Canadian Rock legend vows to yank music off Amazon over Jeff Bezos' support of Trump

Daniel Hampton
October 10, 2025 

 RAW STORY


Rock legend Neil Young took a swipe at Amazon this week over its support of President Donald Trump's administration and vowed to yank his music off the e-commerce website.

Young wrote on his website that the "time is here."

"FORGET AMAZON. Soon my music will not be there. It is easy to buy local. Support your community. Go to the local store. Don’t go back to the big corporations who have sold out America," he railed.
Young, 79, continued, "We all have to give up something to save America from the Corporate Control Age it is entering. They need you to buy from them. Don’t. They shut down our government[,] your income[,] your safety[,] your family’s health security. Take America Back together, stop buying from the big corporations[,] support local business. Do the right thing. Show who you are."

Elsewhere, he told visitor to forget Whole Foods and Facebook as well.

"BEZOS SUPPORTS THIS GOVERNMENT," wrote Young.

Bezos shifted toward supporting Trump this year following a yearslong frosty relationship. Bezos urged Trump to select Doug Burgum as vice president, attended Trump’s inauguration — to which Amazon donated $1 million — and publicly praised Trump’s comeback and victory. He also overhauled The Washington Post's opinion pieces to be more Trump-friendly.

Young, known for searing protest music that dates to the late 1960s, debuted a new political ditty earlier this year that targeted Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Trump.

Trump's bid to ship out wrongly deported migrant 'fizzles' out again

Matthew Chapman
October 10, 2025 
RAW STORY


Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El Salvador, is seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on April 9, 2025. Abrego Garcia Family/Handout via REUTERS

The Trump administration's latest move to re-deport Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia has failed once again.

According to Politico, U.S. officials have tried to remove him to Africa, but so far have found no country willing to take him: "A senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official testified that efforts to get the African countries of Uganda and Eswatini to accept the high-profile deportee have foundered in recent days. Another potential destination, Ghana, also seemed to fizzle Friday as that country’s foreign minister said unequivocally on X that Ghana would not agree to receive Abrego."

The Trump administration previously deported Abrego, a family man living in Maryland, to El Salvador, where he was locked up for weeks in the infamous CECOT megaprison, despite a judicial order prohibiting his deportation to that specific country.

Homeland Security officials initially tried to claim they had no jurisdiction to push the government of El Salvador to return him, but after his case became a national story and generated mounting political pressure, they finally repatriated him to the United States.

Almost as soon as they had done so, federal officials charged Abrego with gang activities, in a case that legal experts have said is deeply defective and based on unreliable testimony. They also began proceedings to deport him again, this time looking for any country other than El Salvador that might accept him.

According to the report, Abrego has actually offered the administration a solution — but they rejected it.

"Abrego told the administration in August that he would accept deportation to Costa Rica," said the report. However, "One of his lawyers, Andrew Rossman, said Friday that the administration’s scattershot attempts to identify African countries instead show that the administration is intent on refusing the Costa Rica offer," telling U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, “We now know they are 0 for 3. Three strikes and you’re out. They have spun the globe and picked various places … to fail on purpose by selecting places that would be completely unpalatable for Mr. Abrego."

"What we’ve been getting in this courtroom is a lot of run-around,” Rossman added.

'What gives them the right?' MAGA senator melts down over Muslims praying outdoors

David Edwards
October 9, 2025 

RAW STORY

The Alex Jones Show/screen grab

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) suggested that Muslims did not have the right to pray outdoors in the United States.

During a Thursday interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Tuberville expressed outrage at Muslims expressing their faith.

"I mean, this is out of control!" the senator exclaimed. "What gives them the right, Alex, to go out in the middle of the street in a lot of these big cities and do their prayer? You got a mosque, go to your mosque!"

"You don't do that in your countries, only you do it where you want to, as you said earlier, you want to mark your ground," he continued. "And that's what they're doing. They're taking over slowly but surely. We have to fight back. Sharia law needs to be banned in this country."

"And if we don't do it, we're going to lose the United States of America to a bunch of people coming over here that want to kill us."

Tuberville blamed "socialist communists" for permitting freedom of religion.

"That's who lets it happen, and we've got to stop it, and people just need to wake up and understand," he said. "And every day they dream about either raping our people or killing our people. And that's got to stop."

'What a disgrace': Trump roasted for getting COVID jab while admin fans anti-vax flames

Matthew Chapman
October 10, 2025 
RAW STORY

President Donald Trump's physical results were released on Friday night, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt boasting that he is in excellent health and his heart is functionally 14 years younger than his biological age.

But the report also said Trump received a COVID booster vaccine — a detail not lost on people furious at Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an infamous anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, who moved to restrict the categories of people for whom COVID vaccines are recommended.

Commenters on social media quickly pointed out the irony, with many making fun of it and others simply outraged.

"Hey MAGA anti-vaxxers, Trump got a COVID booster shot," wrote the Blue Georgia account.

"Dear MAGA — guess who just got both the updated COVID vaccine and flu shots today? Your dear Leader Trump," wrote health analyst Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding. "Maybe you should get them too. Sincerely, An Epidemiologist Who Told You Trump Would Get COVID Booster."

"So Trump’s doctor says that Trump got the updated Covid vaccine and a flu vaccine shot," wrote political scientist Norm Ornstein. "Even as he says nothing while his secretary of HHS conducts a war against these vaccines. What a disgrace."

TACO'S TARIFFS ARE A BLUFF

'Really consequential': Critics rage over Trump's massive new tariff as markets plummet

Nicole Charky-Chami
October 10, 2025 
RAW STORY


Critics raged Friday after President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs on China as the stock market sank, calling the move "really, really consequential."

Trump unleashed multiple rants on Truth Social Friday, saying he was planning repercussions after China added new retaliatory port fees for U.S. ships and added a 100% tariff on top of already existing tariffs — the latest move in the ongoing trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed nearly 900 points lower than the day's trading, the lowest it's been since April.

Social media users responded to the news.

"Tariff otaku woke up and posted one China tariff threat and we get the worst stock market result in 6 months lol," writer Joey Politano wrote on X.

"Know there's a lot going on, but 48-hour implosion of the months-long US-China trade detente - now with a threat to impose tariffs at a level surpassing the Spring rate that represented a de facto trade embargo + sweeping export controls - is really, really consequential," CNN's Phil Mattingly wrote on X.

"No meeting + 100% tariffs. Definitely part of a plan that was 'devised by them years ago'—that our politicians allowed to happen. Hard to believe POTUS didn’t see this coming when he’s been talking about this for decades—before it became 'fashionable.' He did. It’s calculated," writer Erik Durneika posted on X.

"Just a reminder that the Constitution gives Congress the power to set tariffs. It could end this madness any day they chose to discover their power," University of Michigan professor Justin Wolfers wrote on X.

Op-Ed: More tariffs as China restricts rare earth exports, Wall Street implodes


By Paul Wallis

EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL
October 10, 2025


Ramping up its chip industry is a way for Beijing to beat restrictions imposed by Washington on exports of the most advanced chips -- used to power AI systems -- to China - Copyright AFP/File STR

The US is threatening more tariffs as China moves to protect its rare earths stranglehold. Trump is also threatening to walk out on talks with Xi Jinping. As ill-considered all-round knee jerks go, this is a classic.

Wall Street can thank itself for its subservient acceptance of the trade situation and the recent meltdown. China can thank itself for creating an easy target for retaliation. Absolutely no positives are yet to be seen here.

You can argue just barely that the tariffs are a bargaining chip. You can also argue that China is therefore calling the shots. Tariffs are no longer a novelty. They’re starting to look very like the only shot available to the US, and, worse for America, purely reactive.

China can also play favorites with its export market, which just happens to be the whole world. Rare earths are the big noise in commodities. That gives China a lot of bargaining power. The US is hardly the only market for rare earths.

Tariffs are also paid by US importers, and nobody else. They’ll be a direct hit on the entire US supply chain, driving up prices. It’s not like China doesn’t know that.

Restricted supply doesn’t exactly help America’s sacred Big Tech, either. They’ll have to spread the cost impact, wear the added prices, or pass on at least some of those added costs.

That hardly helps the development of new AI chips and the shipload of new technologies of which Wall Street is so enraptured. You’d think somebody would condescend to be a lot less apathetic about the constant instability of core prices.

Nor is the market doing much about shoring up its supply from other sources. There are plenty, in various degrees of capacity for managing some of the demand. Even the basics, like electronics recycling, aren’t getting much traction. The market seems to be waddling along just accepting whatever hits it.

As usual, any sort of longer-term solution isn’t even under discussion. There seems to be no clear path to basic trade. Everything is an issue, whether anyone likes it or not.

They don’t.

The EU’s not happy with rare earth licensing requirements. That’s pretty standard for any moves in this extremely sensitive sector. The rare earths supply chain is creaking under the strain, and the EU’s many tech giants are wary of any further requirements.

The Chinese side is pretty straightforward. They need to protect and enhance their position, including their own new technologies. Their rare earths are hugely valuable, and they also have serious possible price issues with the volatility of this edgy market. Lithium prices have been on a wild ride recently. Lithium used to be the must-have rare earth. The lithium price bottomed out very quickly. You can see why China is trying to get into as strong a market position as possible.

This is not a problem that seems in any hurry to solve itself. The markets need to focus on sustainable trade and price policies. Otherwise, everyone loses.

_______________________________________________________

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

Federal Judge Sides With Journalists, Protesters in Chicago Over Violent Tactics of Trump’s Federal Agents

“Individuals are allowed to protest,” the judge said. “They are allowed to speak. That is guaranteed by the First Amendment to our Constitution, and it is a bedrock right that upholds our democracy.”

Crowds gather at Ida B. Wells Dr, & Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago for an emergency rally, waving flags and holding signs to oppose ICE and National Guard presence in Chicago, United States on October 8, 2025.
(Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Brad Reed
Oct 09, 2025

COMMON DREAMS

A federal judge has placed new restrictions on the use of force that federal agents can use on protesters and journalists in Chicago.

In a Thursday ruling, US District Judge Sara Ellis barred Department of Homeland Security officials from using riot control weapons “on members of the press, protestors, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others.”



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Ellis’ decision came in response to a complaint filed by independent media publication Block Club Chicago, along with other news organizations.

In its report on the ruling, Block Club Chicago explained that four of its reporters “were indiscriminately hit with pepper-spray bullets and tear-gassed by federal agents” while they were covering protests outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois.

The publication also quoted Ellis saying in court on Thursday that some of the actions carried out by federal agents against journalists and protesters “clearly violate the constitution.”

“Individuals are allowed to protest,” she emphasized. “They are allowed to speak. That is guaranteed by the First Amendment to our Constitution, and it is a bedrock right that upholds our democracy.”



The temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by Ellis will be in effect for the next 14 days, and she could extend its length significantly by granting a preliminary injunction later in the month.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a consistent critic of federal officials’ conduct in his city, hailed the ruling but lamented that it was even necessary in the first place.

“It’s a sad state in America when reporters have to go to court to not get shot at by the federal government,” he said, in a video posted on X by local talk radio station WCPT 820. “That we have to go to court so that teachers can run their classrooms and that students can get inside safely and that we can protect them from chemical agents. We have to go to court to protect the people of our city from chemical agents.”

Federal immigration officials have been employing increasingly aggressive and violent tactics in the Chicago area in recent weeks, including attacking a journalist and a protesting priest with pepper balls outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility; slamming a congressional candidate to the ground; dragging US citizens, including children, out of their homes during a raid in the middle of the night; and fatally shooting a man during a traffic stop.

Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s National Guard Deployment in Illinois

The judge said she saw “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois,” and allowing troops into Chicago “will only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started.”

People gather at Ida B. Wells Dr. and Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago to protest President Donald Trump deploying National Guard troops and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Illinois on October 8, 2025.
(Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
Oct 09, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

US District Judge April Perry on Thursday partially granted Chicago and Illinois’ request for a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops, purportedly to protect immigration officials carrying out “Operation Midway Blitz” in and around the nation’s third-largest city.

Perry—who pledged to issue a written opinion on Friday—said in an oral ruling that the US Department of Homeland Security’s descriptions of recent events in the area are “simply unreliable,” noting that “in the last 48 hours, in four separate unrelated legal decisions from different neutral parties, they all cast significant doubt on DHS’s credibility and assessment of what is happening on the streets of Chicago.”

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Federal law—specifically, 10 US Code § 12406—allows the president to federalize the National Guard under three conditions, “not whenever he determines when one of them is met,” said Perry, an appointee of former President Joe Biden.

Those conditions are: invasion or a danger of invasion by a foreign nation; rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the federal government; or if the president “is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”

“When President Trump is trying his best to imperil the rights of residents of major American cities, it’s encouraging to see this court ruling based on adherence to law and facts.”

Reporting on an argument made during a hearing earlier Thursday, the Chicago Tribune detailed:
[Christopher] Wells, the attorney for Illinois, said the country's founders did not use words like "rebellion, insurrection, or war" lightly.

"The president of the United States believes there is a rebellion brewing in the United States? That is such an audacious claim," Wells argued before US District Judge April Perry. "Who are the rebels? Are the rebels well-armed? ...There is no rebellion in Illinois."

[US Departmnet of Justice attorney Eric] Hamilton, meanwhile, repeatedly summarized violence in the Chicago area he said has been perpetrated by the "rioters" on immigration agents, including the boxing in of vehicles, assaults, and the alleged $10,000 bounty put on Border Patrol boss Greg Bovino's head.

"There doesn't have to be an actual rebeller," Hamilton said. "It is enough that there is a danger of a rebellion here. Which there is."

The judge said in her oral decision that she had seen “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois,” and allowing troops into Chicago “will only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started.”

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement that “today’s ruling is a victory for the rule of law. The administration has provided no lawful explanation for its deployment of federal troops, and none exists. It’s clear that this attempted occupation within the state of Illinois is driven by political animus and not because federal officials are unable to protect federal property or enforce federal law.”

“The president does not have the unfettered discretion to turn America’s military against its own citizens when they exercise their constitutional rights,” he continued. “I am absolutely committed to upholding the Constitution and defending the rule of law, and I will continue to fight back against this unlawful attack on our state’s sovereignty.”

“The president does not have the unfettered discretion to turn America’s military against its own citizens when they exercise their constitutional rights.”

Hina Shamsi, director of ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement that “this decision reinforces that the president’s expansive claim of power to federalize state troops when there’s no actual emergency and good faith factual basis is unlawful. Like district court judges in Oregon and California, this court looked at the facts on the ground and rightly found that the Trump administration’s version of events is quite simply unreliable.”

“As the founders of this country made abundantly clear, turning troops on civilians is an intolerable threat to our liberties,” Shamsi added. “When President Trump is trying his best to imperil the rights of residents of major American cities, it’s encouraging to see this court ruling based on adherence to law and facts.”

Perry’s decision came in response to Chicago and Illinois’ Monday lawsuit over Trump’s move to deploy National Guard troops weeks into the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation. Rather than immediately weighing in, the judge scheduled Thursday’s hearing.

In the meantime, around 1,000 protesters took to the city’s streets Wednesday night; Trump called for the arrest of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, both Democrats; and members of the Texas National Guard began arriving in the suburb Joliet. As Wells put it during the hearing, despite the pending legal challenge, the federal government “plowed ahead anyway,” and “now, troops are here.”

US Northern Command said late Wednesday that approximately 200 Texas National Guard soldiers and 300 members of the Illinois National Guard “were activated into a Title 10 status” and are in the Chicagoland area to protect ICE and “other US government personnel who are performing federal functions.”

The village of Broadview confirmed to NBC Chicago that on Wednesday night, three vans carrying 45 members of the Texas National Guard arrived at the suburban ICE facility that has been the site of several protests in recent weeks.

“During their patrols, Broadview police officers observed the vans parked in the rear of 2000 25th Ave. and all of the guards were sleeping,” the statement said. “We let them sleep undisturbed. We hope that they will extend the same courtesy in the coming days to Broadview residents who deserve a good night’s sleep, too.”

As Chicago and Illinois filed their suit on Monday, demonstrators and journalists sued over federal agents’ violent violations of First Amendment rights at Broadview’s ICE facility. On Thursday, US District Judge Sara Ellis—appointed to the Northern District of Illinois by former President Barack Obama—issued a temporary restraining order barring officials from using pepper spray, tear gas, and other weapons “on members of the press, protestors, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others.”

Also on Thursday, a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit heard arguments over Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard in Portland, Oregon, as he has previously done in Los Angeles, California and Washington, DC. That followed US District Judge Karin Immergut blocking the deployment—after which the Trump appointee was quickly accused of “legal insurrection” by Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff.

Meanwhile, officials in Memphis confirmed in an online update Thursday that National Guard troops are set to start patrolling the city on Friday. In sharp contrast to Pritzker and Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has welcomed the planned deployment.

Unlike Trump’s efforts in Chicago and Portland, “National Guard troops in Memphis have not been federalized,” The Tennessean reported Thursday. “They are deployed under federal Title 32 rules, which preserve state authority over the National Guard with the federal government paying for expenses. As such, the Tennessee National Guard remains under Lee’s control.”

Neither Lee nor Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has “publicly explained the legal basis of the operation,” the newspaper also noted. While Lee, when questioned by reporters, deferred to Skrmetti, a spokesperson for the state’s top lawyer said in an email that “we do not have a comment at this time.”

Trump dealt blow in National Guard deployment as judge finds no evidence of 'rebellion'

Daniel Hampton
October 9, 2025 

RAW STORY


U.S. Border Patrol officers look at protester from the rooftop of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Broadview facility in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 9, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

President Donald Trump's effort to send National Guard troops to curb crime suffered a setback on Thursday as a federal judge blocked the move for at least 14 days

Trump sent National Guard troops to Chicago earlier this month, citing rampant crime and to aid federal immigration enforcement efforts. Trump called the U.S. city a "hellhole" of crime, even though police data showed significant decreases in violent crime. About 300 troops were federalized from the Illinois National Guard, and 200 troops were sent via the Texas National Guard.

Judge April Perry on Thursday orally granted an emergency motion to block the deployment, the Chicago Tribune reported. A written ruling is expected on Friday.


Chicago Tribune reporter Jason Meisner relayed the judge's remarks, noting she described the facts surrounding a Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

"On Sept. 27, Perry says, CBP informed Broadview police they should prepare for increased use of tear gas on protesters, saying it was 'going to be a s---show.' (that's a quote)," noted Meisner on X. He added: "Perry says after the mayhem that day, state police and other local law enforcement got involved in crowd control and things calmed down. Despite this, on Oct. 4, the president issued a memorandum stating the situation in Illinois was out of control, Perry says."

The judge noted that on Oct. 5, the Department of Homeland Security's internal communications team called it a "great weekend" and that state police were “difference makers” in controlling the situation in Broadview, Meisner said.

The judge noticed the discrepancy.

"Perry: The defense portrays an entirely different scenario that 'cannot be aligned' with the view of local officials. Perry says she 'simply can’t credit the defendant’s declarations' due in large part of a growing body of evidence that DHS's views are 'simply unreliable.'

Later, the judge said a rebellion is "a deliberate organized resistance openly opposing the laws and government as a whole" via armed violence, said Meisner.

"I have found no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois," she said.

Kimmel hopes boycott outrage drew free speech ‘red line’


By AFP
October 9, 2025


Comedian Jimmy Kimmel was briefly taken off the airwaves last month over remarks about the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk - Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday said he hopes the outrage over his late-night show’s suspension following pressure from the Trump administration had drawn a “bold red line” for free speech.

Kimmel was briefly taken off the airwaves last month over remarks the host made in the wake of the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, prompting a public outcry.

Disney-owned ABC brought back Kimmel’s show after a week-long hiatus.

“I hope that we drew a really, really bold red line as Americans about what we will and will not accept,” said Kimmel.

“I really hope that that’s what comes out of all this.”

President Donald Trump, who has long chafed at the mockery he receives from Kimmel and his fellow late night talk show hosts, has repeatedly demanded they be taken off air, and has called other criticism of him “illegal.”

Kimmel’s removal from the airwaves came shortly after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr appeared to threaten the licenses of stations broadcasting the show unless they did so.

Kimmel said his comments about Kirk’s alleged killer had been “intentionally and, I think, maliciously mischaracterized” by Republicans.

But he said he would “love to have Trump on the show” in future.

“I wouldn’t necessarily be interested in (having) Brendan Carr on the show,” he deadpanned.

Reflecting on the boycotts by companies owning dozens of ABC affiliate stations, Kimmel on Wednesday admitted he initially thought his show was permanently finished.

“The idea that I would not have whatever it was, 40 affiliates… I was like, ‘Well, that’s it,'” he told the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles.

“I said to my wife, ‘that’s it. It’s over,'” he said.

Kimmel’s return proved a huge ratings hit, even as the blackout meant a quarter of the country could not watch.

Citizenship Is No Protection Against Trump’s Deportation Machine

It seems that those who do not fit the racial profile of a “true” American, even if they are citizens of this country, are also considered “enemy within,” judging by the way they trample on their rights during indiscriminate detentions.


US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrest an undocumented Mexican immigrant during a raid in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn on April 11, 2018 in New York City.
(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Maribel Hastings
Oct 10, 2025

Common Dreams

Not even US citizens are safe from this administration’s deportation machine, which considers it “reasonable” to detain a person based on their physical appearance, where they work, or where they are at the moment of a raid.

It is a policy that justifies the use of racial profiling against those who do not fit the concept of what it means to be “American.” If you look Hispanic, they can question your immigration status even if you are a third-generation American.

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‘Trump’s Gestapo’: Chicago Marches to Resist ICE, National Guard Deployment

The president has reiterated in recent days that he is fighting the “enemy within,” and this seems to be directed not only at his political opponents, individuals and organizations that do not share his ideology, or immigrants whom he labels as criminals. It seems that those who do not fit the racial profile of a ”true“ American, even if they are citizens of this country, are also considered ”enemy within,“ judging by the way they trample on their rights during indiscriminate detentions.

They also persecute entire cities that Democrats lead and that this administration argues are ”out of control“ either because they are home to immigrants or because of their crime rates, which, incidentally, are lower than the crime rates in many Republican cities that his government does not even mention.

”I feel like there’s nothing I can do to stop immigration agents from arresting me whenever they want. I just want to work in peace. The Constitution protects my ability to do that.“

Thus, they use the narrative of the ”enemy within“ to justify the use of the National Guard and the military to conduct police work in clear violation of laws that restrict and limit the military’s interaction with the civilian population due to the danger it may pose.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, ”the Posse Comitatus Act bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except when expressly authorized by law. This nearly 150-year-old law embodies an American tradition that sees military interference in civilian affairs as a threat to both democracy and personal liberty. However, recent events have revealed dangerous gaps in the law’s coverage that Congress must address.“

It is these ”dangerous gaps“ that President Donald Trump is trying to exploit to” normalize“ the military presence in American cities, especially if African American Democrats lead them and they have high percentages of Hispanics, African Americans, and immigrants in their populations.

What’s more, these cities can be used to train the military, according to Trump.

”I told Pete (Hegseth, Secretary of War) we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard but military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon,” Trump said recently. In fact, the Texas National Guard has already arrived in Chicago ahead of the anticipated deployment.

America’s Voice highlighted some 15 cases of citizens who have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), some violently, despite having identification.

Cases such as that of Leonardo García Venegas, a US citizen who has just filed a lawsuit against ICE for detaining him not once but twice in Baldwin, Alabama. The agents argued that Venegas’ REAL ID was fake.

“I feel like there’s nothing I can do to stop immigration agents from arresting me whenever they want. I just want to work in peace. The Constitution protects my ability to do that,” García Venegas said through his lawyers.

Cary López Alvarado, born in Los Angeles, California, was pushed and detained by ICE despite being pregnant.

George Retes, a US citizen and war veteran from Camarillo, California, was detained for three days without the right to make calls or seek legal representation during an ICE operation at a farm where he works as a security guard. “It would have taken them two minutes to check my papers and confirm that I was a citizen. Instead, they arrested me because I was there,” Retes said. He told Telemundo that no one, “whether undocumented, a citizen, or a veteran,” deserves to be treated the way they did him just because of his physical appearance.

Retes sued the federal government and is represented by the Institute for Justice. “John Adams famously said that we are a nation of laws, not of men. That is not true if federal agents can, with impunity, strip Americans like George of their rights,” said Marie Miller, an attorney with the Institute.

The fact is that even citizens are not immune to Trump’s anti-immigrant crusade, which has little to do with security and much to do with trampling on rights and protections in his quest to control who is a true American.

Leaked memo from top DHS official suggests 'no legal barrier' to crack down on protesters

Ailia Zehra,

 Alternet
October 10, 2025

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem holds a press conference, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci/File Photo

A new memo from the Department of Homeland Security authorizes Federal Protective Service officers to leave federal property and, if necessary, enter private homes to “eliminate” threats, including what it describes as an “identified sniper” located blocks away from a federal facility, journalist Marisa Kabas reported Friday in her newsletter The Handbasket.

The internal memo, titled “Federal Protective Service [FPS] Policy and Off-Property Jurisdiction,” was written by DHS Acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara and circulated to all FPS personnel on Wednesday by Benjamine Huffman, the DHS Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary for Management, per the report.

Addressing concerns about the legal limits of FPS jurisdiction, Mazzara wrote that such limits “are misplaced,” and that “the limits to FPS’s authority off federal property are the edges of the Constitution on one side and necessity on the other.

Mazzara stated that FPS officers are permitted to respond to incidents even far from federal buildings if a “reasonable nexus” to the protection of federal property exists.

He wrote: “FPS could even enter a private residence containing an identified sniper blocks away from a federal facility in order to eliminate that exigent threat. There is simply no legal barrier to FPS taking action off federal property where a reasonable nexus to protecting that property exists.”

The phrase “identified sniper” refers to an individual who has been clearly recognized by FPS as posing a lethal, long-range threat — likely armed and positioned to target a federal building or officers.

The memo frames this as a justification for the use of force and warrantless entry in urgent situations.

Mazzara also wrote that FPS may set up barriers, fences, and other physical controls in areas near, but not limited to, federal buildings.

“This is not limited to the sidewalk or streets immediately adjacent to federal buildings as we do not live in a world of sticks and stones, but Mausers and Winchesters,” he said, referencing rifle brands.

One FPS employee, who was not named, told The Handbasket: “It’s quite clear that agents are being told they can go wherever. All of it was quite alarming and an unusual email to receive both in content and tone.”

The guidance comes as National Guard troops have been deployed to cities like Chicago, where DHS agents have recently been involved in arrests of immigrants, journalists and clergy. U.S. Northern Command confirmed Wednesday that these deployments are intended to protect DHS personnel and property.

In an accompanying email, Huffman wrote that the guidance “reaffirms that FPS officers and, by extension, any DHS personnel performing protective functions at ICE or CBP facilities may operate beyond federal boundaries when a clear nexus exists to the protection of federal property. Meanwhile, although the memo presents its scenarios as responses to threats, internal reports from DHS itself suggest a different picture.

The New York Times reported that FPS assessments of recent protests in cities like Portland described them as “low energy,” offering no indication of heightened threats that would warrant expanded enforcement powers.

Another FPS employee told The Handbasket: “I guess they got jealous of ICE being able to do anything they want.”

‘I Am Worried About My Community,’ Says Frog Who Daily Confronts Federal Agents in Portland

SUBVERTING ALT RIGHT AVATAR;PEPE THE FROG

“I don’t want to see anybody treated inhumanely,” says a local resident who wears the costume to show that the narrative that demonstrators are “violent terrorists” is “ridiculous.”


A protester in a frog costume stands in front of a line of federal law enforcement officers outside a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Oregon on October 6, 2025.
(Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Julia Conley
Oct 10, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


As one right-wing news outlet reported that it had “unmasked” a protester who for months has been participating in nonviolent resistance against the Trump administration’s agenda in Portland, Oregon while dressed in a frog costume, one journalist spoke directly to the demonstrator about their views and motivations.

“I come out here day in and day out since June because I am worried about my community, I am concerned with what is happening in my community,” said the protester, whom news outlets have recently identified as Seth Todd. “I don’t want to see anyone treated inhumanely.”
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Todd added that he finds it “unacceptable” that the Trump administration has deployed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and other federal agents to Portland, which President Donald Trump and other officials have baselessly described as “war-ravaged” and “under siege from attack by Antifa,” referring to protesters who oppose fascism.

Local reports have made clear that the agents themselves are escalating violence in Portland—using tear gas and pepper balls to stop community members including Todd from protesting near an ICE facility.

Last week, a federal agent was filmed shooting pepper spray directly into the air vent of Todd’s inflatable frog costume.

“I don’t want to see anyone treated inhumanely and to see this happen to my community members, my friends, my family, my neighbors,” Todd said Thursday.



The Telegraph‘s sensationalist reporting emphasized since-deleted comments on social media, including one in which Todd self-identified as a “little gay nonbinary toad and proud Antifa terrorist.”

The president last month signed an executive order claiming he had the authority to designate antifa—which is not an organization—as a domestic terrorist group. The term is a portmanteau of anti-fascist and refers to the ideology held by individuals and groups who oppose authoritarianism.

The newspaper quoted a family member of Todd’s who said: ”I’ve talked to him over and over again about it, if you want to protest, that’s fine. Let’s do it peacefully.“

The Telegraph did not include any description of any act of violence perpetrated by Todd, however.

Todd has been wearing the frog costume to protests since June ”just to show how ridiculous the notion that we are violent terrorists is,” the protester explained in the Thursday interview. “It’s just to showcase how that narrative is wrong and does a lot more damage than good.”

Reporting on the latest news out of Oregon, where a Trump-appointed federal judge blocked the president from deploying the National Guard in Portland last week, The Oregonian also struck an absurdist note on Friday:
The Oregonian/OregonLive fact-checked seven suspect claims made at President Trump’s antifa roundtable earlier this week that featured prominent administration officials and independent journalists with right-wing viewpoints.

We found: Portland is not on fire or bombed out.

Fact: Portland Fire & Rescue responded to four calls about fires near the ICE building since June 6, according to fire department data.

Fact: The last recorded bomb to explode near Portland was 2008.

Todd, the outlet added, is not the only Portland resident who has used a costume while confronting ICE agents.

“Our reporters at the ICE building Thursday night counted several frogs, a unicorn, a polar bear, an axolotl, a raccoon, a peacock, a shark, and a cat among about 100 regularly dressed people,” reported The Oregonian. “The nightly protest proved uneventful as darkness fell and protesters and counterprotesters started to gather. The herd of animal costumes stood out. Or was it a flock?”

Despite the calm atmosphere, reported the outlet, “rooftop officers used their pepper ball guns several times when protesters got particularly close to the officers on the ground.”

Another demonstrator who has donned a chicken costume at Portland protests told Willamette Week on Thursday that the use of animal suits has helped to poke holes in the overarching strategy the Trump administration is using to invade cities including Chicago, Memphis, and Washington, DC.

“What they rely on is fear. So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we’re actually not that afraid,” said Jack Dickinson. “It also dismantles their narrative a little bit. When they try to describe this situation as “war-torn,” it becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying [US Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit.”

“It feels like we’re winning this,” added Dickinson. “They’re not getting the footage they’re looking for. They look ridiculous.”