Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Fresh evidence: “New video released Friday that appears to be filmed by an ICE officer as he fatally shot a Minneapolis woman includes audio of someone saying ‘f—— b—-‘ an instant after the gunshots. It’s not clear if the person who said the phrase was Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fired his weapon at Renee Nicole Macklin Good.”
* The latest from Portland: “U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents shot and injured two people Thursday in Portland, Oregon, police reported, raising national tensions even higher following the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by a federal immigration officer a day earlier.”
* The related pattern: “The shooting in Portland was at least the 10th since September by federal agents who are part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — and all 10 involved people who were in their vehicles. At least two people, including the woman in Minneapolis, have died in these shootings.”
* Didn’t Trump just tell the world how interested Putin is in peace? “Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with a new hypersonic ballistic missile, only its second use of an advanced weapon it says can travel up to 10 times the speed of sound and is unstoppable by air defenses.”
* When Trump tried to side with Iranian protesters, he wasn’t necessarily doing them a favor: “Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused anti-government protesters of acting on behalf of President Donald Trump, calling them ‘vandals’ who are destroying Iranian cities in hopes of capturing Trump’s attention.”
* Another tanker: “The United States seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean overnight as the White House seeks to assert control over Venezuelan oil. The oil tanker Olina was seized after the U.S. Coast Guard and Marines from Joint Task Force Southern Spear boarded and ‘apprehended’ the vessel just before dawn on Friday, the U.S. military’s Southern Command confirmed in a statement.”
* A case worth watching: “Five states controlled by Democrats sued the Trump administration on Thursday for freezing $10 billion in funding for child care subsidies, social services and cash support for low-income families, asking a federal judge to declare the pause illegal and restore the money.”
* Massie and Khanna have a point about a possible special master: “The lead sponsors of the bill to force the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein say a third party should be brought in to make sure the Department of Justice finishes its job. Reps. Ro Khanna, D-California, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, made the request in a Jan. 8 letter to Judge Paul Engelmayer, who oversees the case that led to Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction.”
* Team Trump’s efforts to undermine national parks are, alas, still ongoing: “Visitors traveling to the most popular national parks are facing a new question at the gate: Are you a United States resident? That question is already causing longer wait times to enter parks and is leading some foreign tourists to turn away at the gates.”
Have a safe weekend.
