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Noem announces 10K illegal immigrant arrests in Minnesota

Homeland Security Secretary Krisit Noem announced on Monday that immigration officers have arrested more than 10,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota. 

“PEACE AND PUBLIC SAFETY IN MINNEAPOLIS!” Noem exclaimed in a post to X. “We have arrested over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens who were killing Americans, hurting children and reigning terror in Minneapolis because Tim Walz and Jacob Frey refuse to protect their own people and instead protect criminals.” 

The figure includes about 3,000 “criminal illegal aliens” arrested by federal authorities in just the last six weeks, the secretary said. 

Since the start of this year, Minnesota has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s effort to remove illegal migrants living in the U.S. Earlier this month, an ICE agent fatally shot a Minneapolis motorist, Renee Good, who, federal authorities say, tried to disrupt operations and hit an agent with her vehicle.  

Additionally, the administration is also investigating alleged fraud in the state’s federal benefits programs.

“There is MASSIVE Fraud in Minneapolis, at least $19 billion and that’s just the tip of iceberg,” Noem asserted in the same post. “Our Homeland Security Investigators are on the ground in Minneapolis conducting wide scale investigations to get justice for the American people who have been robbed blind.”  

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Minnesota Transgender State Rep. Leigh Finke Calls on Anti-ICE Protestors to Storm More Churches

Minnesota transgender State Rep. Leigh Finke called on leftists to storm more churches in protest of ICE.

Far-left anti-ICE protestors stormed Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday.

Former CNN host Don Lemon livestreamed the crime.

Parishioners and children were terrified as leftists, led by BLM activist Nikema Armstrong shouted down the pastor.

The Justice Department is currently investigating for potential violations of the federal FACE Act.

“The FACE Act is a long-standing federal statute that prohibits force, threats, obstruction, any kind of interference with a religious place of worship. And it carries criminal penalties and violations,” DOJ official Alina Habba said on Monday.

However, Leigh Finke said anti-ICE protestors must continue to storm churches until “ICE is out of our state.”

Full statement from Leigh Finke:

Yesterday protesters disrupted services at Cities Church in Saint Paul, where the leader of the local I.C.E. office also serves as pastor.

The protest has caused outrage, promises of retribution and prosecution, and the usual round of upset. But it has had me thinking for the past 24 hours of the actions of Act Up and WHAM, in 1989, who staged a die in and protest in St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. An action that similarly brought condemnation during a time when an out of control crisis was left to its destruction for far too long.

Actions like this—nonviolent resistance in the face of government inaction or oppression—are essential. And they must continue until I.C.E. is out of our state, the administration is out of the White House, and dignity and humanity for all of our neighbors is achieved.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day in America. Dr. King knew that injustice must be confronted. He knew the moral conscience of the nation must be made to hear the desperate plight of those who are suffering. He knew that the only way to achieve this at national scale was for people to rise up together in nonviolent revolution until all were free.

So did Act UP, and so do the people of Minneapolis. I.C.E. OUT

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Danish Troops Arrive for Greenland’s Arctic Endurance

Denmark has deployed additional troops and military equipment to Greenland as President Donald Trump declined to rule out using force to seize control of the Arctic island.

Several aircraft carrying soldiers, including Denmark’s army chief, landed in Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq late Monday, adding to the more than 200 troops already stationed in the autonomous territory, the Financial Times reported.

Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric on annexing Greenland from Denmark’s home rule for U.S. and NATO security interests, vowing escalating tariffs on all trade with the eight NATO allies participating in the ongoing “Arctic Endurance” military exercises to defend against possible invasion.

Germany and France called for a firm European response, while EU officials prepared retaliatory trade measures, though they stopped short of deploying the bloc’s anti-coercion instrument in hopes of a diplomatic solution.

European leaders are seeking to defuse the crisis by offering a stronger NATO role in Arctic defense.

However, markets showed signs of strain as investors sold U.S. assets, the dollar weakened, and gold prices hit record highs.

Denmark said it remains open to discussions on expanding the U.S. military presence on Greenland, but it has balked at a sale to the U.S.

Trump remained steadfast in keeping open the option to take Greenland by force, despite Republican efforts to strip his “strength” leverage from his “peace through strength” foreign policy.

“No comment,” Trump told NBC News when asked about the option of taking Greenland by force during a brief phone interview Monday.

“Europe ought to focus on the war with Russia and Ukraine because, frankly, you see what that’s gotten them.

“That’s what Europe should focus on — not Greenland.”

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Don Lemon Calls Churchgoers ‘Entitled White Supremacists’ Mob After Storms Their Church

Former CNN news host Don Lemon drew renewed criticism this week after making sweeping claims about religion, race, and American society, accusing certain religious groups of entitlement rooted in what he described as “white supremacy.”

Lemon made the remarks while discussing what he characterized as intimidation tactics used by religious conservatives, arguing that some believe the United States was built exclusively for white Christian men.

He framed the issue as both racial and ideological, asserting that this mindset marginalizes others and distorts the country’s founding principles.

“Is a certain degree of racism there, and there’s a certain degree of entitlement. I think people who are, you know, in religious groups like that, it’s not the type of Christianity that I practice, but I think that they’re entitled, and that that entitlement comes from a supremacy, a white supremacy, and they think that this country was built for them, that it is a Christian country, when actually, we left England because we wanted religious freedom,” Lemon said.

He continued by claiming that religious freedom in the United States is selectively applied.

“It’s religious freedom, but only if you’re a Christian and only if you’re a white male, pretty much. And so, yeah, I absolutely 100%, but it’s an intimidation tactic,” Lemon added.

Lemon, who previously hosted a prime-time program on CNN before being dismissed by the network, also reflected on how he has become a prominent figure in debates over race, sexuality, and politics.

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Reports: Iranian Regime Accused of Using Chemical Agents in Crackdown on Protesters

Growing allegations that the Islamic Republic of Iran may have used chemical agents against protesters have intensified scrutiny of the regime’s most recent crackdown, described by observers as the deadliest suppression of public dissent in the country’s modern history. The claims gained momentum following the circulation of footage from Sabzevar showing Iranian security forces equipped with protective gear typically associated with hazardous chemical environments, as well as testimony from protesters in Tehran describing prolonged and unusual medical symptoms after exposure to what authorities labeled “tear gas.”

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We’re Losing the Human Touch in Food

Food, which generally originates with a farmer, gardener, or orchardist, is fast losing its hands-on persona and increasingly gaining a mechanical, chemical platform.

Over the last decade, the United States has lost about 28,000 farms annually. While some of the loss is due to urbanization, most of the land remains farmland, either managed by other farmers or simply abandoned. While there are 1.3 million farmers over age 65, only 300,000 are 35 or younger. In 2022, the average American farmer was 58—years older than the average age in other vibrant economic sectors.

The American business landscape is largely anti-people. The current rush to artificial intelligence reflects how eagerly most businesses seek to eliminate people. The farming sector illustrates this trend better than most.

Between 1960 and 2019, the percentage of disposable personal income spent on food dropped from 17 percent to 9.5 percent. Meanwhile, health care spending rose from about 9 percent in 1980, to 18 percent today. Could the two possibly be related? One more data point: In the last 80 years, the farmgate share of the retail food dollar fell from around 40 percent to just 15.9 percent in 2023.

Farming is out of sight and out of mind for most people. Food appears on grocery store shelves. It’s treated as a pit stop between life’s more important activities. Fortunately, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is beginning to shine a spotlight on food, including revised and more truthful dietary guidelines.

For decades, American agriculture policy and practice have replaced farm labor with machines, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. This raises the question: Is food a living thing, or simply an inanimate pile of protoplasmic matter to be manipulated like wheel bearings or bottle caps?

As technological sophistication pulls our culture away from its biologically vibrant roots, it jeopardizes our functional microbiomes. Yes, that’s a packed sentence. You might need to reread it—slowly. The point is, our internal systems are more aligned with the ancient world than with Star Trek. Do we really want machines, chemicals, and drugs to be the medium in which our food is grown?

Wes Jackson, co-founder of The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, has long advocated for a healthy “eyes-to-acres” ratio. He suggests that when fewer people interact with the land and the growing of food, both land stewardship and food integrity suffer.

Per-person agricultural output—the number of people one farmer feeds—has increased dramatically over the past century. Cyrus McCormick’s invention of the reaper in the 1830s launched the agricultural industrial revolution, enabling farmers to produce far more than ever before. Replacing the scythe with the reaper was revolutionary.

While technology brought many agricultural efficiencies, without ecological ethics, it may have gone too far. The introduction of subtherapeutic antibiotics in chicken waterers enabled the rise of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). With feed augers, water pumps, and massive barns, individual farmer output soared. And along came super bugs, C. diff, MRSA, avian influenza, polluted water, and fecal-stench air in surrounding neighborhoods.

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DHS: Minneapolis Holding 1,370 Criminal Illegals, Refuses to Turn Them Over for Deportation

Senior Trump administration officials and Fox News hosts sharply criticized Minnesota’s Democratic leadership during a Fox News segment addressing violent protests, alleged interference with federal immigration enforcement, and an ongoing Department of Justice investigation tied to recent unrest in Minneapolis.

During the discussion, Tricia McLaughlin condemned what she described as the left’s reaction to the protests and the treatment of worshipers whose First Amendment rights were violated.

“This is outright hysteria we are seeing from the left, and this should be the easiest thing in the world for Tim Walz and Mayor Frey to condemn. This shouldn’t be a Republican or Democrat issue. These are worshipers who are practicing their First Amendment rights to worship, and yet those rights were trampled on by these protesters who trespassed and began intimidating these Christians worshiping,” McLaughlin said.

She added, “So I’m glad to see the Department of Justice is taking this incredibly seriously, and I hope we see mug shot soon.”

Dana Perino introduced video of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, noting, “Mayor Frey talked about protesters overall. He was on CNN on Sunday, watch.”

In the clip, Frey defended demonstrators and rejected claims of disorder.

“Invaded, under siege, occupied. You know, use whatever word or superlative that you want to attach. But the bottom line is, what is taking place is designed to intimidate. It is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s completely unconstitutional. They’re peacefully protesting. They’re standing up for one another,” Frey said.

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Nigerian professor pleads guilty to stealing $1.4 million from Grand Rapids preschool nonprofit

A highly acclaimed Nigerian professor at Aquinas College is facing two decades in prison after she admitted to swindling more than $1 million from taxpayers and poor minority children in West Michigan.

Nkechy Ezeh, founder and CEO of the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative, pleaded guilty last week to wire fraud and tax evasion in a scheme that forced the nonprofit to shut down after a dozen years preparing about 8,000 preschoolers for kindergarten in Kent County, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, WOOD reports.

Ezeh worked with ELNC bookkeeper Sharon Killebrew to create nearly $500,000 in fake invoices, as well as created fake daycare businesses to siphon off hundreds of thousands of dollars more, which Ezeh used for personal travel to Hawaii, Nigeria and Liberia, according to court documents cited by the news site.

The case comes amid sprawling investigations into fraud in government funded child care programs in Minnesota, Ohio and other states.

The investigations are motivated in part by a viral YouTube video last month that featured what appeared to be a largely vacant “Quality Learing [sic] Center” in Minneapolis that collected $4 million in recent years to provide child care services to the Somali community, Fox News reports.

The learning center is part of a broader scandal involving alleged social services fraud largely tied to the Somali community in the Twin Cities that U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said last month could exceed $1 billion once investigations into Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program are complete. Officials have followed some of the funds to the Somali terror group Al-Shabab, according to Fox.

Ezeh’s attorney, Mary Chartier, told MLive her client “is committed to taking full responsibility and accountability for her actions.

“She is deeply remorseful to anyone who has been negatively impacted,” Chartier said.

ELNC President Amy DeLeeuw offered a decidedly different perspective following Ezeh’s plea hearing in U.S. District Court on Jan. 14, noting in a statement the former CEO’s “failure to meaningfully articulate the nature and scope of her criminal misconduct.”

“Her theft of million of dollars intended for the most vulnerable of children was brazen, all encompassing and unconscionable,” DeLeeuw said.

“To date, Nkechy has made no effort to repay any of the millions of dollars she stole from ELNC,” the statement read. “I trust Nkechy’s demeanor at today’s hearing did not go unnoticed by Chief Judge Hala Jarbou. I and the board will have more to say in our victim impact statement and look forward to her sentencing hearing on May 13.”

Killebrew pleaded guilty earlier this year to engaging in conspiracy to defraud a federally funded program of $1,170,935 and tax evasion, and was sentenced to four years, six months in prison.

Ezeh agreed to pay $1.4 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Early Head Start Programs and other organizations as part of her plea agreement, which also detailed $390,000 in back taxes, according to media reports.

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Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker Signs ‘Clean Slate’ Act to Seal Criminal Records of Non-Violent Offenders

What is it with Democrats and their absolute obsession with making life easier for criminals?

In Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker has just signed what they are calling the ‘Clean Slate’ act, which seals the records of non-violent offenders. What this does is make it more difficult for potential employers, landlords, and just regular people to know if a person they are dealing with has a criminal past.

This is the same governor who has vowed to arrest and prosecute ICE agents.

CBS News reported:

Governor Pritzker signs Clean Slate Act

Illinois is giving residents an opportunity to clear their criminal records.

The Governor JB Pritzker signed the Clean Slate Act on Friday.

It will help an estimated 2.2 million Illinois residents get their records automatically sealed. Illinois becomes the 13th state to create an automatic records relief process for individuals with non-violent criminal convictions.

“The Clean Slate Act passed with bipartisan support and with my signature will offer the opportunity for Illinois to create an automatic process to seal the criminal records of those convicted of nonviolent crimes,” Pritzker said.

The governor said this act is “opening up opportunities for those reentering society to live productive, healthy, and stable lives.”

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ECHR to rule on religious symbols in public buildings

The European Court of Human Rights is currently considering a case seeking the removal of religious symbols from public buildings, the ruling from which could affect public institutions’ ability across the 46 Council of Europe states to display such symbols.

The ‘Union of Atheists v. Greece’ case involves two applications in which the applicants, who identify as atheists, requested the removal of Christian symbols displayed in Greek courtrooms during hearings related to religious education issues.

According to the case filing, the applicant association requested the removal of a Christian orthodox icon of Jesus Christ from the courtroom, arguing that its presence violated the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Article 14 of the Convention concerns the prohibition of discrimination, stating that enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in the Convention shall be secured “without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status”.

The applicants additionally argued that the presence of religious symbolism in the courtroom hindered their right to a fair trial and brought the court’s objective impartiality into question.

The Greek courts rejected the applicants’ requests to remove the icons, with an argument advanced that in the context of “the dominant Christian Orthodox religion”, the presence of Christian symbolism was a practice which had long been followed in all courtrooms “according to custom and the orthodox tradition”.

The applicants complained that as the subject matter of the trials related to the right to freedom of religion, the rejection of their requests to have the icon removed from the courtrooms infringed their right to an impartial tribunal under Article 6 § 1 (concerning right to a fair trial) and their rights under Article 9 § 1 (concerning freedom of thought, conscience and religion) of the Convention. 

They also claim that there is a consensus among the Council of Europe member states against displaying religious symbols in courtrooms, and that the display of religious imagery in Greece is not provided for by law.

Legal advocacy organisation ADF International has intervened in Union of Atheists v. Greece to argue that religious symbols, including artwork, icons and other Christian imagery, reflecting a country’s history and traditions, “cannot be forced down under a false interpretation of religious freedom”.

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