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Judge rules feds in Minneapolis immigration raids can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters

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Federal officers in the Minneapolis area participating in its largest recent U.S. immigration enforcement operation can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren’t obstructing authorities, including when these people are observing the agents, a judge in Minnesota ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez’s ruling addresses a case filed in December on behalf of six Minnesota activists. The six are among the thousands who have been observing the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area since last month.

Federal agents and demonstrators have repeatedly clashed since the crackdown began. The confrontations escalated after an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head on Jan. 7 as she drove away from a scene in Minneapolis, an incident that was captured on videofrom several angles. Agents have arrested or briefly detained many people in the Twin Cities.

The activists in the case are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, which says government officers are violating the constitutional rights of Twin Cities residents.

After the ruling, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement saying her agency was taking “appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.”

She said people have assaulted officers, vandalized their vehicles and federal property, and attempted to impede officers from doing their work.

“We remind the public that rioting is dangerous — obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony,” McLaughlin said.

The ACLU didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night.

The ruling prohibits the officers from detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles when there is no reasonable suspicion they are obstructing or interfering with the officers.

Safely following agents “at an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop,” the ruling said.

Menendez said the agents would not be allowed to arrest people without probable cause or reasonable suspicion the person has committed a crime or was obstructing or interfering with the activities of officers.

Menendez is also presiding over a lawsuit filed Monday by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul seeking to suspend the enforcement crackdown, and some of the legal issues are similar. She declined at a hearing Wednesday to grant the state’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order in that case.

“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered,” state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter told her.

Menendez said the issues raised by the state and cities in that case are “enormously important.” But she said it raises high-level constitutional and other legal issues, and for some of those issues there are few on-point precedents. So she ordered both sides to file more briefs next week.



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Trump blasts Dimon, threatens to sue JPMorgan over debanking

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President Donald Trump railed against JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its leader Jamie Dimon, threatening to sue the banking giant over his claim that he was debanked after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

In a post Saturday, Trump responded to a Wall Street Journal story that said Trump offered Dimon the role of Federal Reserve chief several months ago in a way that Dimon interpreted as a joke. 

“There was never such an offer and, in fact, I’ll be suing JPMorgan Chase over the next two weeks for incorrectly and inappropriately DEBANKING me after the January 6th Protest,” Trump wrote. 

He didn’t elaborate. JPMorgan didn’t immediately respond to a weekend request for comment.

Trump claimed in August that JPMorgan “discriminated against me very badly” when he alleged the bank asked him to close accounts he held for decades, an action he believes was connected to his supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the 2021 certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. The bank later said it’s facing reviews, investigations and legal proceedings tied to the Trump administration’s fight against “debanking.”

Dimon said earlier this week he wouldn’t consider being the Fed chair.

In response to a question Thursday at a US Chamber of Commerce event about whether he’d consider taking over the central bank, Dimon said, “Chairman of the Fed, I’d put in the absolutely, positively no chance, no way, no how, for any reason.” 

As for running the Treasury, “I would take the call,” he said.

Trump has not yet said who he will nominate to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term as Chair ends in May. Trump said Friday he has a pick in his mind but declined to identify them.

Read More: Trump Voices Reluctance at Nominating Hassett as Fed Chair

Dimon’s comments follow a public back-and-forth between Dimon and Trump earlier this week over the president’s attacks on the Fed, including criminal subpoenas issued by the Justice Department over the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters. Dimon said Tuesday that chipping away at Fed independence is “not a great idea,” and could lead to higher inflation and interest rates over time.

Dimon has pushed back in the past against attempts by Trump’s allies to suggest that the bank’s customer decisions are biased.

“We do not debank people’s religious or political affiliations,” Dimon told Fox Business in December.



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Iran’s supreme leader concedes thousands killed in unrest

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “several thousand people” died in this month’s anti-government demonstrations, his first acknowledgment of the deadly scale of the unrest.  

Some of those were killed “brutally and inhumanely,” Khamenei said without offering detail in a public meeting broadcast on state TV. He accused the US and Israel of aiding the killings and said the Islamic Republic has evidence to support the claim.

Iran doesn’t intend to push the country toward war, but won’t allow either domestic or international criminals to go unpunished, Khamenei said. 

He said US President Donald Trump was culpable for “deaths, damage, and accusations he has inflicted on the Iranian people,” and that Washington’s broader policy goal was to place Iran under military, political, and economic domination.

The toll suggested by Khamenei was in line with estimates from human rights groups and others that some 3,500 people had perished. The groups estimate that more than 22,000 people have been detained. 

Trump told Politico that Iran needs new leadership and said Khamenei is guilty of “the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before.”

The protests have taken place during a record long internet blackout for Iran’s population of about 92 million people. 

Read more: Trump Signals He’ll Hold Off Another Attack on Iran for Now 

Earlier, local media reported that internet connectivity had been partially restored, even as most residents appeared to remain largely cut off from the outside world for a ninth day.

Iran’s government shut down internet and mobile phone services on Jan. 8 to quell rising unrest sparked by a currency crisis late last month. 

“Internet access has now been restored for some subscribers,” the semi-official Mehr news agency said without specifying which restrictions had been lifted or whether users had regained access to international platforms and services.   

The semi-official Fars news agency also reported that mobile text messages had been reactivated after being blocked earlier.

The internet traffic monitoring group NetBlocks said there had been a “very slight rise” in connectivity on Saturday, adding that overall access remained at about 2% of normal levels, with “no indication of a significant return.”

Users in Iran appeared largely offline as of early Saturday afternoon local time, with few signs of activity evident on platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and X — services they previously accessed via virtual private networks (VPNs). 

Near‑total communications blackouts have become a familiar tool for Islamic Republic authorities during critical situations, from this month’s nationwide protests to the June conflict with Israel. That’s cut off much of the population from the global internet, and diverted users onto a government‑controlled domestic network that operates independently of the wider web.

NetBlocks on Friday said the current blackout had surpassed the internet shutdown imposed during the country’s 2019 protests.

Read more: Iran’s Exiled Prince Is Buoyed by Nation Desperate for Change 

Earlier on Saturday, Fars cited authorities who weren’t identified as saying that internet and other communications services were being gradually restored, but that some restrictions would remain in place “as long as security conditions require.”  



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Trump launches trade war vs. NATO after European countries sent troops to Greenland

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President Donald Trump escalated his campaign to gain control over Greenland after several European countries deployed troops to the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

In a social media post on Saturday, he said Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland will be hit with a 10% tariff starting on Feb. 1 that will rise to 25% on June 1, unless “Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”

The announcement came after those NATO allies sent troops to Greenland this past week, ostensibly for training purposes, at the request of Denmark.

European officials have said it was meant to show they’re serious about security in the Arctic as Trump claims China and Russia are threatening Greenland, and not to defend against a possible U.S. attack. But Trump alluded to the troop deployment in his post Saturday.

“On top of everything else, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland have journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown,” he wrote. “This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet. These Countries, who are
playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable.”

Trump has consistently refused to rule out using the U.S. military in his Greenland plans, while the administration has also left open the possibility of buying the island.

That’s despite estimates that extracting oil and rare earth minerals from Greenland would cost $1 trillion and take decades to yield any returns.

Trump’s latest post suggests he’s leaning toward leveraging trade relations for a purchase rather than conquering Greenland with troops and Navy ships.

A White House meeting with officials from Denmark and Greenland failed to result in any diplomatic breakthrough with the administration refusing to budge on its stance.

While Greenland has offered the U.S. military and commercial access, Trump has insisted that only an outright takeover can secure the island and ensure national security.

“The United States has been trying to do this transaction for over 150 years. Many Presidents have tried, and for good reason, but Denmark has always refused,” he said on Saturday. “Now, because of The Golden Dome, and Modern Day Weapons Systems, both Offensive and Defensive, the need to ACQUIRE is especially important.”



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