Opinion
Trump's lies are killing us: The deadly consequences of big and little lies everywhere
(RNS) — If we trace the chain of events that caused ICE agents to be deployed to Minneapolis in the first place, they are anchored in Trump’s lies.
People gather for a vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman earlier in the day, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Robert P. Jones
January 9, 2026
RNS
(RNS) — During the opening days of his first term, Trump achieved something remarkable: according to The New York Times, “He said something untrue, in public, every day for the first 40 days of his presidency.” His spokesperson, Kellyanne Conway, coined the Orwellian term “alternative facts” to try to justify Trump’s insistence, despite clear evidence to the contrary, that the crowd size at his inauguration was larger than Obama’s. By the time he was finally forced from office four years later, The Washington Post had logged 30,573 times that Trump had uttered false or misleading claims.
Trump’s lies, both big and small, have been corrosive to the foundations of civil society and democracy, which depend on a shared sense of reality. But the events of the first days of 2026 also show they are deadly. They are literally killing us.
Given Trump’s inclination to dishonesty, his authoritarian leanings and his inability to admit failure, it’s no surprise he would respond to electoral defeat with what became known as The Big Lie: his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. What is remarkable is how willing his followers, including his stalwart white Christian supporters, were to embrace this lie.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump’s endless “stop the steal” appeals produced the inevitable violent result in an attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Public opinion polls confirmed Trump’s hold on the minds of his followers. Despite Trump losing all 62 lawsuits claiming fraud in the 2020 election, and even after witnessing the violence at the Capitol, fully two-thirds of Republicans and 61% of white evangelical protestants said they believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
The Big Lie has had remarkable staying power among the MAGA base. Trump turned affirmation of the Big Lie into a loyalty test for administration appointments in his second term. And as they were casting their ballots in the 2024 election, PRRI data revealed that majorities of Republicans and white evangelicals (62% and 56% respectively), compared to only 31% of the public, continued to believe this false claim.
“The 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.” (Graphic courtesy of PRRI)
Just this week, ahead of the fifth anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump installed his Big Lie onto an ominous-looking page at the official White House website. The page includes intentionally glitchy black and white photos of the members of Congress who served on the bipartisan “House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,” while featuring cheery color photos of insurrectionists — several holding stuffed animals and their kids — who are labeled “patriots.” The narrative on that page turns the truth of that day on its head, reasserting the Big Lie and blaming the Democrats for the violence:
The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as “insurrectionists” and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump—despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government. In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection by certifying a fraud-ridden election, ignoring widespread irregularities, and weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters….
These distortions of reality are not the first to happen on government websites under the Trump regime (see the widespread erasure of the contributions of women and people of color across various agency websites), but they are the most flagrant.
They represent a new stage in the backsliding of America away from democracy. This desecration of the truth is a signal that the White House and the U.S. government, under this regime, have now officially become the propaganda machine for a mythomaniac and would-be dictator.
It is a mark of our time, in this second coming of the Trump regime, that Trump’s lies are no longer surprising. His lying is so expected that I doubt we’ll see any media outlet attempting to quantify them as they did during his first term. Today, the lies aren’t just spewing from Trump’s mouth during rants at rallies or late-night insomnia-induced tirades on social media. They are now propagating on official government websites from the Oval Office to the Department of Homeland Security to the National Park Service to the Centers for Disease Control. We now must accept that nothing we read on official government websites can be trusted.
These cynical attacks on truth are also deadly. On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump’s Big Lie resulted in the deaths of one U.S. Capitol Police officer, along with four insurrectionists. It also contributed to the deaths of four other U.S. Capitol Police officers, who took their own lives after the experience of being violently assaulted by their fellow citizens.
And just yesterday, the evidence suggests that Renee Nicole Good — a U.S. citizen and mother of three — was shot and killed in cold blood by an ICE officer while trying to drive away. Trump is lying about the encounter. “She behaved horribly,” Mr. Trump asserted in an interview with The New York Times. “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over.” The video evidence — independently analyzed and verified by Bellingcat, The New York Times Visual Investigation Team and The Washington Post’s Visual Forensic team — clearly contradicts Trump’s claims.
(Screen grab from video by Caitlin Callenson, Minneapolis.)
While some media outlets continue to hedge, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is mincing no words. In a passionate and courageous public response, he said, “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed … What I can tell you is the narrative that this was just done in self-defense is a garbage narrative that is not true … It has no truth, and it needs to be stated very clearly.”
If we trace the chain of events that caused ICE agents to be deployed to Minneapolis in the first place, they are anchored in Trump’s lies. Trump has openly claimed that Minneapolis is being targeted because of its large Somali population, which is predominately Black and Muslim (a largely refugee population, by the way, that was assisted with resettlement by Lutheran Social Services with government support). At a cabinet meeting in December, as more than 2,000 ICE agents were first being deployed to Minnesota, Trump went on a racist screed, describing Somalia as a country that “stinks and we don’t want them in our country.” He went on to compare Somalis to “garbage” and falsely claimed that Somali gangs had “taken over” Minnesota and were “roving the streets looking for ‘prey.’”
We can trace a direct line from those racist lies by our president to the death of Renee Good. And to the 14 other shootings by ICE officers that have happened since late July. Just yesterday, ICE agents reportedly shot two more people at a traffic stop in Portland, Oregon, and then fled the scene before local police arrived. And I haven’t even mentioned the funerals for dozens of people, including civilians, killed in American strikes on Venezuela. Without Trump’s lies, all of these people would be with their families today.
There will be more of all of this to come in 2026: lies that beget violence and death, which beget more lies. We’ll need to grasp that living out the simple Christian dictum “the truth shall set you free” will be a dangerous task in Trump’s 2026 America.
With an ICE budget of $170 billion that was designated in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” (a figure large enough to effectively end homelessness in America, by the way), Trump’s lies are being manifested in the president’s own shock troops, guns and concentration camps. And they are, eventually, coming for all of us if we do not rise up en masse in the name of truth this year.
(Robert P. Jones is president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute and the author, most recently, of “The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future.” This article first appeared on his Substack newsletter. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of RNS.)
Trump's lies are killing us: The deadly consequences of big and little lies everywhere
(RNS) — If we trace the chain of events that caused ICE agents to be deployed to Minneapolis in the first place, they are anchored in Trump’s lies.
People gather for a vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman earlier in the day, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Robert P. Jones
January 9, 2026
RNS
(RNS) — During the opening days of his first term, Trump achieved something remarkable: according to The New York Times, “He said something untrue, in public, every day for the first 40 days of his presidency.” His spokesperson, Kellyanne Conway, coined the Orwellian term “alternative facts” to try to justify Trump’s insistence, despite clear evidence to the contrary, that the crowd size at his inauguration was larger than Obama’s. By the time he was finally forced from office four years later, The Washington Post had logged 30,573 times that Trump had uttered false or misleading claims.
Trump’s lies, both big and small, have been corrosive to the foundations of civil society and democracy, which depend on a shared sense of reality. But the events of the first days of 2026 also show they are deadly. They are literally killing us.
Given Trump’s inclination to dishonesty, his authoritarian leanings and his inability to admit failure, it’s no surprise he would respond to electoral defeat with what became known as The Big Lie: his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. What is remarkable is how willing his followers, including his stalwart white Christian supporters, were to embrace this lie.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump’s endless “stop the steal” appeals produced the inevitable violent result in an attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Public opinion polls confirmed Trump’s hold on the minds of his followers. Despite Trump losing all 62 lawsuits claiming fraud in the 2020 election, and even after witnessing the violence at the Capitol, fully two-thirds of Republicans and 61% of white evangelical protestants said they believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
The Big Lie has had remarkable staying power among the MAGA base. Trump turned affirmation of the Big Lie into a loyalty test for administration appointments in his second term. And as they were casting their ballots in the 2024 election, PRRI data revealed that majorities of Republicans and white evangelicals (62% and 56% respectively), compared to only 31% of the public, continued to believe this false claim.
“The 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.” (Graphic courtesy of PRRI)
Just this week, ahead of the fifth anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump installed his Big Lie onto an ominous-looking page at the official White House website. The page includes intentionally glitchy black and white photos of the members of Congress who served on the bipartisan “House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,” while featuring cheery color photos of insurrectionists — several holding stuffed animals and their kids — who are labeled “patriots.” The narrative on that page turns the truth of that day on its head, reasserting the Big Lie and blaming the Democrats for the violence:
The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as “insurrectionists” and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump—despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government. In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection by certifying a fraud-ridden election, ignoring widespread irregularities, and weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters….
These distortions of reality are not the first to happen on government websites under the Trump regime (see the widespread erasure of the contributions of women and people of color across various agency websites), but they are the most flagrant.
They represent a new stage in the backsliding of America away from democracy. This desecration of the truth is a signal that the White House and the U.S. government, under this regime, have now officially become the propaganda machine for a mythomaniac and would-be dictator.
It is a mark of our time, in this second coming of the Trump regime, that Trump’s lies are no longer surprising. His lying is so expected that I doubt we’ll see any media outlet attempting to quantify them as they did during his first term. Today, the lies aren’t just spewing from Trump’s mouth during rants at rallies or late-night insomnia-induced tirades on social media. They are now propagating on official government websites from the Oval Office to the Department of Homeland Security to the National Park Service to the Centers for Disease Control. We now must accept that nothing we read on official government websites can be trusted.
These cynical attacks on truth are also deadly. On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump’s Big Lie resulted in the deaths of one U.S. Capitol Police officer, along with four insurrectionists. It also contributed to the deaths of four other U.S. Capitol Police officers, who took their own lives after the experience of being violently assaulted by their fellow citizens.
And just yesterday, the evidence suggests that Renee Nicole Good — a U.S. citizen and mother of three — was shot and killed in cold blood by an ICE officer while trying to drive away. Trump is lying about the encounter. “She behaved horribly,” Mr. Trump asserted in an interview with The New York Times. “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over.” The video evidence — independently analyzed and verified by Bellingcat, The New York Times Visual Investigation Team and The Washington Post’s Visual Forensic team — clearly contradicts Trump’s claims.
(Screen grab from video by Caitlin Callenson, Minneapolis.)
While some media outlets continue to hedge, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is mincing no words. In a passionate and courageous public response, he said, “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed … What I can tell you is the narrative that this was just done in self-defense is a garbage narrative that is not true … It has no truth, and it needs to be stated very clearly.”
If we trace the chain of events that caused ICE agents to be deployed to Minneapolis in the first place, they are anchored in Trump’s lies. Trump has openly claimed that Minneapolis is being targeted because of its large Somali population, which is predominately Black and Muslim (a largely refugee population, by the way, that was assisted with resettlement by Lutheran Social Services with government support). At a cabinet meeting in December, as more than 2,000 ICE agents were first being deployed to Minnesota, Trump went on a racist screed, describing Somalia as a country that “stinks and we don’t want them in our country.” He went on to compare Somalis to “garbage” and falsely claimed that Somali gangs had “taken over” Minnesota and were “roving the streets looking for ‘prey.’”
We can trace a direct line from those racist lies by our president to the death of Renee Good. And to the 14 other shootings by ICE officers that have happened since late July. Just yesterday, ICE agents reportedly shot two more people at a traffic stop in Portland, Oregon, and then fled the scene before local police arrived. And I haven’t even mentioned the funerals for dozens of people, including civilians, killed in American strikes on Venezuela. Without Trump’s lies, all of these people would be with their families today.
There will be more of all of this to come in 2026: lies that beget violence and death, which beget more lies. We’ll need to grasp that living out the simple Christian dictum “the truth shall set you free” will be a dangerous task in Trump’s 2026 America.
With an ICE budget of $170 billion that was designated in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” (a figure large enough to effectively end homelessness in America, by the way), Trump’s lies are being manifested in the president’s own shock troops, guns and concentration camps. And they are, eventually, coming for all of us if we do not rise up en masse in the name of truth this year.
(Robert P. Jones is president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute and the author, most recently, of “The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future.” This article first appeared on his Substack newsletter. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of RNS.)
Trump's attacks on Renee Good part of MAGA's 'war on empathy': analysis
U.S. President Donald Trump reacts to a question about the the fatal shooting in Minnesota, in which a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 9, 2026.
Slate Senior Writer Christina Cauterucci says the right is waging a "war on empathy," and the fatal shooting of Minneapolis mother Renee Good shows just how close they’ve come to winning.
“Among their base, today’s GOP is trying to drum out any natural impulses toward compassion, such that there is no imperative to feel — let alone express — any dismay at the killing of an ideological adversary. If Good wasn’t on Trump’s side, the party line goes, she got what was coming to her,” said Cauterucci. “The rush to defend Ross is more than a political move to justify Trump’s personal militia run amok. It’s another round in the right wing’s mounting war on empathy.”
Influential Christian conservatives have been proclaiming empathy as toxic and sinful, arguing that using caring for others as a means to sway righteous Americans toward liberal causes, such as eradicating racism or feeding the poor. It’s the argument that makes letting 500,000 children die worldwide more palatable, in addition to “Medicaid cuts, SNAP freezes, ICE raids, refugee bans, and forced childbirth.”
She also noted that Tesla and SpaceX CEO (and Trump donor) Elon Musk calls empathy “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.”
“In this worldview, anyone who poses a danger to those within the inner circles of human worthiness does not warrant much empathy. And it’s easy enough to argue that just about anyone is a threat to one’s family, town, or country, thus exempting them from our responsibilities of care,” said Cauterucci, who named examples such as “a drag queen” or “a liberal judge.” This, she said, could also apply to “someone wearing a Zohran Mamdani T-shirt at the grocery store” or, more recently, “a concerned Minnesotan who stopped to film the agents plucking people out of her community.”
“Once a person is no longer worthy of empathy, they become a justifiable casualty in service to any political aim,” Cauterucci argued. “There is no need to consider proportionality; killing someone for distracting ICE agents is just as defensible as ending a life on a battlefield. From the right’s perspective, Good’s political views made her fair game, so her gruesome, untimely death by the gun of a masked federal agent need not be met with outrage or remorse. Any empathy for her or her family imperils a greater project: cleansing Minneapolis of immigrants.”
From there, Cauterucci said there is a very short distance from “believing someone’s death is unworthy of mourning to believing they deserved to die.” And eventually to “inciting more death.”
“Every falsehood spun by Trump and his acolytes is an attempt to degrade their followers’ capacity for empathy past the point of flinching at an innocent woman’s death,” Cauterucci. “The goal is to diminish the ghastliness of Good’s death, and with it, the value of her life.”
Read Cauterucci's full slate column at this link (subscription required).
U.S. President Donald Trump reacts to a question about the the fatal shooting in Minnesota, in which a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 9, 2026.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
January 09, 2026
ALTERNET
Slate Senior Writer Christina Cauterucci says the right is waging a "war on empathy," and the fatal shooting of Minneapolis mother Renee Good shows just how close they’ve come to winning.
“Among their base, today’s GOP is trying to drum out any natural impulses toward compassion, such that there is no imperative to feel — let alone express — any dismay at the killing of an ideological adversary. If Good wasn’t on Trump’s side, the party line goes, she got what was coming to her,” said Cauterucci. “The rush to defend Ross is more than a political move to justify Trump’s personal militia run amok. It’s another round in the right wing’s mounting war on empathy.”
Influential Christian conservatives have been proclaiming empathy as toxic and sinful, arguing that using caring for others as a means to sway righteous Americans toward liberal causes, such as eradicating racism or feeding the poor. It’s the argument that makes letting 500,000 children die worldwide more palatable, in addition to “Medicaid cuts, SNAP freezes, ICE raids, refugee bans, and forced childbirth.”
She also noted that Tesla and SpaceX CEO (and Trump donor) Elon Musk calls empathy “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.”
“In this worldview, anyone who poses a danger to those within the inner circles of human worthiness does not warrant much empathy. And it’s easy enough to argue that just about anyone is a threat to one’s family, town, or country, thus exempting them from our responsibilities of care,” said Cauterucci, who named examples such as “a drag queen” or “a liberal judge.” This, she said, could also apply to “someone wearing a Zohran Mamdani T-shirt at the grocery store” or, more recently, “a concerned Minnesotan who stopped to film the agents plucking people out of her community.”
“Once a person is no longer worthy of empathy, they become a justifiable casualty in service to any political aim,” Cauterucci argued. “There is no need to consider proportionality; killing someone for distracting ICE agents is just as defensible as ending a life on a battlefield. From the right’s perspective, Good’s political views made her fair game, so her gruesome, untimely death by the gun of a masked federal agent need not be met with outrage or remorse. Any empathy for her or her family imperils a greater project: cleansing Minneapolis of immigrants.”
From there, Cauterucci said there is a very short distance from “believing someone’s death is unworthy of mourning to believing they deserved to die.” And eventually to “inciting more death.”
“Every falsehood spun by Trump and his acolytes is an attempt to degrade their followers’ capacity for empathy past the point of flinching at an innocent woman’s death,” Cauterucci. “The goal is to diminish the ghastliness of Good’s death, and with it, the value of her life.”
Read Cauterucci's full slate column at this link (subscription required).
JD Vance Says Americans Should Actually Thank ICE Agent Who Killed Renee Good
“This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America,” Vance said.
By Sharon Zhang ,
Trump's DHS has 'repeatedly been caught' in outright lies: analysis“This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America,” Vance said.
By Sharon Zhang ,
January 9, 2026
Trump Blames Woman Killed by ICE Agent in Minneapolis for Her Own Death
Analysis of the incident shows the ICE agent was in no real danger before opening fire on Renee Nicole Good. By Chris Walker , Truthout January 8, 2026
During the press conference, Vance also said that Ross has “absolute immunity” to act under his job. Experts dismissed this as patently untrue.
But it suggests that Vance believes that not even the slightest amount of accountability — not even just public criticism — of Ross is acceptable, considering that the vice president believes that Ross shouldn’t be prosecuted for his actions. Nothing short of total fealty to Ross is sufficient, Vance’s comments seemingly suggest.
Reporting has found that Good was a poet, wife, and a devout Christian. She was on the way home from dropping off her youngest child at elementary school when Ross killed her.
Analyses from multiple news outlets, including The New York Times, NBC, The Washington Post, and more, have undercut the administration’s narrative that Ross was in danger. They have found that Good was, in fact, moving away from Ross when he shot her — and, further, have shown Good was trying to wave officers by, and that officers instead tried to stop her, with Ross purposefully positioning himself in front of her running car.
Further, CNN reported on Thursday that new footage of the shooting showed that Good had arrived minutes before ICE officers did, and wasn’t blocking any cars from being able to proceed on the street. It also showed that Ross was easily able to move out of the way of the car.
Critics have also noted, however, that Good’s use of lethal force was unjustified regardless of the details of the incident.
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C. on January 8, 2026.Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images
Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that Americans outraged by the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis should actually be thanking, not criticizing, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who shot the 37-year-old mother of three.
In a press conference in the White House the day after Good was killed, Vance repeated the lie that Good hit the officer, identified as Jonathan Ross, with her car. He said that Good’s death was a “tragedy of her own making,” while the real victim is Ross, who he painted as an essential agent of the law.
“This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America,” Vance said, asking for prayers for Ross and condemning the media for reports on the killing. “He’s been assaulted, he’s been attacked, he’s been injured because of it. He deserves a debt of gratitude.”
Vance referred to an incident from June, in which court documents say Ross broke the car window of a man who wasn’t complying with a traffic stop and reached inside. The man tried to drive away, with Ross’s arm reportedly “stuck” inside the car, and Ross was dragged, requiring stitches.
“So you think maybe he is a little bit sensitive about somebody ramming him with an automobile?” Vance said, suggesting that Ross’s past trauma justifies him killing Good, the latter of whom he painted as “a victim of left-wing ideology.”
Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that Americans outraged by the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis should actually be thanking, not criticizing, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who shot the 37-year-old mother of three.
In a press conference in the White House the day after Good was killed, Vance repeated the lie that Good hit the officer, identified as Jonathan Ross, with her car. He said that Good’s death was a “tragedy of her own making,” while the real victim is Ross, who he painted as an essential agent of the law.
“This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America,” Vance said, asking for prayers for Ross and condemning the media for reports on the killing. “He’s been assaulted, he’s been attacked, he’s been injured because of it. He deserves a debt of gratitude.”
Vance referred to an incident from June, in which court documents say Ross broke the car window of a man who wasn’t complying with a traffic stop and reached inside. The man tried to drive away, with Ross’s arm reportedly “stuck” inside the car, and Ross was dragged, requiring stitches.
“So you think maybe he is a little bit sensitive about somebody ramming him with an automobile?” Vance said, suggesting that Ross’s past trauma justifies him killing Good, the latter of whom he painted as “a victim of left-wing ideology.”
Trump Blames Woman Killed by ICE Agent in Minneapolis for Her Own Death
Analysis of the incident shows the ICE agent was in no real danger before opening fire on Renee Nicole Good. By Chris Walker , Truthout January 8, 2026
During the press conference, Vance also said that Ross has “absolute immunity” to act under his job. Experts dismissed this as patently untrue.
But it suggests that Vance believes that not even the slightest amount of accountability — not even just public criticism — of Ross is acceptable, considering that the vice president believes that Ross shouldn’t be prosecuted for his actions. Nothing short of total fealty to Ross is sufficient, Vance’s comments seemingly suggest.
Reporting has found that Good was a poet, wife, and a devout Christian. She was on the way home from dropping off her youngest child at elementary school when Ross killed her.
Analyses from multiple news outlets, including The New York Times, NBC, The Washington Post, and more, have undercut the administration’s narrative that Ross was in danger. They have found that Good was, in fact, moving away from Ross when he shot her — and, further, have shown Good was trying to wave officers by, and that officers instead tried to stop her, with Ross purposefully positioning himself in front of her running car.
Further, CNN reported on Thursday that new footage of the shooting showed that Good had arrived minutes before ICE officers did, and wasn’t blocking any cars from being able to proceed on the street. It also showed that Ross was easily able to move out of the way of the car.
Critics have also noted, however, that Good’s use of lethal force was unjustified regardless of the details of the incident.
President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Florida on July 1, 2025 (DHS photo by Tia Dufour/Flickr)
January 09, 2026 |
ALTERNET
MS NOW data journalist Philip Bump says the public should no longer take the word of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seriously anymore.
“The skepticism one ought to bring to any pronouncement of [President Donald] Trump should similarly be applied to those who work for and defend him. Particularly when — as in the case of the Department of Homeland Security — those officials have repeatedly been caught in fabrications of their own,” Bump said.
Trump is a liar, said Bump. And he hires liars to work for him, even in federal departments where credibility is central to function. This includes the justice department.
“The president has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness in the past decade to make false claims that impugn his opponents or celebrate his allies — or both,” said Bump. “This approach has permeated the government, carried into individual agencies by the loyal allies he’s installed as their leaders.
The Department of Justice offers countless examples of uttering blatant falsehoods. Trump officials claim DHS is targeting immigrants who have committed crimes, but Bump said the number of detainees “arrested by ICE without convictions or pending criminal charges rose from 842 on Dec. 1, 2024, to 21,892 on Nov. 30, 2025 — an astounding 2,500 percent increase.”
When the Cato Institute reported that only 5 percent of ICE detainees have convictions for violent crimes, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed their pie chart was a lie. But when a Cato rep posted a DHS document confirming the data, McLaughlin knew better than to reply, and didn’t. McLaughlin has also lied that the U.S. does not arrest or deport U.S. citizens in defiance of proof. In fact, in November online news site Zeteo posted a list of seven incidents of McLaughlin being caught making false claims. That list did not include the department’s false claim that a U.S. mother shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis was a “domestic terrorist” who tried to use her vehicle as a “weapon” despite video evidence proving otherwise.
Even federal judges have acknowledged the lapsing credibility of the DOJ, with U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis issuing a 233-page November ruling relating to a lawsuit over the excessive use of force in Chicago, by ICE agents.
“While Defendants may argue that the Court identifies only minor inconsistencies, every minor inconsistency adds up, and at some point, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to believe almost anything that Defendants represent,” Ellis wrote, adding in the same document that Trump’s department officials are “simply not credible.”
“One might wonder why agents of the federal government would consistently misrepresent the actions of their agency and its employees,” said Bump. “Some of it might be explained by their desire to show allegiance to their workforce. Some might be ascribed to errors or incomplete information. But we cannot assume that this is the sole motivation when the government agency at issue is part of the Trump administration.”
Read the MS NOW report at this link.
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After Renee Good, are you really going to keep pretending Trump and Vance are pro-life?
(RNS) — The deeds of the Trump administration have stood in sharp contrast to the reassuring words they have offered to religious believers.
Vice President JD Vance speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Steven P. Millies
January 9, 2026
RNS
(RNS) — Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross on Wednesday (Jan. 7), at the site of an ICE enforcement in Minneapolis. She was shot three times while driving away from Agent Ross.
“We vow to celebrate and support every heroic mother who chooses life.” — Vice President JD Vance, 2025, March for Life
Ms. Good was a U.S. citizen and an observer, one of countless people in American communities who have sacrificed their convenience and put their own safety at risk to ensure their neighbors might feel a little more secure during the Trump administration’s deportation campaign.
“We will always stand for the sanctity of life and protect the most innocent and vulnerable in our society.” — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 2021
The enforcement action that cost Ms. Good her life was a part of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Metro Surge,” which began on Jan. 5. It is too soon to know who the 150 or so detainees are who have been swept up by the 2,000 agents deployed to the Twin Cities. But the New York Times reports 70% of those detained by ICE since deportations began have no criminal convictions, and ICE operations have grabbed an unknown but not insubstantial number of U.S. citizens or others in the U.S. legally.
“I was saved by God to make America great again.” — President Donald Trump, 2025 Inaugural Address
This second Trump administration came to power on the strength of overwhelming support from Roman Catholics and other Christians who are motivated, pro-life voters. The support of important Catholic and evangelical leaders has been critical to make this second term possible.
“I was proud to be the most pro-life president in U.S. history.” — Donald Trump, 2022
No matter how clear the Bible is about welcoming the stranger — a theme to which the Old Testament returns over 90 times — there is some considerable, partisan division among Christians about immigration policy. Yet protecting human life, we can feel sure, has been something Christians of all stripes have generally found it easy to agree about.
“Every human life is a gift to the world.” — President Donald Trump, 2021
People gather for a vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman earlier in the day, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
That is why, quite naturally, the tone coming from the Trump administration since Ms. Good’s life was taken by an ICE agent has been so jarring. President Trump described Ms. Good as behaving “viciously” and gives an impression that she had forfeited her right to her own life.
“Reverence for every human life, one of the values for which our Founding Fathers fought, defines the character of our Nation.” — President Donald Trump, 2018, Proclamation for National Sanctity of Human Life Day
Republicans who have long championed protecting human life have said shocking things. Texas congressman and Senate candidate Wesley Hunt suggested that “you get to keep your life” only if you obey government. That’s un-American. But it also does not sound much like the Rep. Hunt who has previously championed the sanctity of life.
“I am pro-life.” — Representative Wesley Hunt, June 20, 2019
Perhaps strangest of all is a zealous Roman Catholic like Vice President JD Vance, whose absence of sympathy for Ms. Good and her loved ones has been shocking. He called Ms. Good a “deranged leftist,” as though she were a member of some other, less worthy species without any sign that his Catholic faith found her killing in the least way to be problematic.
“Christianity, Imago Dei, the idea that we are all made in the image of our Creator, means that we must respect the free will of every single person.” — Vice President JD Vance, Oct. 30, 2025
When JD Vance speaks about unborn human beings and voices his opposition to abortion, he is uncompromisingly clear.
“We march to protect the unborn; we march to proclaim and live out the sacred truth that every single child is a miracle and a gift from God.” — Vice President JD Vance, 2025 March for Life
Ms. Good once was a child. She was born. She grew into an adult whose free will led her to observe ICE enforcements. Yet, where her killing is concerned, the vice president gives no sign of his respect for her free will or her life. Neither does he show any compassion for her family. Simply because he disagrees with her, he seems to say her killing was acceptable.
“President Trump will be the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes.” — Vice President JD Vance, 2025, March for Life
The Roman Catholic Church to which Vance belongs is unambiguous about deportations, authoritatively calling them “infamies” and a “supreme dishonor to the Creator.” Catholics can have good-faith disagreements about the best way to have a just immigration policy. But the inhumanity and violence (that includes denying rights to exercise religious belief) accompanying this administration’s immigration enforcement is not something Catholics should see very differently.
“I stand for everything that you stand for and that the church stands for.” — Donald Trump, 2024, interview with Raymond Arroyo (EWTN)
What is happening now — from masked agents acting with impunity to inhumane detention conditions to the shootings in our streets — was all foreseeable before so many religiously motivated voters gave Trump their support again.
“God has given you a sound mind, make wise decisions, use discernment and everything, but above all he’s called us to love each other.” — Gov. Kristi Noem, 2024, Speech at the Faith & Freedom Coalition
Even if the first Trump administration that ended with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol weren’t enough to tell us what a vote for Trump and Vance would mean, the 2024 campaign was clear about their intentions when it came to immigrants and deportations, saying immigrants have “poisoned the blood of our country” and that his administration would “stop the invasion very quickly.”
“Every person is worth protecting. And above all, we know that every human soul is divine, and every human life — born and unborn — is made in the holy image of Almighty God.” — President Donald Trump, 2020, March for Life
Mass deportations — a phrase that conjures the darkest chapters in human history — was their goal. That has included people who came to the United States for protection, seeking asylum. There always were limits on who a second Trump administration would protect. Now we know a conscientious citizen like Renee Good, whose memory Trump again insulted today, was beyond their care.
“Today, we focus our attention on the love and protection each person, born and unborn, deserves.” — President Donald Trump, 2018, Proclamation for National Sanctity of Human Life Day
For too long, the deeds of the Trump administration have stood in sharp contrast to the reassuring words they have offered to religious believers. It has become impossible to ignore, but it should not surprise us. Years ago, Trump wrote in The Art of the Deal about telling people what they “want to believe” in order to get what he wants. The question for religious voters now is what they actually believe. So much effort went into electing Trump. The costs and the real meaning of all that no longer can be denied — maybe even by Trump.
“I think it’s horrible to watch. No, I hate to see it.” — President Donald Trump, Jan. 8, 2026, shown video of his administration’s agent killing Renee Good
Will it make any difference?
