Trump's Big Minneapolis Problem Just Got Worse
PDS Published 01/28/2026
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Ilhan Omar was attacked at her own event in Minnesota and Trump is trying to say the whole thing is fake!
Right, yesterday evening, Representative Ilhan Omar was hosting an event in Minneapolis when this happened,
If you’re wondering what the hell happened there…
Immediately after Omar called for ICE to be abolished and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign or be impeached, 55 year old Anthony James Kazmierczak (Kaz-mair-zak) stood up and sprayed an unknown liquid at her from a large syringe.
While reportedly yelling that Omar herself needs to resign.
Now, we don’t know what the liquid was yet but one BBC journalist in the room at the time said it had a sour smell like a chemical. []
The New York Times reporting that it smelled like vinegar. []
But there didn’t seem to be any injuries - with Omar refusing security’s efforts to move her offstage to safety after the man was taken into custody. [B Roll 0:36-0:50]
And as she was leaving the event, she told reporters,
“I survived war, and I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think that they can throw at me, because I’m built that way.” []
Afterwards, she took to X to add,
“I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work. I don’t let bullies win.” []
There isn’t a whole lot known about this guy or his motive here.
But it seems likely this was a premeditated attack - with a neighbor telling the New York Post that Kaz-mair-zak asked him to walk his dog so he could go to Omar’s event.
Even hinting that something was likely going to happen - with the neighbor saying Kaz-mair-zak said he may get arrested. []
The neighbor went on to tell the New York Post that Kaz-mair-zak was heavily medicated from a car accident years before that messed up his spine as well as being diagnosed with Parkinson’s. []
We also know from the neighbor that he leans conservative and social media pages apparently belonging to him show a history of supporting Trump and right-wing commentators.
Including Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens.
As of now, he hasn’t been formally charged but he was arrested on suspicion of assault.
So we’ll have to keep our eyes on that in the coming days. []
And we’ve seen a mixed bag of reactions to this situation - with many officials condemning the attack and speaking out against political violence.
While some Democrats are laying blame for this directly at the feet of Donald Trump - like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said on X,
“It is not a coincidence that after days of President Trump and VP Vance putting Rep. Omar in their crosshairs with slanderous public attacks, she gets assaulted at her town hall. Thank God she is okay. If they want leaders to take down the temp, they need to look in the mirror.” []
Which isn’t entirely off-base - Trump has spent recent months targeting Ilhan Omar with some pretty nasty rhetoric.
In fact, yesterday - the very same day Omar was attacked - Trump was shit talking her while speaking in Iowa,
And upon hearing of the attack, he told a reporter, quote,
“I don't think about her. I think she's a fraud. I really don't think about that. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.” []
Which, as you can imagine, really fanned the flames of speculation that Omar somehow staged this whole thing.
With people online going through the video and saying she nodded at the guy before he attacked or that because she didn’t react the way they think she should have that it must be fake.
And we know that Omar has faced increased death threats since Trump took office again and started making some insane claims about her.
Including that she is worth more than $40 million.
Which, as Forbes reports, that’s likely not the case.
Right, in her latest financial disclosures from last spring, Omar valued her husband’s venture capital management firm and his winery as worth between $5 million and $25 million and between $1 million and $5 million, respectively. []
And the very top range of those numbers is where Trump and Co. are getting the “worth $44 million” thing.
But even if those businesses were operating at the tippity top of those ranges, that’s still not accurate for how much Omar or even her husband is worth.
Because, as she explained late last year, her husband is a partner in those ventures and the numbers she included are the businesses’ total value, not just the value of his ownership stake. []
Though it is worth noting that she has been at the center of a Justice Department investigation since the Biden days - specifically focused on her finances, campaign spending, and interactions with a foreign citizen
But reportedly, it seems like things have stalled on that front due to a lack of evidence. []
However in recent weeks, GOP members of the House have been threatening to open their own investigation into Omar as a way of connecting her to the Minnesota fraud scandal.
Especially after evidence revealed that some members of Minnesota’s Somali community set up companies to bill state agencies for social services that were never provided. []
Except at this point, there is no evidence to connect Omar herself to any fraud scheme and her office has reportedly received no official inquiries from the Oversight Committee or the Justice Department. []
So, as it stands now, it’s just Trump and his cronies fanning the flames of political violence with their aggressive rhetoric.
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But despite these relentless attacks on Minnesota’s elected representatives, Tuesday was a good day for Democrats there in at least one way.
Because they won two seats in the Minnesota state house after special elections yesterday. [Headline/image]
Which is significant not because it’s surprising — right, quite the contrary, these were both deep blue districts; in fact the Democrat was the only candidate on the ballot for one of them —
But rather because this restores the even partisan split in the house, with 67 Democrats and 67 Republicans.
And then in the Senate, Democrats already have a slim majority, and of course Tim Walz is still governor, at least for now. [B roll]
So while they’ll still need some GOP support to pass anything, they can at least use what power they have to resist the federal invasion.
Even if that just means holding hearings to spotlight what the feds are doing, as a state Senate subcommittee’s set to do this week. [B roll, 03:25]
Speaking of which, despite all the talk about “some agents” leaving Minnesota with Greg Bovino, it’s far from clear that Trump’s goons are actually pulling out at all. [B roll, 00:11]
With the journalist Ken Klippenstein revealing that he’s obtained a Border Patrol memo saying that federal deployment to Minneapolis “is steady state and expected to continue as planned.” [Post]
As well as Trump himself clarifying yesterday that whatever he’s doing is not a pullback. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 01:46 - 02:01] Caption: “We’re gonna deescalate a little bit, but I don’t think it’s a pullback. It’s a little bit of a change. Everybody in this room that has a business, you know you make little changes. You know, Bovino’s very good, but he’s a pretty out there kind of a guy, and in some cases that’s good. Maybe it wasn’t good here.”
Now almost all the headlines have focused on that “we’re gonna deescalate a little bit” comment, but everything he says after that seems to suggest he’s just kicking out Bovino, not meaningfully drawing down ICE’s presence in Minnesota. [Headline, headline]
And so far, besides Tom Homan meeting with state and local officials, we haven’t seen evidence of “deescalation.”
In fact, if anything we’ve seen the opposite, with video now showing ICE agents trying to get inside the Ecuadorian consulate. [B roll, 00:43]
Which, just to be clear, is a big no no; right, international law and obvious norms generally prohibit law enforcement authorities from entering foreign consulates or embassies without permission.
So in the video, you see a staffer running to the door to turn the agents away, telling them, “This is the Ecuadorian consulate. You’re not allowed to enter.” [Continue B roll]
And then you can hear one agent respond by threatening to “grab” the staffer if he touched the agent. [Same B roll]
But they did eventually leave, and the consulate later posted that it ensured “the protection of the Ecuadorians who were present at the time.”
Adding that it activated the emergency protocols and filed a “note of protest” with the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador so that similar attempts aren’t made at other consulates.
But the chaos isn’t just in Minnesota; it’s ongoing in other parts of the country as well.
Authorities say a suspect sought in connection with an alleged human trafficking incident was shot during an exchange of gunfire with Border Patrol yesterday. [Headline/image]
With him now reportedly in serious but stable condition, while no officers were hurt.
So now that incident’s under investigation, meanwhile we’re still looking for some accountability for all the lies told about Alex Pretti.
And right now, the conversation inside the White House is focused on one question: who’s to blame, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Greg Bovino, or someone else entirely?
Right, because according to Axios, some officials blame the CBP officers on the ground for creating an initial report that left them with the belief that Pretti had brandished a gun. [Quote, find “furnished”]
This even though we saw for ourselves from the videos that that’s not true, and Border Patrol itself backed off that claim in the mandatory notice it has to provide to Congress any time someone dies in its custody. [B roll, 00:33]
With it claiming after its investigation that after agents tried to detain Pretti, he resisted, they struggled, one agent yelled “He’s got a gun!”, and two Border Patrol officers fired Glock pistols. [Quote, find “struggle” and “Glock”]
But the report makes no mention of Pretti brandishing his own gun, or of the agents firing it themselves, accidentally or otherwise.
Either way, DHS posted its now infamous press statement on X just a couple of hours after the shooting, and it was echoed almost verbatim by Noem and Bovino the same day. [Post]
Right, I don’t know how I didn’t notice this before, but if you play them side by side like CNN did, they’re clearly reading from a script.
[Clip, 00:00 - 00:12]
With both of them claiming that Pretti intended to cause “maximum damage” and “massacre” federal agents. [Continue B roll]
Now Axios reports that the White House officials who never signed off on that statement were frustrated. [Quote, find “signed off”]
With one source saying some people tried to clean up the statement before it was sent, but it had already been disseminated. [Quote same link, find “disseminated”]
But one of those in the know appeared to be Miller, because he posted his own comment just minutes later calling Pretti an “assassin,” which was soon reposted by JD Vance. [Post and Image]
In fact, one source told Axios that immediately following the shooting, Miller “heard 'gun' and knew what the narrative would be: Pretti came to 'massacre' cops.” [Quote same link]
So if you believe that account, then everything just flowed from there, with a person recalling that Noem told them: “Everything I've done, I've done at the direction of the president and Stephen.” [Quote] [Quote same link]
Right, because while technically, since Miller’s just the deputy chief of staff, Noem outranks him as a cabinet secretary.
Practically, Miller’s real power far outstrips his official title and reportedly includes de facto oversight of Noem.
But Miller himself points the finger back at CBP, saying any early comments made were based on what it sent the White House. [Quote same link, find “early comments”]
With another source blaming Bovino for feeding misinformation to officials in D.C. [Quote same link, find “not Stephen”]
But then, critics outside the White House argue that this whole blame game misses where the real guilt ultimately lies: President Donald Trump.
Because not only was he reportedly “kept apprised” of the DHS press statement by Miller and Noem's top adviser, Corey Lewandowski, [Quote same link]
But he also created all of the conditions for this to happen, with Stephen Collinson opining for CNN:
“Ever since he descended his golden escalator at Trump Tower in the summer of 2015, the now-president has sketched a dark picture of a nation held hostage to rapists, murderers, and people ejected from mental asylums before joining a foreign invasion of America. He sees cities as dystopian hellholes of anarchy and crime that need a strongman’s ethos and brutal federal power to fix.” [Quote]
Then adding, “In that context, it’s no wonder his subordinates felt the latitude to send out armed agents in masks and military-style uniforms into the streets of Minneapolis and other major cities in a demonstration of power that came right from the top. The footage has been out there for weeks, and Trump didn’t stop it. And he joined in the maligning of the first Minnesota civilian, Renee Good, to die.” [Quote same link]
And then I’ll add that since the Pretti shooting, he’s hardly modified his stance.
Right, yesterday he called the shooting “unfortunate,” but seemed to at least partially blame Pretti for exercising his Second Amendment right to carry a firearm. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 06:36 - 06:41] Caption: “I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That’s a lot of bad stuff.”
With him repeating something similar elsewhere, and I won’t play the clip because the audio’s terrible, but here’s the quote: [B roll, 00:15]
“You know, you can't have guns. You can't walk in with guns. Can't walk into this. You can't do that.” [Same B roll]
Also, he said he feels worse about Renee Good than he does about Alex Pretti because Good’s parents were Trump fans. [Image]
[Clip, 00:10 - 00:22] Caption: “I’m not sure about his parents but I know her parents were big Trump fans. It makes me feel bad anyway, but I guess you could say even worse. They were tremendous Trump people, Trump fans.”
And then in Iowa yesterday, he let loose another barrage of attacks on immigrants. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 48:14 - 48:23; Clip, 49:10 - 49:20] Caption: “We have brought down crime very substantially in Minnesota. We’ve taken out thousands of hard criminals, hardened, vicious, horrible criminals. … Two percent of the population causes 90% of the crime. So when you start decimating that two percent, boom.”
Though just to be clear, available data shows that the vast majority of people arrested by ICE in recent months had no criminal offenses, and a very small fraction had committed violent crimes.
But still, Trump and his allies continue to paint his crackdown as a restoration of “law and order” that’s targeting the worst of the worst.
With that argument now coming not just from loonies like Nick Fuentes or Jesse Waters, but even the supposedly “reasonable conservative,” Ben Shapiro.
Because he just released a video titled “Are we headed toward civil war?” in which he claims that the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti were the result of obstruction from protesters and rhetoric from Democrats. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 01:10 - 01:13; Clip, 02:04 - 02:07; Clip, 12:22 - 12:28, 12:38 - 12:45] Caption: “This is a left-wing chaos operation. … The Insurrection Act is not new. It’s not even all that unusual. … When President Eisenhower sent troops into Little Rock to enforce Brown versus Board, the left called him a civil rights hero. … But when President Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act, the left calls him a fascist dictator who is conspiring to destroy our republic. Give me a break.”
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Russia has suffered more casualties in Ukraine than in any conflict since World War II.
And that’s just one reason why you have some experts arguing that Putin is captaining a sinking ship – and that his victory is far from inevitable.
But Ukraine is hurting too; talks have yet to yield real results, and the Kremlin has got a lot of dirty tricks in its bag.
And so while there’s a lot to unpack, where we’ll start are these talks that took place over the weekend between Russian, Ukrainian and American officials.
They were the first involving all three countries at once – and initially they kind of seemed to go weirdly well.
Zelensky saying on social media that more meetings would be held “provided there is readiness to move forward.”
The Kremlin apparently agreed – saying talks would resume next week.
You also had Zelensky saying that a U.S. document on security guarantees for Ukraine was "100% ready" and that it’s now just a matter of picking a time and place for it to be signed – saying:
"The document will then be sent for ratification to the US Congress and the Ukrainian parliament."
But then the cracks started to show.
You had the Financial Times reporting that the US told Ukraine it would have to sign a peace deal with Russia before getting security guarantees – and that that deal would involve giving up land.
But then Reuters spoke to a source who claimed the US wasn’t trying to force Ukraine into territorial concessions. []
And ultimately this seemingly continues to be the question that can stymie any chance of an agreement.
Right, the Kremlin is reportedly set on the deal it said Trump agreed to in Alaska over the summer – which would involve Ukraine handing over parts of the country Russia has been unable to capture even after four years of war. []
But Zelenskiy has consistently said that Ukraine's territorial integrity must be upheld in any peace deal to end the war.
And with all that, experts at the Institute for the Study of War have argued that Putin is just using these latest talks to stall for time and stave off additional US sanctions – as he’s done many times before. []
Although the hope is that he may become more willing to compromise as his troops continue to pay a massive toll for shockingly little gain.
Right, neither side has publicly disclosed comprehensive casualty figures – but according to a new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies the number of Russian troops killed since the war began is around 415,000.
And the number of overall casualties – including those wounded or missing? It’s around 1.2 million – which, like I said, is apparently more than any major power has suffered since World War II.
With the center also reporting that it’s more than seventeen times greater than Soviet losses in Afghanistan during the 1980s;
eleven times greater than during Russia’s first and second Chechen wars;
and five times greater than all Russian and Soviet wars combined since the second world war. []
And with all that, while Russia now occupies about twenty percent of Ukraine, it’s been advancing at a snail’s pace for more than a year.
Since the start of 2024, for example, it’s reportedly taken only another 1.5 percent of Ukraine's territory – advancing at an average rate of between fifteen and seventy meters per day in their most high-profile offensives. []
Which is reportedly slower than almost any major offensive campaign in any war in the last century.
With one of the authors of the study saying in an email to The New York Times:
“Russia’s poor battlefield performance in Ukraine and declining economic productivity indicates that Russia is in serious decline as a major power.”
“While Russia still possesses nuclear weapons and a large military, it is no longer a great power in most military, economic, or science and technology categories.”
But of course, even if Russia getting weaker, Ukraine isn’t doing so hot either.
With the Center estimating that between 100,000 and 140,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died so far – and putting the Ukraine’s overall casualty number at around 600,000.
Making the combined total 1.8 million – which apparently means we’re on track for two million by spring.
And despite Russia bearing the brunt of that, its troops outnumber Ukrainians in the fighting by almost three to one – not to mention Russia has a bigger population to draw from to replenish its ranks. []
In fact, Russia has seemingly kept its troop levels pretty much steady throughout the war – although doing so has truly required pulling out all the stops.
Right, the country has carried out its first draft since World War II.[]
And it’s also offering massive financial incentives to almost anyone who will speak enlist.
In one region, for example, you can apparently get about $50,000 in bonuses – which is more than twice the average annual income in the region.[]
And beyond that, we know that as many as 15,000 North Korean troops have fought alongside Russian forces, for example.
And citizens of Nepal, Kenya, South Africa, and Iraq are also among those who have taken part – although some have reported being tricked into coming to Russia by trafficking groups offering jobs.
There have also been reports that raids have been carried out in areas where migrants typically live or work in order to pressure them into military service.[]
And in November, you had Putin making it so that military service is mandatory for certain foreigners seeking permanent residency, while laws have also been adopted offering fast-track Russian citizenship for enlistees.
And with all that, when an independent Russian news site, together with the BBC and some volunteers, collected the names of over 160,000 troops killed?
More than 550 were foreigners from over two dozen countries.
And any troop that wants out may face a worse fate.
Right, there's a video going around now alleging to show two men who have been tied to trees and tortured for deserting and failing to follow orders.
And while that clip hasn’t been independently verified it’s consistent with some other reporting by independent Russian media.
And speaking of alleged Russian crimes, you actually just had a Russian drone hitting a Ukrainian passenger train with more than 200 people on board (BROLL)
With authorities reporting afterward that they found “fragments” of five bodies and Zelensky condemning the attack as “an act of terrorism.”[]
Also, strikes on the southern port city of Odesa reportedly killed three people and injured dozens more.
And in the Kyiv region, they killed two people, a couple, leaving their four-year-old child injured and orphaned.
And all that as millions have been left without heating, electricity and water because of Russian attacks targeting energy infrastructure.
And beyond all that there are all these ways Russia is trying to wear down Ukraine that we don’t see – one of them being how it’s recruiting teenagers for acts of sabotage.
Right, Ukrainian officials have reportedly identified around 1,400 sabotage operations linked to Russian intelligence services over the past two years, including 800 in 2025, with a quarter of those arrested below the age of 18. []
And many teens are reportedly recruited by Russian intelligence agencies through messages on Telegram or other social media channels.
One, for example, was offered $2,500 just to pick up a package and drop it off at a police station – but inside was an explosive.
And it turns out that it was actually built by four local boys between the ages of 14 and 16 – although authorities got to her before it was detonated. []
Now with all that said, Russian authorities have also alleged many teens there have been recruited to carry out acts of sabotage as well, but they’ve rarely offered evidence.
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Then, in other news, Erika Kirk is thrilled to be profiting off her husband’s death.
That is what new audio shared by Candace Owens alleges, at least.
Right, Candace shared a clip of what she claims is Erika speaking to TPUSA staff following Charlie’s memorial, just under two weeks after he died.
She is thanking them for their work during the event, discussing the future of TPUSA.
But it has gotten a ton of attention, because Candace, and a ton of others who have listened, think Erika sounds a little happier than you might assume.
“I don't even know where to begin. The fact that we were able to pull off an event of a century, like it's just insane. We had over 275,000 people that attended and stadium overflow.” (11:34-11:55)
“I think we're at like over 200,000 for merch sales.” (12:19-12:23)
“Again, it’s not easy. grief is hard. Otherwise honestly Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action will steam ahead you guys. Charlie would want us to get back to work and that's what we're doing.” (17:51-18:10)
“We have so much to do which is exciting. Charlie in heaven is like you guys thought you had a busy schedule then just you wait and he's doing some awesome things with Jesus in heaven right now but there's so much work to be done. I mean, since his assassination, we have 100,000 chapter 100,000 chapter requests. We have 300,000 new donors.” (18:18-18:48)
“I think we have 50,000 plus hat orders to fulfill.” (18:58-19:02)
And Candace’s reactions to Erika’s tone here was:
“It is the general tone that is off putting here. It is the laughter that is off putting. Again, we are under two weeks after watching your husband being assassinated.” (14:29-14:47)
“In my imagination, I just thought she would be more upset.” (15:13-15:22)
And we have seen a ton of people agreeing with Candace’s take, slamming Erika for sounding so excited and happy about merch sales in the wake of her husband’s murder, writing things like:[][][]
“I can’t imagine sounding like this 11 days after my husband was just publicly executed. No way I would be thinking about merch sales!”[]
But you also had plenty of people defending Kirk, saying everyone grieves differently, and this didn’t feel weird to them.[][][]
Others saying this just shows Erika stepping up as CEO of TPUSA, and the audio sounded like a normal business meeting.[][]
With a lot of people also taking aim at Candace, inlcuding one user who wrote:
“I find it disgusting that Candace Owens keeps going after Erika. Erika obviously wants Charlie's legacy grow. She is doing what he would have wanted her too. She will carry on.”[]
Many also accusing Candace of being hypocritical, saying she herself has been profiting off Kirk’s death by posting countless videos milking his assassination, spreading conspiracy theories in the wake of his death, and going after his widow.[][][]
But of course, we will have to see if TPUSA pushes back against Candace here at all, so far they have been pretty selective about what they respond to when it comes to her.
So it will be interesting to see how much she has to do to provoke another response from them, how much further she will push it.
