ECONOMIC STRIKE: The detainment of a 5-year-old boy by immigration agents has ratcheted up tensions in Minnesota and today hundreds of businesses across the state say they will remain closed, stalling economic activity in protest over ICE’s heavy hand.

   Alison Kirwin, the owner of Al’s Breakfast, a Minneapolis restaurant, told The NY Times, “There’s a time to stand up for things, and this is it.” 

  “It’s tense and emotional, and folks are hurting,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, the executive director of Faith in Action, which is assisting with the effort.

   A Department of Homeland Security official called the strike “beyond insane,” asking, “Why would these labor bosses not want these public safety threats out of their communities?” 

  Vice President JD Vance travelled to Minneapolis to understand the conflict and called Minneapolis protesters “far-left agitators,” managing only to further inflame passions.

  In addition to the ICE killing of Renee Good, many Minneapolis residents are angry about the detention of a father and his 5-year-old son, Liam Ramos, who at the time was wearing a bunny hat and a Spider Man backpack. Agents used the preschooler to try to lure other family members out of the house and they refused to open the door.

  Liam and his father are now somewhere in the ICE detention system. Vance said, “What are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death?”

PROOF: Former special Counsel Jack Smith, who had presided over two federal indictments of Donald Trump, told a House committee what he was never able to say in court, that Trump “engaged in criminal activity” that undermined democracy and the rule of law.

  Trump was separately indicted for attempting to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election and stashing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club.

  “Our investigation revealed that Donald Trump is the person who caused January 6, that it was foreseeable to him and that he sought to exploit the violence,” Smith told the committee.

  Now it’s Smith in danger of prosecution. Trump posted on his Truth Social, “Hopefully the Attorney General is looking at what he’s done, including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me. “

TRUMP NATIONS: Donald Trump is angling to establish global power and influence beyond his term as president with his “Board of Peace,” which would run parallel to the United Nations with the President in charge and holding the power to name his successor.

  The organization was conceived as a body with limited scope to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza after the pounding it took in two years of war between Hamas and Israel, but has since been enlarged in its mission to tackle conflicts around the world. The draft of its charter no longer even mentions Gaza.

  “I wish the United Nations could do more,” Trump said this week. “I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace.”

  Trump would hold sole power to invite members, set the agenda, veto decisions, dissolve the board entirely if he so chooses, and designate his own successor. Marc Weller, a Cambridge international law professor who specializes in peace negotiations, told The NY Times that, “This initiative is likely to be seen as a takeover of the world order by one individual in his own image.”

  Trump has invited Western powers, Middle Eastern countries, as well as Russia, China, and the oppressive rulers of Hungary and Belarus to join his Board of Peace. So far Hungary’s Viktor Orban and mostly Middle East countries have said they would join. Russia’s Vladimir Putin said he is undecided but that if he joins the billion dollar entry fee would have to be paid out of Russian money impounded following his invasion of Ukraine. 

COME TO GAZA!: At the same event at which Trump announced his Board of Peace, presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner revealed fantasy plans for a future of Gaza that would have a fantastical skyline of spacy high rises and be a beach front tourist draw for the world. 

    “In the Middle East, they have built cities like this — for two, three million people — they build this in three years. And so stuff like this is very doable if we make it happen,” Kushner said. 

  Gaza at the moment is virtually levelled after two years of war and it’s still controlled by Hamas militants. People are living in shacks, tents, and semi-destroyed buildings. 

  “You know what?” Kushner said.  “Let’s just plan for catastrophic success,’” 

— President Trump filed a $5 billion personal lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase and its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, claiming the bank improperly closed his accounts in 2021 following the January 6^th insurrection and sought to “blacklist” him and his family from doing business with other banks. 

— A magistrate judge in Minnesota rejected federal prosecutors’ attempt to bring charges against journalist Don Lemon after he followed protesters into a St. Paul-area church during services this past Sunday. 

  Three other people were arrested possibly to face federal charges of  interfering with religious services. The protesters were angry with the church pastor who also works for ICE.

— A final deal was reached for a majority of American investors to own TikTok, preserving to social media app’s presence in the US. The Chinese company Byte Dance will continue to own a minority share.

  Congress had forced the sale of TikTok out of concern for its ownership by a Chinese entity, causing a national security concern.

THE SPIN RACK: Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar filed the paperwork to run for governor of her state to succeed Tim Walz. Klobucar has been one of those prominent politicians sometimes mentioned as a possible presidential candidate. 

BELOW THE FOLD: The White House yesterday posted a computer-altered photo of one of the protesters arrested in that Minnesota church protest, showing her hysterically crying despite previous publication of the picture in which she was calm. Truth is the first casualty.

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