DEATH IN THE MORNING: Protesters filled the streets of Minneapolis and cities across the country following the second fatal shooting at the hands of an immigration officer in that city. As in the killing of Renee Good, a mother of three, federal authorities immediately blamed the man who was killed while multiple videos show a story contrary to their version of events.

  A variety of videos show that 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a nurse at the city’s Veterans Affairs hospital,was taking video of ice officers when he stepped between an officer and a woman who was being pepper-sprayed. Officers sprayed Pretti and wrestled him to the ground. One officer takes away a concealed pistol that Pretti had been legally carrying but had not pulled. Then, while Pretti was disarmed and on his knees, he was shot as many as 10 times.

  Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was quick to accuse Pretti of conducting “domestic terrorism.” She said in Washington, “When you perpetuate violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism.” 

  Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accused “the most powerful people in the federal government” of “spinning stories and putting up pictures.”

  One woman who was standing five feet from the shooting filed a witness affidavit saying; “I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him.”

  Noem said Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun,” and agents attempted to disarm him, “but the armed suspect reacted violently.” Video shows that Pretti was not brandishing his gun, for which he had a legal carry permit, and the ICE agents would not have been able to see it. The video defies Noem’s claim that Pretti was attempting to massacre as many immigration agents as he could.

  Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino said on CNN that the true victims in the incident were the officers.

  Noem also blamed Minnesota’s political leadership. “The Minnesota governor and the Minneapolis mayor need to take a long, hard look in the mirror,” she said. “They need to evaluate their rhetoric, their conversations, and their encouragement of such violence against our citizens and our law enforcement officers.”

  President Trump posted a screed accompanied by a photo of Pretti’s gun, asking, “Why does Ilhan Omar have $34 Million Dollars in her account? And where are the Tens of Billions of Dollars that have been stolen from the once Great State of Minnesota?”

  Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for an end to major ICE operations in his city asking, “How many more lives need to be lost before this administration realizes that a political and partisan narrative is not as important as American values?”

BACKFIRE: Right wing federal officials who normally defend the right to own and carry guns denounced Alex Pretti in Minneapolis for bringing a gun to an anti-ice protest, sparking indignation from the gun rights sector.

  The National Rifle Association said in a statement saying that the suggestion by a federal prosecutor that people who carry guns risk being lawfully shot by officers as “dangerous and wrong”. Pretti had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, which he never fired or even displayed in the fatal incident.

  The anti-gun crowd has been quick to point out that when teenager Kyle Rittenhouse killed two men at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin back in 2020 he was exercising his 2^nd Amendment rights and fired in self-defense. 

SNOWMAGEDDON: In what would be the lead story on any other day, that monster winter storm making its way across the country brought ice and power outages across the south and deep snow to the north, creating havoc in road and air travel. Snow fell in at least 17 states, more than a foot of it in some areas.

  As many as 3,700 airline flights have been cancelled so far this morning, more than 11,000 yesterday. 

  Now it’s going to be cold. The National Weather Service warns of extreme and even dangerous cold following the storm.

SUPER: Sam Darnold threw three touchdown passes last night for the Seattle Seahawks to eke out a win over the Los Angeles Rams, 31-27, to set up the Super Bowl pairing.

  Earlier in the day, the New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos 10-7 in another tight game in snowy Denver. The last time the Patriots went to the Super Bowl was 2019 when Tom Brady was quarterback.

  Super Bowl LX is February 8^th. That’s #60 if, like most people, you don’t read Roman numerals.

THE SPIN RACK: Rock climber Alex Hannold yesterday successfully scaled the 1,667-foot-tall, 101 story skyscraper Taipei 101 in Taiwan, without using any safety rope. The climb was featured live on Netflix with a 10-second delay in case he fell. — Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s non-voting representative to the House announced that she will not run for another term.  She took office in January 1991 and is now 88. — Two kangaroos caused a crash  in the 270 kilometer Tour Down Under bicycle race in Australia, taking out the lead rider. — Demand for prostitutes spiked during the World Economic Forum in Davos, this year, with the majority of customers coming from the US, Ukraine, and Russia, according to the Swiss dating and erotic services platform Titt4Tat.  — Furst Lady Melania Trump on Saturday night hosted a sneak preview of the documentary about herself, “Melania.” Amazon MGM Studios is reported to have paid $30 to $40 million for the rights to the documentary, a sum that looks like a political payoff. 

BELOW THE FOLD: Miami linebacker Mohamed Toure has decided to return next fall for his eighth season of college football. He qualifies because he has a history of red-shirting and injury but really he’s in it for the academics.

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