“One of the issues here is that in the press, everything is conflated as being ICE. But Border Patrol had a big presence here, and, you know, Border Patrol are trained differently. They’re trained for operation at ports of entry, and it’s a different use of force policy, it is a different method of training. It’s a different environment totally. And I noticed Bovino himself came from the border patrol. He was acting like just a cowboy.”
Is Trump pushing the world toward a realist Westphalian order with less emphasis on permanent alliances and international organizations, or is he really moving us to a royalist system where global actions are less based on countries and more based on personal, familial, and buddy enrichment and aggrandizement.
Greenland is less about the defense of the US and minerals, which the US could do in Greenland without threats of war because Greenland, through Denmark, is a US ally, and instead about Trump making himself look great by adding territory to the US and making his friends with business interests rich. Ronald Lauder, a billionaire with business interests in Greenland, suggested Trump take Greenland back in 2018. Similarly, refineries that benefit from the Venezuela attack include Trump megadonors. Trump raised tariffs on India after Modi said Trump didn’t play an important role in creating peace between India and Pakistan. So this action was more about Trump’s status and aggrandizement than realist and economic strategy for the benefit of the United States.
“federal immigration agents are still deployed across the city, with U.S. citizens continuing to have aggressive run-ins with them. Community members remain on edge, avoiding work and keeping children home from school. Both Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday called for a faster and larger drawdown of federal agents, a plea echoed by state, local and federal officials.
“Now we only have 2,300 aggressive, brutal, cosplaying soldiers bursting into people’s homes, brutalizing people on the streets, killing citizens, creating mayhem and chaos,” said state Sen. Scott Dibble, a member of the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party.
…
“You tell us at some point there will only be 2,300, 3.5 times as many police as we have in our city, is that supposed to reassure us?” said Minnesota state Rep. Aisha Gomez, a DFL member who represents parts of South Minneapolis. “They’re in Minneapolis now, but they can be coming for your city next.”
…
White House officials reiterated on Wednesday that Homan’s decision to pull 700 agents was a result of new cooperation with local officials to take custody of immigrants who have committed crimes directly from jails. That meant the government no longer needs as many officers in the state.”
“As Georgia’s top elections official, Raffensperger rebuked efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results, turning him into a target of attack from Trump and his allies for years. That has created a deep tear between the Georgia secretary of state and Republicans in his state, many of whom continue to echo the president’s false claims of widespread fraud.
Now, Raffensperger is running for governor — and Trump just made 2020 the top issue in the GOP primary again.”
“Raguse, who was in the courtroom, reported that Le said it was like “pulling teeth” to get the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Justice Department to follow court orders.
DHS, which oversees ICE, and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Le could not be reached for comment.
She made the remarks after U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell ordered the government to explain why it had not followed court orders in immigration proceedings, including not releasing several immigrant detainees he had ordered be let out.
Blackwell said in an order this week that the government’s “failures” were “alarming” because the government’s “persistent noncompliance with orders in this District was extensively detailed just last week,” pointing to a decision from Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, a George W. Bush appointee. Schiltz wrote that his “patience is at an end” and that the government had failed to comply with “dozens of court orders.”
…
Multiple lawyers at the U.S. attorney’s office have departed over ethical concerns in recent weeks, people familiar with the matter told NBC News. Trump administration officials have been trying to surge resources into the district to fill the gaps.”
“CBP agents shot the Chicago woman and U.S. citizen five times last October after her vehicle was involved in a collision with an SUV with Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum.
The federal government charged Marimar with ramming border patrol agents.
Those charges were later dropped. Marimar was one of many, calling the administration’s narratives into question on Tuesday.
…
Martinez followed the agents for several blocks before the vehicles collided, resulting in minor dents and scrapes on both vehicles.
According to testimony and documents from Martinez’s now-dropped assault case, she stopped her vehicle directly after the collision and the agents’ SUV came to a halt just ahead of Martinez. She then accelerated away, testifying in court that she swerved left to avoid hitting the agents, who were exiting their vehicle.
That’s when the agents opened fire, ultimately striking Martinez five times in the arm, chest and both legs. Only one of the three agents had a body camera activated at the time.
While the body camera footage hasn’t been released publicly, lawyers for Martinez have said in court that it shows an officer shouting “do something b–.”
The agent who shot her allegedly said in a group text to friends: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book, boys.””
A lot of the people who had relations with underaged women through Epstein aren’t psychologically pedophiles where they are attracted to children instead of adults. They are powerful people who think they can do whatever they want and get away with it.
Trump is personally involving himself in the investigation of the 2020 election. The investigation itself seems driven by Trump’s false beliefs, or lies, that the election was stolen from him. This could be an attempt to undemocratically steal the 2026 midterms, ironically using false claims of election malfeasance to commit election malfeasance.
In two small focus groups of law enforcement, one of Harris voters and one of Trump voters, the Harris voters in stark and thoughtful terms explain how ICE and Border Patrol are acting unprofessionally and unjustly. The Trump voters seemed to have a lower desire to talk and were more defensive of ICE, but didn’t fully support all the shots fired either.