Tag Archives: Utah

Newsweek: Utah college student says ICE agent who detained her “knew it wasn’t right”

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A 19-year-old student at the University of Utah says the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who detained her repeatedly apologized and “knew it wasn’t right,” but his “hands were tied.”

Caroline Dias Goncalves was pulled over by police in Fruita, Colorado, on June 5 on the way to Denver. Shortly after being let go by the officer, Dias Goncalves was stopped again a few miles away in Grand Junction—this time by immigration agents.

“He kept apologizing and told me he wanted to let me go, but his ‘hands were tied.’ There was nothing he could do, even though he knew it wasn’t right. I want you to know—I forgive you,” Dias Goncalves said in a statement.

Utah college student says ICE agent who detained her “knew it wasn’t right”
A 19-year-old student at the University of Utah says the agent who detained her repeatedly apologized and “knew it wasn’t right.”

https://www.newsweek.com/caroline-dias-goncalves-utah-college-student-ice-agent-2089824

KREX: MCSO investigator placed on leave after ICE incident

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This is an update to the previous post about Caroline Dias Goncalves, whose traffic stop by Mesa County Sheriff’s Office “Investigator” Alexander Zwinck resulted in her being detained by ICE and jailed for two weeks.

Mesa County “Investigator” Alexander Zwinck, big, dumb, stupid, and at least temporarily unemployed, thanks to whose courage and bravery above and beyond the call of duty, an innocent nursing student was detained for two weeks.

On Thursday, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) announced that Investigator Alexander Zwinck, the officer who pulled over a 19-year-old Utah student, has been placed on administrative leave after an investigation.

Zwinck was the deputy who pulled over Caroline Dias Goncalves for a traffic stop on June 5. She was later detained by ICE shortly after the interaction.

In the statement, MCSO said any further repercussions for Zwinck will be determined after the investigation has been completed.

MCSO’s investigation includes reviewing communication between members of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and local, state, and federal partners through a Signal communication group chat. The investigation aims to see if MCSO’s deputies acted within the sheriff’s office’s policies and Colorado law after it was discovered that details about Dias Goncalves’ birthplace, Brazil, were allegedly released in the group chat and given to ICE.

Further investigation is being conducted to see if MCSO employees were aware that the information in the group chat, originally for drug interdiction efforts, was being used for immigration enforcement.

MCSO investigator placed on leave after ICE incident
MESA COUNTY, Colo. (KREX) — On Thursday, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) announced that Investigator Alexander Zwinck, the officer who pulled over a 19-year-old Utah student, has been…

https://www.westernslopenow.com/top-stories/mcso-investigator-placed-on-leave-after-ice-incident

Daily Mail: Nursing student detained by ICE after cop noticed she had ‘a bit of an accent’ during routine traffic stop

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A college student was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after a cop noticed she had ‘a bit of an accent’ during a routine traffic stop.

Caroline Dias Goncalves, 19, was pulled over on the Colorado Interstate 70 on June 5, accused of driving too close to a semi-truck.

The University of Utah nursing student complied with the officer, identified as Investigator Alexander Zwinck, by handing over all of her documentation and paperwork.

In bodyworn camera footage seen by DailyMail.com, Zwinck told Goncalves he would let her off with just a warning, asking: ‘Where are you from? You have a bit of an accent.’

Goncalves answered: ‘I’m from Utah.’ 

Zwinck asked how long she’d been living in Utah and whether she was ‘born and raised there’, to which she cautiously answered: ‘No. I was born in, um, gosh I always forget the town.. down in Brazil.’

‘My parents moved here,’ she added.

Zwinck appeared unfazed by her answer, moving on to ask her questions about her boyfriend, her weekend plans and her dreams of becoming a nurse.

Mistake #1: Personal questions are none of the pig’s business. Respectfully decline to answer any such questions.

After explaining to her once again that he was giving her a warning which would not require any following up, he sent her on her way, wishing her safe travels and urging her to give semi trucks on the road a little more space.

But minutes after the friendly interaction, Goncalves was pulled over again by ICE agents as she exited the freeway, and taken into custody.

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office has since revealed that Zwinck was part of a group chat with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners which was used to improve multi-agency cooperation to stem the drug trafficking trade.

‘We were unaware that the communication group was used for anything other than drug interdiction efforts, including immigration,’ the statement read.

‘We have since removed all Mesa County Sheriff’s Office members from the communication group.’

…

Goncalves is now being held in Denver Detention Facility.

She is one of 2.5 million Dreamers in the United States, referring to undocumented migrants who were brought to the US as young children.

It is understood her family arrived in the US on a tourist visa, which they overstayed. Her father then applied for asylum, and that case is pending.

Goncalves earned a coveted TheDream.US national scholarship, which allows undocumented youth to help finance college.

While her asylum claim was pending, she had been granted temporary rights to work.

A GoFundMe set up by a friend to help Goncalves’ family cover legal costs associated with her detention has already raised $25,000.

‘Caroline has always followed the law, passionately pursued her education, and dreamed of a future full of opportunity,’ the fundraising page reads.

‘Yet she now finds herself unlawfully detained, frightened, and far from the safety and support she deserves.’

Nursing student detained by ICE after cop’s shocking observation
Caroline Dias Goncalves, 19, was pulled over on the Colorado Interstate 70 on June 5, accused of driving too close to a semi-truck.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14822749/college-student-caroline-dias-goncalves-detained-ice-traffic-stop.html

MSNBC: The damage has been done: MAGA spreads misinformation after Minnesota shootings

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Early reporting suggests the suspect, Vance Boelter, is an evangelical Christian and a conservative who attended political rallies for Donald Trump. Boelter was allegedly targeting liberals and abortion rights advocates, and he reportedly had a hit list naming other prominent Democrats.

But there has been a concerted effort among some on the political right to pretend that this targeted, political attack is not what it looks like.

When Trump was asked on Tuesday if he had called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz about the shootings, the president told reporters: “I don’t want to call him.”

“Look, he appointed this guy to a position. I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him. Why would I call him? I could call and say, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. So, you know, I could be nice and call, but why waste time?”

Trump’s claim that Walz “appointed” Boelter was likely in response to a story that broke in The New York Post on Saturday afternoon amid all the confusion in the wake of the shooting. It was truly one of the most audaciously cynical things I have ever seen from a Rupert Murdoch-owned publication — and that is really saying something.

An archived version of the headline as it appeared on the Post’s website Saturday read: “Former appointee of Tim Walz sought in deadly shootings of Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, had ‘No Kings’ fliers in car: sources”

In that article, The New York Post took two facts about this case and appeared to use them to manufacture a completely false narrative. First, the fact that the suspect, Boelter, was reappointed to an incredibly obscure little bipartisan commission on workforce development by Walz a few years ago. And second, that the suspect, who was targeting critics of Trump, apparently had flyers for Saturday’s “No Kings” protest in his car. The idea here, it appears, was to paint this guy as some sort of leftist.

Naturally, this conspiracy theory spread in the sewer that is Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. In fact, it was even promoted by Musk himself, who shared the conspiracy initially, adding: “The left is murderously violent.” He later edited the post to read: “The far left is murderously violent.”

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah helped spread the misinformation by making a number of despicable comments about the shooting on his personal X account. Lee shared an image of the alleged gunman with the caption: “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.”

You have to come to one of two conclusions here: Either Lee is so childishly gullible that he will believe even the most outlandish conspiracy with the flimsiest of evidence. Or he is so unfathomably cynical that he knows it’s a lie but wants his followers to believe it anyway.

Chris Hayes: The damage has been done: MAGA spreads misinformation after Minnesota shootings
There has been a concerted effort among some on the political right to pretend that this targeted, political attack is not what it looks like.

https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/minnesota-shootings-republican-misinformation-rcna213743

Axios: Sen. Mike Lee called to resign for “disgusting” posts about Minnesota shooting

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Utah Sen. Mike Lee is facing outrage and calls for his resignation over social media posts that baselessly claim the man charged with targeting Minnesota lawmakers in shootings during the weekend has ties to the political left.

Prominent right-wing figures, including Elon Musk, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, spread now-debunked claims that leftist politics motivated the shooting spree that left one Minnesota state representative dead and another wounded.

The lawmakers’ spouses also were shot, one fatally.

Lee on Sunday morning wrote two posts on X featuring an FBI-released surveillance camera image of Vance Luther Boelter, whose car contained a hit list targeting many Democratic Minnesota officials such as Gov. Tim Walz and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

  • One of Lee’s posts read, “This is what happens (w)hen Marxists don’t get their way.”
  • “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” the next stated, in an apparently-misspelled reference to Walz, who ran for vice president last year.
  • Lee called Marxism a “deadly mental illness” in a Saturday post about the shootings.

Walz and the previous governor had appointed Boelter to a civilian economic board, leading to a blitz of rightwing speculation this weekend that Boelter, who was arrested late Sunday, had Democratic ties.

Boelter’s friends say he held deeply conservative religious and political views, the AP reported.

Sen. Mike Lee called to resign for “disgusting” posts about Minnesota shooting
Lee repeated baseless claims that the suspect is a “Marxist” despite reports of conservative views.

https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2025/06/16/minnesota-shooting-mike-lee-twitter-posts-resign

MarketWatch: Millions of Americans may lose health insurance under GOP tax plan. Here’s who will be affected most.

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The plan would represent the largest cut to Medicaid ever

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill could lead to at least 8.6 million Americans losing health coverage, with the majority expected to lose Medicaid. Most affected would be low-income adults without dependents, earning a bit more than a poverty income of $15,650 for a single person.

Go for it, suckers! Mid-terms are coming, and they will come with a vengeance!

?url=httpswww.marketwatch.comstorymillions-of-americans-may-lose-health-insurance-under-gop-tax-plan-heres-who-will-be-affected-most-bd965669

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/millions-of-americans-may-lose-health-insurance-under-gop-tax-plan-heres-who-will-be-affected-most-bd965669

Students’ “Student and Exchange Visitor Information System” records being secretly terminated

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Now there are multiple reports in multiple states of international students having their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records terminated by USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) with no notice to either the students or to the schools.

No notice, no hearing, just terminated, and presumably the students will soon be *poof* disappeared as well.

Records for international students at 2 more universities terminated; schools say they weren’t told beforehand

Why has Trump revoked hundreds of international student visas?

Students react to nearly 50 international students’ visas being revoked, records being removed across Utah

118 international students’ immigration statuses revoked across Texas universities

Federal officials are quietly terminating the legal residency of some international college students

UK Daily Mail: Whose side ARE they on? Fury at US plot to ‘extort’ Europe over key global shipping route as extraordinary security bungle reveals Team Trump branding closest allies ‘pathetic freeloaders’

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MPs voiced fury today after an extraordinary security bungle revealed some of Donald Trump’s most senior team condemning Europe as ‘pathetic freeloaders’.

A bombshell exchange on the Signal messaging app – accidentally shared with a journalist – showed an elite group including JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security advisor Mike Waltz voicing ‘loathing’ for their long-term allies.

They also discuss how to get money out of European countries in return for US military strikes intended to stop Houthi rebels disrupting critical shipping routes in the Red Sea.

But UK politicians said glimpse behind the scenes showed America was ‘unreliable’ and accused them of plotting ‘extortion’. One normally US-friendly MP described the situation as a ‘nightmare’ and warned Europe must ‘take it seriously and not think it’s just casual chat’. 

…

Fury as Team Trump voice ‘loathing’ for ‘pathetic freeloaders’ Europe
A bombshell exchange on the Signal messaging app – accidentally shared with a journalist – showed an elite group voicing ‘loathing’ for their long-term allies.

Whose side ARE they on? Fury at US plot to ‘extort’ Europe over key global shipping route as extraordinary security bungle reveals Team Trump branding closest allies ‘pathetic freeloaders’ | Daily Mail Online