Tag Archives: united states

Associated Press: FBI reassigns agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say

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The photographs at issue showed a group of agents taking a knee during one of the demonstrations following the May 2020 killing of Floyd, a death that sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of his arrest and led to a national reckoning over policing and racial injustice.

The kneeling angered some in the FBI but was also understood as a possible de-escalation tactic during a period of widespread protests, and the agents were not punished at the time.

Patel pledged at his January confirmation hearing that he would not “go backwards” in seeking retribution against perceived adversaries of the Trump administration. But even before he was sworn in, there was concern that the Justice Department was poised to do exactly that, including by demanding a list of the thousands of agents who worked on investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, a request seen by some as a possible precursor to a purge at the bureau.

FBI reassigns agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say
The FBI has reassigned several agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.

https://apnews.com/article/fbi-george-floyd-kash-patel-c59a8d2e055dadea1adf5187f7ee3620

ICT: A town refuses to give up the school’s Native American mascot — and gets Trump’s support

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King Donald should respect the Tenth Amendment and butt out! It’s a local matter.

As a high school hockey player, Adam Drexler wore his Massapequa Chiefs jersey with pride.

But as the Chickasaw Nation member grew up and learned about his Indigenous roots, he came to see the school’s mascot — a stereotypical Native American man wearing a headdress — as problematic.

Now his Long Island hometown has become the latest flashpoint in the enduring debate over the use of Indigenous imagery in American sports: The Trump administration launched an investigation Friday into whether New York officials are discriminating against Massapequa by threatening to withhold funding. The town has refused to comply with a state mandate to retire Native American sports names and mascots.

A town refuses to give up the school’s Native American mascot — and gets Trump’s support
A New York City suburb has become the latest flashpoint in the fight over Indigenous imagery in American sports

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/a-town-refuses-to-give-up-the-school-s-native-american-mascot-and-gets-trump-s-support/ar-AA1E4TFm

Associated Press: Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs

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A clear violation of his First Amendment rights:

Facing a deadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence for its attempted deportation of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the federal government has instead submitted a brief memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, citing the Trump administration’s authority to expel noncitizens whose presence in the country damages U.S. foreign policy interests.

…

Rather, Rubio wrote Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs.

He said that while Khalil’s activities were “otherwise lawful,” letting him remain in the country would undermine “U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States.”

Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs
The U.S. government has submitted a two-page memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio as its main evidence in its deportation case against Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil.

https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university-trump-c60738368171289ae43177660def8d34

Wall Street Journal: He’s Held in El Salvador’s Mega-Prison, Without Any Criminal Charges

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Carlos Uzcategui’s legal journey to the U.S. put the Venezuelan on a collision course with an ‘unprecedented’ deportation plan

On March 15, Carlos Uzcategui Vielma made a phone call from an immigration detention center in Texas to his partner, Gabriela Mora Méndez, at their home in Venezuela. He told her that he thought he would be deported home to Venezuela that day. This was good news—Carlos had been in immigration detention for more than three months.

But Uzcategui never arrived. It wasn’t until Mora recognized Uzcategui in images circulating on social media, showing men with shaved heads surrounded by armed guards, that she realized he was being held in El Salvador’s maximum-security prison. 

https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/hes-held-in-el-salvadors-mega-prison-without-any-criminal-charges-1c2b23ce

Newsweek: Mike Pence Calls for Donald Trump Reversal—’Warning Signs Are Flashing’

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Former Vice President Mike Pence urged President Donald Trump to reverse course on the sweeping tariffs he announced in April.

In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Pence wrote that “economic warning signs are flashing” as he criticized Trump’s tariffs as a “massive policy misstep.”

I’ve a hunch King Donald won’t be listening to any advice from his former vice-president Mike Pence.

Mike Pence Calls for Donald Trump Reversal—‘Warning Signs Are Flashing’
The former vice president called Trump’s tariffs a “massive policy misstep” in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mike-pence-calls-for-donald-trump-reversal-warning-signs-are-flashing/ar-AA1E2Gmg

Associated Press: May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda

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Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world rallied Thursday in May Day protests that united many in anger over President Donald Trump’s agenda from aggressive tariffs that are stoking fears of global economic turmoil to his administration’s immigration crackdowns.

In the United States, organizers framed this year’s International Workers’ Day protests as a pushback against what they see as the administration’s sweeping assault on labor protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees. Protesters lined streets in many cities from New York to Philadelphia to Los Angeles and held a boisterous rally outside the White House in Washington.

May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in U.S. cities and around the globe for International Workers’ Day or May Day, with the focus this year on President Donald Trump’s agenda.

https://apnews.com/article/may-day-workers-labor-unions-rallies-marches-trump-46de8196d7f01d7458c3d77ccd5e0e54

Independent: Even El Salvador’s president questioned Trump team on if migrants being sent were actually gang members: report

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El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele privately ‘expressed concern’ about who the Trump administration sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, according to the report

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele asked the Trump administration for evidence that the 238 Venezuelans deported to his country’s maximum-security prison last month were actually part of a notorious gang, according to a report.

While Bukele and President Donald Trump appeared to be on the same page at last month’s meeting in the Oval Office, Bukele privately “expressed concern” about who the Trump administration sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, according to The New York Times.

Bukele’s concern sparked a “scramble” among U.S. officials to get him evidence that the migrants belonged to the transnational Tren de Aragua gang, The Times reported.

Even El Salvador’s president ‘questioned Trump team if migrants were gang members’
El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele privately ‘expressed concern’ about who the Trump administration sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, according to the report

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/bukele-trump-el-salvador-migrants-deal-b2742597.html

Newsweek: Donald Trump’s New Order Sparks ‘Martial Law’ Concerns

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President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to increase the flow of military and national security equipment to local law enforcement, a move that has raised concerns about the militarization of policing across the United States.

Why It Matters

Research into militarized police forces has found the practice can erode public trust, escalate encounters between police and citizens and blur the distinction between military operations and domestic law enforcement.

This executive order specifically has increased fears around an encroachment toward martial law. The president has already called for his government to review the Insurrection Act, which would give more domestic power to the military, and now wants to provide regular law enforcement with militaristic material.

What To Know

The “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens” executive order, which the president signed on Monday, directs Attorney General Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3] and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in consultation with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem [Bimbo #2] and other agency heads, to “increase the provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions” within 90 days.

The directive gives the attorney general and the secretary of defense a three-month deadline to begin expanding the provision of military and national security resources to “assist state and local law enforcement.”

Donald Trump’s new order sparks “martial law” concerns
A new executive order has raised fears of “martial law” as it would facilitate an increase in military equipment for law enforcement.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-new-order-sparks-martial-law-concerns-2065618

NPR: The U.S. economy shrinks as Trump’s tariffs spark recession fears

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Economic output is shrinking. The stock market has dropped sharply. And consumer confidence has tumbled to its lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That hardly looks like the new “golden age” the president promised on Inauguration Day just over three months ago.

Figures released by the Commerce Department Wednesday show that the United States’ gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, after growing at a solid pace of 2.4% in the final months of 2024.

The U.S. economy shrinks as Trump’s tariffs spark recession fears
Trump promised a new “golden age” for the U.S. But his first 100 days in office have left the economy looking tarnished, with data showing the economy contracted in the first three months of the year.

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/30/nx-s1-5380204/trump-economy-gdp-tariffs-recession-consumers

KFOR: Homeland Security admits Oklahoma raid targeted wrong people

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security admits they know the mom and three daughters who say ICE agents left them traumatized when they raided their Oklahoma City home were not the suspects they were after.

Since KFOR first told you about the family’s ordeal on Monday, hundreds of people from all corners of the country are asking, How could this have happened?

That is the same question KFOR has been asking, and so far, it still has not been answered.

…

[The U.S. Department of Homeland Security] finally responded Wednesday, confirming the raid on Marissa’s house was part of that nationwide operation, and admitting for the first time that Marissa and her family were not supposed to be targeted.

Telling KFOR, “Ice was carrying out a court-authorized search warrant for a large-scale human smuggling investigation. The search warrants included the location of an address where U.S. citizens recently moved. The previous residents were the intended targets.”

…

[Attorney Patrick Jaicomo] says his group will represent Marissa for free too. Telling us her case fits a years-long pattern of questionable raids.

“Based on the facts as I understand them right now, there’s no question that there was a lack of due diligence,” said Jaicomo.

So Homeland Security admits that they f*ck*d up, but thus far has failed to explain why and has not returned the cell phones / laptops / cash that they looted from the home.

Looters should be shot on sight! Especially government looters! No mercy for these fascist DHS pond scum!

https://kfor.com/news/local/homeland-security-admits-oklahoma-raid-targeted-wrong-people

A similar case recently in the news:

Supreme Court seems likely to rule narrowly for family whose house was wrongly raided by FBI
The Supreme Court seemed likely Tuesday to rule narrowly in favor of a family trying to hold law enforcement accountable in court after an FBI raid that wrongly targeted their Atlanta home.

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-fbi-raid-wrong-house-df4fd6235660a67e4b34a1f790c674ca

Supreme Court considers lawsuit arising from ‘wrong house’ FBI raid
FBI agents burst into an Atlanta house with flash-bang grenades and guns drawn, but victims have struggled to hold the government accountable for their actions.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-considers-lawsuit-arising-wrong-house-fbi-raid-rcna200461

https://kfor.com/ap-politics/ap-supreme-court-hears-arguments-on-case-about-fbi-raid-on-wrong-georgia-home