos that he was at the time standing up for his neighbors, and ICE agents did not like that and appeared to be approaching him, wrestling him to the ground, and then, later on, shooting and killing him.

So, it’s a really tense situation. Minnesotans have come out today. There’s a lot of people on the streets. We really just cannot make sense of what’s happening. We are under assault. We are under attack. We are sieged by the federal government. We have 3,000 masked men in our community. Our law enforcements are overwhelmed. And we’re feeling a sense of overcome by everything that’s happening.

Yet yesterday, on one of the coldest days of the year, nearly negative 10 degrees, you know, 50,000 people came out in protesting. And it’s just a reminder of who we are. And then, just a day after, we had that many people come out who were inspired to stand up for Renee Good, for their neighbors. And then to have one of our neighbors once again murdered, it’s just — it’s just incredible. And it’s testing our state and our leadership and our community. I know we’re resilient, and we will — we will win at the end.

JOHN HAMILTON: Alex Pretti and Renee Good were both 37 years old and both residents of Minneapolis’s Southside.

SEN. OMAR FATEH: My name is Omar Fateh, a state senator representing Southside Minneapolis District 62, also the site in which both Alex and Renee Good have been murdered. Right now we’re inside Glam Doll Donuts off of Nicollet, right by the site in which Alex was murdered at the hands of ICE. This morning, Alex was outside with all of our neighbors, serving as a neighborhood protector, recording ICE when ICE comes into the community. We’ve had neighborhood response groups come together, prepare, organize each other.

And we’ve gotten a lot of misformation and lies spread by the federal government and right wing saying that he was a threat to our ICE agents, he was a threat to the neighbors. And that’s completely false. What we saw on camera was Alex was peacefully observing. He had a camera on his hand. He was tackled, he was pummeled, and he was executed. And we’ve seen that on camera.

Well, we’ve seen our president talk out of both sides of his mouth. At one time he’s saying that he wants to target, quote-unquote, “criminals,” folks that are here illegally. And then he’s saying that, “No, we’ve got to get all the Somalis out. We’ve got to send them back to their country. They’re all criminals.” And so, what we’re seeing right now, and it’s very evident here in Minneapolis, is that not only our immigrant communities are being targeted, but, literally, United States citizens have been murdered.

JOHN HAMILTON: On Sunday morning, state investigators with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were seen canvassing the site where Alex Pretti was killed. They noted the locations of security cameras and asked people to step aside while they inspected the site of the shooting.

BCA INVESTIGATOR 1: Thank you, everyone. We really appreciate it.

BCA INVESTIGATOR 2: Thanks, everyone, for your cooperation.

JOHN HAMILTON: Heidi Randen is a registered nurse who joined other healthcare workers at a vigil honoring Alex Jeffrey Pretti.

HEIDI RANDEN: Alex was an ICU nurse at the VA. That’s one of the toughest jobs in the world. And I’m so grateful to Alex for the care that he provided to his patients. And I am holding his family in my heart right now, and I’m holding his co-workers in my heart.

PROTESTERS: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!

HEIDI RANDEN: These people are not helpers. They are not enforcing the law. They are causing chaos, and they are hurting people. And they need to go.

JOHN HAMILTON: For Democracy Now!, I’m John Hamilton in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

AMY GOODMAN: Special thanks to John Hamilton. When we come back, we speak to a doctor who hired Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minnesota on Saturday. Stay with us.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: “Hog of the Forsaken” by the late folk musician Michael Hurley.

*******************

RIP Alex Pretti: Colleague Remembers “Compassion,” “Deep Empathy” of ICU Nurse Killed by Feds
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
January 26, 2026
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/26/ ... transcript



Democracy Now! speaks with a former colleague of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday. Dr. Aasma Shaukat, who hired Pretti for a research job over a decade ago, says he lived with “kindness, compassion and a strong sense of civic duty to help his fellow citizens.”

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

We turn now to look more at the life of Alex Pretti, fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minnesota Saturday morning after he tried to help a woman they had shoved to the ground. Pretti was an intensive care nurse who worked at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

The family of Alex released a statement, saying, in part, “We are heartbroken, but also very angry. Alex was a kind-hearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American Veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact,” his family said.

This is a video of Alex Pretti working at the VA hospital. He’s seen here reading a tribute to veteran Terrance Randolph, who died of cancer in 2024 at the VA hospital. Randolph’s son posted the video online.

ALEX PRETTI: Terrance Lee Randolph, March 30th, 1947–December 10th, 2024. Today we remember that freedom is not free. We have to work at it, nurture it, protect it, and even sacrifice for it. May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom. So, in this moment, we remember and give thanks for their dedication and selfless service to our nation in the cause of our freedom. In this solemn hour, we render them our honor and our gratitude.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Alex Pretti speaking.

We’re joined now by Dr. Aasma Shaukat. She hired Alex for a research position at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System about a decade ago. She’s now a physician and clinical researcher at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the Manhattan VA Medical Center.

Dr. Shaukat, thanks so much for taking this time. Our deepest condolences. You’ve called Alex “the sweetest, kindest, gentlest soul.” So, can you talk about who Alex was, what he did at the VA, why you even hired him a decade ago?

DR. AASMA SHAUKAT: Thank you for having me on.

Alex came looking for a position, and he wanted to start off as a research assistant. And what he said was he was passionate about taking care of patients and being involved in healthcare and helping his community, and he wanted to kind of work towards a career in healthcare. So we took him on as a research assistant. And he was absolutely wonderful and a joy to work with, went above and beyond to help anybody and really had a good rapport with all the patients that were part of the study. And I think patients connected with him on — based on his deep empathy for them. He was the kind of helpful person that would open doors for you. If somebody was trying to get in the elevator, he’d hold it for you. If he saw a patient wandering around the hospital looking lost, he would try to help them and direct them. And he did everything really well, and then expressed an interest to go into nursing school. We supported his application. And he worked very hard during his first few years, doing work with us full time and taking nursing classes part time, and then, eventually, went into nursing full time. He said he would come back and take care of veterans, who are a particularly vulnerable and important group of individuals that require a lot of care. And he actually did. So, he came back to work at the same hospital where he started.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about how you found out that Alex had been killed? Was it from the official DHS statement? I think they called him something along the lines of a domestic terrorist.

DR. AASMA SHAUKAT: I actually found out from our original clinical research group. We still keep in touch, and we have a group chat. And we were all in shock. We just couldn’t believe that this was our Alex, the Alex we knew, who was nothing but kindness, compassion and just a strong sense of civic duty to help his fellow citizens.

AMY GOODMAN: And can you give us examples of his research role, where Alex’s compassion or intellect directly impacted a veteran’s care or a study’s outcome? Was he involved with clinical trials?

DR. AASMA SHAUKAT: He was involved with clinical trials. A lot of it had to do with enrolling potential participants that were eligible, speaking with them, and then following up on them. And one of our particular studies we were recruiting for, I remember he told us about a patient that he was able to speak with who was having a lot of difficulties just about his medical and overall life. And Alex was not just able to tell him about the study, but also guide him in terms of where he should go for his healthcare or what kind of questions he should ask with his physicians. So, really, he went above and beyond, and his compassion really shown through.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the differences between being a healthcare professional for veterans and for civilians, Dr. Shaukat?

DR. AASMA SHAUKAT: Yes, sure. So, Veterans Affairs hospital systems take care of veterans. And, you know, these are very, very valued members of our society that have put their lives on the line for the country, so we owe them a lot. They also have a lot of medical, as well as mental health challenges, along with socioeconomic and other challenges that they face. So they’re a particularly vulnerable group and one that it is both challenging and rewarding to work with. So, that’s what Alex wanted to do, was really help the most vulnerable and the disfranchised group that, you know, others don’t really pay attention to.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Shaukat, beyond the personal grief of losing a former colleague, can you talk about the loss of a caregiver?

DR. AASMA SHAUKAT: I think this is an assault on our healthcare community. We care for our healthcare team members. As you know, every day it’s long hours. They’re underpaid and overworked. So, really, it is a calling, not just a job. And for somebody to be in this noble profession, what you get out of it is the satisfaction of helping others, of being a healer. So, for a member of our community to be brutally murdered like this is extremely shocking and very, very devastating for our community.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you so much, Dr. Aasma Shaukat, who hired Alex Pretti a decade ago for a research position at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System. She’s now a physician and clinical researcher here in New York at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the Manhattan VA Medical Center.

This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we turn to a civil rights attorney and minister who was arrested and jailed last week for protesting. Stay with us.

*******************************

“Trumped-Up Charges”: Out of Jail, Nekima Levy Armstrong Faces Prosecution for Anti-ICE Church Protest
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
January 26, 2026
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/26/ ... transcript



Civil rights attorney, minister and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was arrested by federal officials for participating in an anti-ICE demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, was released from federal custody on Friday. “They have altered the facts, just as they altered my image as a way of trying to criminalize nonviolent, peaceful protests and lawful dissent against their unlawful and unjust actions,” says Armstrong, noting images posted by the Trump administration that digitally altered her to make it appear as if she was sobbing during her arrest.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, as we continue to look at the deadly federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

We’re joined now by the civil rights attorney, minister and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. On Friday, she was released from jail, a day after she and at least two others were arrested for participating in an anti-ICE demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, where one of the pastors also leads a local ICE field office. This is a clip from that protest.

JONATHAN PARNELL: Shame on you! Shame on you!

NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG: David Easterwood is a pastor here. He is also the director of the field office for ICE in St. Paul. So, someone who claims to worship God, teaching people in this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents.

AMY GOODMAN: Nekima Levy Armstrong was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations, HSI, and FBI agents at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi announced Armstrong’s arrest on social media, referring to the protest as a, quote, “coordinated attack” on a house of worship. The White House then posted an AI-altered image of Nekima’s arrest, making it appear she was crying, along with the text, ”ARRESTED: FAR-LEFT AGITATOR NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG FOR ORCHESTRATING CHURCH RIOTS IN MINNESOTA,” unquote. The unaltered image clearly shows she was not crying.

Nekima, welcome back to Democracy Now! There’s so much to talk about since you were released from jail, not to mention what they have done to your image, not to mention them — what has happened on Saturday, which we will mention, which is the killing of a second protester, Alex Pretti. Your response at all that has transpired? In a moment, we’re going to go to the mass protest of tens of thousands of Minnesotans on Friday.

NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG: I think it’s absolutely despicable, Amy, what our federal government is doing under the guise of immigration enforcement. They have essentially waged war in the streets of Minneapolis and the Twin Cities. And as you can see, two innocent civilians, American citizens, have been brutally murdered at the hands of ICE agents.

Not only that, but, as you saw, I’m being criminalized for helping to lead a nonviolent, peaceful demonstration inside of a church in which David Easterwood serves as a pastor but also serves as the overseer for ICE agents in Minnesota. He is the very person who was cited in a lawsuit that was in front of Judge Menendez, where he was justifying the conduct of ICE agents, claiming that they were not behaving unconstitutionally, and also blaming protesters, claiming that protesters are the aggressors.

So, when you look collectively at the actions of the federal government, we have to understand that what they’re doing is unconstitutional, it is diabolical, it is illegal, and it is unacceptable. We cannot be silent at a time like this. Even after what they have done to me with these trumped-up charges, arresting me, literally, and bringing me in shackles from the federal courthouse to the Sherburne County Jail, along with my co-defendant, Chauntyll Allen, I am continuing to use my voice to speak out against this fascism, tyranny and authoritarianism of the Trump administration. And others have to do the same.

AMY GOODMAN: What are you being charged with?

NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG: We are being charged with going into a church under the FACE Act, and they are claiming that we disrupted people from being able to practice their religion, or that we intended to, which is absolutely not true. We did not stop people from practicing their religion. As a matter of fact, there were folks who were still praying, who were still worshiping, who were still singing while we were there during the demonstration. And protesters and parishioners were engaged in conversation during that time. And so, they have altered the facts, just as they altered my image, as a way of trying to criminalize nonviolent, peaceful protest and lawful dissent against their unlawful and unjust actions.

AMY GOODMAN: And the idea that you have been charged, but the ICE agent who killed Renee Good — an FBI agent, an FBI officer, has just quit because she was prevented from investigating [her] death. And, of course, we don’t know what has happened to the CBP, the Customs and Border Patrol agents who killed Alex Pretti. Were they taken out of the state? We don’t know.

NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG: From our understanding, they were taken out of the state. And not only does this indicate a failure of our federal government in terms of there being literally zero checks and balances for any of these federal agents that have descended upon the streets of the Twin Cities of Minnesota, but it’s also a failure of our Democratic leadership.

AMY GOODMAN: Nekima Levy Armstrong, I want to thank you for being with us.

****************************

“ICE Out”: Tens of Thousands March in Minnesota in General Strike Against Immigration Raids
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
January 26, 2026
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/26/ ... transcript



Tens of thousands of Minnesotans braved the bitter cold in Minneapolis on Friday to demand ”ICE out.” The march was organized by faith and labor leaders and was accompanied by calls for an economic blackout. Seven hundred businesses reportedly closed in solidarity. Democracy Now!’s John Hamilton filed a report from the streets. John Reuss, an English teacher, said his students are afraid. “The fear is so tangible,” said Reuss. “If we do not shut it down right now, your city is next.”

[admin]

[Lib. Comm.: Really worth listening to. Kinda terrifying.]

Congress PUNCHES BACK After Trump’s SHAMELESS POWER GRAB
Katie Phang
Jan 26, 2026 Interviews

Congressman Jamie Raskin consistently delivers the 1-2 punch when it comes to the Trump Regime. He joins Katie Phang to talk about the latest in accountability for federal agents when they attack Americans & why former Special Counsel Jack Smith made it crystal clear that Felon Trump is “a lawless president.”



Transcript

Congressman Jamie Raskin is one of our
fiercest defenders of democracy in
Washington DC. I got to see him do some
of his best work last week in front of
House Judiciary when former special
counsel Jack Smith was testifying
publicly. I had the privilege of sitting
down with Jamie Raskin to talk about not
only that, the Jacksmith testimony, but
also to talk about how this claim of
absolute immunity that's being pedled by
Vice President JD Vance is and
why it's so important uh for us to make
sure that there's accountability by
federal agents when they are
overstepping
um and violating all of our rights, some
of which are resulting in deaths. We
also spent some time talking about the
upcoming budget battle. There's a
showdown that's brewing in Washington DC
and I wanted to get his take on whether
or not we need to stop funding for
agencies like ICE. Take a listen. And
joining me now is Congressman Jamie
Rascin. Congressman, I had the privilege
of being able to be in the House
Judiciary meeting last week when former
special counsel Jack Spence testified,
and I know it was a couple of days ago,
but I kind of wanted to lead off with
this in our conversation today because
the resounding theme that the Democrats
were pursuing was this idea of
accountability. Um, and that former
special counsel Jack Smith understood
his role, was independent, was
impartial, and really wanted to complete
his job. I was stunned to see in real
time and in person the rewriting of
history, especially visav January 6 by
the Republicans, your colleagues on the
other side of the aisle. Just kind of
quickly some of your thoughts about the
opportunity for Jack Smith to have been
able to testify publicly. He's been
aiming to do that. He did a spectacular
job closed door when he did it a few
weeks ago. but why it was important for
that type of transparency for the
American people.
What he came forward with was his
conclusion that there was overwhelming
proof beyond a reasonable doubt to
sustain every criminal indictment that
had been brought against Donald Trump
for trying to overthrow the presidential
election of 2020. Um, and that was um
irrefutable and it was unrefuted that
day. Which isn't to say that the
Republicans didn't throw uh a bunch of
popcorn and rotten tomatoes uh at Jack
Smith. I mean, take my colleague from
New Jersey, Congressman Van Drew, um who
assured us that Donald Trump had tried
to call the National Guard on January
6th, but was blocked by Nancy Pelosi. Uh
I immediately introduced the website uh
for the DC National Guard which starts
off by saying we are the only National
Guard in the United States which reports
exclusively and directly to the
president of the United States which is
of course the law. Now, Donald Trump has
been has had no problem sending National
Guard troops from other states to other
states all over the country, taking them
from Mississippi or Alabama and Arkansas
and sending them to DC or LA or what
have you. But the one place where he
indisputably has the authority to call
out the National Guard is in the
District of Columbia. And then the claim
now uh just rife on the right wing is
that somehow Nancy Pelosi stopped him
from doing that. First of all, nobody
could stop him from doing that.
Secondly, Nancy Pelosi was begging him
to send out the National Guard along
with Kevin McCarthy. It was Democrats
and Republicans across the board who are
demanding it. But of course, Donald
Trump wouldn't send out the National
Guard because he had unleashed the mob
against us. He wanted the mob to succeed
in blocking the peaceful transfer of
power and coercing his vice president,
Mike Pence. Remember, hang Mike Pence,
uh to try to nullify the electoral
college votes from the swing state. So,
that was just one example of the
nonsense that was being thrown at Jack
Smith uh at the hearing this week.
You know, along this theme of
accountability, Congressman, I am in
Minneapolis, as you know. And part of
the reason why I wanted to be here is we
are coming on the heels of a horrific,
tragic weekend where yet another life
was taken by federal agents that have
pretty much invaded the Twin Cities. I
wanted to talk to you about this idea of
immunity. JD Vance and others running
around and spouting legal lies about
this thing called absolute immunity.
Doesn't exist. um and most certainly
should never exist. But you know,
accountability has to come in different
ways. And one of that is pursuing
justice. And that also includes making
sure that even law enforcement or or or
federal officers that have exceeded the
bounds of their of their um duties and
their abilities and their powers when
they do wrong by the American people
that they're held accountable. We're now
hearing again that local law enforcement
has been excluded from the
investigations. This one now into the
murder of Alex Prey. Your thoughts about
how we bring accountability to the table
in these particular situations?
Yeah. Well, we've got to start by
restoring the framer's understanding of
the relationship between the citizenry
and public officials. um those of us who
aspire and attain to public office
whether it's you know the presidency or
a member of Congress or governor uh or a
point of office like a police officer or
an FBI agent are nothing but the
servants of the people. The uh
authoritarians want to advance a concept
that people who carry a badge at least
under Donald Trump's authority are above
the people and the people have to be
afraid of officers. That is completely
the opposite of the way the founders
wanted our country to operate and the
framers structured our constitution. So
for local and state officers under
section 1983, we've got something much
closer to real accountability for
violence committed against the people.
Um we've never had a federal law like
that. There has been a judge made
doctrine uh the bivvens doctrine which
tried to establish that but it's been
successively erod eroded by uh
right-wing courts. So, one of the things
we're going to have to do is to pass a
federal law establishing that any
officer who acts unreasonably outside of
his official role, outside of the actual
requirements of law, does not have the
protection of the Constitution. Now, we
would say that exists right now, but
this is what JD Vance and the
Republicans are trying to obscure.
They're trying to make it seem like
there's an untouchable paramilitary
private force reporting to the president
that uh is outside the bounds of law.
That is false today. But we've got to
tighten up the law to make sure that uh
the mega right doesn't get away with
this. And I think that we've got the
political conditions for doing that
because what we're seeing in Minneapolis
is not just an assault on the First
Amendment, on the freedom to peaceibly
assemble, the right of free speech, the
right of free press, the right to
petition government for redress of
grievances. We're also seeing an attack
on the second amendment, which is
closely connected to the first amendment
because they uh stripped Mr. pretty of
his gun which he was lawfully in
possession of which he was carrying in
total conformance with uh the the open
carry laws of Minnesota and then they
proceeded to kill him uh to shoot him 10
times. So we've got an assault on the
first amendment, we got assault on the
second amendment, we've got an assault
on the fifth amendment which says the
people cannot be deprived of our lives,
our property or our liberty without due
process of law. And so there's a
complete demolition of due process as
ICE purports to be law enforcement,
police officers, which they're not,
prosecutors, which they're not, judges,
which they're not, jurors, which they're
not, and executioners, which in a legal
sense they definitely are not, but in a
factual sense, they are behaving like.
They are acting like the executioners of
the people. So, we've got to defend all
of the rights that are bound up in the
Bill of Rights right now.

[Katie Phang] So, many Americans understandably, Congressman, believe, and sense, and feel, in fear, that they don't care on the other side, right? That this regime doesn't care, and that Congress was given the power of the purse. Something that's been taking up a lot of space has been this conversation. Should funding for specific agencies like ICE, for example, continue? What is your position on the idea? We are catching up on a, let's see, today's the 26 or the 30th. I've been warning people that you know we were going to be kicking up on another potential government shutdown after November, which was the longest government shutdown in American history. My concerns about, and this is my words, not yours, a capitulation that I saw happen by Senate Dems on this issue v. the budget, was just going to kick the can down the road by way of these continuing resolutions. And yet once again, now we're facing it. Your position on whether or not we continue to have a conversation with your Republican colleagues about funding this government if they're going to continue to allow this type of activity by federal agents?

[Jamie Raskin] Well, Katie, I voted with the overwhelming majority of House Democrats last week against the ICE and the Homeland Security budget. We had already seen enough with the coldblooded murder that had already taken place of Renee Good in Minneapolis. This was before the killing of Mr. Pretti. But I believe now, that all of the Senate Democrats are converging around the same conclusion, that there's no way we can go forward here.

And you know, all of the glory for where we are right now, in terms of standing strong in Congress, goes to the people of Minneapolis who have woken up every day, with blood, and sweat, and tears, in the freezing cold, to go out and protest, and to confront the authoritarianism. And this one is yet another graphic example of how massive popular organizing completely transforms the political and legislative context, because it clearly was not going in that direction last week on the Senate side. And it looked like, the House Democrats, that we were out on a limb by saying "Cut off Homeland Security and ICE." And now, that just seems to be a mainstream dominant position among Americans across the board, because of the heroic defiance of the people of Minneapolis.

How do we clarify these issues though
for the people to understand the funding
that was done by way of what I call the
big bill last year that has
already passed, right? That's already
happened. And it was billions of dollars
in funding that went to places like CBP
IC by way of DHS. So for people to
really understand how the sausage is
made in DC, how do you all in Congress,
how can you prevent what's going forward
seeing how that was already funded last
year?
Well, and right you are. I mean, that
was a a $70 billion infusion in Ty. I
mean, they've created a monster. Um, and
you know, this is one of the reasons why
I've been determined to find out uh how
many of those pardoned January 6
insurrectionist, Proud Boys,
Oathkeepers, and 3enters
are now behind those masks unidentified
anonymously engaging in the same kind of
violence against the people that they
engaged in against the police when they
were in the rampaging uh mob that day.
So, your point is right. We've got a
runaway paramilitary
uh militia force which uh is
demonstrating loyalty only to Donald
Trump and the corrupt forces uh around
him. So that's a very serious problem
that we've got to figure out how to rein
it in. One of the things that uh I'm
working on over, you know, today and
over the next several days is a
comprehensive piece of federal
legislation to try to restore and
guarantee basic federal rights that are
now under attack by ICE in the Trump
administration. For example, it's always
been understood that your First
Amendment rights of free press and free
speech include the right to record in
public what's taking place with police
officers. They now want to use that as
the basis for attacking and killing US
citizens. So, we need to establish that
as an essential civil right. We've
always understood under the Fourth
Amendment that you have a right to
safety in your home uh against
government intrusion unless there is a
search warrant based on probable cause
that's been issued by an independent
judicial magistrate, not issued by an
administrative agency like Homeland
Security or ICE under the direct control
of the president. So we need to
reinstate that. So what we need is a
powerful federal civil rights um first
amendment, second amen, second
amendment, states rights statute that
will unite Congress across the board
that we can pass quickly to clarify a
whole bunch of these issues.
Well, you're the perfect person then to
ask this follow-up question. I have been
harping on this channel and otherwise
about the importance of people paying
attention to what's happening in their
backyards that the races for governor,
attorney general, etc. These are
critical races because clearly this idea
of states rights federalism doesn't
exist anymore in this particular
administration.
How why why why would we need this type
of legislation than congressmen if the
fundamental ideas of the 10th amendment
for example which has become a huge
lynch pin in the litigation we've seen
from Illinois and in Minnesota today
there was a hearing in front of a
federal judge on a lawsuit brought by
the state of Minnesota basically stating
you are violating our 10th amendment
rights to have sovereignty to control
and to and to have our local law
enforcement take care of business in our
streets. How is it that we're at this
point then? Because we appreciate this
legislation. We appreciate the hard
work, especially for somebody like you
who's a fighter. But these are basic
fundamental constitutional principles.
And if they can't even be obeyed or
abided by, should we really have hope
that they're going to be able to do
more?
Well, we're going to create the hope by
making the fight like Minneapolis, like
Minnesota, uh like Portland, Oregon,
like LA, like people in DC. People are
fighting all over the country. But
you're right. uh you know the Trump
administration respects only the
principle to the extent it's a principle
of dictatorship.
Yep.
And uh if they're not in power they will
use uh violent paramilitary vigilante
violence against the government. Once
they get power they will try to destroy
every other level of government that uh
preserves the rights and freedoms of the
people. So take the whole idea of law
enforcement. Uh 99% of law enforcement
and criminal prosecutions in America
take place at the state and local level.
That's just a basic understanding.
Anybody who goes to law school gets
murders are prosecuted locally. Rape,
child sex abuse, that's prosecuted
locally. Um theft, armed robbery, you
name it. Federal criminal law is
interstitial. There's got to be a
special jurisdictional nexus. They they
keep describing ICE as law enforcement.
ICE is not law enforcement. Law
enforcement is the Minneapolis Police
Department, the M the Minnesota State
Police. That's law enforcement, right?
ICE is, you know, they've got something
different. They're bringing all these
rules from the border. It's about
immigration. That's something completely
different. And so, um, good for Miss
Minnesota that they are asserting their
basic powers over law enforcement. And
if someone commits a murder, including
somebody nominally clothed with federal
power in Minnesota, that's something
that must be investigated by Minnesota
and by their state and local
authorities, and they're going to insist
upon it. And what JD Vance is saying
about how federal officers have absolute
immunity is complete nonsense. There's
there's qualified immunity if you're
operating within the strict constraints
of federal law. and what your actual
authority is. But if you step outside of
that and you behave um unreasonably
outside of it, you are no longer clothed
with federal authority. And the people
who, you know, think that they're such
tough guys with ICE and CBP and so on
have to understand that they are in the
United States of America and they are
going to be subject to laws here.
Quickly, um, before you and I part ways,
I wanted you to share a pearl of wisdom
that you did recently when I saw you
just recently in Miami, before we had
our first democratically elected mayor
or Democrat, excuse me, elected to mayor
of city of Miami, Een Higgins, which is
great, um, in like decades. You said
something that I thought was so
interesting. You talked about how it is,
uh, a little bit of a fallacy to believe
that there's three co-equal branches of
government, and in fact, they aren't.
and
and say you're gonna clean this up
because I'm obviously abusing it and and
and bastardizing a little bit. I mean, I
know Donald Trump thinks that, you know,
his, you know, executive unitary theory
of the executive branch is is a
dictatorship and he's a king. But you
said, interestingly, that Congress is
actually the most powerful branch of
government. Again, I apologize, sir, but
if you could clean it up. So smart. I
mean, look, um, I I I state it both
because it's historically true, but
also, uh, as a way to try to offset the
shock and awe of what everybody's
dealing with with Donald Trump asserting
we have a unitary executive president
and the president is the head of the
government. Nonsense. That's complete
BS. It's poppycock. Okay. Um, we have
three branches of the government. Each
one is outlined in different articles of
the constitution. The first article is
article one for Congress. Okay? Which is
why James Madison said in the federalist
papers that Congress is the predominant
branch of government and always will be.
Why? Because we overthrew a king. We
didn't even have a president under the
Articles of Confederation. We added that
in the Constitution to keep things
going. But it is Congress, the
representatives of the people that enjoy
the lawmaking power. Right? So you've
got the preamble to the Constitution. We
the people in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, ensure
domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general
welfare, and preserve to ourselves and
our posterity. The blessings of liberty
do hereby ordain and establish the
Constitution. The very next sentence is
the first sentence in Article One. All
legislative power is vested in a
Congress of the United States. Then it
lays out all the powers that we've got.
We've got the power to declare war.
We've got the power to regulate commerce
domestically among the states and with
foreign nations, not the president,
which is why his tariffs are blatantly
illegal and unconstitutional, and
they've been struck down twice, both by
uh the court of international trade and
by the appeals court uh in DC. um we've
got the power um over to over currency.
We've got the power over the seat of
government. Congress has all those
powers. Then you get to article 1
section 8 clause 18 and all other powers
necessary and proper to the execution of
the foregoing powers, right? It's a
gigantic grant of authority to the
people's representatives in the House
and the Senate. Then you get to article
two, which is like this big. And the
most important part of it is how you
impeach a president for treason,
bribery, and other high crimes and
misdemeanors, right? Um, you know,
people say we're a co-equal branch.
Really? First of all, if co-equal is not
even a word. Let's start with that.
Okay, so that doesn't even exist. But,
uh, we're equal branch. Really? Why do
we have the power to impeach, try,
convict, remove, and permanently
disqualify from ever serving in office
again the president? and he doesn't have
the power to impeach, try, convict,
remove and disqualify us. Right? So what
is the core job of the president? Very
simple. To take care that the laws are
faithfully executed.
To take care that the laws passed by
Congress are faithfully executed. Not
twisted, not distorted, not rewritten,
not deformed.
The president uh when we pass a law, the
president can sign it or veto it. Even
if he vetos it, we can override the veto
by twothirds. Meaning he has to in
faithfully execute a law that he opposed
if we override uh his veto because
that's his job because he works for us.
The president enforces the laws passed
by Congress. That's the proper
constitutional design and understanding
and it is the job of the Supreme Court
set forth in article 3 as uh you know
justice Marshall put it in Marbury
versus Madison it's emphatically the pro
province and duty of the court to say
what the law is and again you've got JD
Vance out there saying well we will tell
you what the laws are that we uh you
know we enforce in uh under article two
we define the law. No, you don't. Under
Article 3, it's the courts that
illuminate it, which is why we're
begging the Roberts court to try to act
like a real court in things like the
tariffs case and the birthright uh
citizenship case. But so much of what
ails us today is the usurpation of power
by the executive branch and by the
president and the surrender of power by
wimps in Congress like Mike Johnson uh
who acts in a completely invertebrate
fashion when it comes to Donald Trump.
They just let the executive branch roll
all over us. But when we take back the
house in 2026, which we will do, you're
going to see a completely different
Congress.
And thus concludes the sermon at the
church of Congressman Jamie Moras.
Sorry about that.
This is why I needed you to explain it
because I was never going to do it the
proper justice that it merited and it
truly resonated with me as things do. I
you know thank you Congressman Rascin uh
for the time for the privilege of it and
thank you for exercising your power as a
member of Congress the way it's supposed
to be done. Um, I I invite everybody
who's tuning in right now to share this
far and wide because as you just
explained the separation of powers, how
it's truly supposed to be read. Um, it
it actually makes it even as as clearer
as it needs to be. Thank you,
Congressman Raskin, as always for for
spending time with me. I
Katie, thanks for what you do every day.
You are the perfect demonstration of the
fact that the media is not the enemy of
the people. As Donald Trump says, the
media in the hands of people like you is
the people's best friend. So, keep it
up.
I appreciate it. Thanks for being here.
Katie Fang here. We launched the Katy
Fang News Channel in partnership with
the Midas Touch Network so we could
bring you the latest in legal and
political news. Straight, no chaser. So,
if you're a fellow trutht teller, hit
that subscribe button and share the word
about this channel so we can build a
high information America

[admin]

Iran Vows Next Missile Attack WIPES OUT Israel & US Navy | Patrick Henningsen & Col. Wilkerson
Danny Haiphong
Jan 26, 2026 #iran #trump #israel

Patrick Henningsen & Col. Lawrence Wilkerson reveal the shocking reality facing Trump & Israel as they plan their imminent attack on Iran. Don’t miss this searing analysis of Iran’s coming retaliation and how it threatens to shake the world order to its core.



Transcript

The foreign minister of Iran has
published an op-ed in the Wall
Street Journal. What's interesting
is he's been able to get some airtime, Araghchi,
in Fox News, and now in the Wall
Street Journal. He says, "Unlike the
restraint we showed in 2025, this time we
have no qualms about firing back with
all we have. And we can get a little bit
more from The Cradle, because there is a
paywall that's actually impenetrable
when it comes to the Wall Street Journal."
But in this warning he says, "Unlike
the restraint Iran showed in June 2025,
our powerful armed forces have no qualms
while firing back with everything we
have in a new attack. This isn't a
threat but a reality I feel I need to
convey explicitly."

[Patrick Henningsen] Well, I think at
this point, just looking at the sanity
quotient with the Trump administration
between Tel Aviv or Israel and
Washington, it's not a good
equation. And then the potential for
using, or deploying nuclear weapons, I
think the probability is quite, I
don't want to say high, but higher than
before, because the stakes are just
incredible for Israel. For Israel, this is an
existential moment, you know. And it
was demonstrated, as Larry said,
conventionally, that if the United
States didn't stop to intervene at
the end of the 12-day war, I really
think the battering that
Israel was receiving, if that had gone
on for another 14 days, that had this very strong potential to
completely destabilize the Netanyahu
government, and Israeli society.

Because you have to remember, Israel was so
desperate at that time, that they put a
restriction on people leaving Israel,
while they're being pelted by Iranian
missiles! I mean, just imagine that
you're getting pelted
every night from the sky, and your
government is saying that you can't leave.
Because the Israeli government
was really worried that they
would lose control of a lot of
their reservists militarily. They're
still managing this debacle in
Gaza. So, for them it is an existential issue.

For the Trump administration, it's an existential
issue too, because it's a credibility
issue. And I might add, you know,
when we saw both True Promise One
and Two, and Larry quite rightly points the finger
at Jordan, and even if Iraq closed its airspace against any
Israeli or US strikes on Iran,
that would just make an incredible
difference. It would be the difference between night and day.
It would really restrict Israel and
the US.

But if you look at what was
activated, so just think about that: from
Djibouti, to Diego Garcia, to the Persian
Gulf, to the Mediterranean, all
the naval assets that the US had parked
off the coast of the Levant,
northwards of Insurlic Air Force Base,
the two dozen military
facilities in northeastern Syria, and
what's left in Iraq, as well
as the other positions that the US
have in the region in Saudi Arabia, in
Qatar, etc., the fleet in Bahrain,
all of that, and you really need to
understand that at that moment, you saw
all of that activated. All of that was
activated. So the entire military
footprint of the United States of
America in West Asia has one purpose, and
we saw that purpose demonstrated twice.
it is to provide a defense perimeter,
and envelope of protection for the State
of Israel, which is the size of New
Jersey.

So if that's what it takes, and
what that costs per year, we talk about
our aid to Israel, add in all of the
cost aggregate of all of that,
in the annual cost
of defending the state of Israel that
the US pays for. Okay? That was made
very clear during those two exchanges
what that means.

So if that's what it
takes for this little tiny state to
exist, and to do what it's been doing,
to carry out the rampage
that it's been carrying out against its
neighbors for decades, but especially in
the last couple of years, is that
sustainable? Like tell me how
financially, politically, the
price that America and the region is
paying for the State of Israel to wage
war against all of its neighbors
continuously, is that really
a price that people are going
to pay indefinitely? I
don't think so. And it's beginning
to wear thin.

You saw extremely
brazen moves by the Saudi Arabians,
by Turkey recently. You're seeing a
reformation of interest and power blocks
in the region. And so I think it's
safe to say the Abrahamic Accords are
DOA at this moment in time, because
people are really realizing, and I think
it was the strike on Qatar that Israel
launched that really sent
tremendous shock waves through the
region, because you realize that even a
US ally, hosting a major US military
installation, is not safe from this rogue
state that the US is hellbent on
protecting.

But back to the original
point, why is the US attacking
or threatening to attack Iran? And
the reason keeps changing.
Originally, it was because they're
developing nuclear weapons,
even though the US's own
intelligence assessment, which was
presented by Tulsi Gabbard most recently,
says that Iran is not pursuing a bomb.
And Trump then threw Tulsi Gabbard, the
DNI, under the bus. And instead of
resigning from
principle, she kept her mouth shut,
and stayed in the administration.
And she took a backseat publicly as a
result of that, when she should have
resigned at that moment in time. That
would have been the best political move
for her future. Now she is
basically going to get carried down the
drain of history with MAGA.

But anyway, that aside, so now it's not
the nukes, because Trump claims he
destroyed their nuclear program. Now
it's democracy. Now it's back to the
Samantha Power model, and it's neoliberal
responsibility to protect
the John Bolton model as well. He
also subscribes to that. So there's all of these different reasons, but it
started with the nuclear question.

And the fraud of this cannot be
cannot be accentuated enough. There was an agreement in place to
contain any potential Iranian
development of nuclear weapons, and it was called the
JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal. And
Donald Trump, under the direct orders of
Israel, pulled the rug out from under
that in May of 2018. Why? Why? There was
no reason given. There was no reason
given. Trump did the
thing with his hands saying, "It's a bad deal.
It's a terrible deal. I would have never
signed this deal. I would have never.
It's a terrible." He never said why it was a
terrible deal. You had guarantors, the
European Union, Russian Federation. I
mean, you had plenty of international
guarantors. That is about as good
of a treaty, or ironclad multilateral
agreement, that you would ever
get. But I think factions
within the US always intended
not to honor that agreement.
The Europeans certainly didn't honor
their financial obligations either.

But the point is that that was the solution. And
now you hear the geniuses in
Washington, the foreign policy wonks
saying, "What we need now is some
kind of a a group, a deal on Iran, to
make sure they're not going to pursue a
nuclear weapon." I'm like, am I
hearing this?" So all of this carryon is
all coming from Israel.

So the US foreign policy is not
independent. It is Donald Trump. The
Trump administration is completely
captured by a foreign government, and a
foreign lobby operating freely within
the United States. And they are dictating
every single move the US is making in
the region.

And I'm going to say lastly,
that this is the reason why the Ukraine-Russia
negotiations are such a shambles,
because for Steve Witkoff and Jared
Kushner, Ukraine-Russia is a side
hustle. The only reason that they're in
there is because of Gaza, because of
Israel, and that's it. They have no
knowledge, no interest. Steve
Witkoff can't even bother to learn the
regions in Donbas. He doesn't care. All
they care about is this new golf club
which Trump is setting up called the
Board of Peace. And the membership dues
are pretty steep. It's about a billion a
year, or a billion dollar entry fee, or something
like that.

I mean, this is unbelievable, this thing.
I mean, I we can talk about this. This is
one of the biggest scams you could
possibly imagine. It's a non-state
entity, effectively a
corporate entity, where Donald Trump is CEO
for life, thought you can't be that in a corporation. Yet in this model, you
can. And he's trying to basically use it
as leverage to get other deals, like push
the Russians and the Europeans via
Ukraine. And then the Greenland deal as
well.

This whole thing could definitely collapse. It's
beginning to look like a house of cards,
because the timing of it from Trump's
point of view, I don't think they've
thought everything out. And they're not
getting the the type of buy-in they're
expecting in Gaza from the European
partners, Russia, or China. So, we'll see
what happens. B

But I can't believe that Europeans aren't coming out more broadly,
and more loudly, to categorically reject
this. And this is tied to Iran, because
for Iran, the Gaza-Palestinian issue
is central. And that's another thing
people in the West don't understand: That's practically written into the
Iranian Constitution that they will
defend anybody who's oppressed, like
the Palestinians.

You know, Saudi Arabia
refused, actually, or at least they
verbally refused to allow their airspace
to be used, and to allow their
military installations that the US hosts
there to be used, for a strike on Iran
this time around. And when Patrick
brought up the Qatar strike from
earlier 2025, I was like wow, I
completely forgot about that. But that
is very true. There definitely is this tension. And there
were reports that the Gulf countries
supposedly were part of this, and Turkey
too, part of this effort to stop
Trump. But your reactions to all of
this, and even the Board of Peace?

[Danny Haiphong] It's even worse Patrick. I think you
need to pay a billion within the first
year to get permanent membership.
You can stay there for three years if
you don't pay the billion to Donald
Trump himself, but if you don't,
you have to leave after three years. So I
guess he thinks that you'll have egg on
your face as a country if you don't
do that? It's a complete and utter farce.
But it does also negate the fact that,
as you said earlier, Hamas and the
resistance is still there, and likely
still going to be governing. So, it's
going to end up in a big
clash, too. Which brings me to you,
Colonel Wilkerson. The Trump
administration can't even address this
situation in Gaza, which is a very, you
know, what is it, the size of Washington
DC, a prison camp that just experienced
genocide?

[Col. Wilkerson] I think the Omani foreign
minister ,who represents a country who, in
my view, is the quintessential diplomatic
entity within the Levant,
was right when he said categorically,
the cause of instability in this region
is Israel. And our press didn't pay a lot of
attention to that, understandably, as our
press is pretty much owned by Israel.
Or at least significant editorial boards
and sections of it are, the New York Times
leading the pack. He's absolutely right. And
increasingly, people are being unable to
deny that, whether it's to their own
oppressed publics, or whether it's to
themselves, or whether it's to both, is
really irrelevant. They're beginning to
realize that that is the problem.

So, as was just hinted at, or said, I guess, the
Abraham Accords are dead. Any kind of
reconciliation between the Arab states
and Israel, I think, is dead, at least
for a generation, if Israel even exists
that long, and I don't think it will.
A more important point to me, though, is
in this Gaza thing we are seeing what I
call an attempt to build a Hobbesian
world in its most garish raw concept.
What we're seeing is Bibi Netanyahu making
statements, for example, like "Phase
Two is really irrelevant to me. I don't
see anything happening in phase two that
would be relevant to me at all." At the
same time, Francesca Albanese, for
example, has released a report that
says, for example, among other
harsh criticisms of Israel,
that probably underneath the rubble, we
are going to bury not 60,000, not
70,000, not even 100,000, but closer to
500,000 to 600,000 dead Palestinians, 75% of
whom are women and children.
I have no problem believing that, because
I've worked with, and I know it's a lot
more sophisticated now, I'd love to see
somebody in Pete Hegseth's Pentagon do this, and I
suspect they have, you take the tool
that the military has essentially for
bomb damage assessment.
It's much more sophisticated than that,
and it is sophisticated. And you look at
the material that the homes were built
of, that the streets were built of, that
the basements were fabricated from, that the
water system is made of. You look at all
the infrastructure, in other words, in
minute detail. You look at the density
of the population. You look at the approximate area in
terms of the whole
situation. You look at the ordinance
dropped on them, and you don't just look
at 250 and 500 and 750 1,500 and 2,000 lb.
bombs, all of which have been dropped
relentlessly, you also look at 155
howitzers, and howitzers bigger and howitzers
smaller. You look at artillery. In
other words, you look at mortars for
deuces 181s. You look at everything in
terms of ordinance delivered in both
quantity and method. And you look at other factors that
impact on anything like this. There are
about 10 criteria, and you can say pretty much within 3% to
5% how many people are dead. And if you do that, you'll find at least
200,000.

So what are we going to do with these
200,000 dead people? I'll give you three
guesses, and the first two don't count. A
bulldozer like the one that killed
Rachel Corey. And many more of them are going to go
out over this territory, and smooth it
over, and we're going to have a graveyard
for at least a hundred, maybe 200,000,
maybe more Palestinians, 75% of whom are
women and children. That's what Bibi's plan
is . That's what Trump understands, I'm
pretty sure, and apparently
accedes to that's what we're going to
do.

This is probably the greatest
atrocity in this century to this point.
And I've looked at Sudan. I've looked at
a lot of other places. And it
grows in its dimensions, because the
Empire has enabled it fully. I think he's going to turn it into
the United Nations. He said recently
this is going to be the new United
Nations, this Board of Peace,
with such characters as Tony Blair in
there. It's going to be a great United
Nations. I'd like to see Blair be the new
Gutierrez UN Secretary.

Oh, I forgot to mention.
United Nations, despicably,
put its imprimatur on this whole thing,
with a UN Security Council resolution,
instead of condemning it outright. If
Kofi Anan had been there, he would be up
on his chair condemning everything that
we've done there. But we've got a
gutless son of a gun as the UN Secretary
General.

Trump and Israel both basically put a
gun to the UN Security Council's head
saying, "If you don't approve of this
resolution, we are going to go take
all of the gloves off again, and massacre
Palestinians like we were 6 months
ago. So that was kind
of the deal. And yeah, you had no
words from Gutierrez criticizing that.

But Patrick, what does it say, before
we get to Greenland and Europe, and
NATO, and this whole debacle, before we
lose Colonel Wilkerson here, but I
just wanted to get your final thoughts
on this. What does this all say about
the US at this point, the Empire, Donald
Trump's administration, when the very
thought that this Peace Board is
going to work at all in Gaza, is
kind of a joke. I don't think anybody
thinks this. But at the same time, you
have the administration also
thumping its chest about destroying
Iran. It seems like there's not a lot
of possibilities for any of these
things, but it almost reeks of
desperation. What's your assessment of
how these two things relate?

[Patrick Henningsen] I will answer that, but just a caveat
to what Larry mentioned there
regarding the devastation there, I will
say as well, there's also a certain
percentage of unexploded ordinances,
and I mean, the number is unbelievable if
you think about, like ...

For instance, I'm currently in Plymouth in the UK,
and they just found an unexploded
ordinance from the Luftwaffe that was 5
meters underground when they were doing a
wrecking on a building site. So they had
to shut down the whole city block, and it
took 3 days to remove this ordinance
safely, and they usually bring it out to
sea. So there's EOD teams dealing with
old unexploded ordinances.

I also witnessed this when I was in Hungary as
well. They have a huge riverine
EOD team that works the Danube, as well
as unexploded ordinances all over Europe.
So if you think about the toxic waste
dump, as well as the depleted
uranium potential, as well as EOD
unexploded ordinances, I mean, even if
the Palestinians stay in Gaza, they have
to deal with this. These are U.S.
unexploded ordinances, by the way, most
of them. They're going to have to deal
with this for generations.

I was in Lebanon. I did a documentary about
cluster bombs that Israel had
dropped in South Lebanon that US MAC
teams are still cleaning up. And
Israel refused to give the data, which
they have all the sortie data, of where
those bombs were dropped, and refused to
give those to international authorities
so that they could quickly identify
and deal with the disposal of all of
these unexplored ordinances. And many kids
have been killed in South Lebanon over
the years as a result of this, partly
because these things look like toys. But
just to put that in perspective, Americans have no idea the damage
that has been wrought, and that will
continue for generations. That's firstly.

Back to the original thing. The Board
of Peace is designed to circumvent, and
basically to push aside, international
law. And at the moment this has been
presented, Israel sent a wrecking
crew to destroy and demolish the UNWRA
UN relief and works agency
offices, in Jerusalem. I mean, can you
believe this? So, you know, everybody
should be up in arms about this, but
this is what part of Gaza, and the legacy
of this with the Trump administration, is
to dismantle and undermine
the UN. They pulled out of all of
these UN bodies recently, and Israel has
blocked international aid, 66
organizations, I believe, or 37, I
can't remember the number, at the same
time. So there's a war going on here
that extends into multilateral
institutions. So this is part of the
dismantling. This is absolute Hobbsian
international politics, and
power politics. And it should frighten
everybody. Because Trump's trying
to supplant international cooperation
and agreements with these sort of fake
sub corporate Ponzi schemes, and
MLM type organizations, where you got to
pay in, and all this other
stuff, and to exist in perpetuity, and that
his family, and his inner
circle, will be the beneficiaries
ultimately of this, and use that to
leverage other deals in other places. I
mean, it's so insidious.

And the last thing I'm going to say is
I'm so sick watching Trump at Davos,
talking about, "I stopped eight plus wars."
What wars did Donald Trump stop? Is
there any actual documented proof of
this, or is it just that we're going on his
word that he made a phone call to Modi?
Because a lot of these wars that he
claims he stopped, we're hearing from
political leaders in those countries
that say that Donald Trump didn't stop
those wars.

So, I'm going to go out on a
limb, Danny and Larry, and I'm going to
wager that Donald Trump has
stopped zero wars, out of the eight plus
wars that he's claiming, and that he has
started a unprovoked war in Yemen,
in Venezuela, in Iran, threatening Denmark,
and Gaza counts because the US is
absolutely a co-belligerent in Gaza.

So he has started and carried on plus 4 wars, not
minus 8 plus, which Trump is claiming.
So, I think it's a load of
BS. And it's sad to watch the right-wing
press in America repeat these tropes
constantly. You hear it on
right-wing talk radio all the time when
you're driving in America, 8+ wars, 8+,
where is this coming from? Where's
the documentation of this? It's a total
pile of refuse, and it's being used to
bolster his credibility as a peace
president, or some kind of international
broker of peace and goodwill, it's a
complete fraud on a level
that is just unbelievable and hard to
comprehend, really, because nobody has
actually challenge the provenance of
this audacious claim that he keeps
making, and puts on the plaque art on his door: "Mr.
International Peace 8 Plus Wars." I mean,
it's unbelievable.