Category: blaze media

Amid the escalating anti-ICE protests raging through the Twin Cities, President Trump announced on Monday that he was immediately dispatching border czar Tom Homan to oversee and manage ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota.

The announcement came shortly before another Truth Social post in which Trump revealed that he had spoken with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) about working toward a solution to quell the escalating protests, noting that Homan would be a key figure in the process.

But BlazeTV host Steve Deace can’t imagine a situation where Tom Homan — “the crown prince of the entire [Trump] regime,” he calls him — de-escalates a raging left-wing movement.

It won’t be enough, Deace argues, for Homan to deliver messaging that counters that of Walz and Frey. “That’s a good start, but that’s not going to quell the level of [violence we have seen],” he says.

Unlike most people on the right, who “won’t do bold stuff because they don’t want to get in the way of their comfort,” left-wing activists, like Renee Good, says Deace, are willing to risk their lives for a cause. They don’t seem to be motivated by protecting their comforts in the same way conservatives are.

That said, he “[doesn’t] believe there’s a single protester right now who’s going to tune in to Tom Homan’s … superior messaging to Tim Walz and Jacob Frey.”

It’s delusional to think these protesters, who are often willing to break the law and put themselves in danger, will hear a Homan sound bite and suddenly say, “Well, by golly, you know, I was going to listen to my 45,000 TikTok followers telling me that I’m a hero to sacred democracy if I go out there and and give my life for the cause. But now, you know, that was just a great 60-second quip by Tom Homan,” Deace mocks.

If the Trump administration is serious about squashing this anti-ICE movement in Minnesota, it’s going to “take more commitment than that,” he declares.

Right now, “blue city-states” within red states, like Austin, Texas, are watching how Homan and the Trump administration handle Minnesota, says Deace. If a strict precedent isn’t set, he fears that similar anti-ICE protest movements will sprout up across the country.

Deace explains Homan’s role in Minnesota using the analogy of President Abraham Lincoln sending Union General William T. Sherman to capture the key Confederate city of Atlanta during the Civil War. The campaign involved heavy fighting, destruction of supplies and railroads, and a lot of hardship for people in the area, but it was necessary to win the war.

“This is Lincoln calling Sherman in and saying, ‘Atlanta’s a problem; go and solve it,’ all right? And I’m all for that, but we need to understand, then, sometimes you have to solve things the way that Sherman did. Sometimes the solutions are not easy,” says Deace.

“We have to understand now: We are never quelling their desire. We have to defeat it.”

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​Steve deace, Deace, Steve deace show, Tom homan, Donald trump, Minnesota, Tim walz, Jacob frey, Somali fraud, Anti ice protests, Truth social, Homan, Minnesota anti-ice protests, Minneapolis 

New York City’s newly inaugurated mayor, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, revealed plans to increase taxes on “the richest New Yorkers” less than one month into his term, blaming former Mayor Eric Adams (D) for a budget shortfall.

On Thursday, Mamdani held a press conference to detail the “Adams Budget Crisis,” claiming that the former mayor “misled and misinformed” New Yorkers about the “true state” of the city’s finances.

‘And here’s the part socialists hate saying out loud: “Free” is a lie.’

“I will be blunt: New York City is facing a serious fiscal crisis. There is a massive fiscal deficit in our city’s budget to the tune of at least $12 billion. We did not arrive at this place by accident. This crisis has a name and a chief architect,” Mamdani said.

“This is the Adams Budget Crisis.”

He accused Adams of handing the new administration “a poisoned chalice” by “systematically” under-budgeting necessary services, including rental assistance, shelter, and special education.

“Knowing his time in office was likely coming to an end, Mayor Adams chose political self-preservation over fiscal responsibility. This is not just bad governance. It is negligence,” Mamdani remarked.

“The Adams administration dramatically and intentionally understated the problem.”

Mamdani vowed to balance the budget over two fiscal years by implementing “bold solutions,” including “recalibrating the broken fiscal relationship between the state and the city.” He argued that New York City contributes 54.5% of the state’s revenue but receives only 40.5% of its operating expenditures.

RELATED: ‘Proud to be a sanctuary city’: Mamdani announces another handout for illegal aliens in NYC

Zohran Mamdani. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“Working people did not cause this crisis, and they cannot be made the victims of its solution,” Mamdani stated.

“The time has come to tax the richest New Yorkers and most profitable corporations,” he declared.

Mamdani stated that he could “build a stronger city for everyone” if New York’s top 1% earners paid an additional 2% in income taxes, while claiming that the increase was not significant enough to drive wealthy individuals to leave the state.

RELATED: ‘Tax them to the white meat!’ Mamdani’s new ‘equity officer’ posted now-deleted X posts against white women.

Eric Adams. Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Adams fired back at Mamdani in several posts on X, denying that he left a deficit in the city’s budget.

“Facts have a way of getting in the way when slogans replace math and blame replaces leadership,” Adams wrote. “I didn’t leave a ‘budget hole.’ I left over $8 BILLION in reserves. Only someone who can’t read a balance sheet would call that a crisis.”

“And here’s the part socialists hate saying out loud: ‘Free’ is a lie. Every so-called free program comes with a price tag, and someone always pays for it,” he added.

Adams argued that Mamdani’s real motive behind his press conference was to find a way to pay for the “laundry list of ‘free’ giveaways” he promised New Yorkers “to buy votes.”

“Now that the math doesn’t work, instead of owning the fact that he misled New Yorkers, he’s blaming me,” Adams said. “This is the same Mamdani who spent years attacking me for not spending enough during the migrant crisis. The only reason those reserves exist is because I ignored him and his socialist comrades who demanded we blow billions more with no guardrails.”

Adams mocked Mamdani in a third post on X, writing, “When you promise ‘free’ everything on Sunday, boldly declare that millionaires and billionaires shouldn’t exist on Monday, and by Tuesday you’re scrambling to fund your giveaways with the very people you wanted gone just yesterday.”

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​News, Zohran mamdani, Eric adams, Socialism, New york city, Nyc, New york, Politics 

A family-owned winter sports company is stepping in to save a critical piece of Americana.

Based in Maine, the 208-year-old publication had seemingly released its final edition in November, after offering weather predictions and gardening advice for more than two centuries.

‘It felt wrong to stand by while an irreplaceable piece of our national heritage disappeared.’

The company wrote a heartfelt goodbye on its website toward the end of the year, saying that the 2026 Farmers’ Almanac would be its final release.

“Though the Almanac will no longer be available in print or online, it lives on within you,” editors Sandi Duncan and Peter Geiger wrote.

Fading fast

While the team did not give a specific reason for the closure in their post, CBS News reported that the publishers cited growing financial challenges involved with producing and distributing in today’s “chaotic media environment.”

As the almanac was starting to fade from public memory, publisher Tim Konrad stepped in.

Konrad founded family-owned media company Unofficial Networks, which focuses on content related to skiing, snowboarding, national parks, mountain adventures, and outdoor exploration.

“I saw the announcement that one of America’s most enduring publications was set to close, and it felt wrong to stand by while an irreplaceable piece of our national heritage disappeared,” Konrad said in a press release on the almanac’s website.

RELATED: Trump gives American farmers $12 billion boost to overcome inflation, trade wars

Photo by CBS via Getty Images

‘Living link’

Describing the publication as an important piece of American history, Konrad said it is “more than just a book — it’s a living link to generations of knowledge and curiosity about the natural world.”

In addition to a photo alongside Geiger, the entrepreneur said he has been working closely with the team to preserve its most beloved content, like its long-range weather forecasts, humor, and the publication’s “distinctive voice.”

Geiger praised the transition and exclaimed, “An American tradition continues!”

The editor went on to say that the values and wisdom of the almanac have been protected and nurtured for 200 years, and he is grateful to have found the “right next custodian in Tim Konrad.”

Geiger added, “I am also confident he will honor its heritage and carry it forward for generations to come.”

RELATED: Forget Greenland — we’re losing the real green land that feeds America

Photo by Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

New harvest

The Farmers’ Almanac — not to be confused with rival publication The Old Farmer’s Almanac — was founded in 1818 by poet and astronomer David Young and publisher Jacob Mann. It will continue to be accessible online, with plans to revive the annual print edition in future volumes.

Unofficial Networks has built a strong brand and following in its own genre, garnering over 250,000 subscribers on its YouTube channel. The channel features first-hand footage of avalanches along with skiing content.

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​Align, Farmers, Farming, Farmers’ almanac, New york, Maine, American history, Americana, Lifestyle 

After BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales exposed the truth hiding behind H-1B visas in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott (R) decided to open an investigation into H-1B visa abuse and has directed all Texas state agencies to freeze new H-1B visa applications.

“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa program, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that program to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbott wrote in a statement.

“Evidence suggests that bad actors have exploited this program by failing to make good-faith efforts to recruit qualified U.S. workers before seeking to use foreign labor. In the most egregious schemes, employers have even fired American workers and replaced them with H-1B employees, often at lower wages,” he continued.

“Rather than serving its intended purpose of attracting the best and brightest individuals from around the world to our nation to fill truly specialized and unmet labor needs, the program has too often been used to fill jobs that otherwise could — and should — have been filled by Texans,” he concluded.

“Credit where credit is due,” Gonzales comments. “Let this play out. Let this investigation play out. Let them prove to us how far they are willing to go. This is step one of many different steps that need to take place in order for us to take our country back, in order for displaced American workers to be able to find work again.”

“So we’re not stopping. Obviously, public pressure works. We’re going to expose every aspect of this racket from the H-1B visas to all of the other visas that feed off of them, like H-4 visas,” she continues.

“But it turns out, yeah, your spouse can just get a visa too, if you’re on an H-1B. The kids too. There’s a visa for that. And so these H-4 visas have even less oversight on the rules of the kinds of jobs that they can get on and take on an H-4 visa,” she explains.

If an immigrant here on an H-4 visa wants to work at a place like McDonald’s, “there’s nothing stopping them,” Gonzales says.

“The whole thing is a racket,” she continues. “We will be exposing all of it.”

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A criminal illegal alien accused of throwing a baseball-sized rock into a New Jersey school bus and fracturing the skull of an 8-year-old girl was placed on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, the Department of Homeland Security said earlier this week.

The DHS, citing local reports, said the school bus was traveling on the New Jersey Turnpike to Yeshivat Noam — a local Jewish day school — after a field trip at Liberty Science Center on Jan. 7.

‘We hope New Jersey’s sanctuary politicians will help us keep him off American streets for good.’

Officials said Hernando Garcia-Morales of Mexico threw a rock at the vehicle, breaking a window and hitting the third-grade student, who was forced to have surgery.

The DHS said two days later — Jan. 9 — New Jersey Turnpike State Police arrested Garcia-Morales for aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and possession of a weapon. The Bogota (New Jersey) Police Department also charged him for aggravated assault, criminal trespassing-defiant, criminal trespassing-peering, and criminal mischief-damage property, DHS said.

NJ.com added that Garcia-Morales was found in a self-made campsite within Old Croaker County Park in Bergen County.

Garcia-Morales has had an extensive criminal history while living in sanctuary state New Jersey, the DHS said, noting that he was arrested for burglary in 2023 and for possession of a weapon and theft in 2006.

In addition, the investigation also linked him to multiple rock-throwing incidents in Bogota Borough, NJ.com reported, citing state police.

Garcia-Morales has since been placed in ICE custody, NJ.com added.

RELATED: Minnesota’s ‘worst of the worst’: DHS highlights arrests of repeat offenders, violent criminals in Operation Metro Surge

DHS said Garcia-Morales entered the United States on an unknown date.

“Violently targeting a school bus full of children is extremely wicked and heinous,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who called the suspect a “monster.”

“Hernando Garcia-Morales should have never been in this country, let alone released, after multiple arrests, into New Jersey communities,” McLaughlin also said, adding that “we hope New Jersey’s sanctuary politicians will help us keep him off American streets for good. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens have no place in the U.S.”

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​Crime, Department of homeland security, Ice, Immigration and customs enforcement, Detainer, Rock, Bus, Young girl injured, Fractured skull, New jersey, Mexico, Teaneck, Jewish day schoo, School bus, Rock throwing attack, Window, Hernando garcia-morales, Criminal illegal aliens, Politics 

“Breaking Bad” actor Giancarlo Esposito has a message for old white men: If you want civil war, you might just get it.

The 67-year-old told a reporter at the Sundance Film Festival that it is “time for a revolution” and that the powers that be “don’t even know that’s what they’re starting.”

‘They’ll kill 500, 50 million, however [many], but the rest of us would survive with a new [world].’

Esposito, who has also starred in “The Mandalorian” and “Better Call Saul,” elaborated on his theory at the premiere of his latest project on Tuesday in Park City, Utah.

Fring-a-ling

“You know, some very rich old white men are exerting their power to suppress our own people, thus creating a feeling of civil war in the streets, preparing the haters to hate, teaching them how to shoot — they’re not even trained right — to kill,” he explained. “This is all preparation for a very insidious problem that’s happening in our world.”

Esposito then told a reporter from Variety that while tens of millions may die from a revolution, the rest would get to live on in the new world.

RELATED: Sundance VIPs take 10-minute protest break in between screenings

Collateral damage

“I have to speak out that we will not be ICE’d out,” the actor continued. “This is not going to happen. They can’t take us all down. If the whole world showed up on Putin’s doorstep or on the Iranians’ doorstep or in Washington, it would stop [them]. They’ll kill 500, 50 million, however [many], but the rest of us would survive with a new [world].”

The TV actor went on to say that the unnamed forces don’t know what the revolution is that they are starting, but “we have to be strong enough to know that we can change the world. We have to change it from within.”

“Not by deporting immigrants” and “not by killing off brown … people,” the actor stressed.

RELATED: Brave Hollywood stars hit Sundance red carpet in defiance of ICE ‘gestapo’ terror

Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Talk show

This year’s Sundance has seen the “premiere” of many celebrity political opinions. Edward Norton, for example, wowed audiences by comparing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Nazi gestapo.

Not to be upstaged, actress Natalie Portman told Deadline that what the Trump administration is doing is “really the worst of the worst of humanity,” while actor Elijah Wood of “Lord of the Rings” fame showed up for a 10-minute demonstration on Main Street to protest ICE with cell phones.

Wood said “folks” had been “unlawfully gunned down in Minnesota” and that the crowd at Sundance is “coming together” and is not divided.

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A Democrat Oklahoma state representative is resigning after she got caught trying to pay the Ethics Commission with a forged check.

Rep. Ajay Pittman, whose district includes part of Oklahoma City, announced her resignation Wednesday after pleading guilty to a felony charge related to the forged check. She was in her fourth term.

The Democrat had previously agreed to pay $12,000 in restitution and a fine over similar accusations in 2020 and 2022.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said that part of the sentence for Pittman included her resigning from her office.

“I believe stepping aside allows my district to be served without distraction,” Pittman said. “Leadership is not only about holding office, but it’s also about knowing when to close a chapter with grace and clarity.”

Pittman was accused of violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act in relation to campaign finance records, as well as forgery and embezzlement. Investigators searched Pittman’s office in October.

Drummond said that she forged a check to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission to avoid paying back funds to her campaign account.

“Public officials hold a sacred trust with the people they serve,” read a statement from Drummond in a press release. “When that trust is violated for personal gain, it strikes at the very heart of our institutions. This office will continue to hold elected officials accountable when they abuse their positions and betray the public’s confidence. No one is above the law in Oklahoma.”

Pittman also received a deferred sentence of seven years and has to pay full restitution for the campaign funds she is accused of embezzling.

RELATED: Congresswoman’s staffer indicted for spreading her intimate videos and photos online

The Democrat had previously agreed to pay $12,000 in restitution and a fine over similar accusations in 2020 and 2022.

Pittman either authored or co-authored more than 160 pieces of legislation during her time in the legislature. KOCO-TV said she was an influential and prominent politician in Oklahoma.

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Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) gave a speech Wednesday on the Senate floor expressing both his intention to help starve the Department of Homeland Security of funds and his outrage over anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement agitator Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting on Saturday by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent.

When discussing Pretti’s demise, Durbin relied on a large visual aid — a supposed photograph of the incident.

However the Democratic senator appears to have overlooked glaring indications that the image was significantly doctored. For starters, one of the federal agents depicted in the image appears to be missing his head.

‘AI enhancement tends to hallucinate details.’

“I’m going to show a photo of that scene, which is graphic, but I’m afraid is necessary to appreciate the horror of the moment,” Durbin said as he set the image for all to see on an easel. “This photo shows the last second before the ICE agent killed Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis.”

After citing the image as evidence that it was “obvious” Pretti had made “no effort to resist” — a claim contradicted by footage taken from multiple vantages — and emphasizing that “the photo tells the story,” Durbin criticized the Trump administration for encouraging skepticism about the initial narrative surrounding the shooting.

“What was the Trump administration’s immediate response when they heard of this second killing in Minneapolis? Not to bring down the temperature but instead to rush to the American people with one message: ‘Don’t believe your eyes. Don’t believe what you see,'” said Durbin, pointing at the image, which is apparently an AI interpretation of a blurry still from footage taken of the incident.

RELATED: ‘Gentle nurse’ narrative cracks: New video appears to show Pretti spit toward federal agents and kick out taillight

Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images

There are numerous other signs of AI “hallucinations” in the image used by Durbin besides the absence of one agent’s head.

There are, for instance, confusing shadows; a seemingly impossible configuration of fingers on Pretti’s right hand; an unnatural bend in one of the legs of the headless agent kneeling next to Pretti; and a fantastical weapon in the possession of the agent depicted behind Pretti.

Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Information, told the Agence France Press, “The issue with these images is that the AI enhancement tends to hallucinate details.”

According to IBM, “AI hallucination is a phenomenon where, in a large language model (LLM) often a generative AI chatbot or computer vision tool, perceives patterns or objects that are nonexistent or imperceptible to human observers, creating outputs that are nonsensical or altogether inaccurate.”

Peter Adams, senior vice president of research and design at the News Literacy Project, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that such AI-generated images “are an example of how synthetic visuals can spread confusion and further divide Americans about important issues.”

Durbin was evidently not the only liberal duped by the image.

In fact, it went viral on multiple social media platforms, including X, where it netted tens of millions of impressions and was shared widely. Even retired Gen. Raymond Thomas III, the former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, and MSNBC legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks appear to have been fooled by it.

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After the withdrawal of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) formally declared her candidacy for governor of Minnesota in a polished campaign video released Thursday.

Klobuchar emphasized unity during what she described as a period of deep division in the state but repeatedly invoked federal immigration enforcement as a core concern for voters.

‘Get out of our state.’

“I’m running for every Minnesotan who wants ICE and its abusive tactics out of the state we love,” Klobuchar said, echoing remarks she has made repeatedly on the Senate floor and in public appearances as Minnesota has grappled with a federal immigration enforcement surge.

In recent speeches, she has urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave Minnesota and criticized congressional efforts that would fund expanded ICE operations.

Klobuchar said the federal immigration surge in Minnesota was “making us less safe” and called on ICE to “get out of our state,” arguing that the deployment of thousands of agents inflamed tensions rather than improved public safety.

RELATED: ‘Organized obstruction’: Leaked alleged Signal chats show anti-ICE radicals tracking ICE agents, chasing vehicles

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, Klobuchar also issued a statement through her Senate office criticizing the operation as being carried out “against the wishes of local leaders” and warning that federal enforcement actions were destabilizing Minnesota communities.

Klobuchar further condemned congressional proposals that would increase ICE funding without additional restrictions, saying she would not support legislation that “doubles down on enforcement-first policies” while communities are already facing unrest tied to federal immigration operations.

Her gubernatorial campaign video opens with Klobuchar addressing recent tragedies, saying, “Minnesota, we’ve been through a lot,” before referencing a string of violent incidents, including the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of which occurred amid unrest tied to federal immigration enforcement activity.

RELATED: ‘You should f**king kill yourself’: DHS releases terrifying audio of anti-ICE agitator threatening Minnesota agent

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

She also criticized the presence of roughly 3,000 federal immigration agents operating in Minnesota communities, criticizing an administration she said “relishes division.” Klobuchar has publicly said that immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis are “making us less safe” and has joined other Minnesota leaders in calling those federal actions a threat to community safety.

Klobuchar said Minnesota needs leaders who can stand up to Donald Trump’s administration while still finding common ground to address problems at the state level.

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​Minnesota, Amy klobuchar, Governor, Office, Campaign, Politics 

Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino posted a video message in support of federal immigration officers after he and some of his agents left Minneapolis in the wake of a lethal shooting.

President Donald Trump sent border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to address growing rioting and protests after Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal officers Saturday.

‘I’ve got your back, now and always — I love you, I support you, and I salute you.’

Bovino, who has been lauded for his “turn and burn” tactics by immigration hawks, issued a statement of love and support for his officers in the social media video.

“Team, behind me are a few individuals there,” said Bovino, referring to former Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. “That’s the original turn and burn, the folks that helped make America.”

“But you know what? I’m very proud of what you, the mean green machine, are doing in Minneapolis right now, just like you’ve done it across the United States over these past tough nine months,” he added.

“And I want you to know that you’re the modern-day equivalent of turn and burn. It makes me very proud,” he concluded. “I also want you to know that I’ve got your back, now and always — I love you, I support you, and I salute you.”

Bovino coined the term “turn and burn” with his agents to describe mass deportations.

Homan has met with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as well as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, both Democrats, after arriving in the state. Both Frey and Walz have said their goal is to shut down all federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota.

RELATED: More UNHINGED anti-ICE extremist footage: ‘I am a liberal, leftist, pagan, lesbian, transgender woman, and witch!’

Homan addressed reporters from Minneapolis about making the immigration enforcement operation safer.

“I am not here because the federal government has carried its mission out perfectly. The first thing I said to senior staff when I walked in here, is what I told you earlier: I didn’t come here for photo-ops or headlines. I come here looking for solutions,” he said.

“I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here has been perfect,” he added. “Nothing’s ever perfect, and anything can be improved on. And what we’ve been working on is making this operation safer, more efficient, by the book. The mission is going to improve.”

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Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck has come up with a newly coined term to describe what has the left in a death grip — the “Barabbas trap.”

Glenn modeled the term after the Jewish insurrectionist and notorious prisoner Barabbas, who was released after Pontius Pilate asked a crowd during Passover whether he should release the insurrectionist or Jesus Christ.

The crowd chose to release the one who offered the easy way out, revolution, rather than Christ’s way.

And he believes the left is currently falling hardest for the “Barabbas trap” in Minnesota.

“This is possibly the biggest fraud case in American history, OK? And there’s no way the Democrats in power didn’t know about it. But no one’s talking about that,” Glenn says on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“No one’s talking about how you, the taxpayer, the people who are now saying ‘Barabbas,’ how you were ripped off, how maybe your children were hurt because your government, the state government and the local government, was giving money knowingly to people who were abusing the system,” he explains.

“And when the government comes in to arrest, they start shouting for revolution. And they’re shouting for it because of the leaders. The same leaders who likely allowed the fraud, know the people in the streets will look past their egregious sins if it means stopping Trump,” he continues.

While Glenn agrees that it’s “sane” to have a healthy distrust of the federal government and demand “accountability and transparency” — he also notes that there’s a line where “distrust becomes devotion.”

“Where you stop evaluating the facts because you’re devoted, where your movement stops being about justice and becomes about being against something so completely that it doesn’t matter what you’re now defending,” Glenn says.

“When people are told these arrests are targeting truly dangerous criminals, the sober response isn’t blind faith in the government. I don’t have that,” he says, explaining that the sober response is asking for evidence.

“And if the claim is true, if people are being swept up, who are really violent, predatory, destructive, then the society is indeed standing at a knife’s edge, cliff’s edge … not because enforcement can’t be abused. It can. Not because the state can’t lie. It can. But because a crowd can begin to treat evil as an acceptable ally as long as it wears the right costume: resistance,” Glenn says.

“I would like to coin a term here. This is the ‘Barabbas trap,’” he adds.

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In a sudden turn of events, anti-ICE protesters are now being arrested, with some members of the Trump administration, including border czar Tom Homan, making their presence felt on the ground.

Attorney General Pam Bondi joined Homan and other officials in Minneapolis on Wednesday with a post of some of the latest anti-ICE scalps police have claimed, including some who have since been catapulted to internet infamy.

‘We expect more arrests to come.’

“I am on the ground in Minneapolis today. Federal agents have arrested 16 Minnesota rioters for allegedly assaulting federal law enforcement — people who have been resisting and impeding our federal law enforcement agents,” Bondi wrote.

“We expect more arrests to come,” she continued.

RELATED: Somali radical accused of sickening salivary assault on federal agents after bizarre ‘bananas with rice’ speech

Nasra Ahmed. Attorney General Pam Bondi on X

Bondi wrote that all of the anti-ICE protesters were arrested for allegedly “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees” under 18 U.S. Code § 111.

Christina Rank, Abdikadir Noor, Madeline Tschida, Nitzana Flores, Helicity Borowska, Quentin Williams, William Vermie, Paul Johnson, Gillian Etherington, Joshua Doyle, Kirubele Adbebe, Margaret Sager, Ilan Wilson-Soler, Nasra Ahmed, Alice Valentine, and Matrim Charlebois were named in the post as those arrested recently.

Bondi included booking photos of those arrested in her post on social media.

Among those in the photos was Somali radical Nasra Ahmed, who last week went viral for her bizarre, jumbled speech about Somalian nationality and bananas and rice.

Ahmed is accused of spitting in the face of a federal officer, leading to her detention. During the press conference held after her release without charges, she was wearing a prominent bandage on the right side of her forehead. No sign of injury or bandages can be seen in the booking photo, however.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on X

Attorney General Pam Bondi on X

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President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, pledged to stay and clean up Minneapolis until justice is served.

Homan traveled to Minneapolis this week in the aftermath of a second fatal shooting of an anti-ICE agitator. Despite new footage apparently showing Alex Pretti, the radical killed over the weekend, spitting on federal agents and kicking out a tail light, violent activists are continuing to ravage Minneapolis.

‘They’ll be held accountable.’

“The reason for the massive deployment is because of the threats, because of the violence,” Homan said during a Thursday press conference. “… We brought extra resources in to provide that security.”

“When the violence decreases, we can draw down those resources.”

RELATED: Alex Pretti broke a rib in a previous altercation with feds a week before he died: CNN

Ben Brewer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Homan suggested that many of these violent mobs are not organic, but rather organized and well-funded groups of agitators motivated by ideology. Although he didn’t specify the approach, Homan committed to holding these agitators accountable.

“About the organization and the funding of the attacks on ICE,” Homan said. “I’m not going to answer a lot about that, because I’m not going to show our hand, but they’ll be held accountable. Justice is coming.”

RELATED: Federal cops in Pretti shooting placed on leave; Pretti’s family retains attorneys from George Floyd case

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Homan said a lot of progress has been made since he arrived in Minneapolis on Monday, claiming Minnesota has agreed to allow county jails to notify federal agencies like ICE when illegal aliens are released so they can be taken into custody. Although Homan acknowledged that this is a step in the right direction, he is committed to staying in Minnesota until the work is done.

Blaze News has reached out to Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison for comment.

“I’m staying until the problem is gone,” Homan said.

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As talks between the Trump administration and Minnesota leadership continue, with some possible success, police have begun dealing with protesters more efficiently this week.

In a surprising turn of events, protesters in Minneapolis were swiftly dealt with near the Graduate by Hilton hotel.

‘All individuals: You are under arrest. Please sit down.’

In video originally captured on independent reporter Brendan Gutenschwager’s livestream of the protests in Minneapolis on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, protesters could be seen being kettled by police on a street block.

Police officers, who were reported to be Minnesota state police and University of Minnesota police officers, quickly formed a line on the street.

RELATED: Somali radical accused of sickening salivary assault on federal agents after bizarre ‘bananas with rice’ speech

Photo by Kerem YUCEL / AFP via Getty Images

“All individuals: You are under arrest. Please sit down,” one officer says once the police line is set.

The video showed a few dozen protesters on the street, many of whom sat down immediately in compliance with the order.

Gutenschwager reported that this kettling tactic was used near the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis.

A second video of the aftermath of some arrests shows police walking arrestees toward a line of blue buses.

Frontlines TPUSA posted a video on the ground of the same event. Describing the scene, the cameraman says, “They’re being taken into these buses now with bars on the windows.”

Though the crowds seemed subdued during and after the kettling tactic, Gutenschwager’s livestream showed that the protesters were much more energetic and disruptive in the earlier hours of the night.

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A video circulated on social media on Wednesday that appears to show Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, having an altercation with federal agents in Minneapolis on January 13, a week before he was fatally shot.

The News Movement stated that it was filming a documentary about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Minneapolis when it received a tip that federal agents were blocking a street. Protesters had gathered in the area.

‘Now we know that Alex Pretti was not a kindly gentle nurse … he was a CRIMINAL!!!’

In the video, a man who appears to be Pretti is seen shouting at and spitting toward an agent inside a Ford SUV. He then kicks the right taillight, shattering it and dislodging it from the vehicle.

A federal agent steps out of the rear passenger side of the vehicle to confront the man and attempts to wrestle him to the ground, but the man resists. Other agents step in to pin the man to the ground.

The News Movement reported that the agents fired tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd of protesters.

After a brief altercation, the agents release the man, who returns to his feet and moves away from the officers. What appears to be a gun is seen in the man’s waistband.

Minutes later, the federal officers climb back into their vehicle and drive away.

RELATED: Federal cops in Pretti shooting placed on leave; Pretti’s family retains attorneys from George Floyd case

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Blaze News that the department is “reviewing this footage.”

A representative for the Pretti family confirmed to CBS News that the person in the video was Alex Pretti.

The News Movement reported that the footage was analyzed using the BBC’s facial recognition technology, which confirmed Pretti’s identity with 97% accuracy.

When reached for comment, the BBC referred Blaze News to its news clip on the shooting of Pretti, which included the News Movement’s January video.

Steve Schleicher, an attorney for the Pretti family, said in a statement obtained by the BBC, “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street — despite posing no threat to anyone — he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan. 24.”

RELATED: Alex Pretti broke a rib in a previous altercation with feds a week before he died: CNN

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Conservative commentators reacted to the newly surfaced video of Pretti, arguing that it shatters the left-wing narrative that he was a peaceful protester.

“This footage is so damning, that you and I both know it will never leave X,” Matt Van Swol wrote. “Now we know that Alex Pretti was not a kindly gentle nurse … he was a CRIMINAL!!! An ARMED, VIOLENT, DANGEROUS, UNHINGED criminal. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN PRISON!!!!!!!”

Tim Pool stated, “WOW. Footage shows Alex Pretti ATTACKING DHS Agents. Could he have been known to the agents as they attempted to arrest him? Known violent extremist, armed, violent, actively resisting?”

“He committed 3 crimes and wasn’t arrested. He should have been in jail. Would have saved his life,” Owen Shroyer wrote.

A separate video from what appears to be the same incident captured Pretti seemingly shouting at federal agents, “F**king assault me, motherf**ker,” before he spat on and kicked the officers’ vehicle.

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It’s only been a couple of months since our last public service announcement about deepfake videos, but in that short time, AI content has reached another terrifying milestone. While anyone could make a fake video of a celebrity with a simple prompt, new AI video tech now makes it possible for an average person to “become” someone else on camera entirely, complete with a brand-new face, clothes, expressions, and even the person’s voice.

The facade of fakery is reaching critical mass

A video surfaced in early January showcasing an AI specialist named Eder Xavier using a combination of Kling AI Motion Control, Gemini Nano Banana Pro, and video editing software to “become” the cast of “Stranger Things.” In the short clip posted to his Instagram page, he rotates through several characters, perfectly replicating the appearances of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Derek (Jake Connelly), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Hopper (David Harbour).

Deepfakes may finally be the thing to break people’s addictions to their phones.

Most alarming of all was that he didn’t just swap faces with the cast members. The AI software recreated everything — their clothes, hairstyles, skin blemishes — and stamped it onto his body. Although Xavier didn’t speak in the video, Kling can also imitate voices, further fueling the facade of fakery.

This type of tech is quite different from the Neil deGrasse Tyson video we covered in November. In that example, Neil was recreated using a prompt that constructed his office and himself in a post-production video. Kling AI Motion Control, however, can impose another person’s body directly onto a video of the creator to make the other person do or say practically anything.

While Xavier’s video is a harmless showcase of the AI video technology in action, it doesn’t take much to imagine how this could be abused. At the very least, deepfake videos can trick people into thinking a friend, family member, politician, or celebrity did something out of character. At the worst, deviant users could expand on the Grok deepfake scandal by creating inappropriate content of real celebrities, played by themselves with an AI skin on top, engaging in adult or illicit activities.

The bad, the good, and the hope of tomorrow

Now that people can become anyone, at any time, for any reason, Kling AI Motion Control (and services like it) could single-handedly tear apart several digital industries around the web.

RELATED: Anti-Trump groups are quietly planning for a deepfake election crisis

Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

For starters, influencer marketing is primed to lose its luster when a random person can pretend to be any online personality — or even create an alternate identity — to gain followers and sell products. Imagine a 40-year-old man posing as a 21-year-old beautiful blonde woman to sell products, earn likes, and push scams.

Online dating apps are another digital service that will lose all credibility. If you can’t tell if the person you’re talking to is real or fake, why would you swipe and risk meeting an imposter at all? The movie and film industry will also suffer when actors can be recreated by extras to play minor roles on camera, or studios could cut down on the cost of reshoots by reskinning stand-ins to play main characters.

On the bright side, adult paid subscription services, like OnlyFans, could crumble if patrons can’t be sure that the attractive woman they subscribe to isn’t secretly that 40-year-old man again (yikes).

In the best-case scenario, the rise of AI deepfakes may finally be the thing to break people’s addictions to their phones. If nothing on social media is real — photos, videos, posts — why would anyone waste their time scrolling? The alternative, of course, is that people continue to consume AI slop in pursuit of increasingly irreversible brain rot, but the hope is that AI breaks users’ hyper-online habits and helps them seek real-world experiences, taking us back to the days before technology warped our perception of reality.

What to do next

Online deepfake content feels inescapable, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do about it.

Some celebrities are already starting to resist AI and its ability to steal their likeness. Matthew McConaughey just trademarked himself to prevent AI companies from using images that resemble him, giving him the right to take legal rights against “AI misuse.” If successful, other celebrities, and maybe even citizens, will likely do the same.

Until then, Eder Xavier’s video serves as another reason to question everything you see online. In a digital world where nothing on social media is real and everything could lead to a scam, the internet as we know it will collapse, or at the very least, it will become far less important than simply living life out in the real world.

​Tech 

A concealed carrier wasted no time doling out justice when a pair of males allegedly attempted an armed robbery against him earlier this week.

Chicago police said a 39-year-old man was exiting his vehicle around 2:40 a.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Montana Street and Laramie Avenue in the city’s Cragin neighborhood, WFLD-TV reported.

‘So sick of thugs.’

With that, two males — Robert Cooks Jr., 23, and Teryon Pittman, 24 — approached him, and one of them pulled out a gun and demanded the victim’s belongings, the station said.

Well, the victim wasn’t having a bit of it.

Police said the CCL holder drew his own gun and fired multiple shots, striking Cooks in the legs, WFLD reported.

RELATED: Road rage suspect opens fire on fellow motorist in Chicago, cops say. But victim is a concealed carrier — and wins shootout.

Cooks and Pittman both were charged with one felony count of armed robbery with a firearm, the station said.

Paramedics treated Cooks, after which he was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition, WFLD said.

The station added that Pittman has faced criminal charges in Chicago three times since 2020, including two cases of domestic battery.

RELATED: ‘I’ll blow your head off’: Carjacking victim threatened crook after turning the tables on him. Now carjacker learns his fate.

Teryon PittmanImage source: Chicago Police

Both suspects have a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday, WFLD noted.

A number of commenters under the station’s Facebook post about the incident didn’t hold back.

“Great job CCL holder,” one commenter wrote.”Too bad!!! Pew pew,” another user exclaimed.”So he faced 3 charges since 2020 and still roaming the streets?” another commenter asked. “The court system is sad.””That’s awesome,” another user noted.”So sick of thugs,” another commenter lamented.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest on Wednesday of 16 anti-ICE rioters who allegedly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and/or interfered with federal agents while officers were engaged in official duties in Minneapolis.

Among the radicals charged under 18 U.S. Code Section 111 was Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old “Somali-American” whose bizarre speech about Somalis’ supposed affinity for bananas and rice recently went viral.

‘I will carry this on my shoulders.’

Ahmed, who lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, held a press conference with Democrat state Rep. Samakab Hussein at the Minnesota Capitol last week, where she criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, accused federal agents of roughing her up, and did her apparent best to provide some insights into Somali identity.

“I got kidnapped by ICE,” said Ahmed, wearing a bandage on a portion of her head not covered by her Islamic veil. “ICE came to my neighborhood, where — my neighborhood is a very Somali neighborhood. It’s a predominantly Somali neighborhood. There’s many Somalis that live here.”

Ahmed indicated that she saw a pair of Somali men running away from federal agents outside an apartment complex on Jan. 14 and decided to get involved. When asked for her ID, she allegedly complied.

Footage appears to show a woman believed to be Ahmed spitting in the face of a federal agent.

Following the apparent salivary attack, Ahmed was reportedly arrested, taken to the Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling, then briefly held on pending federal felony charges at Sherburne County jail in Elk River.

Speaking at the press conference several days after she was released without charges, Ahmed claimed both that an ICE agent used a racial slur in reference to her and that she suffered a concussion during the arrest.

RELATED: Somalia accused of stealing US-funded food aid, destroying warehouse — but caves when Trump admin cuts it off cold

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“They arrested and detained me for two days, and I was put in county jail,” continued the anti-ICE radical. “Then there was this ICE agent who called me a racial slur.”

“I am proud to say I have survived ICE,” said Ahmed. “Many people are saying, including my family and friends, that I will go down in history, and I will carry this on my shoulders.”

While Ahmed’s sob story resonated with Democrats such as Rep. Betty McCollum and other anti-ICE liberals, the part of her monologue that went viral online was her commentary on Somalis and “eating bananas with rice”:

I’m Somali. I’m proud to be Somali. To me, being Somali isn’t just eating bananas with rice. It’s a, it’s a lot, it’s like a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s an interesting thing. It’s a — it’s very hard to describe what means to be Somali and what it means to be American, but it’s like a cultural fusion. It’s kind of like the bananas and rice, you know? People don’t really see like — you know it’s a, it’s a, it’s — you know, people don’t think, “Oh, you can eat bananas with rice,” but that’s what it’s like to be Somali and American. It’s like that combination of banana and rice, but you’re gonna get what I mean.

Despite the supposed fusion of bananas and rice, the U.S. State Department has paused immigrant visa processing from Somalia, citing it as one of 75 countries “whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.”

The Center for Immigration Studies indicated in a report last month that in Minnesota, approximately 54% of Somali-headed households received food stamps and 73% of Somali households had at least one member on Medicaid. By way of comparison, the figures for native households were 7% and 18%, respectively.

“Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars. Billions every year. Billions of dollars, and they contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88%. They contribute nothing,” President Donald Trump said last month. “I don’t want them in our country; I’ll be honest with you. Some might say, ‘Oh, that’s not politically correct.’ I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country.”

Ahmed is now hitting up sympathizers for cash, requesting $20,000 on GoFundMe “to support her in this difficult moment.” At the time of publication, she had raised nearly $2,000.

Regarding the arrest of Ahmed and other anti-ICE radicals, Bondi noted, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law.”

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With more and more fraud being investigated and exposed across the country, the Trump administration has created a new office specially dedicated to prosecuting these types of crimes.

On Wednesday night, President Trump announced the creation of the office and his nominee to run it.

‘My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars.’

“I am pleased to nominate Colin McDonald to serve as the first ever Assistant Attorney General for National FRAUD Enforcement, a new Division at the Department of Justice, which I created to catch and stop FRAUDSTERS that have been STEALING from the American People,” Trump said on Truth Social. “My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars.”

Trump called McDonald a “very Smart, Tough, and Highly Respected AMERICA FIRST Federal Prosecutor” and promised that the administration would “RESTORE INTEGRITY” to the federal programs.

RELATED: ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE!’ Trump responds to Minneapolis Mayor Frey’s latest act of defiance

Todd Blanche and Pam BondiPhoto by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

“STOP THE SCAMS!” Trump concluded.

McDonald, though not a well-known figure on the national stage, has a resume built for the new position.

For example, McDonald successfully prosecuted a large-scale conspiracy in 2020 that the judge in the case called “staggering in its breadth, its scope, and its audacity.”

The conspiracy case, which involved multiple people including the former police chief of Honolulu, brought multiple charges and sent several people to prison for years.

Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general under Pam Bondi, signaled his approval of the choice on X: “Colin is a rockstar, who was instrumental in our team’s mission of Making America Safe Again. He is a consummate prosecutor who loves God, family, and country and will serve the President and the American people well.”

Likewise, ambassador and chief of protocol Monica Crowley cheered on the decision: “President Trump is putting an end to the United States of Fraud.”

The announcement was made amid ongoing talks between the Trump administration and the leadership of Minnesota, one of the primary hot spots of widespread fraud.

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Life keeps getting crazier for 23-year-old YouTuber Nick Shirley — the overnight independent journalist who ripped the curtain back on Minnesota’s Somali-run fraud schemes, bringing the issue to national attention.

Episode one, which has amassed over 141 million views, exposed Somali-run day cares in Minnesota as allegedly fraudulent operations. Shirley’s footage highlighted empty day-care centers, many with locked doors, blacked-out windows, and tight-lipped “staff members,” despite receiving millions in federal and state funding.

Episode two identified fraudulent nonemergency medical transportation companies as the “hub” of the fraud wheel that enables the schemes taking place in day-care centers and other welfare/social services programs.

Shirley’s reporting has not only triggered widespread outrage across the nation but also immediate action from the Trump administration. Shortly after episode one dropped, the Department of Health and Human Services froze federal child-care funding to Minnesota and later expanded freezes to other states. The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations in Minnesota surged as well.

On a recent episode of “Come & Take It,” Sara interviews Shirley about his viral Minnesota fraud exposés, the government actions they sparked, the death threats and doxxing forcing 24/7 security, and his congressional testimony where Democrats were largely absent.

“We always hear about the fraud taking place, but we’ve never actually been able to see it with our eyes. And so I think that’s why the video did so well … because people were really actually able to see that fraud,” says Shirley of his viral exposé.

As a fellow investigative journalist who’s uncovered the depth of depravity taking place in “kid-friendly” drag shows and other LGBTQ+ events — and most recently widespread H-1B visa fraud in Texas — Sara agrees that showing rather than telling is the most powerful and effective form of journalism.

“There is something about just having it put right directly in front of them that really, really hammers the point home,” she says.

Unfortunately effective journalism is also dangerous. As a result of Shirley’s reporting, he’s faced death threats, doxxing of his home address and family members, and severe harassment that has forced him to hire 24/7 personal security for protection so that he can continue his work.

“I’ve had to raise and spend thousands of dollars in order just to keep myself safe and my family as well,” he says, noting that people who want to help can donate at supportnickshirley.com.

But the level of aggression and vitriol he’s faced isn’t even the most surprising thing Shirley has encountered.

On January 21, Shirley testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee about his Minnesota fraud investigations. However only two out of the eight Democrats scheduled for the hearing showed up, and the two who were present “didn’t direct one single question towards [him],” he tells Sara.

It’s “gotten to the point where they’re defending fraud or to the point where they don’t even want to speak out against the fraud because it’s happened inside of their own areas,” he says.

Sara agrees, adding, “Democrats are now running on a platform of ‘we want to protect the fraudsters”’ — the reason being that they’re scared of being labeled “racist” or “xenophobic.”

But there’s nothing racist about facts — and the fact is that “89% of the fraud that has been committed and charged inside Minnesota is by Somalians,” says Shirley.

“If there was any other race outside of those buildings [of fraudulent businesses], they would have got filmed as well … so by no means am I a racist.”

“I’m just a fact-teller and a truth-teller.”

To hear more of the interview, watch the video above.

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​Come and take it, Come and take it with sara gonzales, Sara gonzales, Nick shirley, Nick shirley video, Minnesota fraud, Somali fraud, Minnesota somali fraud, Blazetv, Blaze media