“No Kings” protests cause chaos as the Army celebrates its 250th anniversary, a Minnesota manhunt concludes following a political assassination, and President Donald Trump ups the pressure on Iran.
It’s Monday, June 16, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2>&#8220;Mostly Peaceful&#8221; Protests And A Birthday Parade</h2>
<div id="attachment_934735" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-934735" class="size-large wp-image-934735" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2219848297-864x576.jpg" alt="SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JUNE 11: Protestors gather in front of the Henry M. Jackson Federal building during a protest against federal immigration arrests on June 11, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. Protests against ICE raids have spread to cities across the nation after beginning in Los Angeles last weekend. (Photo by Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2219848297-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2219848297-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2219848297-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2219848297.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images</div>
Topline: As President Trump presides over the celebration of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary – “No Kings” protests erupt in violence.
Multiple rioters were arrested near Portland’s ICE facility over the weekend after police declared that a planned protest had devolved into a riot. The chaos in Portland, which left several officers injured, was part of a wave of anti-Trump protests across the country and coincided with Trump&#8217;s celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday.
The Portland &#8220;No Kings&#8221; protest included <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/multiple-arrests-near-portland-ice-building-after-police-declare-riot">tens of thousands of people</a>. While city officials touted the event as a &#8220;large-scale free speech gathering,” eventually the focus became on an ICE facility. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/officers-injured-portland-rioters-breach-ice-building-explosives-rocks">told Fox News Digital</a> that the rioters broke glass and forcibly entered the building. During the attack, they threw rocks and launched fireworks and smoke grenades at federal law enforcement. Officials say at least four officers were injured.  Four rioters were initially arrested for what the Portland Police Bureau stressed was “violent activity,” and they said in a press conference early Sunday that more could be rounded up.
We saw yet <a href="https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protest-trump-philadelphia-los-angeles-immigration-raids-a3b67d23733cd060f8d01aef1e391dbf">more violence</a> in Los Angeles, which has become the epicenter of these protests and riots. Law enforcement used tear gas and other crowd-control munitions to clear out rioters over the weekend. Then there was Salt Lake City, where a “No Kings” protest featured a shooting. Police said Sunday that three people were taken into custody, including the shooting suspect, and that the motive was still being investigated.
These “No Kings” demonstrations were planned nationwide in response to Trump holding that massive celebration of the U.S. Army. The military parade marked the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Army, which came a year before the Declaration of Independence. It also happened to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday.
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<h2>Assassination Shakes Minnesota</h2>
<div id="attachment_934575" style="width: 840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-934575" class="size-full wp-image-934575" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-14-at-10.47.41-AM.png" alt="" width="830" height="506" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-14-at-10.47.41-AM.png 830w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-14-at-10.47.41-AM-300x183.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-14-at-10.47.41-AM-768x468.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" />MN State Senate//Melissa Horton via Facebook</div>
Topline: The assassin suspected of killing a Minnesota state lawmaker and critically injuring another was captured by authorities late Sunday night after a two-day search.
The nation was rocked over the weekend after a prominent Minnesota lawmaker and her spouse were gunned down in an apparent politically motivated assassination. Early Saturday morning, Democratic state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were left in critical condition after being shot inside their home. Police, fearing the crime was politically motivated, proactively checked the homes of several other lawmakers, including Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the State House. When officers arrived, they found what appeared to be a police SUV with flashing blue lights in the driveway, and a man dressed as a cop exiting the house. That man immediately opened fire on police before fleeing the scene on foot. When officers searched the home, they found Hortman and her husband dead. 
Footage from a home security system shows a man dressed as an officer approaching the front door, wearing a life-like rubber mask.
Immediately after the shootings, police issued a shelter-in-place order for a three-mile radius surrounding the home, but the killer was able to flee the area on foot and make it to another car he owned. Authorities quickly identified 57-year-old Vance Boelter as the suspect, a Minnesotan with no past criminal history. While Boelter escaped the crime scene, by Sunday afternoon, police had located his second vehicle 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis in Sibley County. By 10 pm Sunday, he was in custody after being caught hiding out in a patch of woods. 
Police say a manifesto was found in Boelter’s car, but they have not released it to the public, although they’re confident this was a politically motivated attack. Authorities say a list of potential targets was also found in Boelter’s car — it reportedly included a number of prominent Democrats, along with abortion providers in the state. The suspect’s roommate told reporters he believed Boelter voted for Trump, but was unaware of his views on state politics. 
 Boelter also had ties to Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who appointed him to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board back in 2019. Previous Democrat Governor Mark Dayton had appointed Boelter to the same position in 2016.
<h2>Iran vs Israel: Dueling Airstrikes</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-934853" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/blogcover-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/blogcover-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/blogcover-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/blogcover-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/blogcover.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></div>
Topline: As Israel and Iran trade blows, President Trump ratchets up the pressure on Tehran.
Things have changed rapidly since Israel launched its attack on Iran on Thursday, and the situation will likely keep changing fast. Since launching Operation Rising Lion, Israelis have carried out more than 700 different strikes against nuclear sites, military, and leaders of the Iranian regime. In retaliation, Iran has fired salvos of drones and missiles at Israeli population centers.
“These missiles have been coming in by the dozen over the last couple of nights,” Jonathan Schanzer, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who has been sheltering in place in a bomb shelter inside Jerusalem, told The Daily Wire. “Last night there were a couple of direct hits, destroying buildings, destroying a full half of one building or even a half of a city block in one case. I think, you know, what we&#8217;re looking at is a potential war of attrition if things go the way that Iran would like them to go. The regime understands that there&#8217;s a finite number of missile defense interceptors that the Israelis can use. And they have a lot of ballistic missiles… The one kind of wrinkle that I&#8217;m watching right now is that the US is helping to defend the skies over Israel, and it appears that a number of Western countries may also be deploying assets to the region as well.”
American involvement in the broader conflict is uncertain. In the opening hours after the first Israeli airstrikes, officials from the Trump administration denied any American involvement in the operation. However,  they appear to have been given prior warning. 
Many of Israel’s key military platforms – including the F-16 and F-35 fighters, both of which have featured prominently in its air war against Iran – are American-made, and the two countries are close allies.
“I think there&#8217;s also a high degree of intelligence sharing,” Schanzer told The Daily Wire. “The fact that the Israelis attacked on day 61 after Donald Trump&#8217;s 60-day deadline does suggest that there was some degree of coordination here. The big question that I think everyone is asking right now is whether the United States will get involved.”
Some of Iran’s nuclear facilities, including an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, appear to be hardened against conventional attacks, although larger “bunker buster” bombs in the American inventory could break through their defenses. Israel lacks an equivalent stockpile and has asked America to join its air campaign.
Publicly, President Trump continues to call for negotiations with Iran and has pressured Tehran to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for peace. “Iran and Israel should make a deal and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make,” the president wrote on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114687664442020232">Truth Social</a> on Saturday. “We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings [are] now taking place.”

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As President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — along with others in the administration — joined together to celebrate the U.S. Army&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fetterman-comes-out-as-pro-parade-as-trump-celebrates-armys-250th-birthday">250th birthday</a> on Saturday, several at MSNBC appeared to struggle with the fact that the overall vibe on the ground was less fraught and more fun.
Host Chris Hayes compared the scene to typical Trump rallies — which he claimed could be &#8220;very tense&#8221; and sometimes had a &#8220;dark, malevolent energy&#8221; — and then seemed genuinely surprised to note that the scene playing out at the National Mall had a very different feel.
WATCH:
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Over at MSNBC, they&#8217;re almost SHOCKED the celebration of the U.S. Army&#8217;s 250th birthday isn&#8217;t &#8220;tense&#8221; and doesn&#8217;t have &#8220;dark, malevolent energy.&#8221;
These people&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/ZO0fxWohsI">pic.twitter.com/ZO0fxWohsI</a>
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1934045299359580548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;One thing I will say — I want to go back to you, Ali, again, when we talk about the sort of tension in the country,&#8221; Hayes began. &#8220;And sometimes, you know, you and I have both been at Trump rallies, those can be, you know, very tense, a kind of — I would say a kind of dark, malevolent energy sometimes in them. Not always, but it doesn&#8217;t seem like that&#8217;s the energy on the Mall today, which I think is a good sign, right?&#8221;
&#8220;Correct,&#8221; Ali Velshi — who was on location — replied. &#8220;You&#8217;re — you&#8217;re really correct about that, Chris, and it&#8217;s something that we — that we were watching for. I&#8217;m just sort of surprised by the number of people who were at the front of the parade watching, cheering, and then would come and ask to take a selfie.&#8221;
&#8220;This is a very different mood here,&#8221; Velshi continued. &#8220;People seem to be going out of their way to say that they&#8217;re here to celebrate the Army&#8217;s 250th birthday.&#8221;
He said he&#8217;d seen one guy carrying a sign that said, &#8220;TRUMP 2028,&#8221; but that most people were not bringing politics into the celebration.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not dark. It&#8217;s not tense,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s different.&#8221;

‘It’s Not Dark, It’s Not Tense’: MSNBC Struggles To Accept Fun Vibe Of Army Birthday Parade

'It's Not Dark, It's Not Tense': MSNBC Struggles To Accept Fun Vibe Of Army Birthday Parade

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The Army confirmed on Friday that a massive military parade featuring 6,600 soldiers, 150 vehicles, and 50 helicopters will be held on President Donald Trump&#8217;s 79th birthday as part of the service&#8217;s 250th anniversary celebration.
The parade will follow a route from Arlington, Virginia, to the National Mall and has been submitted for classification as a &#8220;national special security event,&#8221; bringing additional federal resources to secure the area, PBS <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/army-confirms-military-parade-for-its-250th-anniversary-will-be-held-on-trumps-birthday">reported</a>.
White House officials confirmed the commemorative parade would be one of the first events to kick off a yearlong celebration of the nation&#8217;s 250th anniversary planned through July 4, 2026.
&#8220;The Army is celebrating its 250th Birthday with multiple events leading up to June 14,&#8221; the Army <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/7000-troops-tanks-parachute-jumps-military-parade-coinciding/story?id=121410722">said</a> in a statement Friday evening. &#8220;The national level celebration will include a spectacular fireworks display, a parade, and a day-long festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The festival will feature displays of Army equipment, military demonstrations, musical performances, and a fitness competition.&#8221;
&#8220;Parade planning is actively underway, and we anticipate approximately 150 vehicles, 50 aircraft, and 6,600 Soldiers to highlight the Army’s 250 years of service to the nation,&#8221; it added.
President Trump has advocated for a military parade since witnessing France&#8217;s Bastille Day celebration in 2017, with White House-Pentagon discussions for this event beginning just two months ago. The parade fulfills Trump&#8217;s vision that was previously unrealized when a similar plan during his first term was reportedly cancelled.
According to military planning documents <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-army-military-parade-birthday-2f5cd12c8ccd4efddc29bfa3cf8f2705">obtained</a> by the AP, the massive display will include soldiers from at least 11 corps and divisions nationwide, and Stryker vehicles, tanks, Bradley vehicles, Paladin artillery, and Howitzers are expected in a display of American military power.
Army spokesman Steve Warren stated the Army is looking at options &#8220;to make the celebration even bigger, with more capability demonstrations, additional displays of equipment, and more engagement with the community.&#8221; The late afternoon parade will be followed by a parachute jump by the Golden Knights, a concert, and a &#8220;spectacular fireworks display.&#8221;
Beyond military units, the parade is expected to include civilian participation with historical vehicles, aircraft, representatives from veterans groups, military colleges, and historical reenactor organizations.

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Morning Brief: Minnesota Gunman Captured & ‘No Kings Riots’

‘It’s Not Dark, It’s Not Tense’: MSNBC Struggles To Accept Fun Vibe Of Army Birthday Parade

Army Announces Massive 250th Anniversary Parade To Be Held On Trump’s Birthday