The Trump Insurrection Act Situation Is Worse Than You Think
PDS Published 01/?15?/2026
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There’s complete and utter chaos in Minneapolis, Donald Trump’s threatening to invoke the insurrection act and deploy the military, and ICE just shot another person.
We’re gonna dig into all of that and a lot more insanity, but first, let’s start with this address from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
[Clip, 00:00 - 00:14, 00:19 - 00:29] Caption: “my fellow Minnesotans, what’s happening in Minnesota right now defies belief. News reports simply don’t do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is reigning down upon our communities. … Armed, masked, undertrained ICE agents are going door to door, ordering people to point out where their neighbors of color live.”
With him talking about how they’re pulling over people indiscriminately, citizens or not, and demanding to see their papers. [Continue B roll]
Also breaking windows, dragging pregnant women down the street, shoving people into unmarked vans. [B roll, 00:30]
In short, waging what he called “a campaign of organized brutality,” or what Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey [Fry] called an invasion. [Same B roll]
And with ICE agents throwing flashbangs and tear gas, and protesters returning fire with fireworks and chunks of ice, there’s no other way to say it — Minneapolis looks like a warzone. [B roll, 00:18]
In fact, things are so heated, the mayor said people are asking local police to stand by their neighbors and help fight back against the federal invasion, but he responded: [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 02:50 - 03:02, 04:48 - 05:02, 05:16 - 05:25] Caption: “We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another. … This is not creating safety. It’s certainly not creating safety when a huge percentage of the shootings that have taken place so far this year in Minneapolis have been by ICE. … And for anyone that is taking the bait tonight, stop. That is not helpful.”
Speaking of shootings from ICE, the agency shot yet another person last night, the second in a week after Renee Good.
With Homeland Security saying that federal agents pulled over a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, but he drove away, crashed into a parked car, then took off on foot. [Post]
So they say an ICE agent chased him down and got into a struggle with him on the ground, at which point two other people ran out of a nearby apartment and attacked the agent with a snow shovel and a broom handle. [Same post]
Next, the first man allegedly got loose and began striking the agent with a shovel or broom stick too. [Same post]
So under assault from all three individuals, ICE claims the agent fired a shot in self-defense, hitting the first man in the leg. [Same post]
Then all three individuals reportedly fled into a residence and refused to come out, but were eventually arrested. [Same post]
With the agent and the man going to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and local police largely backing up this general story.
So for those on the right, the shooting was justified and shows what kind of danger federal law enforcement face just trying to arrest criminals. [B roll, 01:19]
And for those on the left, this is yet another example of Trump’s gestapo provoking needless violence and chaos in a city that doesn’t want them there to begin with. [Same B roll]
But either way, things may be about to escalate to a-whole-nother fucking level, because today Donald Trump threatened to send the military into Minneapolis. [B roll]
Writing on Truth Social: “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.” [Post]
Now for context, the Insurrection Act has been invoked some two dozen times in U.S. history, the most recent occasion being 1992, when George H.W. Bush used it during the LA riots. [B roll, 00:38]
[Clip, 02:02 - 02:12, 02:16 - 02:20]
But in that case, local authorities had requested it; this time, by contrast, local officials want nothing more than for ICE to …
[Clip, 02:49 - 02:51] Caption: “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
But Trump’s threatened to invoke the act repeatedly since taking office, and he reportedly considered it multiple times during his first term, such as after the killing of George Floyd and after the 2020 election. [B roll, 00:12]
So now, people are on edge, asking each other, is he really about to do it this time, or is it a bluff?
Meanwhile, a federal judge just handed Trump some more time, declining for now to restrain ICE’s activities in Minnesota. [Headline]
With her saying she wants more evidence before ruling one way or the other, and giving the federal government and the state of Minnesota until January 19 and January 22 to respond, respectively. [Quote same link, find “important” and “19”]
Also, speaking of evidence-gathering, we’ve gotta talk about these updates in the Renee Good case.
Because as we’ve mentioned before, the official investigation of her shooting is being led by the FBI without the help of local authorities, and given what we know about this DoJ, a lot of people don’t trust it. [B roll, 00:41]
So now, Renee Good’s family has hired the same lawyers who represented the family of George Floyd, and they just announced that they’re pursuing a “civil investigation” into her killing. [Same B roll and Headline]
But the feds are already getting out ahead of it, with DHS now claiming that the agent who shot her, Jonathan Ross, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the incident. [B roll, 00:14 and headline]
Now to be clear, “internal bleeding” doesn’t necessarily mean he had significant blood loss; right, technically that could include something as simple as bruising.
For their part, federal officials haven’t elaborated at all on how serious the injuries were, but the right immediately jumped on this as proof that Good ran him over.
With JD Vance posting, “While much of left has lied about this case, it turns out ramming a law enforcement officer with a car causes injuries. Who knew!” [Post]
And Elon Musk claiming (baselessly) that Good “almost killed” Ross. [Post]
But on the other side, skeptics argued that by this point, the Trump administration has lost all credibility, and nothing they say should be taken at face value. [Post]
With for example the activist Amy Siskind pointing to video of Ross walking away from the scene and saying, “Hello doctors, do people with internal bleeding walk like this?” [Post]
With some people in her replies going, yeah, actually, with the adrenaline from the shock, it’s totally possible to walk away from a scene like that. [Post, post, post]
Then, you had Brian Krassenstein outright accusing the feds of “lying,” pointing out that Ross was released from the hospital the same day he was admitted. [Post]
[Clip, 00:25 - 00:38] Caption: “This means that the maximum amount of time that Ross could have been at the hospital is nine hours, tops. The problem is that the minimum time anybody would spend at the hospital if they actually had internal bleeding of organs in their torso would be 24 to 28 hours.”
But others say that if nothing else, the Renee Good case demonstrates how important it is to document everything that’s happening in Minnesota.
With Tim Walz even alluding to further legal action against the federal government. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 00:08 - 00:16, 00:22 - 00:32] Caption: “You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct these activities, so carry your phone with you at all times. … Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution.”
But while it’s cracking down harder and harder in Minnesota, the Trump administration’s also ramping up its repression everywhere else.
Announcing now that it’s suspending processing of all immigrant visas for people from 75 countries. [Headline]
With those including Somalia, Haiti, Iran, Russia, Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand, and dozens of others.
Though this does not affect people seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist or business visas.
And as for why they’re doing this, the State Department claimed these are countries “whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.” [Quote same link]
Meanwhile, they’re going after Democratic lawmakers too, with four more members of Congress revealing that they’re being investigated for that video last November reminding military service members they don’t have to obey unlawful orders.
With those being Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio, and Chrissy Houlahan [hula-hann (Like hand without the d)]. [Image, screenshot, image, screenshot]
All of whom say they received inquiries from Trump’s prosecutor for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro [Juh-neen Peero], requesting an interview with them or their private counsel.
This coming after a fifth lawmaker, Senator Elissa Slotkin, said much the same thing earlier this week. [Headline/image]
And late last year, all six lawmakers in the video also said they had received an inquiry from the FBI’s counterterrorism division. [Quote, find “counterterrorism”]
But both then and now, the lawmakers, all of whom served in the U.S. military themselves, denouncing this investigation as a sham attempt to threaten and intimidate Trump’s political opponents.
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And this Trump administration overreach is happening to journalists, too.
Because yesterday, the FBI searched the home of a Washington Post reporter who covers Trump and the federal government.
Her name is Hannah Natanson (Nate-in-son), and she described herself as the “federal government whisperer” as she covers how the federal workforce has been overhauled.
And the outlet reported that the FBI executed a search warrant at her Virginia home related to an investigation into a government contractor.
They seized her phone, Garmin watch, and both her personal computer and Washington Post-issued laptop.
And you just have tons of people noting this is highly unusual, right, the federal government rarely conducts searches at reporters homes, and there are regulations specifically designed to protect journalists in these cases.
Though, according to the Post, Natanson has not been accused of any wrongdoing and she is not the focus of the investigation,
But this is part of a probe into a system administrator who was accused of mishandling classified reports, some of which were found in his lunchbox and home.
And according to the Post, he searched for classified information he was not authorized to access about a nation only identified as “country 1.”
He has already been charged, and at the time of his arrest, he was apparently messaging Natanson and there was classified information in their chat.
And even though there is no law barring journalists from reporting classified information, you had FBI director Kash Patel saying the alleged leaker was “endangering our warfighters and compromising America’s national security.”[]
With Attorney General Pam Bondi further accusing Natanson of :[]
“reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”
And adding:
“The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country.”
The Post said it also received a subpoena to hand over communications between the alleged leaker and other employees.
And online, you have a ton of people pointing to a piece Natanson wrote last month where she revealed she has over a thousand sources within the government. []
She reaches them via the encrypted messaging app Signal, and first got in touch with some by posting on a Reddit page for government workers.
Then she developed a secure sourcing system with lawyers at the Washington Post, putting all notes in an encrypted drive, never writing down anyone’s name, never going anywhere without her devices that had reporting information.
And many see the FBI’s search on her as a direct threat to a free press.
Right, Washington Post reporters saying they are scared for their colleague and they are now scrambling to protect their sources, their reporting, their devices, trying to see if they have to take new precautions. []
You also have the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute saying that:
“These kinds of searches can deter and impede reporting that is vital to our democracy.”
“The Justice Department should explain publicly why it believes this search was necessary and legally permissible…Searches of newsrooms and journalists are hallmarks of illiberal regimes, and we must ensure that these practices are not normalized here.”
The executive editor of the Post also sent an email to staff saying that:
“this extraordinary, aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work.”
And tons of other people noting that this is just far from Trump’s first shot at the press, that with lawsuits and more he is seeking to control the media and cater it to his favor.
Last year, Bondi also reversed a Biden-era policy that restricted searches of reporters’ phones and subpoenas against them.
So we will have to see where this case with Nathanson goes, and if these policies are used in even more crackdowns, right, is she just the first domino here.
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But getting back into the news, how close did we just come to a new war in the Middle East? And are we out of the woods yet?
That’s what’s being asked as the protests that have shaken Iran for weeks may be coming to an end – and the horror that has unfolded there has only become more clear.
Right, Iranian authorities had imposed a near-total communication blackout on the country, but the information that has trickled out has painted a picture of a truly brutal crackdown.
With many witnesses reporting that government forces have fired indiscriminately on unarmed protesters – and videos checked by news outlets backing that up.
The Washington Post, for example, verifying clips that show security forces firing directly into crowds of protesters in AT LEAST six different cities across the country.
And with all that, estimates of the total number killed reportedly range from under 2,000 to more than 12,000.
With the US-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran, which has been one of the most widely cited sources, most recently putting its confirmed overall death toll at 2,615 – saying 882 additional deaths remain under investigation.
And also reporting that more than 18,000 people have been arrested. []
And in a sign of how massive the crackdown has been, even the government has taken the unusual step of acknowledging the huge number of casualties. .
Although it has emphasized the deaths of security services and otherwise tried to cast the dead as victims of violent “rioters” rather than the state – also accusing the U.S. and Israel of somehow being behind the protests.
But with all that, as we’ve talked about, Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene.
And on Tuesday he met with senior officials at the White House to discuss options.
With CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly sharing information with Trump about the estimated death toll – but also showing the president videos of bodies in the street and protesters being hanged in the past. []
And so you then had Trump saying in an interview airing that evening that the U.S. would “take very strong action" if Iran were to hang protesters – saying:
“When they start killing thousands of people, and now you are telling me about hanging, we will see how that works for them.”
“It’s not going to work out good.” (2:04-2:11)
But despite that, on Wednesday morning, you had Iran’s chief justice calling for speedy trials and executions of “rioters” – adding:
“Those elements who beheaded people in the streets or burned people alive must be tried and punished as quickly as possible.”
“If we don’t do it fast, it won’t have the same impact.”
And with that, a protester by the name of Erfan Soltani (er-FAHN sol-TAH-nee)? He is believed to have been the first Iranian protester sentenced to death since the current unrest began.
And he was widely expected to be executed on Wednesday – when those comments were made.
And this as you also reportedly had a senior Iranian official telling countries hosting American military bases in the region that it would attack them in the event of a US strike. []
Which wouldn't be the first time – right, Iran actually launched missiles at a U.S. base just last summer after Trump ordered those strikes on its nuclear facilities – although, that strike was kind of just symbolic.
Iran gave warning ahead of time, a US Patriot air defense battery shot down almost all of the incoming missiles, and most American personnel had been temporarily moved from the base anyways.
And what’s notable is that this time around we saw the Pentagon taking very similar precautions.
Right, some personnel at a key US military base on Qatari soil were advised to evacuate.
The US embassy in Kuwait ordered its personnel to temporarily stop going to the many military bases on its territory.
Plus, the Pentagon apparently placed long-range bombers in the US on alert for potential “secondary strikes.” []
And Iran closed its airspace without explanation.
With one person described as a Western military official telling Reuters at the time:
“All the signals are that a U.S. attack is imminent,” – although he added:
“...that is also how this administration behaves to keep everyone on their toes. Unpredictability is part of the strategy.” []
But with that, even as it seemed on one hand that conflict was inevitable, there was more happening.
Right, sol-TAH-nee family? They were told the execution had been postponed.
And you had the Iranian foreign minister going on Fox News and saying “there [was] no plan” to execute people for participating in the protests – saying:
“Hanging is out of the question.” (BYTE: 9:46)
With him also urging the U.S. to engage in diplomacy – saying it’s “much better than war.”
And on the flip side, you had Trump telling reporters at the White House that he had received assurances from “very important sources on the other side” that Iran would not execute demonstrators – adding:
“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping – it’s stopped – it’s stopping. And there’s no plan for executions, or an execution, or execution – so I’ve been told that on good authority.” (BYTE: 2:35-2:50)
Now, with that, when asked about whether military action had been taken off the table he said:
“We’re going to watch it and see what the process is.”
But you still had one senior US military official telling the New York Times that Trump's comments served as an “off-ramp.” []
And the Pentagon started preparing to stand down forces and allow troops to return to base.
Iran also reopened its airspace – although some European airlines have reportedly continued avoiding it as a precaution.
Iran’s president said that the government is trying to address some of the economic problems that led to the protests.
And you even had the Iranian judiciary suddenly claiming that Sol-TAH-nee had “not been sentenced to death” at all – adding that if he was convicted:
…“the punishment, according to the law, will be imprisonment, as the death penalty does not exist for such charges”. []
But, of course, that’s the guy from a government that is believed to have taken the lives of thousands of people this month – and executed more than 1,500 last year alone.
And now, even if it’s true that people aren’t being killed anymore, that doesn’t mean they aren’t being punished.
Right, Iranian state media has reportedly kept announcing waves of arrests by authorities – with those taken being described as terrorists. []
And there are signs that the crackdown may have done its job. .
With one foreign diplomat telling The Washington Post the streets seem back to normal – and adding:
“I cannot believe that only a few days ago people were taking to the streets. This speaks to the severity of the crackdown by the regime. The fear factor has gained the upper hand over people’s urge and desire for change.” []
Now, with that, he also said:
“It is difficult to assess at this point whether the latest uprising was only a prelude to another big wave, or ‘the end’ of the story..” []
So we’ll have to see what happens – in Iran but also with the U.S. and the rest of the international community.
Right, a UN security council emergency meeting was scheduled today to discuss Iran at the request of the US.
Foreign ministers from the G7 group said they were ready “to impose additional restrictive measures” on Iran over its handling of the protests – likely referring to sanctions.
The EU also looks set to impose new sanctions.
And the US has now done so – announcing them today and saying they target the “architects” of the crackdown.
But, of course, the question is: is that it? Or could we still see some sort of military action?
And the answer is: who knows?
I mean, think about this summer.
Israel launched major strikes against Iran and Trump posted on social media:
“We remain committed to a diplomatic resolution on the Iran Nuclear Issue.” – adding:
“My entire administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran.”
But then, less than ten days later? He himself authorized major strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities – including one using the US’s 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs that had never before been used in combat.
Now, of course, there was a lot of crazy rhetoric in between all that, where he appeared much more open to military intervention.
But what seems clear is that Trump is happy to change his mind at any time.
And the lack of military action so far may be partly explainable by other factors than him being against the idea.
Right, reportedly, both Israeli and Arab officials have urged him not to attack Iran right now.
And the actual options available to him may have been limited because of the military buildup in the Caribbean.
Right, the U.S. actually hasn't had an aircraft carrier near the Middle East since it got sent to support the campaign against Venezuela.
And if an attack on Iran spirals into a larger military conflict, there’s no way of getting it back to the region quickly.
Although, notably, the Pentagon is now reportedly moving the aircraft carrier that has been stationed in the South China Sea to the Middle East.
So there’s a lot of conversation around what all this may mean where things will ultimately go from here.
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And discourse about Iran has also evolved into conspiracy territory, with some using red string to tie the country to yesterday's massive Verizon outage.
Right, some of you watching were probably impacted by this issue.
According to Downdetector, at its peak, around 180,000 Verizon outages occurred at once. []
Though, the site said it received a whopping 1.5 million reports over the course of the seven-hour outage. []
With the most impacted locations including New York City, Atlanta, Houston, and many, many, more areas across the country.[]
And as all of this was going on, some users reported outages with other carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T.
But both companies said they were not experiencing any issues, and claimed any disruptions were likely from customers trying to contact those affected by Verizon’s outage.[]
With AT&T turning this into an advertising opportunity, saying:
“Our network? Solid. If you’re experiencing issues, it’s not us.....it’s the other guys. Some things are just out of our hands! - BUT if you're interested in giving us a try…”[]
Krispy Kreme also using the problem as a marketing gimmick, promising free donuts to people who lost service.
But this was obviously a real issue, with some cities even sending out emergency alerts to residents to direct them on what to do amid this outage in the event of an emergency.
The FCC also weighing in, with chair Brendan Carr saying the agency is reviewing the issue and will take appropriate action.[]
For its part, Verizon acknowledged the outage in multiple posts, apologizing for letting customers down and saying teams were working nonstop to restore service. []
And by yesterday evening, the company announced that the issue had been resolved, though they did not publicly say what the issue actually was. []
But customers will be getting a $20 credit to make up for the outage, with Verizon saying:[]
“Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence you expect and that we expect of ourselves…You will receive a text message when the credit is available. On average, this covers multiple days of service.”
“This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can. But it’s a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us.”
But go to their Twitter replies and you won’t find too many thank yous, right, tons of people mad the credit is not being applied automatically, saying it should be a $20 credit per line at the very minimum.[][]
And also online, you will see a ton of people turning this outage into conspiratorial fodder.
With one reddit post trying to suggest, without any real evidence, that it was the result of Iran or other foreign interference. []
And one loud voice echoing that was Laura Loomer, who tweeted:
“Did Iran just conduct a massive cyber attack against US Cellular network providers?”[]
And this is notably not even her first time wearing a Verizon tinfoil hat.
Because back when there was a different outage in 2024, she wrote:
“Hearing that the Verizon outage is more than just an outage. Source tells me Verizon has been hacked on a national level and they don’t want to disclose it publicly.”[]
And until Verizon gives a clearer picture as to what happened, there is room for these conspiracies to only grow.
You have ABC News reporting that while law enforcement did look into the possibility of a cyber attack, right now the issue is believed to be the result of a server failure in New Jersey.[]
But again, we only have so much information right now.
So, if you were impacted by this, let us know how it inconvenienced you, if you had to go out and brave the world without the ability to call, to text, to scroll, fully detached from the modern world.
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Grok is continuing to address its sexual deepfake problem in a way that just pisses more people off.
Right, we have talked about this recently, tons of people have asked Grok to undress photos of women, put them in bikinis, or in other incredibly revealing clothing. [][][][]
It is a controversy that has caught the attention of lawmakers around the world, with no one really impressed by the company’s attempts to solve it.
Last week, X announced that image generation tools would be limited only to paying subscribers. []
Which prompted people to argue that X was not fixing the problem, and instead was just monetizing it.
So UK regulators launched investigations, countries like the Philippines threatened to block access to it, and just yesterday California’s Attorney General said he would be investigating the app too,
Claiming some of the images generated were of children.
So yesterday, X’s Safety Account unveiled new updates for Grok, saying that:
“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis. This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.”[]
But it then went on to say that:
“We now geoblock the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal.”
While also restating the previous change only allowing paid subscribers to use Grok to edit images.
So now, people have responded by saying people were not asking to geoblock sexual deepfakes, they were asking to block block them, to everyone everywhere.[][][]
Right, that you shouldn’t still be able to create this material based on your global zipcode.
Especially since right now, it is not clear where it will be blocked.
With reporters at the Verge testing it out and saying:
“It’s still easy to get Grok to edit photographs of real people into sexualized poses, despite X’s updated restrictions.”[]
It also appears that these rules only exist when using Grok on the X app, and that on the Grok standalone app, restrictions do not apply. []
But some have applauded this step forward, with British regulators saying that “This is a welcome development,” though their investigation is still ongoing.
Elon Musk has also defended the tool, yesterday denying reports that deepfakes had been made of anyone underage, then saying:
“Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests. When asked to generate images, it will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws of any given country or state. There may be times when adversarial hacking of Grok prompts does something unexpected. If that happens, we fix the bug immediately.”[]
But people like California’s Attorney General have pushed back on this, arguing that:
“This is very explicit. It’s very visible. This isn’t a bug in the system, this is a design in the system.”
So I would love to know your thoughts, if you think X and Grok will ever take a full and complete action, or just these sort of half steps that work around the issue without full preventing it.
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