Category: News
Review: Once a storefront theater curiosity, ‘Bug’ opens big on Broadway
NEW YORK — Like an insect crawling on your skin, or pretty much anything in today’s back-biting America, playwright Tracy Letts’ wild black comedy “Bug” has always been open to interpretation. Maybe it’s a creepy, allegorical drama about delusional paranoia. Perhaps it’s a shock-horror exposé of the U.S. government conducting experiments on its own citizens. Maybe both.
As Joseph Heller famously wrote in “Catch-22,” just because you are paranoid does not mean they are not after you. Even paranoiacs have enemies, maybe rendering their paranoia a rational response.
I first saw this dark satire, penned in 1996, at Chicago’s A Red Orchid Theatre in 2001, long before this great Chicago playwright was famous and long before those seemingly benign helpmates, Siri and Alexa, were quietly listening to our every word. The then-unknown Michael Shannon, whose early career roles were every bit as weird as this play, starred in that production, and the city’s storefront theater followers all saw the show as intense, non-linear, fanciful, Chicago-style experimentation with more than ample nudity and a darkly comic soul — but no hope whatsoever of expanding its reach beyond the theatrical shoebox of its birth.
If you’d told me at the time that I’d be at a Broadway opening night watching “Bug” 25 years later, starring Letts’ very famous wife, Carrie Coon, I’d have suggested a good fantasy exterminator of my acquaintance. And yet, demonstrably, “Bug,” a drama penned when Letts was still in his 20s, still had the capacity to shock some of the nice folks in the audience at Manhattan Theatre Club. At least judging by their involuntary shrieks.
Of course, when the Chicagoan-turned-marquee Broadway director David Cromer took on the show for a revival at the Steppenwolf Theatre in 2020, the stakes had already risen, especially with the casting of Coon, a TV star and box office draw for this gilded age but actually most at home doing this kind of live, no-holds-barred work, sans either resort wear or period attire. So did the stress level of the “Bug” experience, given that the show was one of the last to open before the COVID shutdown and had arrived roughly contemporaneously with widespread fear of a novel virus discovered in China.
Suddenly, an actual external parasite of unknown origin seemed to be its main topic, notwithstanding when it was written. People could be seen scratching themselves on their way out the door. (Masks were still in the future, but fear was nigh.)
Now, with that same production on Broadway replete with its original, all-Chicago cast, it feels like a play about an assault from without, festering deep within. And there are plenty of examples of those to be found.
What are you actually watching?
Set in a low-rent Oklahoma motel room, the action of “Bug” centers on a character named Peter Evans (Namir Smallwood), who is intertwined with one Agnes White (Coon), a sad-sack character who has not quite escaped an abusive husband (played with brio by Steve Key) and is now pals with a woman named R.C. (Jennifer Engstrom). All is sexy and good until her new boyfriend Peter starts seeing and feeling bugs — in the room, in the walls, under his skin, within his eye sockets.
Carrie Coon, Jennifer Engstrom, Steve Key and Namir Smallwood in Steppenwolf Theatre’s “Bug” on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in New York. (Matthew Murphy)
Are they real? Agnes at first is skeptical but then, well, she starts to see ‘em too. All of these events, especially the eventual arrival of a man from the government, played by Randall Arney, lead you to wonder if the real question of the night is not whether the bugs are real, but who put them in this motel room.
All of that stuff is very much in play in what’s recognizably on-brand Steppenwolf acting, typified by go-for-broke intensity, naked in more ways than one, from Coon and Smallwood especially, offering a more familiar experience than the relatively restrained “Little Bear Ridge Road,” another stellar transfer from the Chicago outfit. Smallwood, who is not well known in New York, will be a revelation to many. And Coon just roars her way through this show, more vulnerable than she appeared to be in 2000 and a tad more fragile, only adding to the stakes and the overall quality of her work.
Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood in Steppenwolf Theatre’s “Bug” on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in New York. (Matthew Murphy)
The design from Takeshi Kata is intensifying hyper-realistic and comes with a surprise sting in its tail, not to mention some gorgeous vistas from the great Chicago lighting designer Heather Gilbert, who send shafts of light into the play’s motel room of the paranoid.
The scariest change, though, is that in an America where guardrails have fallen, tech-sector parasites run amok in our hands and heads, and trust in government is close to nonexistent, what seemed totally implausible in 1996 now feels like reasonable societal comment. At one point, there is worry about whether one of the characters is some kind of robot. Thirty years ago, I vividly recall laughing that off as a device of plotting and one of Letts’ signature, genre-driven games with many more yet to come.
This time around? Not at all. Felt perfectly plausible.
At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., New York; www.manhattantheatreclub.com
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/08/review-bug-steppenwolf-broadway/
Kyrgios no jugará individuales en Australia; dice que su cuerpo no está listo para partidos a 5 sets
MELBOURNE (AP) — Nick Kyrgios dice que no está lo suficientemente en forma para jugar individuales en el Abierto de Australia, pero competirá en dobles con su compatriota local Thanasi Kokkinakis en Melbourne Park.
Kyrgios, quien jugó en la llamada “Batalla de los Sexos”, un duelo de exhibición contra Aryna Sabalenka el mes pasado, había sido señalado por los medios locales como posible receptor de una de las tres invitaciones restantes de Tennis Australia.
Más tarde, el organismo rector del tenis en Australia anunció que el campeón de 2014, Stan Wawrinka, y los australianos Jordan Thompson y Chris O’Connell habían recibido esas invitaciones. Wawrinka, de 40 años, ya ha anunciado que este año marcará su última temporada en el circuito.
Kyrgios dijo el viernes en las redes sociales que sólo jugaría dobles en el torneo, que comienza el 18 de enero. Múltiples cirugías de muñeca y rodilla han limitado a Kyrgios a sólo siete partidos de individuales en el circuito en los últimos tres años.
Su puesto en el ranking ha caído al 670.
El partido más reciente de individuales del veterano de 30 años duró apenas 66 minutos: una derrota por 6-3, 6-4 ante el estadounidense Aleksandar Kovacevic en el Brisbane International esta semana.
Kyrgios, quien llegó a la final de Wimbledon en 2022, dijo que su cuerpo aún no estaba listo para partidos de cinco sets y quería que la invitación fuera para alguien que pudiera “aprovechar su momento”.
“Después de algunas buenas conversaciones con Tennis Australia, he decidido enfocarme en los dobles para el Abierto de Australia de este año”, escribió en una publicación de Instagram. “Estoy en forma y de vuelta en la cancha, pero los partidos a cinco sets son una bestia diferente, y aún no estoy listo para ir a esa distancia.
“Este torneo significa todo para mí, pero prefiero dar mi lugar a alguien que esté listo para aprovechar su momento. Todo esto son ladrillos que me permitirán construir para volver el próximo año con ganas de competir.”
_____
Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Monsanto Sues COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturers, Alleging Copyright Infringement
Monsanto Sues COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturers, Alleging Copyright Infringement
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,
Bayer and its Monsanto division are suing COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, alleging they used technology Monsanto developed and patented in the 1980s in their vaccines.
Bayer said in lawsuits that Pfizer, its partner BioNTech, and Moderna wrongly used technology Monsanto developed and used to make plants resistant to insects.
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna included the technology in their shots to enhance the stability of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) “and thus the vaccines’ ability to confer immunity to the virus,” lawyers for Bayer and Monsanto said in the suits, which were filed on Jan. 6 with the U.S. court in Delaware.
Bayer was not involved in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing or production.
Bayer said it was not seeking to interfere with the production of the COVID-19 vaccines, which are still being made and sold, but said the court should award it money, describing the defendants as having “profited handsomely from infringing vaccine sales worldwide.”
“Plaintiffs are entitled to damages as a result of Defendants’ infringement of the … Patent in an amount yet to be determined and adequate to compensate Plaintiffs for Defendants’ infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the patented invention by Defendants, together with interest and costs as fixed by the Court,” with the exception of acts of infringement covered by one federal law, the filings state.
Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna earned billions of dollars from their vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic, according to company reports. Pfizer, for example, reported making $11.2 billion in 2023 from its shot.
“BioNTech is aware that Bayer and Monsanto have filed an action for infringement with respect to one patent against Pfizer and BioNTech,” a spokesperson for BioNTech told The Epoch Times in an email. The company declined further comment.
“Moderna is aware of the litigation and will defend ourselves against these claims,” a spokesman for Moderna told The Epoch Times via email.
Pfizer did not return an inquiry.
In a third lawsuit, lodged in federal court in New Jersey, Bayer said Johnson & Johnson also infringed on a patent with its COVID-19 vaccine, which did not utilize mRNA.
That complaint said Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, which delivered DNA to a recipient’s cells to trigger protection, would not have been effective without the patented sequence and template that Bayer developed and patented.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was withdrawn from the market in 2023. Johnson & Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.
The new complaints are the latest over the COVID-19 vaccines. Other suits have involved Pfizer and Moderna, including a suit brought by Moderna against Pfizer.
A court in England ruled in 2024 that Pfizer infringed on a Moderna patent.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 01/08/2026 – 21:30
Northwestern can’t hold 2nd-half lead in 76-66 loss to No. 12 Michigan State, staying winless in Big Ten
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Carson Cooper had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jeremy Fears Jr. scored all of his 15 points in the second half to help No. 12 Michigan State rally to beat Northwestern 76-66 on Thursday night.
Jaxon Kohler added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans (14-2, 4-1 Big Ten), who trailed by seven at halftime and eight in the second half before rallying to win for the sixth time in seven games.
The Wildcats (8-7, 0-4) lost their lead because they left Kohler open from the 3-point line, and they couldn’t keep Michigan State off the boards or slow down Fears offensively.
Kohler’s 3-pointer gave the Spartans a 46-45 lead midway through the second half. The senior forward made another 3 — after teammates grabbed two offensive rebounds on one possession — to put Michigan State ahead by eight with 6:37 to play.
The Wildcats pulled within two with 2:04 to go, but Fears hit a layup and Coen Carr had a dunk to seal the win.
Nick Martinelli scored 28 for Northwestern — but didn’t get much help as the team’s only scorer in double digits. Tyler Kropp had nine points off the bench, and Jayden Reid added eight points (on 3-for-14 shooting), eight assists and four steals.
Carr scored eight points, including another highlight-reel dunk, as one of seven Spartans with at least six. Michigan State outrebounded the Wildcats 42-25, leading to 16 second-chance points.
MSU missed almost half its free throws in the first half and committed eight turnovers. In the second half, coach Tom Izzo’s team was much better at the line — making 17 of 22 — but had another seven turnovers.
Up next
Northwestern: at Rutgers on Sunday.
Michigan State: vs. Indiana on Tuesday.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/08/northwestern-michigan-state-big-ten-basketball/
Evening downpours causes flash flood warning, advisory until 11 p.m.
A line of rain showers that dumped a large amount of rain has led the National Weather Service to declare a flash flood warning and a flood advisory in the Chicago area until 11 p.m.
Flash Flood Warning including Chicago IL, Naperville IL and Cicero IL until 10:00 PM CST pic.twitter.com/rfKdVJdiL8
— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) January 9, 2026
The advisory, in effect for portions of Cook, DuPage, and northern Will counties, was declared after rain rates up to 0.5 inches per hour led to ponding on roads. The weather service also declared a flash flood warning for Chicago, Naperville and Cicero through 10 p.m.
Heads Up!
A Flood Advisory has been issued for portions of DuPage, Cook, and northern Will Counties until 11 PM CST this evening.
Rain rates up to 0.5 inches per hour has lead to ponding on roads. Use caution if traveling in the advisory area. #ILwx pic.twitter.com/JO6nN8HkgC
— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) January 9, 2026
Motorists are being asked to exercise caution as some roads may experience flooding.
Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat game delayed because of condensation on United Center court
The Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat game Thursday night is under an indefinite delay because of an unsafe playing surface at the United Center.
Condensation on the court — caused by a combination of warm, rainy weather outdoors and humidity indoors following a Blackhawks game the night before — created a slick playing surface that game officials deemed unsuitable for competition. Outside of lowering the temperature inside the arena and consistently mopping the floor, solutions for the problem are limited. The game was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but the initial delay lasted more than 45 minutes.
This isn’t the first time humidity forced the delay — and eventual rescheduling — of an NBA game. A 2017 matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers was postponed because of condensation on the court at the Target Center in Minneapolis after the arena hosted a hockey game and Disney on Ice concert. In that instance, a nearly 90-minute delay preceded the decision to reschedule the game to a later date.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/08/chicago-bulls-miami-heat-delay-united-center/
US Control Of Venezuela Could Last For Years, Trump Says
US Control Of Venezuela Could Last For Years, Trump Says
The White House issued two interesting, and somewhat perplexing new statements on Venezuela amid the post-Maduro ‘transition’.
First, the White House said Wednesday that the US would be “dictating” future decisions made by the Venezuelan government – which is now officially headed up by Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s VP since 2018, and is seen as a ‘loyalist’ to his political movement and system.
Prior anti-Maduro govt. protests, illustrative file image.
“We’re continuing to be in close coordination with the interim authorities,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in the latest press briefing.
Leavitt added that “their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America.” As expected, officials in Caracas are pushing back.
“The government of Venezuela is in charge in our country, and no one else. There is no foreign agent governing Venezuela,” Rodriguez said, and she went to call on Washington to release Maduro, who has declared to a New York federal court that he is a political “prisoner”.
As for the future of Venezuelan oil, Vice President JD Vance said the US has leverage over Venezuela through control of where it is permitted to sell its oil.
“We control the energy resources, and we tell the regime, you’re allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America’s national interest, you’re not allowed to sell it if you can’t serve America’s national interest,” Vance told FOX this week.
The other interesting and highly revealing statement concerns questions of timeline. President Trump has newly said that oversight of Venezuela could last “years”.
According to the NY Times, which interviewed Trump on his plans for Venezuela:
President Trump said on Wednesday evening that he expected the United States would be running Venezuela and extracting oil from its huge reserves for years, and insisted that the interim government of the country — all former loyalists to the now-imprisoned Nicolás Maduro — is “giving us everything that we feel is necessary.”
“Only time will tell,” he said, when asked how long the administration will demand direct oversight of the South American nation, with the hovering threat of American military action from an armada just off shore.
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Mr. Trump said during a nearly two-hour interview. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
The publication reviews further, “Mr. Trump’s remarks came hours after administration officials said the United States plans to effectively assume control of selling Venezuela’s oil indefinitely, part of a three-phase plan that Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined for members of Congress.”
The Times adds: “While Republican lawmakers have been largely supportive of the administration’s actions, Democrats on Wednesday reiterated their warnings that the United States was headed toward a protracted international intervention without clear legal authority.”
Indeed some degree of blowback or internal turmoil is expected, given Venezuela’s long fractured factions including anti-Chavista armed groups, also which operate out of neighboring Colombia.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 01/08/2026 – 21:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-control-venezuela-could-last-years-trump-says
Kimmel Claims Trump Wants To ‘Kill Americans’
Kimmel Claims Trump Wants To ‘Kill Americans’
Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,
Talk show loser Jimmy Kimmel unleashed another unhinged rant against President Trump during a monologue Wednesday, peddling the absurd narrative that Trump is out to “kill” citizens through ICE operations.
Fresh off a justified self-defense shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Kimmel twisted the facts to fuel leftist outrage, ignoring the real threats from violent agitators obstructing law enforcement.
This comes as no surprise from a host whose Trump Derangement Syndrome has consumed his failing show, turning it into a nightly echo chamber for anti-America propaganda.
Jimmy Kimmel pushes the narrative that President Trump is ordering ICE to kill Americans:
“He isn’t just killing people overseas…”
“Get the f*ck out of Minneapolis! Get the f*ck out of all of these cities!”
Why is ABC allowing such sick depravity on their network? pic.twitter.com/wsOUkCrxoe
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 8, 2026
Desperate for relevance, Kimmel presented custom t-shirts during the pathetic segment. The prop was inserted presumably as the ‘comedy’, because otherwise it would’ve literally been just him claiming Trump wants to murder people.
He flashed one that read “Donald J Trump is going to kill you” and another aimed at ICE demanding “Get the f*** out of Minneapolis.”
He claimed, “He isn’t just killing people overseas an ICE agent today shot and killed An unarmed 37 year old woman during an ice operation In Minneapolis who were there under the guise of protecting us.”
He then attempted to ridicule Trump’s Truth Social post defending the agent, reading it aloud before dismissively suggesting “Now I saw this video It didn’t look like anybody got run over to me.”
This isn’t comedy or entertainment; it’s a sad bid for attention from a soon to be unemployed has-been. Why does anyone need Kimmel’s withering commentary? Even leftists must find this beyond cringe.
Kimmel’s obsession with Trump borders on pathological—it’s literally all he talks about every night on his low-rated ABC show that absolutely no one watches. With ratings in the toilet, it’s a safe bet ABC axes the irrelevant relic as soon as his contract expires.
Kimmel’s studio audience, behaving like trained seals, reacted with forced applause when he played footage of the embarrassing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey denouncing ICE. Frey called the self-defense claim “bullshit” and labeled it “An agent recklessly using power that resulted In somebody dying,” before saying ICE should “get the fuck out” of the city.
Frey’s remarks have stoked more chaos, his rhetoric encouraging radicals to confront federal agents enforcing the law. Instead of condemning the agitators, Kimmel amplified Frey’s inflammatory words, instructing his crowd to applaud what amounts to incitement against law enforcement.
Radicals are increasingly interfering with ICE operations, endangering agents and the public. Earlier, pundit Scott Jennings blasted the “vigilantism” of leftists impeding ICE operations.
This morning, the fallout boiled over as leftists in Minneapolis began assaulting federal agents, turning protests into outright attacks.
🚨 NOW: Leftists are GETTING VIOLENT in Minneapolis with federal agents, they are now actively confronting agents in the name of terrorism
Schools are literally CLOSED because of this crap. IT’S ONLY 8AM! pic.twitter.com/PLNlY6sZXq
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 8, 2026
The threats escalated, as rioters screamed at agents: “We’re going to fucking find you, and we’re going to fucking kill you! You’re going to fucking die, bitch!”
🚨 BREAKING: Leftist rioters just threatened to M*RDER federal immigration agents in Minneapolis because of Democrat rhetoric
“We’re going to f*cking find you, and we’re going to f*cking kill you! You’re going to f*cking die, b*tch!”
ARREST THEM NOW! pic.twitter.com/hirUGmHRY6
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 8, 2026
Arrests were made following the violent confrontations
🚨 JUST IN: Federal agents are ARRESTING MULTIPLE leftist rioters in Minneapolis already after a violent confrontation
This can get REALLY bad. Democrat officials Jacob Frey and Tim Walz have convinced these people ICE needs to be violently attacked.
Pray for all of them 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/RSFjfJO3P4
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 8, 2026
🚨 JUST IN: Federal agents in Minneapolis are performing TAKEDOWNS and ARRESTS of violent leftists who are surrounding and ambushing them
MORE FAFO 🔥🔥
Hold nothing back.
These rioters must be taught ORDER is the only way forward 🇺🇸
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 8, 2026
Journalist Nick Sortor urged Trump to federalise the National Guard from Tim Walz’s control before it spirals.
🚨 BREAKING: CLASHES are underway as leftists attempt to BLOCK DHS agents from leaving their facility in Minneapolis
President Trump should federalize the National Guard. Take them from Tim Walz.
Before this gets INCREDIBLY dangerous. pic.twitter.com/8BWfN3CQ1C
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 8, 2026
These acts aren’t protest—they’re assaults on law and order, egged on by figures like Kimmel and Frey who prioritise division over security.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 01/08/2026 – 20:35
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/kimmel-claims-trump-wants-kill-americans
Fatal ICE shooting sparks jurisdiction clash between state and federal authorities
A day after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, the case escalated sharply Thursday when federal authorities blocked state investigators from accessing evidence and declared that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.
Legal experts said the dispute highlights a central question raised repeatedly as federal agents are deployed into cities for immigration enforcement: whether a federal officer carrying out a federally authorized operation can be criminally investigated or charged under state law.
The FBI told Minnesota law enforcement officials they would not be allowed to participate in the investigation or review key evidence in the shooting, which killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday. Local prosecutors said they were evaluating their legal options as federal authorities asserted control over the case.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urged federal officials to reconsider, saying early public statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal leaders defending the agent risked undermining confidence in the investigation’s fairness.
Experts say there’s narrow precedent for state charges. And sometimes attempts at those charges have been cut short by claims of immunity under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which protects federal workers performing federally sanctioned, job-related duties. But that immunity isn’t a blanket protection for all conduct, legal experts said.
What to know about the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis
What is the standard for immunity?
If charges are brought, the federal agent is likely to argue he is immune from state prosecution under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“The legal standard basically is that a federal officer is immune from state prosecution if their actions were authorized by federal law and necessary and proper to fulfilling their duties,” said Robert Yablon, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Yablon, who is the faculty co-director of the school’s State Democracy Research Initiative, said state prosecutors would have to consider both state and federal laws to overcome the hurdles of immunity. They would first need to show a violation of state statutes to bring charges, but also that the use of force was unconstitutionally excessive under federal law.
“If the actions violated the Fourth Amendment, you can’t say those actions were exercised under federal law,” he said, referring to the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
Hurdles to state charges
The whole endeavor is made more complicated if there is not cooperation between federal and state authorities to investigate the shooting.
Walz said federal authorities rescinded a cooperation agreement with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and he urged them to reverse course, warning that Minnesotans were losing confidence in the investigation’s independence. Noem confirmed the decision, saying: “They have not been cut out; they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”
Minnesota must play a role in the investigation into Renee Good’s killing by ICE, governor says
State officials have been vocal about finding a way to continue their own parallel investigation.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during an interview on CNN that the move by federal authorities to not allow state participation does not mean state officials can’t conduct their own investigation.
But local officials in Hennepin County said they’d be in the dark if the FBI chose not to share their findings. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that her office is “exploring all options to ensure a state level investigation can continue.”
“If the FBI is the sole investigative agency, the state will not receive the investigative findings, and our community may never learn about its contents,” she said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended federal agents’ use of force, saying Thursday that officers often must make split-second decisions in dangerous and chaotic situations. In a statement posted on social media, Blanche said the law does not require officers “to gamble with their lives in the face of a serious threat of harm,” and added that standard protocols ensure evidence is collected and preserved following officer-involved shootings.
In many cases involving use-of-force, investigators examine how the specific officer was trained, if they followed their training or if they acted against standard protocol in the situation. It’s unclear if state investigators will be granted access to training records and standards or even interviews with other federal agents at the scene Wednesday, if they continue a separate investigation.
During the prosecution of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, prosecutors called one of the department’s training officers to testify that Chauvin acted against department training.
Precedents and other legal issues
Samantha Trepel, the Rule of Law program director at States United Democracy Center and a former prosecutor with the Justice Department’s civil rights division, wrote a guest article for Just Security Wednesday in the wake of the fatal shooting. The piece focused on the Department of Justice silence in the face of violent tactics being used in immigration enforcement efforts.
Trepel, who participated in the prosecution of officers involved in Floyd’s death, told AP Thursday that the current DOJ lacks the independence of previous administrations.
“In previous administrations, DOJ conducted independent and thorough investigations of alleged federal officers’ excessive force. Even though the feds were investigating feds, they had a track record of doing this work credibly,” Trepel said. “This included bringing in expert investigators and civil rights prosecutors from Washington who didn’t have close relationships and community ties with the individuals they were investigating.”
Trepel said in a standard federal investigation of alleged unlawful lethal force, the FBI and DOJ would conduct a thorough investigation interviewing witnesses, collecting video, reviewing policies and training, before determining whether an agent committed a prosecutable federal crime.
“I hope it’s happening now, but we have little visibility,” she said. “The administration can conduct immigration enforcement humanely and without these brutal tactics and chaos. They can arrest people who have broken the law and keep the public safe without sacrificing who we are as Americans.”
Questions about medical aid after the shooting
In other high-profile fatal police shootings, officers have faced administrative discipline for failing to provide or promptly secure medical aid after using force.
Video circulating from Wednesday’s shooting shows a man approaching officers and identifying himself as a physician, asking whether he could check Good’s pulse and provide aid. An agent tells him to step back, says emergency medics are on the way, and warns him that he could be arrested if he does not comply.
Witness video later showed medics unable to reach the scene in their vehicle, and people carrying Good away. Authorities have not said whether actions taken after the shooting, including efforts to provide medical assistance, will be reviewed as part of the federal investigation.
In other cases, including the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, failures to render medical aid were cited among the reasons officers were fired and later charged.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/08/ice-shooting-jurisdiction-clash/
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz calls for ‘Day of Unity’ on Friday
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is proclaiming Friday to be a “Day of Unity” and is inviting all Americans to participate in acts of service to remember and honor Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old fatally shoot in Minneapolis by a federal agent.
“Renee Nicole Good was a loving mother, partner, daughter, and neighbor whose life was defined by compassion, creativity, and care for others,” Walz said in a statement. “While we cannot bring back Renee Nicole Good, we can honor her life by standing together for decency, democracy, compassion, and our shared values. I invite all Minnesotans and Americans to join me in a day of unity, and honoring her with a moment of silence and participating in acts of service.”
What to know about the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis
The governor is encouraging all “individuals, businesses, faith institutions, and organizations” to take a moment of silence at 10 a.m., and “use the day to connect in your community and engage in acts of service.”
Good was killed Wednesday in Minneapolis. Walz has urged protesters to remain peaceful in the wake of the shooting.
Minnesota leaders — from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to the governor — have condemned the shooting while President Donald Trump and key members of his administration say the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer acted legally to protect himself.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/08/gov-tim-walz-day-of-unity/
