A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the Justice Department established probable cause to charge former CNN host Don Lemon and four others over the anti-ICE church storming in Minneapolis last weekend. The appeals court, however, declined to force a lower court judge to sign arrest warrants.
The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth District was unsealed on Saturday after the Justice Department asked the appeals court to force a lower district court in Minnesota to sign the five arrest warrants. The ruling did not make the names of the five defendants public, but CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/appeals-court-don-lemon-protest-minnesota-probable-cause/">reported</a> that its sources confirmed one of the defendants is Lemon. The Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-vows-to-pursue-don-lemon-charges-to-the-ends-of-the-earth?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=DOJ+Vows+To+Pursue+Don+Lemon+Charges+%E2%80%98To+The+Ends+Of+The+Earth%E2%80%99">vowed</a> on Friday to pursue charges against Lemon &#8220;to the ends of the Earth.&#8221;
While Friday&#8217;s ruling supported the Trump administration&#8217;s pursuit of charging Lemon on paper, it did not solve the Justice Department&#8217;s request. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon responded to the ruling, <a href="https://x.com/AAGDhillon/status/2015140496344314364">writing</a> on X, &#8220;Stay tuned 🤨.&#8221; The Justice Department could now seek a grand jury indictment or represent the charges to a magistrate judge.&#8221;
Lemon joined a large group of anti-ICE protesters who stormed Cities Church in Minneapolis last Sunday during the worship service because one of the church&#8217;s pastors is believed to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Three of the anti-ICE agitators who organized the church storming have been arrested by the FBI, including Black Lives Matter activist Nekima Levy Armstrong.
Lemon&#8217;s attorney argued that he is protected under the First Amendment since he was with the anti-ICE agitators to cover the church storming as an independent journalist. The Justice Department, however, argues that Lemon was coordinating with leaders of the anti-ICE group before the church storming.
“Freedom of the press extends to a lot of different areas,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier this week. “It does not extend to somebody just trespassing and being embedded with a group of rioters and being part of the group that storms inside of a church.&#8221;
Magistrate Judge Doug Micko refused to sign the arrest warrant for Lemon, saying that federal prosecutors failed to present enough evidence to justify his arrest.
The Trump administration is pursuing charges against Lemon and others who participated in the storming of Cities Church through the FACE Act, which penalizes people for interfering with Americans who are exercising their right to religious freedom. The FACE act was used by the Biden administration to go after pro-lifers who were accused of blocking access to abortion clinics.
News of the appeals court ruling broke as Minneapolis erupts into chaos again after an armed man was shot and killed by federal agents on Saturday morning. Video showed federal officers attempting to detain a man on the street during what the Department of Homeland Security said was a &#8220;targeted operation&#8221; for an illegal immigrant &#8220;wanted for violent assault.&#8221; The man was armed with a loaded &#8220;semi-automatic handgun&#8221; and was shot and killed by a federal agent who was fearing for his life and the lives of his fellow agents, according to Homeland Security.

Don Lemon

Appeals Court Finds Probable Cause To Charge Don Lemon, But Rejects DOJ’s Bid To Force Arrest Warrant

Courts

Department of Justice

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Minneapolis

Trump Administration

U.S.

Governor Tim Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have all released public statements after an armed suspect was fatally shot by federal immigration authorities in Minneapolis on Saturday morning. While none of the officials mentioned that the suspect was armed in their initial statements, all three placed blame on the Trump administration.
Walz <a href="https://x.com/GovTimWalz/status/2015093164999119352">said</a>, “The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota.”
Rep. Omar said, “This appears to be an execution by immigration enforcement.”
The congresswoman added that she is “absolutely heartbroken, horrified, and appalled” that federal agents “murdered another member of our community.” She claimed the shooting was not “isolated or accidental,” but the result of the Trump administration “trying to beat us into submission.”
Omar said President Trump has turned Minnesota from a place of refuge into a “warzone where unchecked federal forces murder our neighbors.”
Mayor Jacob Frey <a href="https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=e8f5b2d100cbb45b&amp;rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS1183US1185&amp;sxsrf=ANbL-n4pOcatORFmgkvfJG3qadk6m2PeZQ:1769279232335&amp;udm=7&amp;fbs=ADc_l-aN0CWEZBOHjofHoaMMDiKp0UJuhqwKhR0QUhF54-6jIYFfWbU_Clyew-1Wh7zkL7GXEIyGmuNECR0N8Mieh0vrbko1hIXGpe6KXjyGEMS8qvHaRh07NvGqLEM3M87dnCJpMBzPaV5Lhp5Fj09RARKxk74OrMhODu_WtVQMOJKHENd2SPLAKC7sNmjJeo9Ay2jG82MyzB9jsSwsFJRv2_sldbWqNA&amp;q=jacob+frey+press+conference&amp;sa=X&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiDiJvh5qSSAxUsKVkFHasVIDYQtKgLegQIFBAB&amp;biw=736&amp;bih=787&amp;dpr=2&amp;aic=0#fpstate=ive&amp;vld=cid:60cdfb03,vid:R1WnkJt-2Yc,st:0">said</a>, “How many times must local and national leaders plead with you Donald Trump to end this operation and recognize that this is not creating safety in our city.”
The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/armed-suspect-fatally-shot-by-federal-immigration-authorities-in-minneapolis?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Armed+Suspect+Fatally+Shot+By+Federal+Immigration+Authorities+In+Minneapolis">told</a> The Daily Wire that the incident occurred as immigration officers carried out a “targeted operation” for an illegal immigrant “wanted for violent assault.” The individual who was shot approached Border Patrol agents with a “semi-automatic handgun.” The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The statement put out by the Department of Homeland Security stands in sharp contrast to those put out by local and national leaders.
“At 9:05 AM CT, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault, an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun,” DHS said. “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted.”
Other prominent leaders in Washington, D.C., are voicing their opinions as well. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said, “Americans are being killed in the street by their government. Our Constitution is being shredded and our rights are dissolving. Resist.” She added, “We have a responsibility to protect Americans from tyranny.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer">declared</a> that ICE needs to be &#8220;out of Minnesota now.&#8221;
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated, “As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today,” adding, “ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.”
The Department of Homeland Security has said additional details about the armed struggle are forthcoming.

Jacob Frey/Tim Walz

Dem Leaders Address Latest Minneapolis Shooting Without Mentioning Suspect Was Armed

Border Patrol

Department of Homeland Security

Illegal Immigration

jacob frey

Minnesota

Politics

Tim Walz

President Donald Trump on Saturday afternoon reacted to the Border Patrol-involved fatal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/armed-suspect-fatally-shot-by-federal-immigration-authorities-in-minneapolis?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Armed+Suspect+Fatally+Shot+By+Federal+Immigration+Authorities+In+Minneapolis">shooting</a> in Minneapolis, accusing Democrat leaders in the state of inciting insurrection and questioning if they called off local law enforcement so federal immigration officers would be left unprotected.
The shooting, which occurred hours ago, reportedly involved an armed 37-year-old white male.
&#8220;This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go,&#8221; Trump posted to Truth Social, captioning an image of the gun. &#8220;What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off?&#8221;
&#8220;It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do!&#8221; the president continued.
Trump then brought up the stunning fraud scandal in Minnesota, where it&#8217;s suspected that billions of tax dollars were stolen. The scandal has been tied to the state&#8217;s large Somali population.
&#8220;Why does Ilhan Omar have $34 Million Dollars in her account?&#8221; the president wrote. &#8220;And where are the Tens of Billions of Dollars that have been stolen from the once Great State of Minnesota? We are there because of massive Monetary Fraud, with Billions of Dollars missing, and Illegal Criminals that were allowed to infiltrate the State through the Democrats’ Open Border Policy.&#8221;
&#8220;We want the money back, and we want it back, NOW,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Those Fraudsters who stole the money are going to jail, where they belong! This is no different than a really big Bank Robbery. Much of what you’re witnessing is a COVER UP for this Theft and Fraud.&#8221;
Trump also accused far-Left Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) of &#8220;inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!&#8221;
&#8220;Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America,&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!&#8221; he added. &#8220;12,000 Illegal Alien Criminals, many of them violent, have been arrested and taken out of Minnesota. If they were still there, you would see something far worse than you are witnessing today!&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1033045" style="width: 474px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1033045" class="wp-image-1033045 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/img_4895_720.jpg" alt="" width="464" height="720" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/img_4895_720.jpg 464w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/img_4895_720-193x300.jpg 193w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/img_4895_720-371x576.jpg 371w" sizes=" (max-width: 464px) 100vw, 464px" />Truth Social: Donald Trump</div>
As reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/armed-suspect-fatally-shot-by-federal-immigration-authorities-in-minneapolis?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Armed+Suspect+Fatally+Shot+By+Federal+Immigration+Authorities+In+Minneapolis">The Daily Wire</a>, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the incident occurred Saturday morning during a “targeted operation” for an illegal immigrant “wanted for violent assault,” when another individual came up to Border Patrol agents with a “semi-automatic handgun.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/armed-suspect-fatally-shot-by-federal-immigration-authorities-in-minneapolis?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Armed+Suspect+Fatally+Shot+By+Federal+Immigration+Authorities+In+Minneapolis">Armed Suspect Fatally Shot By Federal Immigration Authorities In Minneapolis</a>

Donald Trump/Tim Walz

Trump Targets Frey, Walz In Blistering Response To Fatal Border Patrol-Involved Shooting

Trump Targets Mayor, Gov In Blistering Response To Fatal Border Patrol-Involved Shooting

Donald Trump

Federal Agents Descend On Minneapolis For Immigration Enforcement Operations

LIVE UPDATES: DHS Officer Has Finger Bitten Off By Minneapolis Rioter

An armed individual was fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, and the firearm was taken by law enforcement on Saturday.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to The Daily Wire that the “suspect had a firearm with 2 magazines,” but noted that the situation is “evolving,” with more details expected to emerge. According to <a href="https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/2015088719078866949?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>, the shooting occurred around 26th St. and Nicollet Ave.
In a statement sent to The Daily Wire by DHS, federal authorities said the incident occurred Saturday morning during a &#8220;targeted operation&#8221; for an illegal immigrant &#8220;wanted for violent assault,&#8221; when another individual came up to Border Patrol agents with a &#8220;semi-automatic handgun.&#8221;
&#8216;The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. More details on the armed struggle are forthcoming. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene,&#8221; the statement read.
&#8220;The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID—this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement. About 200 rioters arrived at the scene and began to obstruct and assault law enforcement on the scene, crowd control measures were deployed for the safety of the public and law enforcement. This situation is evolving, and more information is forthcoming,&#8221; it continued.
Gov. Tim Walz said in two posts to X on Saturday that he &#8220;just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.&#8221;
<div class="css-175oi2r">&#8220;I told the White House the state must lead the investigation. Let state investigators secure justice. As we process the scene, stay peaceful and give them space. The State has the personnel to keep people safe – federal agents must not obstruct our ability to do so,&#8221; he wrote.</div>
<a href="https://www.startribune.com/ice-raids-minnesota/601546426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Minnesota Star Tribune</a> reported that Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that the individual died shortly after the shooting, while a viral video now circulating on social media appears to show the incident. Various details are unknown at this time.
<div id="attachment_1032969" style="width: 235px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1032969" class="size-medium wp-image-1032969" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/8363896613862924724-225x300.jpg" alt="Firearm obtained by authorities following shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24. (DHS)" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/8363896613862924724-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/8363896613862924724-432x576.jpg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/8363896613862924724-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/8363896613862924724-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/8363896613862924724.jpg 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Firearm obtained by authorities following shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24. (DHS)</div>
The Department of Homeland Security&#8217;s Operation Metro Surge has been ongoing in the Minneapolis area since late last year, which has yielded the arrests of over 3,000 people, including those in the country illegally with additional criminal charges and convictions.
“DHS law enforcement continues to remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the streets of Minnesota. Just yesterday, they arrested pedophiles, sexual predators, and drug traffickers in Minnesota,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Friday, highlighting notable arrests throughout the operation.
“Many of these public safety threats were released from Minnesota jails. We are calling on Governor Walz and Mayor Frey to honor the more than 1,360 detainers of the illegal aliens in Minnesota jails. Despite horrific smears and violent assaults against them, our officers continue to put their lives on the line to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” she added.
Anti-ICE protests surged in the region following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, who the administration said tried to hit an ICE agent with her vehicle, and the agent suffered internal bleeding as a result, according to DHS.

Protest against ICE after fatal shooting in Minneapolis

Armed Suspect Fatally Shot By Federal Immigration Authorities In Minneapolis

Vice President JD Vance doesn&#8217;t believe there&#8217;s a need to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota for the time being, he told The Daily Wire on Thursday.
Vance touched down in Minneapolis, meeting with federal immigration officers to assess the chaos on the ground. For weeks following the fatal shooting of an ICE watch activist, left-wing agitators have followed federal agents arresting illegal immigrants across the Twin Cities trying to thwart their actions.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve tried to understand this as well as I possibly could, and my understanding is what invoking the Insurrection Act would allow the federal government to use the military for local law enforcement operations,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire&#8217;s Mary Margaret Olohan.
&#8220;Right now, we don&#8217;t think that we need that. Now, the president could change his mind, of course, things could get worse, but right now, we think that federal law enforcement officers can do the job of federal law enforcement. Now, what I do worry about &#8230; is if the chaos gets worse, if more and more ICE agents start getting assaulted, if other law enforcement officers start getting assaulted, that would be a real problem,&#8221; Vance said.
In response to the rising tensions, President Donald Trump floated using the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy the military and federalize the National Guard, to stop “professional agitators and insurrectionists” from attacking federal agents. Talk of invoking the Insurrection Act came after a federal agent shot an illegal immigrant who hit the agent with a snow shovel and broom handle as he tried to evade arrest.
Last week, Trump said he didn&#8217;t &#8220;think there&#8217;s any reason right now&#8221; to use the 1807 law.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> that he and <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> don&#8217;t believe the Insurrection Act is necessary at this point in Minneapolis:
&#8220;Right now, we don&#8217;t think that we need that. Now, the president could change his mind&#8230;but right now, we think that federal law enforcement officers… <a href="https://t.co/f9sQzudwmc">pic.twitter.com/f9sQzudwmc</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2014436098601017443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
Vance said the onus is on the Minneapolis Police Department, which he said has stand-down orders preventing local officers from assisting federal immigration agents.
&#8220;But, again, we have so much federal law enforcement resources here right now, we have so many people here that we do not wanna have here. I do not want so many ICE officers in Minneapolis right now. I mean, good lord, it&#8217;s really freaking cold outside, but they&#8217;re here not even to enforce immigration laws, but to protect the people from the rioters. That&#8217;s an absurd state of affairs and we wouldn&#8217;t need it if we had a little bit more cooperation from the Minneapolis Police Department,&#8221; he said.

Vice President Vance Visits Minneapolis To Meet With Community Members And Local Leaders

JD Vance Says Invoking Insurrection Act In Minnesota Unnecessary For Now

JD Vance

Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey dismissed Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-subpoenas-walz-top-minnesota-dems-in-major-ice-interference-investigation">subpoenas</a> issued to him and other Minnesota Democrats, calling the federal government&#8217;s probe &#8220;political retribution.&#8221;
Frey, along with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, was served subpoenas by the FBI earlier this week as they are accused of conspiring to interfere with federal law enforcement operations. Asked about his subpoena by <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/minneapolis-mayor-jacob-frey-subpoenas-minnesota/">NewsNation</a> host Chris Cuomo on Wednesday night, Frey said the Trump administration&#8217;s action &#8220;should be of deep concern for everybody.&#8221;
“Obviously, it’s frivolous,” Frey said. “I’m going to let some of the lawyers handle the way this is handled as it works its way through the process. And again, this should be of deep concern for everybody.”
“This is political retribution that we are seeing here,” he added. “This is some form of retaliation, because I don’t know, the state didn’t support the president in like three consecutive elections. And we have an important role right now.”
Minnesota Democrats have argued that President Donald Trump is targeting their state as part of a &#8220;retribution&#8221; campaign. The state leaders point to Trump&#8217;s post on Truth Social on January 13, when the president <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115888070937502023">wrote</a>, &#8220;FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING &amp; RETRIBUTION IS COMING!&#8221;
Last week, the Justice Department opened an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-opens-investigation-into-tim-walz-jacob-frey-over-suspected-conspiracy-to-impede-federal-agents?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=10&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=DOJ+Opens+Investigation+Into+Tim+Walz%2C+Jacob+Frey+Over+Suspected+Conspiracy+To+Impede+Federal+Agents">investigation</a> into Frey and Walz, looking into whether the Democratic leaders violated a federal statute by interfering with federal immigration enforcement.
After the shooting death of Minneapolis resident Renee Good on January 7, Frey told ICE to “get the f*ck out of Minneapolis.” Good was shot and killed after she was confronted by federal law enforcement agents when she parked her vehicle in front of them. She then drove her vehicle toward an ICE officer after another officer attempted to open her car door.
After the fatal shooting, the mayor said that ICE agents were “causing chaos” in Minneapolis and suggested that residents were asking for the city police to “fight” ICE agents “on the streets” before he urged residents to remain peaceful.
Last week in Minneapolis, tensions escalated following a confrontation between federal immigration agents and agitators after an ICE agent fired defensive shots during an operation, leaving a Venezuelan illegal immigrant with non-life-threatening injuries, federal officials said. Agitators showed up on the scene and threw fireworks at law enforcement officers and vandalized federal law enforcement vehicles, and in at least one case, broke into a federal vehicle.
On Wednesday night, Frey doubled down on the city&#8217;s refusal to cooperate with ICE.
“We will not [cooperate],” Frey told Cuomo. &#8220;And there’s a good reason, by the way, that we won’t. And it’s not just the moral imperative here. It’s also the fact that I want our police officers focusing on safety. I want our police officers arresting perpetrators of violent crime and preventing carjackings from taking place and doing that basic work of 911 response.”
The Trump administration has said that the surge in immigration agents in Minneapolis is due to city and state leaders refusing to work with ICE and hand over detained illegal immigrants. The White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/01/minnesotas-sanctuary-defiance-has-consequences/#:~:text=Trump%20delivers%20on%20the%20promise,business%2C%20not%20immigration%20business.%E2%80%9D">said</a> last week that Trump has a mandate from the American people to carry out deportations, but argued that Minnesota Democrats &#8220;have chosen defiance over partnership.&#8221;
&#8220;This toxic combination of &#8216;sanctuary&#8217; policies and anti-ICE rhetoric has created a climate of hostility that endangers federal officers and incites violence,&#8221; the White House added. &#8220;Make no mistake: the responsibility for the enhanced enforcement operations in Minnesota — and the tension and violence — lies squarely with these officials who refuse to partner with the Trump Administration and instead put their Radical Left agenda over public safety and the rule of law.&#8221;

Jacob Frey

‘It’s Frivolous’: Minneapolis Dem Mayor Says DOJ Subpoena Is ‘Political Retribution’

WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Thursday, &#8220;ground zero&#8221; for the anti-ICE violence, protesting, and rioting.
Vance will first head to an industrial shipping facility in Toledo, Ohio, where he will deliver remarks on President Donald Trump&#8217;s commitment to lowering prices, increasing paychecks, and creating more jobs across the Midwest.
He will then head to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to hold a roundtable discussion with local leaders and community members, deliver remarks, and meet with ICE agents to &#8220;reinforce the White House’s unwavering support for federal immigration officials,&#8221; a White House official told The Daily Wire.
The White House believes Democrats in Minnesota have purposefully neglected the fraud in the state, undermining federal immigration authorities in their investigations into &#8220;criminal wrongdoing,&#8221; an official shared.
&#8220;Minnesota has become ground zero for attacks on ICE officials and illegal, violent anti-ICE protests,&#8221; that official said.
When Vance speaks in Minneapolis, he plans to highlight the administration&#8217;s &#8220;commitment to restoring law and order&#8221; in the city. He will point to the blue city&#8217;s sanctuary city policies and how they have &#8220;degraded public safety and endangered ICE officers,&#8221; the official shared.
<div id="attachment_1031401" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jd-vance-heads-to-minneapolis-to-meet-with-ice-agents-and-show-support/federal-agents-descend-on-minneapolis-for-immigration-enforcement-operations-11" rel="attachment wp-att-1031401"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1031401" class="wp-image-1031401 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255109760-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255109760-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255109760-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255109760-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255109760.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA &#8211; JANUARY 07: An onlooker holds a sign that reads &#8220;Shame&#8221; as members of law enforcement work the scene following a suspected shooting by an ICE agent during federal law enforcement operations on January 07, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)</div>
The vice president will also celebrate the &#8220;essential work ICE agents have done to take dangerous, criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets.&#8221;
The move comes after Vance, during a press briefing at the White House last week, announced a new position at the Justice Department: the Assistant Attorney General, focused on cracking down on fraud and abuse of taxpayer-funded programs.
“To make sure that we prosecute the bad guys and do it as swiftly and efficiently as possible … we are creating a new assistant attorney general position who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud,” Vance said from the podium in the White House briefing room. “Now, of course, that person’s efforts will start and focus primarily in Minnesota, but it is going to be a nationwide effort, because unfortunately, the American people have been defrauded in a very nationwide way.”
The vice president noted that the new position is part of the Trump administration&#8217;s plan to go after fraud in states like California, Minnesota, and Ohio.
“If you’re a young parent struggling to afford childcare in the United States of America, there are programs that we have to make it easier for your kids to get in daycare, for your kids to get in preschool,” Vance said at the time. “Those programs should go to American citizens, not be defrauded by Somali immigrants, and others.”

US-POLITICS-BRIEFING-VANCE

JD Vance Heads To Minneapolis To Meet With ICE Agents And Show Support

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ended his campaign for re-election, a stunning reversal and likely the end of the political career of a man who many pundits projected would be the Democratic nominee for president as early as 2028.
But if a once-popular governor can be toppled by widespread welfare fraud, where does that leave other Democratic presidential hopefuls?
The revelations of staggering levels of fraud in Minnesota — and Walz’s preemptive exit from the big stage — should send a chill down the spines of Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, and JB Pritzker, who are likely sitting on powder kegs of fraud themselves. What are the odds that Tim Walz is an outlier among blue-state governors with the exact same political philosophy and ideology? Unlikely.
Federal prosecutors allege more than <a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/12/18/u-s-attorney-fraud-likely-exceeds-9-billion-in-minnesota-run-medicaid-services/">$9 billion</a> in Minnesota Medicaid dollars were stolen by scammers primarily from the state’s Somali community, an enormous sum, equivalent to roughly three-quarters of <a href="https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Somalia-GDP-2024-release-text-v3-2025.pdf">Somalia’s GDP</a>. Investigations are ongoing, and the real total loss may be even higher.
Welfare programs are an enormous money pot that inevitably attracts scammers. And the bigger the pot, the bigger the potential payoff for thieves. With state budgets the size of those in California, Illinois, and New York, not to mention Democrats’ general posture toward welfare expansion, it would be truly shocking if there were less fraud in those larger states.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requested data from the states on who is receiving food stamps early last year, including identifying information like Social Security numbers and, importantly, immigration status. The Trump administration has previously discovered that more than one million people were illegally receiving <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/cms-doge-identify-wasteful-duplicate-medicaid-enrollments.html">Medicaid in multiple states</a> — and it’s likely the same with food stamps and SNAP benefits. Individual states are not able to detect this kind of fraud: only the federal government can find it by comparing recipients across the states.
But Democrats have refused to help the Trump administration find fraud. In fact, <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-sues-trump-administration-over-illegal-demands-states">in July</a>, 22 blue states sued to block the Trump administration from requiring the data. Democrats want the federal government to pay for food stamps without knowing who is receiving them.
Tim Walz and the other 21 governors have all seen the information they are currently hiding from the feds. In the absence of transparency from these elected officials, federal investigators, journalists, and citizens of goodwill all need to keep digging until the American people get the truth and law enforcement can bring fraudsters to justice.
Food stamp fraud is a known fact. According to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), more than <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107753.pdf">$10 billion</a> in the food stamp program is wasted every year — <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/key-statistics-and-research">more than 10%</a> of the program. Some blue states have even higher error rates: Massachusetts and D.C. overpay by an average of more than <a href="https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-fy24QC-PER.pdf">13%</a> — and New York and New Jersey aren’t far behind at more than 12%. That means that one out of every eight dollars in these states is wasted — and this is just the waste, fraud, and abuse that we know about.
Nearly <a href="https://thefga.org/research/categorical-eligibility-in-food-stamps-is-fraud-by-design/">every Democrat-run state</a> in America also uses an accounting gimmick called Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility, or BBCE, to hide its own erroneous payments from the federal government. BBCE means that if someone receives a non-monetary TANF benefit, like a brochure or the number to a welfare agency hotline, the state assumes that they qualify for food stamps, too, without bothering to check their assets to see if they are actually eligible. The result is an explosion in the welfare state, costing taxpayers more than <a href="https://thefga.org/solution/promoting-work-over-welfare/bbce/">$11 billion per year</a>, with the benefits going to people with liquid assets well above the limits set in federal law.
The good news is that, thanks to a new law signed by President Trump, states with high error rates can no longer waste federal tax dollars with impunity. States with food stamp payment error rates over <a href="https://www.sas.com/en_us/news/press-releases/2025/november/payment-integrity-food-assistance.html">six percent</a> are now legally required to start paying back a small part of the cost of the program. Left-wing Massachusetts could owe more than <a href="https://www.wwlp.com/news/massachusetts/understaffed-dta-faces-steep-snap-penalty-risks/">$250 million per year</a>. Deep-blue Maryland may be on the hook for more than <a href="https://marylandmatters.org/2025/12/03/maryland-may-face-more-than-300-million-in-new-snap-costs-due-to-high-payment-error/">$300 million</a>. This is a great first step, and not only will it help repay federal taxpayers, but it will also encourage states to finally get their act together and stop wasting money.
As the old story goes, criminals rob banks “because that’s where the money is.” And there are no bigger pots of money than the federal treasury and the bloated budgets of blue states. Attorney General Bondi and investigators across the country are beginning to look at where the real money is — and the fallout could bring down the entire top-tier slate of 2028 Democratic presidential nominees.
* * *
Adam Gibbs is the communications director for the Foundation for Government Accountability.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Opening Day Of World Economic Forum (WEF) 2026

Welfare Fraud Threatens Top-Tier Democratic Presidential Nominees Ahead Of 2028

Welfare Fraud Threatens Top-Tier Democratic Presidential Nominees Ahead of 2028

2028 presidential election

Democrats

Elections

Fraud

Gavin Newsom

J.B. Pritzker

Josh Shapiro

Somalis

If you think you understand what an ICE officer faces on the ground in Minneapolis, you’re wrong.
We spent the day with ICE officers in Minneapolis, where agents have been under siege for weeks. It was constant chaos.
Anti-ICE agitators in the Twin Cities have grown increasingly brazen since the death of Renee Good, a protester who was fatally shot by an ICE officer after apparently striking an agent with her car, causing him to bleed internally.
These protests have not distracted ICE from its mission, which has so far led to the arrest of roughly 10,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not deterring us, we&#8217;re still doing [arrests],&#8221; Samuel Olsen, the director of the agency&#8217;s St. Paul office, told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We&#8217;ve had to just adjust and ensure that we have enough people out.&#8221;
ICE&#8217;s targets that afternoon included illegal immigrants with drug convictions, assault charges, and convictions for driving while impaired. Some of the targets were released by local authorities who ignored ICE&#8217;s requests to hand them over to federal custody.
As we departed the ICE office, a &#8220;spotter&#8221; watched on a nearby street corner as he notified a &#8220;network of people that are throughout the city,&#8221; Olsen said. The first target was quickly &#8220;blown&#8221; after outsiders spotted ICE, making it difficult to catch the illegal immigrant in his element, a local restaurant in St. Paul. It was the second time officers tried to catch him after their cover was blown.
Still, Olsen said they wouldn&#8217;t give up on him.
&#8220;It looks like there&#8217;s people almost everywhere looking for our vehicles, and we were spotted in the lot,&#8221; Olsen said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to probably move to the next target and then just kind of keep this one still.&#8221;
It was then on to the next arrest, but it wasn&#8217;t long after we headed that way that anti-ICE protesters began following close behind as they communicated with each other on radios.
As we neared the target&#8217;s apartment, dozens of protesters had amassed on nearly every corner. They gathered by the convoy of officers as they blew whistles and honked their horns to alert the neighborhood that ICE was there. Even a school bus driver passing by was blowing a whistle.
The officers decided they wouldn&#8217;t be stopped and walked in to knock on their target&#8217;s door, hoping to make a peaceful arrest.
All the while, anti-ICE activists screamed nonstop insults like &#8220;coward&#8221; and &#8220;no one wants you here&#8221; at the officers.
Still, the officers pushed through, but were unsuccessful in getting the target to answer the door. They couldn&#8217;t take any additional action because they didn&#8217;t have a judicial warrant.
As the officers tried to leave the area, several anti-ICE agitators blocked them in with their cars. The situation soon grew tense as one of the officers got out and shouted orders at the agitators to move their cars back.
&#8220;We&#8217;re blocked,&#8221; an officer said on the radio.
&#8220;This is bad back here guys,&#8221; another could be heard on the radio. &#8220;We&#8217;re surrounded back here.&#8221;
Amid the melee, one of the drivers, who was in a Tesla, hit one of the ICE officers&#8217; cars before zooming off erratically. He later continued to follow the officers before he rolled down his window and shouted, &#8220;I&#8217;m illegal, come and get me.&#8221;
Assaults on ICE officers have become all too normal, surging more than 1,000%, while death threats against them have increased more than 8,000%.
In Minneapolis, protesters are showing up at nearly every raid.
Before, &#8220;it was very rare &#8230; now, we&#8217;re making arrests of agitators daily,&#8221; Olsen said.
&#8220;When we have to arrest a U.S. citizen, it really takes us away from our other mission.&#8221;
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Var_01

A Day In The Life Of Minneapolis ICE Agents

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Despite mainstream narratives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is largely targeting illegals who have pending criminal charges or convictions in the United States &#8212; in addition to the crime of being in the U.S. illegally.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/12/17/ice-arrests-worst-worst-criminal-illegal-aliens-including-pedophiles-rapists-and">said</a> last month that the Department of Homeland Security law enforcement had arrested more than 600,000 illegals, 70% of whom had been charged or convicted of a crime in the United States.
Additionally, as stressed by McLaughlin, that statistic pertains to charges or convictions only in the U.S., not other nations. Meaning, the percentage of criminals being targeted is likely even higher.
“DHS is targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens — including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists,&#8221; McLaughlin <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/cna/border-czar-homan-says-catholic-church-is-wrong-on-immigration?">said</a> in a statement published in November. &#8220;[Seventy percent] of illegal aliens ICE arrested across the country have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the U.S.&#8221;
&#8220;This statistic doesn’t account for those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or another country, INTERPOL notices, human rights abusers, gang members, terrorists, etc.,&#8221; the assistant secretary explained. &#8220;The list goes on.”
McLaughlin said that the U.S. is a &#8220;nation of laws,&#8221; and DHS is &#8220;committed to enforcing those laws, all of which are just.&#8221;
This past week, a law enforcement agent <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/viral-video-shows-ice-agent-telling-agitators-theyre-disrupting-arrest-child-sex-offender-minnesota?utm_source=chatgpt.com">went viral</a> for addressing protesters and members of the media while agents were on duty. In this particular case, the agent said authorities were picking up a child sex offender, underscoring the absurdity of the protesters.
&#8220;We&#8217;re here to arrest a child sex offender, and you guys are out here honking,&#8221; the agent says in the now-viral video. &#8220;That vehicle has been honking and impeding our investigation while we&#8217;re trying to arrest a child sex offender. That&#8217;s who you guys are protecting. Insane.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
God bless the men &amp; women of <a href="https://twitter.com/ICEgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ICEgov</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBP</a> who risk their lives to arrest these criminals. <a href="https://t.co/eDJQLCrjZh">pic.twitter.com/eDJQLCrjZh</a>
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) <a href="https://twitter.com/TriciaOhio/status/2012959699373617343?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
Moreover, DHS reports a massive 1,300% jump in assaults against ICE agents.
Still, coordinated obstruction, protests, and riots against ICE agents have raged in liberal cities across the nation, most notably in Minneapolis. Liberal politicians and their counterparts in the legacy media have only emboldened such behavior, too, by dehumanizing ICE agents and ignoring or even supporting violence and obstruction efforts from anti-ICE activists.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-ugly-images-on-tv-shape-immigration-politics?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Ben+Shapiro&amp;category=Opinion&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=How+Ugly+Images+On+TV+Shape+Immigration+Politics">How Ugly Images On TV Shape Immigration Politics</a>

Trump Threatens Insurrection Act As Minnesota Protests Grow

Vast Majority Of Illegals Arrested By ICE Have Criminal Records

Crime

If Minnesota churchgoers expected local prosecutors to protect them after anti-ICE disruptors halted a worship service on Sunday, they might want to think again: A top staffer for Hennepin County&#8217;s Soros-backed prosecutor was among the protesters.
Jamael Lundy works as intergovernmental affairs coordinator for Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, is married to St. Paul City Council member Anika Bowie, and is running for a seat in the state legislature as a Democrat, according to his <a href="https://www.jlundyforsd65.com/aboutme">campaign website</a>.
The Department of Justice is pursuing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/don-lemon-could-face-criminal-conspiracy-charges-over-involvement-in-minnesota-church-protest">federal charges</a> against protesters who disrupted a church service, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has said. In his role in Moriarty&#8217;s office, Lundy is the very staffer who would interface with the federal government, including on an existing investigation into Moriarty boasting that she takes into account a suspect&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-a-soviet-influence-group-with-enron-ties-formed-a-shadow-government-in-prosecutors-offices">racial identity</a>&#8221; when making charging decisions.
Lundy was interviewed by Don Lemon as a group of protesters gathered, holding an upside-down American flag, to plan the takeover of the worship service — inadvertently undermining the point that Lemon was trying to make, which was that the protests were not backed by local officials.
&#8220;People are fighting back and organizing, in large part without support from officials, local officials. There are some people who want to be involved, local officials, but they&#8217;re doing this all on their own, this is all grassroots,&#8221; Lemon said. Pulling a member of the crowd out at random, he asked: &#8220;Without giving out what the operation is, why are you out here?&#8221;
The man turned out to be Lundy, who answered: &#8220;I&#8217;m here to support our community activists. I&#8217;m currently a candidate for Minnesota State Senate District 65. I feel like it&#8217;s important if you&#8217;re going to be representing people in office, that you&#8217;re out here with the people as well.&#8221;
Lemon seemed to ignore what he had said and re-emphasized the opposite point, saying, &#8220;The people are organizing on their own, even without representatives or officials, and hoping that everyone gets involved. This is grassroots.&#8221;
Lundy replied: &#8220;We all we got. I&#8217;m actually married to an elected official; I work closely with elected officials, but direct action from the community, certainly within the lines of the law, is so important to show that we have one voice.&#8221;
Protesters then stormed the church, leaving people fleeing, with some falling on ice as they raced for the exits. Protesters said they aimed to end the church service, and harangue parishioners, because they believed that a pastor at the church also worked for ICE.
Inside the church, a man who appears to be Lundy can be <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ByGeorgiaFort/videos/920639937194281/">seen</a> raising his fist and chanting the name of the pastor followed by &#8220;OUT, OUT,&#8221; as well as, &#8220;Who shut this down? We shut this down.&#8221;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1030013" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/lundy-lemon.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="675" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/lundy-lemon.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/lundy-lemon-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/lundy-lemon-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/lundy-lemon-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></div>
One protester said, &#8220;This ain&#8217;t God&#8217;s house, it&#8217;s the house of the devil.&#8221; Lemon celebrated, saying, &#8220;You have to make people uncomfortable in these times. You have to be willing to go into places and make people uncomfortable, that is what this country is about.&#8221;
Lemon then interviewed a pastor, who said, &#8220;Our church had gathered for worship, which we do every Sunday, and we were interrupted by this group of protesters. We asked them to leave, and obviously they have not left. This is unacceptable, it&#8217;s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship.&#8221;
Lundy&#8217;s campaign website says that he previously worked for Minnesota House Rep. Carlos Mariani, the Democrat House Caucus Campaign, Congresswoman Betty McCullum, and the state teachers union.
Lundy also founded &#8220;Black Operations Public Relations LLC,&#8221; and runs a company called &#8220;Homes for Homies Property Management LLC,&#8221; &#8220;providing affordable housing for those struggling with credit and criminal backgrounds.&#8221;
The Homes for Homies website says: &#8220;He founded this company with the vision of improving housing access to all, but specifically to those with low income, criminal backgrounds, and people of color. Since it’s [sic] founding, home for homies [sic] has grown from a property management company with a goal of removing barriers to housing to a real estate development company centered around expanding housing affordability through expanding housing supply. As Home for Homies continues to expand, its founding values of making profit through making a difference remains [sic].&#8221;
On Facebook, he suggests that his &#8220;profit&#8221; comes from federal Section 8 funds and implies that he would rent homes to illegal immigrants, writing: &#8220;It&#8217;s become increasingly apparent how much folks are hurting from the economic impact of the lawless federal occupation of the Twin Cities and as a result, I&#8217;m seeing the longest vacancy in my tenure as a landlord. For that reason, I am intentionally reducing the price by $300 a month for this 3/4 bedroom listing on the East Side of Saint Paul, far below the normal price I set based off of section 8 guidance. So if your [sic] looking for a deeply affordable 3-4 bedroom unit, without credit or criminal background barriers, open to all residents of all statuses, please contact me via DM.&#8221;
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minneapolis-under-investigation-over-possible-discriminatory-housing-program">investigating</a> Minneapolis for potentially discriminating by steering federal housing subsidies to &#8220;people of color, Indigenous people, and/or immigrant communities.&#8221;
The Daily Wire has reached out to Lundy, Moriarty, and Dhillon.

Jamel Lundy

Minneapolis Prosecutor’s Top Aide Was Part Of Anti-ICE Protest At Church

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