Thursday, January 8, 2026
■ Today's Top News
"The good news is that the global war on terror is finally over," said journalist Ken Klippenstein. "The bad news is that it came home."
By Julia Conley
As US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday doubled down on claims that Renee Nicole Good had committed “an act of domestic terrorism” before being killed by a federal immigration agent, one journalist warned that the killing appeared to be the direct result of an underreported memo signed by President Donald Trump several months ago—a sign that the administration is entering a new phase in what it views as a war with the so-called “enemy within.”
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) “killing of unarmed American citizen Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis has NSPM-7 written all over it,” said independent journalist Ken Klippenstein, who has reported extensively on National Security Presidential Memorandum 7.
The memo was signed soon after Trump announced that Antifa—which is not an organization—had been designated a domestic terrorist group, and weeks after the White House blamed the “radical left” for the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
NSPM-7 mandates a “national strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts,” and has an exclusive focus on “anti-fascist” or left-wing activities.
Klippenstein noted on Wednesday that NSPM-7 was followed by an order signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, which directs federal law enforcement agents to crack down on “threats” to ICE officers, including actions that impede enforcement operations.
“The directive goes on to direct prosecutors to target those interfering with or impeding ICE actions,” Klippenstein wrote. “'The U.S. Attorney’s Office for each district shall prosecute any individual who assaults or forcibly impedes or intimidates these officers, who interferes with the performance of these officers’ official duties, or who attempts to do so, consistent with 18 U.S.C.§ 111 and other applicable federal laws,’ the document says.”
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Noem highlighted the administration’s claim—one that has not been made clear by evidence that’s been released—that Good was impeding ICE officers on Wednesday before she was killed.
A reporter asked if Noem still believed the officer accused of killing Good, Jonathan Ross, had acted in self-defense and according to ICE procedures.
“This is an experienced officer who followed his training,” said Noem. “These individuals had followed our officers all day, had harassed them, had blocked them in. They were impeding our law enforcement operations, which is against the law. And when they demanded and commanded her to get out of her vehicle several times, she did not.”
The reporter on Thursday also questioned how the administration could declare Good a domestic terrorist despite the fact that no investigation has been completed into the case.
“This was an act of domestic terrorism,” she said simply.
The Trump administration’s continued smearing of Good as a terrorist is a sign, said Klippenstein, that while the “global War on Terror is finally over... It came home.”
Podcast host Wajahat Ali wrote that “if Renee Good is ‘a domestic terrorist’ according to Kristi Noem, it means the label is meaningless and will be used by the Trump administration to murder anyone it wants. From Venezuelan fishermen to anti-Trump protestors. Eyes wide open, friends.”
"With this historic, bipartisan vote to prevent further war in Venezuela, Congress has begun the long-overdue work of reasserting its constitutional role in decisions of war and peace," said one observer.
By Brett Wilkins
"US military power is being used as a de facto security force for the president's corporate donors and their oil interests, leaving the American taxpayer to effectively subsidize a security force for Big Oil."
By Jessica Corbett
"You don’t cut out investigators unless you’re hiding something."
By Brad Reed
The FBI on Thursday informed investigators in Minnesota that it would not be cooperating with them in probing the deadly shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration agent.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), said that the probe into Good’s death “would now be led solely by the FBI,” which would leave his agency without “access to the case materials, scene evidence, or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation.”
“Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses, and information collected,” Evans added, “we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands. As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation.”
As noted in a post on Bluesky from MPR News reporter Jon Collins, the Minnesota BCA has a Force Investigations Unit that was created in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd to “restore trust in investigations when law enforcement kills civilians.”
Insider sources told independent journalist Radley Balko that the FBI was “initially open to a concurrent investigation” with the Minnesota BCA, but then Trump-appointed Minnesota US Attorney Daniel Rosen “intervened” and barred the agency from cooperating with local officials on the probe.
“Practically, unless something changes, Rosen’s intervention means there will be no independent police agency investigating the shooting,” Balko added. “It will be left entirely to Kash Patel’s FBI. Any chance of state charges will be entirely reliant on the FBI investigation and what evidence it decides to share.”
When asked by a journalist about the decision to end cooperation with Minnesota investigators on Thursday, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem insisted that “they have not been cut out,” but said that rather “they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”
Noem’s assertion drew immediate criticism from Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee in the US House of Representatives.
“You don’t cut out investigators unless you’re hiding something,” they wrote in a social media post. “Kristi Noem’s DHS is covering up the killing of a US citizen.”
Several legal experts also debunked Noem’s claim that Minnesota state law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction to investigate the killing of a resident on the streets of their state’s largest city.
Fordham University School of Law professor John Pfaff accused Noem of “openly lying,” and pointed to a statement on the FBI’s own website stating that “state and local law enforcement agencies are not subordinate to the FBI, and the FBI does not supervise or take over their investigations.”
Attorney Ken White, a former federal prosecutor, argued that Noem’s statement should be a wakeup call to other state governments when it comes to cooperating with federal agencies during Trump’s second term.
“It is the position of the Trump administration that its agents can come into any state and city in America... and kill people,” he wrote, “and that state and city have no jurisdiction to inquire about it. Treat any Trump official accordingly.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, meanwhile, vowed to investigate Good’s death, regardless of the federal government’s cooperation.
“State authorities can investigate anyway,” Ellison told CNN. “We don’t need their authority. I mean, it’s at least arguable, and I believe substantially arguable, that there’s a violation of Minnesota statutes here, you know, and I can think of a number of potential charges. All of them depend on an investigation, though, and the federal government can’t stop Minnesota from doing its own.”
Thousands of people across the country expressed support for their president, Gustavo Petro, who spoke to President Donald Trump ahead of the rallies and struck a diplomatic but defiant tone.
By Julia Conley
FWIW: MY COMMENT: IN SPITE OF ALL OF THE DISINFORMATION, A LIST OF PER CAPITA ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY NATION REVEALS THAT THE U.S. IS AN ENERGY GUZZLERS - BEYOND CHINA & MOST OTHER NATIONS.
"Trump cutting ties with the world’s oldest climate treaty is another despicable effort to let corporate fossil fuel interests run our government."
By Jake Johnson
President Donald Trump on Wednesday withdrew the United States from dozens of international treaties and organizations aimed at promoting cooperation on the world’s most pressing issues, including human rights and the worsening climate emergency.
Among the treaties Trump ditched via a legally dubious executive order was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), making the US—the world’s largest historical emitter of planet-warming greenhouse gases—the first country to abandon the landmark agreement.
The US Senate ratified the convention in 1992 by unanimous consent, but lawmakers have repeatedly failed to assert their constitutional authority to stop presidents from unilaterally withdrawing from global treaties.
Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that “Trump cutting ties with the world’s oldest climate treaty is another despicable effort to let corporate fossil fuel interests run our government.”
“Given deeply polarized US politics, it’s going to be nearly impossible for the U.S. to rejoin the UNFCCC with a two-thirds majority vote. Letting this lawless move stand could shut the US out of climate diplomacy forever,” Su warned. “Withdrawing from the world’s leading climate, biodiversity, and scientific institutions threatens all life on Earth.”
Trump also pulled the US out of the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the UN International Law Commission, the UN Democracy Fund, UN Oceans, and dozens of other global bodies, deeming them “contrary to the interests of the United States.”
The president’s move came as he continued to steamroll domestic and international law with an illegal assault on Venezuela and threats to seize Greenland with military force, among other grave abuses.
Below is the full list of international organizations that Trump abandoned with the stroke of a pen:
(a) Non-United Nations Organizations:
(i) 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact;
(ii) Colombo Plan Council;
(iii) Commission for Environmental Cooperation;
(iv) Education Cannot Wait;
(v) European Centre of Excellence for Countering
Hybrid Threats;
(vi) Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories;
(vii) Freedom Online Coalition;
(viii) Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund;
(ix) Global Counterterrorism Forum;
(x) Global Forum on Cyber Expertise;
(xi) Global Forum on Migration and Development;
(xii) Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research;
(xiii) Intergovernmental Forum onMining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development;
(xiv) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
(xv) Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services;
(xvi) International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property;
(xvii) International Cotton Advisory Committee;
(xviii) International Development Law Organization;
(xix) International Energy Forum;
(xx) International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies;
(xxi) International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance;
(xxii) International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law;
(xxiii) International Lead and Zinc Study Group;
(xxiv) InternationalRenewable Energy Agency;
(xxv) International Solar Alliance;
(xxvi) International Tropical Timber Organization;
(xxvii) International Union for Conservation of Nature;
(xxviii) Pan American Institute of Geography and History;
(xxix) Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation;
(xxx) Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia;
(xxxi) Regional Cooperation Council;
(xxxii) Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century;
(xxxiii)Science and Technology Center in Ukraine;
(xxxiv) Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme; and
(xxxv) Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.
(b) United Nations (UN) Organizations:
(i) Department of Economic and Social Affairs;
(ii) UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) — Economic Commission forAfrica;
(iii) ECOSOC — Economic Commission forLatin America and the Caribbean;
(iv) ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific;
(v) ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia;
(vi) International Law Commission;
(vii) International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals;
(viii) InternationalTrade Centre;
(ix) Office of the Special Adviser on Africa;
(x) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General forChildren in Armed Conflict;
(xi) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict;
(xii) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children;
(xiii) Peacebuilding Commission;
(xiv) Peacebuilding Fund;
(xv) Permanent Forum on People of African Descent;
(xvi) UN Alliance of Civilizations;
(xvii) UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions fromDeforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries;
(xviii) UN Conference on Trade and Development;
(xix) UN Democracy Fund;
(xx) UN Energy;
(xxi) UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women;
(xxii) UN Framework Convention on Climate Change;
(xxiii) UN Human Settlements Programme;
(xxiv) UN Institute for Training and Research;
(xxv) UN Oceans;
(xxvi) UN Population Fund;
(xxvii) UN Register of Conventional Arms;
(xxviii) UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination;
(xxix) UN System Staff College;
(xxx) UNWater; and
(xxxi) UN University.
Rachel Cleetus, policy director and lead economist for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Trump’s withdrawal from the world’s bedrock climate treaty marks “a new low and yet another sign that this authoritarian, anti-science administration is determined to sacrifice people’s well-being and destabilize global cooperation.”
“Withdrawal from the global climate convention will only serve to further isolate the United States and diminish its standing in the world following a spate of deplorable actions that have already sent our nation’s credibility plummeting, jeopardized ties with some of our closest historical allies, and made the world far more unsafe,” said Cleetus. “This administration remains cruelly indifferent to the unassailable facts on climate while pandering to fossil fuel polluters.”
