2026.01.29

[lsanderson]

ICE

Trump’s border czar suggests a possible drawdown in Minnesota but only after ‘cooperation’
President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan says immigration enforcement will reduce the number of officers in Minnesota.
By Giovanna Dell'Orto and Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/trumps-border-czar-suggests-a-possible-drawdown-in-minnesota-but-only-after-cooperation/

“If Minnesota officials try to prosecute the federal agents who recently killed two people in Minneapolis, they’ll face steep obstacles from a century-old Supreme Court precedent — one that helped sink a similar case just a few years ago,” according to Politico. “The 2017 shooting of Bijan Ghaisar by two U.S. Park Police officers in a Northern Virginia neighborhood — and the protracted legal battles that followed — may be the best preview of what Minnesota officials can expect if they pursue criminal charges against federal immigration agents. And the same legal theory that stymied Virginia’s prosecution may also block Minnesota’s.” 
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/28/minnesota-ice-shootings-deaths-prosecution-00753301

ICE ends surge in Maine as border czar pledges to keep operation in Minnesota
Tom Homan acknowledges immigration enforcement needs ‘certain improvements’, without offering any details
Cate Brown
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/ice-ends-surge-maine-minnesota-continues

Videos show altercation between Alex Pretti and federal officers 11 days before he was killed
Three newly discovered videos show the Minneapolis ICU nurse being tackled by federal agents in a prior confrontation
Sam Levin and Robert Mackey
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/alex-pretti-shooting-11-days-before-federal-officers-clash

Minneapolis ICE observers keep showing up despite risk of arrest and violence
Bystanders say they are determined to keep recording federal agents’ actions: ‘There will be absolutely no accountability unless people are documenting’
Rachel Leingang and Maanvi Singh in Minneapolis
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/minneapolis-ice-observers

More News

Trump says DOJ, Congress to investigate Ilhan Omar, though no proof of wrongdoing has been given
Trump’s focus is the sharp increase in value reported by Omar of two companies in which her husband has interests.
by Ana Radelat
https://www.minnpost.com/national/washington/2026/01/trump-says-doj-congress-to-investigate-ilhan-omar-though-no-proof-of-wrongdoing-has-been-given/https://www.minnpost.com/national/washington/2026/01/trump-says-doj-congress-to-investigate-ilhan-omar-though-no-proof-of-wrongdoing-has-been-given/

Why did Trump blame the Pretti shooting on a ‘dangerous gun’?
The president’s comments merged online speculation with documented concerns about one of America’s most popular handguns, SIG Sauer’s P320.
By Champe Barton for The Trace
https://www.minnpost.com/public-safety/2026/01/why-did-trump-blame-the-pretti-shooting-on-a-dangerous-gun/

US leads record global surge in gas-fired power driven by AI demands, with big costs for the climate
Projects in development expected to grow global capacity by nearly 50% amid growing concern over impact on planet
Oliver Milman and graphics by Andrew Witherspoon
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/29/gas-power-ai-climate

Kennedy Center official resigns less than two weeks after hiring
Kevin Couch says he ‘resigned yesterday’, amid recent turmoil following a leadership overhaul initiated by Trump
Anna Betts
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/trump-kennedy-center-kevin-couch-resigns

A potentially habitable new planet has been discovered 146 light-years away – but it may be -70C
The Earth-size planet HD 137010 b has a ‘50% chance of residing in the habitable zone’ of its sun-like star, scientists say
Donna Lu
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jan/29/a-potentially-habitable-new-planet-has-been-discovered-146-light-years-awfrom-earth-but-it-may-be--70c

Review
Bridgerton season four review – fear not nudity fans, the sex scenes continue apace
This period drama’s puddingy mix of clunking soap and fairytale wish-fulfilment is hard to resist. It is, however, utterly bananas
Sarah Dempster
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jan/29/bridgerton-season-four-review-netflix

Comments

[calimac]

#2 says states can't prosecute a federal officer "when the officer had an objectively reasonable basis to believe that the officer’s actions were necessary to fulfil the officer’s duties," so that prohibition doesn't apply in the Minnesota cases, where the shootings were completely unreasonable.

[lsanderson]

I hope you're right.