It was a jam-packed week, and we faced several challenges in terms of covering all of the news we wanted to bring to our readers. I wans't able to get the Editor's Picks column out in Friday's Weekender edition, but there were a number of big stories that may have flown under your radar.
We're arresting journalists now?
Former CNN anchor and current independent journalist Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents, including the FBI and Homeland Security, acting under the direction of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. The arrest occurred in Los Angeles on Thursday night, while Lemon was covering the Grammy Awards.
Lemon was arrested in connection with his coverage of an ICE protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service. According to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, he was charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and violation of the FACE Act (interfering with someone’s First Amendment rights by force). Lemon was clearly covering the protest, not participating in it.
Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minneapolis chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, was arrested at her home by federal agents. Fort live-streamed the moment on Facebook, stating she was being arrested for covering the same St. Paul church protest.
I'm pretty sure that jailing journalists is one of the last steps in completing fascist takeover.
ICE invades Ecuador?
In a major diplomatic incident on Tuesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent attempted to enter Ecuador's consulate in Minneapolis without authorization. Consulate staff blocked the agent from entering, citing diplomatic immunity, and activated emergency protocols to protect Ecuadorian nationals inside.
Video footage shows the masked agent opening the consulate door, where he was confronted by a staff member who said, "This is the Ecuadorian consulate, you’re not allowed to enter." The agent responded, "If you touch me, I will grab you." A note of protest was immediately submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador.
Tulsi and the Feds in Fulton
On Wednesday, the FBI raided the Fulton County Election Hub in Union City, Georgia. Agents seized 700 boxes of records, including all physical ballots, voter rolls, tabulator tapes, and ballot images from the 2020 election. The operation was conducted by about 25 FBI personnel.
For some reason, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was lurking in the shadows during the raid, even though she has nothing to do with election security. I can't describe how incredibly unusual this is. Was Gabbard's office working in concert with the FBI?
Is she freelancing? The self-proclaimed anti-war dove of the administration has been frozen out of all things related to national defense, and people are joking that her DNI acronym stands for Do Not Invite.
What is Trump's endgame?
Donald Trump won't stop bellyaching about the 2020 election having been "rigged," despite having lost to Joe Biden by more than five million votes. He even brought it up on the world stage in Davos!
On January 2, 2021, Trump famously called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and said, "All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes." He should have been impeached for it, and Merrick Garland should have prosecuted him.
The fact that this comes a week after Attorney General Pam Bondi tried to use the shootings in Minneapolis and their desire to get rid of the 3,000 ICE and CBP agents terrorizing their state as leverage to get Minnesota officials to turn over similar voter information is beyond alarming. Republicans are facing a bloodbath in the midterm elections, and the fact that they are so keen on interfering with election data is deeply troubling.
Video shows Alex Pretti kicking a federal agent's vehicle
Video shows Alex Pretti, who was murdered by CBP agents last Saturday, kicking an SUV belonging to ICE or CBP agents 11 days before he was shot (and six days after the murder of Renee Good). Agents exited the vehicle and threw him to the ground, reportedly breaking his ribs, but they did not detain him.
However, while many Trump supporters are using this to justify the later shooting of Pretti, it does nothing to change the facts of what happened on the ground on January 24.
For his part, Trump dropped the modicum of contrition on display Wednesday and went back to calling Pretti an "insurrectionist." Takes one to know one, I suppose.
Melania's $75 million vanity project
Amazon paid Melania Trump $40 million for the "Melania" documentary it commissioned, which seemed to be a bribe by Jeff Bezos to ingratiate himself and his business interests with the president. Despite Bezos dropping another $35 million on marketing, the film, which focuses on 20 days between Trump's 2024 victory and the inauguration, is looking like an utter flop.
This came the same week that Amazon announced it was cutting approximately 16,000 corporate jobs as part of a major restructuring effort focused on AI and efficiency, marking the second significant round of layoffs within just three months.
The $2.5 trillion company previously laid off 14,000 workers in October 2025. This brings the total job reductions since October to around 30,000. Nevertheless, during the Kennedy Center debut of her film, the first lady, 55, claimed a spinoff series is imminent.
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lib224
It's likely that Pretti's previous interaction with ICE lead to his beat down and killing. Otherwise, where did the rage and quick killing of him come from. Prosecutors likely have a good case murder in the first due to premeditation from his killers.
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