Left-wing nonprofit groups in Minneapolis appear to have moved beyond pressure campaigns targeting ICE agents and federal law enforcement, shifting from street protests/riots toward actions that may disrupt critical infrastructure on Friday. The apparent objective is to target economic chokepoints and critical infrastructure, a pressure tactic consistent with the color revolution playbook previously deployed by dark-money funded NGO networks aligned with the Democratic Party’s protest-industrial complex and financed by left-wing billionaire foundations.

Local media outlet The Minnesota Star Tribune reported on Friday evening that “at a demonstration outside Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport’s main terminal, a Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman said police arrested roughly 100 demonstrators.”

Following a morning demonstration outside Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport’s main terminal, a Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman said police arrested roughly 100 demonstrators.

📸 Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Follow updates here:… pic.twitter.com/h39Z5689IN

— The Minnesota Star Tribune (@StarTribune) January 23, 2026

Footage from the protest area appears to show demonstrators – mainly white liberal boomers – blocking the main access road to Terminal 1 at the international airport.

We’re not quite certain who organized the protest at the airport, but a flyer floating around social media appears to show the same left-wing nonprofit that organized ‘No Kings’ rallies across the country last year – largely seen as a failure because the mobilization effort only attracted white liberal boomers.

Here’s the flyer showing that Indivisible Twin Cities and 50501, dark-money-funded NGOs, could’ve been the organizers of the event to shut down critical infrastructure:

According to previous reporting by Peter Schweizer & Seamus Bruner of the Government Accountability Institute, the ‘No Kings’ protest brand was created by The Indivisible Project (or “Indivisible”). That entity and its eponymous offshoots – “Indivisible Civics,” “Indivisible Action,” “Indivisible East Bay,” et al – sprung up as an activist mobilization machine in response to Trump’s 2016 victory.

Parsing through 990 filings: Indivisible Civics funds the Indivisible Project.

As for Indivisible Project, the typical foundations that fund chaos nationwide also fund this entity.

The evolution of the protest to now shut down critical infrastructure comes as left-wing NGOs are attempting an “economic blackout” across Minnesota. As we noted days ago, the state is being used as a testing ground by Marxist revolutionists who will replicate pressure campaigns that work in the metro area across every sanctuary city when spring rolls around.

• Left-Wing NGOs Plan “Economic Blackout” Across Minnesota As State Becomes Testbed For Revolution

Let’s take a step back because the protest at the airport is a similar playbook that was used by revolutionary pro-Palestine groups in recent years that targeted critical economic chokepoints of the economy, from highways to bridges to airports and even land ports (read here). The goal of the protest industrial complex is not to help the cause; rather, it is all part of a sinister plan to collapse the nation from within.  

There is good news: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sat down with journalist Christopher Rufo earlier this month to discuss plans to investigate dark-money-funded NGOs sowing chaos nationwide.

Among the topics discussed in the Bessent-Rufo interview were left-wing nonprofits, with Bessent acknowledging that “we are examining” NGO activities and funding structures…

Bessent continued:

Yes, yes, and yes. So, these groups that are engaging in this—we have the authority and are examining them. Because when you see these protesters, someone is financing them. There are safe houses. When you see the 300 people with the same laser that they’re using to blind DHS agents in courthouses in Portland, someone bought those lasers.

And again, what we do is follow the money—just like we followed it with the mafia, just like we follow it. We’ll find out who’s done this.

I announced today that we are going to put in effect a whistleblower program. And my sense is that the rats will turn on each other.

As I believe you reported—or someone talked about in a roundtable—one of the Somali fraudsters tried to bribe a juror with $120,000. What turned out, she’d been given $200,000 to bribe the jurors, and she skimmed. It’s like the scorpion—it’s in their nature.

EXCLUSIVE: Treasury ⁦@SecScottBessent⁩ tells me that the Trump Administration will launch investigations into left-wing nonprofits that serve as a front for violent protests and criminal obstruction of ICE operations. It’s time to stop left-wing terrorism in America. pic.twitter.com/roorsk4XLA

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) January 9, 2026

Bessent said “rats,” the question there is whether he was referring to the actual rodent, or an acronym for the Rockefeller Foundation (R), Arabella network (A), Tides Foundation (T), and Soros Foundation (S), some of the foundations that have been funding the protest industrial complex against President Trump and attempting to derail the America First agenda.

Let’s circle back to retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s comments in late November:

• General Flynn Calls For National Address From Trump On Color Revolution Threat

As spring and warmer weather approach, the protest industrial complex will be operating at full steam. It is time for the Trump administration to get ahead of these Marxist revolutionaries, whose main goal is a color revolution and regime change in the White House, the end of America First, and to collapse the nation from within.

Authored by Robert Burrows via BondVigilantes.com,

With geopolitics taking centre stage, the seismic tremors of Stablecoin activity go largely unnoticed. Stablecoins sit at a fascinating intersection of finance and technology. They promise the speed and programmability of cryptocurrencies with the price stability of traditional money.

What began as a niche settlement tool for crypto markets is now being discussed as a parallel monetary system—with profound implications for banks, credit creation, and financial stability.

What are stablecoins?

Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value, usually pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar. While there are several types, fiat-backed stablecoins dominate the market, accounting for roughly 90% of usage.

Two of the most widely used examples are USDC (Circle) and USDT (Tether). 

Both are backed by reserves, but the composition of those reserves varies:

Stablecoins are becoming major players in the treasury market with Tether now the 17th largest holder of treasuries on the planet.

Source: US department of Treasury as of October 2025

How are stablecoins different from cash?

If you can already pay with a bank card, does it matter if settlement takes two days instead or instantly?

For most consumers, the benefits of stablecoins look incremental compared to existing digital banking services.

But there is one notable difference: interest.

The GENIUS act and interest rules

The GENIUS Act, proclaimed by Donald Trump to have been named after himself, was signed into law in July 2025 and created a federal framework for stablecoins. Its aim is to provide regulatory clarity, consumer protection, and oversight. Crucially, the Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest directly to holders, ensuring they behave like cash rather than investment products.

However, third-party platforms, such as Coinbase or Binance can still pass through yield to users. That is, the interest earned by Circle or Tether from holding the interest bearing reserves is passed on to the exchanges, which then pass through to holders of the stablecoins through a process called ‘staking’. It is important to note that these yields are not guaranteed to be passed through and remain poorly understood, which has likely limited adoption.

Core use cases driving adoption

Payments and Settlement: Stablecoins enable near-instant, 24/7 settlement without relying on correspondent banking networks. For cross-border payments, this can be far cheaper and faster than SWIFT. Global remittance costs on average about 6.5% per transaction on flows of roughly $900 billion. Stablecoins could cut that close to zero. It’s no surprise Western Union is exploring its own stablecoin as its business model faces disruption.

Cryptocurrency market infrastructure: The cryptocurrency universe has gone from strength to strength (less so lately). Stablecoins act as the base currency of the crypto ecosystem, allowing traders to move in and out of risk assets without touching the banking system.

Financial Inclusion: In countries with weak banking systems or high inflation, dollar-pegged stablecoins offer a stable store of value without requiring a bank account. With the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency, adoption in South America and Africa is easy to imagine. Asian markets may lean towards both US-backed and yuan-backed stablecoins. Financial inclusion can cut both ways, as it may accelerate capital flight from emerging economies and funnel more funding into US debt markets.

The funding threat to banks

Banks rely on deposits to fund loans.

Stablecoins disrupt this in three ways:

1. Deposit disintermediation: If households and corporates hold stablecoins instead of bank deposits, banks lose a cheap and stable source of funding.

2. Reduced credit creation: Stablecoin reserves are typically invested in:

   • Treasury bills

   • Reverse repos

   • Cash at central banks

This shifts money away from private lending and towards government financing. For the US, this is convenient given its $38 trillion debt stock, with 40–45% needing rollover in the next 18 months.

3. Pro-cyclicality risk: In a crisis, depositors may rush into stablecoins perceived as safer, amplifying stress on bank funding and making bank runs increasingly likely.

The stablecoin market is currently $300 billion in size, with bullish growth forecasts of $4 trillion by 2030. If this growth is realised, it will likely come at the expense of bank deposits and not from new external sources. This is a problem for the banks, and it won’t come as a surprise that recent crypto legislation stalled just last week amid banking industry lobbying against stablecoin interest payments. Stablecoins are not necessarily a catalyst for widening but is another concern for a sector which has spreads trading at all time tights.

To summarise, for everyday consumers, stablecoins offer little beyond what bank accounts already provide. For banks and the economy, the stakes are much higher. If stablecoins disintermediate banks, lending costs rise, credit availability shrinks, and growth slows, unless alternative credit channels scale up quickly.

The US Government will welcome the extra demand for short-term debt, but the cost could be a fundamental reshaping of the banking system.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the Golden State will remain a part of the World Health Organization’s network, even though the Trump administration just completed the United States’ withdrawal from the WHO.

“The Trump administration’s withdrawal from WHO is a reckless decision that will hurt all Californians and Americans,” Newsom wrote.

“California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring. We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.”

As Jacki Thrapp reports for The Epoch Times, Newsom, who confirmed in October that he’s considering a 2028 presidential bid, revealed the new collaboration after meeting with WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Newsom’s decision goes against the Trump administration’s approach to the agency, which is managed by the United Nations.

Trump, a critic of the WHO’s pandemic responses, has wanted the United States to exit the WHO ever since his first term. His administration formally made the split on Thursday.

“This action responds to the WHO’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to rectify the harm from those failures inflicted on the American people,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr in a joint statement Jan. 22.

The Trump administration said the agency “abandoned its core mission and acted repeatedly against the interests of the United States,” even though America was a founding member and the largest financial contributor.

All U.S. funding of WHO has ended, amounting to about $111 million in annual “mandatory dues” and $570 million in “voluntary contributions,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

“We right these injustices and bring an end to the bureaucratic inertia, entrenched paradigms, conflicts of interest, and international politics that have rendered the organization beyond repair,” the press release by Rubio and Kennedy added.

“We will get our flag back for the Americans who died alone in nursing homes, the small businesses devastated by WHO-driven restrictions, and the American lives shattered by this organization’s inactivity. Our withdrawal is for them.”

Rubio and Kennedy said the WHO refused to give the United States its flag back after the departure announcement.

A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of two Minnesota women who stormed a Minnesota church last Sunday after the FBI and Homeland Security agents arrested them on Thursday. 

US District Judge Laura Provinzino (Biden) said that the protesters, Nekima Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen, do not pose a flight risk – but must surrender their passports while they await trial. Provinzino found that the Trump administration offered “no factual or legal support” to justify their claim that this was a “crime of violence.” 

A video of the two women posted on line shows them emerging from detention on Friday, raising their fists.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Georgia Fort (@bygeorgiafort)

The pair were arrested Thursday morning and charged with Conspiracy to Deprive Rights for their key roles in storming Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota on Sunday. They each face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. 

Homeland Security Investigators and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong who played a key role in orchestrating the Church Riots in St. Paul, Minnesota.

She is being charged with a federal crime under 18 USC 241.

Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States -… pic.twitter.com/LHh994fXf3

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) January 22, 2026

A judge has also ordered the release of a third activist, William Kelly, who was involved in the protest, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Armstrong, former president of the NAACP in Minneapolis, helped lead a group that poured into the Cities Church in St. Paul before chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” because one of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, heads up the local ICE field office. 

Authored by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times,

The first year of President Donald Trump’s second term saw historic reductions in violent crimes, while federal arrests soared by 100 percent, according to the FBI.

The 2025 milestones were achieved as a result of a “full-scale reset of the FBI—operationally, culturally, and fiscally,” FBI Director Kash Patel told The Epoch Times.

Murder rates fell by 20 percent nationwide, the largest decline on record, according to statistics released by the FBI on Jan. 22. 

Four of the top 10 most wanted fugitives were captured, matching the number detained over the prior four years. 

Approximately 1,800 gangs and other criminal organizations were disrupted, marking a 210 percent increase from the prior year, and more than 2,000 kilograms, or around 4,400 pounds of fentanyl—enough of the deadly opioid to kill more than one-third of the U.S. population—were seized. 

“The result was the most productive year in modern FBI history, measured by arrests, disruptions, victim recoveries, and taxpayer savings,” Patel said. “That’s what reform looks like, and there’s more to come.” 

The improvements came as he oversaw a complete overhaul of the FBI—including the closure of the Hoover Building—and the relocation of its headquarters, expected to save taxpayers approximately $5 billion. 

The FBI headquarters in Washington on July 16, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

An additional $1.2 billion in savings resulted from a comprehensive audit conducted last year. 

“We cut bureaucracy, pushed agents back into the field, delivered accountability, and rebuilt trust with our law enforcement partners,” Patel said.  

Restructuring the sprawling agency included the dismissal of some agents perceived to have political bias, balanced by the hiring of 1,422 individuals, including nearly 500 special agents. 

Patel refocused the FBI to prioritize crime-fighting and threat-detection operations.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announce the arrest of Brian Cole during a press conference in Washington on Dec. 4, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Joint investigations resulted in the recovery of more than 6,000 missing children across the country and the arrest of about 1,700 child predators. 

Nearly 4 million accounts operated by pedophiles online were terminated. 

Agents investigated 900 percent more children potentially victimized by nihilistic violent extremism—a new class of terrorism that involves the exploitation and harm of children.  

The notorious 764 Network—a loosely organized, nihilistic, violent extremist group known to harm animals and children—was targeted, resulting in 20 percent more arrests than in 2024, with the founder sentenced to more than 80 years in prison. 

“This should be headline news every day, because the protection of our children is one of our biggest priorities here,” Patel said during an interview with Jan Jekielek, host of Epoch TV’s “American Thought Leaders.“

“We made a huge push this year to protect our children against these online predators, and this is the worst of the worst.”

Counterespionage efforts netted 41 individuals from China, 18 Russians, 10 Iranians, and 16 other people from around the world, totaling 36 percent more spies caught than the year before. 

“We are actually disrupting them. We’re kicking them out of our networks,” he said. “We’re bringing them to trial, and we’re putting them in prison. That is a very powerful public display of force.” 

FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Nov. 19, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Agents are also using advanced biometric identification methods—including fingerprints and scans of irises and faces to secure records and prevent theft of sensitive materials.

Investigations stopped 640 individuals from committing terrorist attacks, as the counterterrorism division arrested more than 700 suspects, secured 242 convictions, and seized 245 firearms.  

International operations boosted global extraditions and transfers of custody to foreign nations by 40 percent, while nearly doubling the number of subpoenas, indictments, convictions, and sentences levied the year before. 

President Donald Trump highlighted the federal crime-fighting initiatives and results on the one-year anniversary of his second inauguration, saying the deployment of resources helped “restore law and order.” 

Special agents participated in the Memphis Safe Task Force and were involved in a number of operations, including “Summer Heat” and “Coast to Coast,” which resulted in 56,000 arrests and the seizure of more than 4,000 firearms.

Trump’s designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization allowed extensive investigations that unveiled financial connections, according to Patel, who said about two dozen individuals were arrested for materially supporting terrorism. 

“We’re treating them as [the] terrorist organization that they are and mapping out the money,” he said, noting that more indictments are expected this year.

“With our partners in Treasury, we are following the money, mapping out the entire network, and treating them as a terrorist organization under the authorities the president has given us.”

An ANTIFA tag in Los Angeles on Oct. 20, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Restoring integrity to the FBI—following years of what the director described as politically motivated prosecutions and botched investigations—is a key element of Patel’s leadership approach. 

He engaged with Congress 50 times, a 25 percent increase from Christopher Wray’s record in 2024, and provided lawmakers with more than 400,000 pages of documents, representing 560 percent more pages than his predecessor produced. 

More transparency is on the way, according to Patel, after agents discovered burn bags filled with documents related to Russian collusion allegations involving Trump. 

“You’re going to see everything we found in that room, in one way or another, be it through investigation, public trial, or disclosure of the Congress,” Patel said.

Update (1430ET):

President Trump has taken to social media to express his anger and frustration at the events in Minneapolis. Specifically, that the suspect was armed… and where were the police!

“This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go – 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? 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!”

And he knows who is to blame:

“Much of what you’re witnessing is a COVER UP for this Theft and Fraud. The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!“

Trump concludes with a clear message:

“LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB! 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!”

Full statement below:

Update (1344ET):

New angle of the shooting incident:

Another angle of federal agents killing a Minnesota legal observer, which appears to come from the direction of the woman in pink filming from the sidewalk.

Obtained by Drop Site News pic.twitter.com/IT56ftPkYP

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) January 24, 2026

*  *  * 

(Update: 1240ET): 

The armed man shot by federal agents today in Minneapolis has died, according to the city’s police chief. 

Close up picture of the suspect who was shot and is confirmed to be dead. pic.twitter.com/cvpprtQe1e

— Kim “Katie” USA (@KimKatieUSA) January 24, 2026

DHS has issued a statement regarding the incident: 

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, seen here. 

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. 

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. 

As noted by DHS, protesters have come out in force, resulting in the deployment of tear gas.

🚨BREAKING: Total CHAOS unfolding right now at the Minneapolis Border Patrol shooting scene,leftist mobs swarming, clashing with agents, blocking streets, and turning it into a war zone.

This is exactly why the Insurrection Act needs to be invoked!
https://t.co/8X2TYFcmKR

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 24, 2026

🚨 JUST IN: Federal agents are UNLEASHING crowd control munitions on leftists in Minneapolis after an armed suspect was shot and killed

Mayor Frey and Tim Walz caused this. They called for people to FIGHT BACK against Border agents, and look what happened.

THEY SHOULD RESIGN.… pic.twitter.com/ZTGvWtLjMc

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 24, 2026

🚨 BREAKING: Minneapolis looks like a WARZONE right now after leftist rioters swarm agents and force them to unload a ball BARRAGE of tear gas

SEND IN THE TROOPS!

DO NOT BACK DOWN TO THESE THUGS! pic.twitter.com/Lb6fUhaSXE

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 24, 2026

RELATED: Odds of a shutdown just spiked on Polymarket – as DHS legislation that funds ICE at current levels without policy restrictions is now in the Senate and needs 60 votes to pass by next Friday. With today’s shooting, it’s going to be an uphill battle to say the least.

Stay tuned for updates, it’s about to go off… 

*  *  * 

Weeks after a left-wing legal observer was shot and killed in Minneapolis amid pressure campaigns against federal officers carrying out immigration enforcement operations in the sanctuary city – reports of another federal agent involved in a shooting has hit social media feeds. 

“Multiple law enforcement sources tell me there has just been a Border Patrol involved shooting in Minneapolis near 26th Street & Nicollet Ave. with Border Patrol shooting a person. I’m told the person is “down” and medics are working on them. No details yet on who it was or what led up to the shooting. Working sources and will update when I have more,” Fox News reporter Bill Melugin wrote on X.

BREAKING: Multiple law enforcement sources tell me there has just been a Border Patrol involved shooting in Minneapolis near 26th Street & Nicollet Ave. with Border Patrol shooting a person. I’m told the person is “down” and medics are working on them. No details yet on who it…

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 24, 2026

Melugin noted that the Department of Homeland Security told him the suspect was armed with a pistol. The reporter posted an image of what appears to be a Sig Sauer P320, possibly a 9 mm, with a Sig optic on the slide.

BREAKING: DHS tells @FoxNews the suspect was armed with a gun, which has been recovered by federal agents. pic.twitter.com/GLZJMdwIup

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 24, 2026

Citizen journalist Collin Rugg posted footage that appears to show the final moments before the suspect was shot. It appears he was in a struggle with multiple federal agents. About 20 seconds into the video, an apparent gunshot is heard, with the suspect lying on the ground.

JUST IN: There has been a Border Patrol-involved shooting in Minneapolis, according to Fox News’ @BillMelugin_.

The incident reportedly happened from across the street from Glam Doll Donuts near 26th St. and Nicollet Ave.

“I’m told the person is ‘down’ and medics are working on… pic.twitter.com/kVioh8lOTr

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 24, 2026

City of Minneapolis on X responds to the incident: 

We are aware of reports of another shooting involving federal law enforcement in the area of 26th Street W and Nicollet Ave. We are working to confirm additional details. We ask the public to remain calm and avoid the immediate area.

— City of Minneapolis (@CityMinneapolis) January 24, 2026

Gov. Walz also responds: 

I 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.

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) January 24, 2026

*This story is developing. Check back for more updates.

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Jan. 23 refuted reports that ICE agents detained a 5-year-old boy in Minnesota, saying the child was abandoned by his parents during an immigration enforcement operation.

Columbia Heights Public School District had previously said that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken into custody along with his father while in their driveway on Jan. 20. School officials said an ICE agent asked the child to knock on the door to see if there was anyone inside.

DHS on Friday provided details on the situation and said the primary concern of its officers was the child’s safety and welfare.

“ICE did NOT target, arrest a child or use a child as ‘bait.’ ICE law enforcement officers were the only people primarily concerned with the welfare of this child,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said on X.

McLaughlin said federal agents conducted a targeted operation to arrest the child’s father, identified as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, but he fled and abandoned his child.

For safety reasons, one ICE agent remained with the child while other officers apprehended Conejo Arias, according to McLaughlin.

McLaughlin added that officers had tried to ask the “alleged mother,” who was inside the house, to take custody of the child and assured her she would not be taken into custody, but she refused.

“During this situation, agitators swarmed the scene and began yelling and blowing horns, scaring the child,” McLaughlin said.

“Following the mother’s abandonment of the child, officers abided by the father’s wishes to keep the child with him and even got the child McDonald’s and played his favorite music. Father and son are together at Dilley,” she added.

According to McLaughlin, parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will arrange for the children to be placed with a safe person the parent designates.

The move, she said, aligns with how the former administration conducted immigration enforcement.

Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the Columbia Heights Public School District, told a press conference that another adult living in the home, who was outside during the encounter, had begged the agents to let them take care of the child, but was denied.

“Instead, the agent took the child out of the still-running vehicle, led him to the door, and directed him to knock on the door, asking to be let in, in order to see if anyone else was home—essentially using a 5-year-old as bait,” Stenvik said.

Stenvik said Liam’s middle-school brother came home 20 minutes later to find both his father and brother missing. Two school principals from the district came to the house to offer support to the family.

The superintendent said that four students from the district, including Liam, have been apprehended by ICE so far.

The operation in Minnesota is part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration enforcement targeting illegal immigrants.

As of Jan. 19, ICE has arrested 10,000 criminal illegal immigrants, many of whom were “killing Americans, hurting children, and reigning terror in Minneapolis,” according to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Another significant military purge appears underway in China, as Saturday morning the West woke up to news that China’s most senior military officer, who is second only to Xi Jinping, has been put under investigation over alleged “grave violations of discipline and the law.”

Gen. Zhang Youxia is a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the Communist Party body that controls China’s armed forces, and this comes as somewhat of a major shock given he is widely regarded as President Xi’s closest ally within the military – or at least prior to this.

Another member of the commission, Gen. Liu Zhenli, has also been placed under investigation, according to the Defense Ministry on the same day. He’s in charge of the PLA military’s Joint Staff Department.

No further details have been given regarding the accusations against General Zhang Youxia, but such language is often presented in such crackdowns as a euphemism for corruption.

Xi has described corruption as “the biggest threat” to the Communist Party, having previously several times warned that the struggle against it “remains grave and complex.” But critics as well as Western observers say this has served as a convenient and public PR mechanism for sidelining political rivals, and strengthening Xi’s power and hold on the levers of power.

The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Cheng says that General Zhang’s downfall is surprising as not only has he known Xi for decades, but is the “most senior member of military hierarchy to face dismissal since fallout of 1989 Tiananmen protests.”

And a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst who follows Chinese elite politics, Christopher K. Johnson, tells the NY Times on Saturday, “This move is unprecedented in the history of the Chinese military and represents the total annihilation of the high command.”

Chinese social media rumors: Previously, on the evening of January 21, there were online rumors that Zhang Youxia’s suspected residence in Beijing was surrounded by plainclothes officers.

The rumors and speculation were rampant over the last several days, triggered by a conspicuous absence at a high-profile military event where Xi gave an address:

Two of China’s top generals, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, apparently did not attend a gathering of all of China’s senior political leaders on Tuesday. Their absence has fired the starting pistol on speculation they have been purged, speculation that will now continue until confirmation or they appear in public.

The event in question was the catchily-titled Study Session for Principal Officials at the Provincial and Ministerial Level on Studying and Implementing the Spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. President Xi Jinping attended and gave an opening speech, flanked by all six members of the Politburo Standing Committee as well as the vice president.

Eagle-eyed observers quickly noticed that while the second-ranked Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Shengmin was sat in the audience, Zhang Youxia, who is the first-ranked vice chairman, and Liu Zhenli, who is the only non-ranking member, both appeared to be absent.

This is the latest ‘anti-corruption’ purge action since the October news of the expulsion of nine senior generals, which marked one of the largest such crackdowns of top military officials in decades. 

Xi ongoing purge of nearly his entire top military ranks show his total control. Also shows Stalin-like paranoia against any potential rival power bases. This purge reminiscent of Stalin’s bloody purge of Marshal Tukhachevsky and his top Red Army generals, which greatly weakened… https://t.co/EozETHyj8q pic.twitter.com/tXZDlS6vDN

— Politics1.com (@Politics1com) January 24, 2026

Zhang’s political pedigree runs deep: his father was among the founding generals of the Chinese Communist Party. He joined the army in 1968 and is one of the few current senior leaders said to have actual combat experience. Zhang had remained in his post beyond the customary retirement age for military officials, which was understood as a sign Xi’s confidence in him, until now apparently.

Pro-Beijing pundits are offering an alternative take to the Western reporting…

China purging officials who send their spouse and children to live abroad so Western gov can’t use them as leverage pic.twitter.com/yJTSQk9Lvb

— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) January 11, 2026

More to come? It is likely as WSJ’s chief China’s correspondent Lingling Wei describes, “And this is far from the end. With thousands of officers having risen through the ranks under Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, these individuals now recognize they are primary targets for a systemic purge.” She reports that “Mobile devices have been seized across ranks and all units are now on high alert.”

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The IRS must overhaul its oversight of the nonprofit sector amid the fraud scandal in Minnesota that has led to taxpayer funds being funneled for terror activities, Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee said in a Jan. 20 statement.

The lawmakers sent a letter to IRS Acting Commissioner Scott Bessent and CEO Frank Bisignano on Tuesday, raising concerns about “significant fraud, waste, and abuse” of taxpayer dollars.

“As you are aware, investigative journalists recently uncovered a network of fraud involving Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program and non-profit organizations in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic—a scheme that not only seemingly funneled millions, if not billions, of taxpayer dollars to the Al-Shabaab terrorist group, but has also resulted in the prosecutions of nearly 80 individuals by the Department of Justice (‘DOJ’) to date,” they wrote.

“This is unacceptable.”

Al-Shabaab is a militant wing of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts and is responsible for the assassination of several peace activists, journalists, international aid workers, and civil society personalities, according to the National Counterterrorism Center. It was designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2008 by the State Department.

During a press conference in Minneapolis on Jan. 9, Bessent said the U.S. Treasury had launched an enforcement campaign targeting Somali-linked fraud networks in Minnesota. According to Bessent, billions of dollars intended for disabled seniors, hungry children, and families with special-needs children were diverted, with some of the funds likely diverted to extremist groups such as Al-Shabaab.

“We have traced where the money went, and we are examining it,” he said, adding that the findings of the probe were “highly concerning.”

The GOP letter highlighted the issue of a Minnesota nonprofit, Feeding Our Future, that was launched to serve food to children from low-income groups. However, its promoters used more than $250 million to buy jewelry, real estate, and luxury goods.

Since 2022, dozens of people linked to Feeding Our Future have been convicted. During a Jan. 7 hearing, Minnesota state Rep. Kristin Robbins said the total fraud in this case had hit about $310 million. In addition, investigators are probing 14 Minnesota Medicaid programs, suspecting $9 billion or more in fraudulent payments.

This potential terror-financing scheme by a tax-exempt organization “calls into question the current safeguards in place to protect taxpayer dollars,” the letter said. “The concern over tax-exempt organizations funneling taxpayer dollars to designated terrorist organizations and other illicit purposes cannot be understated.”

Lawmakers called on the IRS to hold tax-exempt organizations accountable and ensure the funds do not end up in the hands of terror outfits.

Crackdown in Minnesota

Meanwhile, Minnesota is seeing stringent federal immigration enforcement activities. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently said that more than 10,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested in the state. The DOJ has started issuing subpoenas to top officials in Minnesota.

Responding to reports of the DOJ investigation, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s office said on Jan. 17 that they have not received any notice of a probe.

“Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic,” Walz said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also responded to reports of him being subpoenaed in a federal probe.

“When the federal gov weaponizes its power to intimidate local leaders for doing their jobs, every American should be concerned,” Frey said in a Jan. 21 post on X.

“We shouldn’t live in a country where federal law enforcement is used to play politics or crack down on local voices they disagree with.”

Amid reports of fraud perpetrated by Somalis in Minnesota, including convictions of naturalized citizens, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) has introduced the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation Act, his office said in a Jan. 19 statement.

The bill seeks to expand the denaturalization process for individuals who have committed fraud or serious felonies or joined up with terror outfits, it said.

“The rampant fraud uncovered in Minnesota must be a wakeup call,” Schmitt said.

“People who commit felony fraud, serious felonies, or join terrorist organizations like drug cartels shortly after taking their citizenship oaths fail to uphold the basic standards of citizenship. They must be denaturalized because they have proven they never met the requirements for the great honor of American citizenship in the first place.”

How Will This Weekend’s Mega-Storm Compare to the Winter Blasts of 2016 and 1996?

Meteorologist Ben Noll says this weekend’s snowstorm could be similar to the Blizzard of 1996. For our more seasoned readers, 1996 was an unforgettable winter. Many younger readers, however, have grown up in snow droughts and years of corporate media narratives centered on Al Gore’s global warming alarmism.

Yet here we are on Saturday morning, looking over the latest weather models that show more than half the country under a winter storm warning. Noll wrote on X earlier that “55 percent of all people living in the United States — some 190 million — were under an alert related to the storm.”

The latest snowfall predictions stretch from Texas to the Northeast.

“This is legitimately one of the biggest storms I can recall tracking. Snow spans from Arizona to DC this evening,” private weather forecaster BAWMX wrote on X.

This is legitimately one of the biggest storms I can recall tracking. Snow spans from Arizona to DC this evening… pic.twitter.com/GaxnLzjF9U

— BAM Weather (@bam_weather) January 24, 2026

Winter appears locked in across the Lower 48 for the next several weeks.

Winter is LOCKED in for the next 3-4 weeks.

Several cold blasts
Several storm threats

Its 2014 version 2.0
Period. https://t.co/jvirtQ6o4e pic.twitter.com/17YGcYyarZ

— BAM Weather (@bam_weather) January 24, 2026

Next, let’s refine the snowfall outlook for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Courtesy of private weather forecaster NY NJ PA Weather weighs in below.

Thanks to early-week client notes from energy research firm Criterion Research, we were well ahead of the curve in explaining how the Arctic cold blast, combined with a major winter storm, could create power-grid risks. The storm threatens to crimp natural gas supply through production freeze-offs and reduced pipeline flows, increasing pressure on already stressed-out regional power grids. Our focus will be on the PJM grid this weekend.

Here’s the reporting:

• NatGas Futs Erupt As Arctic Air Invasion Penetrates Deep Into US South

• US NatGas Spikes Most Since Ukraine Invasion On Arctic Blast, Major Winter Storm Threat

• US NatGas Poised For Biggest Weekly Spike On Record As “Blizzard Of ’96” Fears Resurface

• Appalachian NatGas Output Faces “Intense Losses” As Arctic Blast Drives Power Grid Risk Higher

• NatGas Jumps 75% As Extreme Cold, Blizzard Risks Threaten Appalachian Gas Supply

• NatGas “Tightening Shock” Sparks Historic Weekly Rally As Major Winter Storm Imminent

• Winter Storm Threatens Appalachian NatGas With ‘Freeze Offs’ As Data Center Demand Tightens PJM Grid

Crickets from Greta and the climate crisis cult this week. Oh, wait, that’s because the climate money ran out and the focus shifted entirely to Palestine. For those grounded in reality, prepare for what could be a historic winter storm this weekend. We’ve told readers in the PJM region and the Northeast to consider buying a whole-house generator, citing a Goldman note (read here). Become ungovernable with a wood fireplace and/or a coal-burning stove.

As for the travel space, it’s a nightmare. For anyone traveling over the next 24 to 48 hours, expect delays and cancellations.

So far, roughly 9,000 flights have reportedly been canceled.