Trump said he was briefed on the “terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota”

International news via Reuters:

Minnesota Police and the FBI kept up a massive manhunt on Saturday evening for a gunman posing as a police officer who killed a senior Democratic state assemblywoman and her husband in what Governor Tim Walz called a “politically motivated assassination.”

The suspect, identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, also allegedly shot and wounded a second lawmaker and his spouse, according to law enforcement officials and the FBI.

He fled on foot after firing at police at the home of slain former Minnesota House speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

Law enforcement officials said the suspect abandoned a vehicle that looked like a police SUV, in which officers found a “manifesto” and a target list of other politicians and institutions.

Boelter should be considered armed and dangerous and is believed to still be in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans told a news briefing, adding that it was too soon to determine a motive.

The suspect had links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters. Boelter also described himself online as a former employee of food service companies and was appointed in 2016 by Walz’ predecessor to the advisory Governor’s Workforce Development Board, according to state records.

David Carlson, 59, told Reuters that he has been sharing a house in Minneapolis with Boelter for a little more than a year and last saw him on Friday night. Then about 6 a.m. (1100 GMT) on Saturday, he received a text from Boelter. 

“He said that he might be dead soon,” said Carlson, who called police.

The list found in the vehicle abandoned by the suspect contained about 70 names, including abortion providers, and lawmakers in Minnesota and other states, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources. Officials said the Hortmans and the other victims – state Senator John Hoffman and his wife – were on the list.

ABC News, also citing law enforcement officials, said the list included dozens of Minnesota Democrats including Walz, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, Senator Tina Smith and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

POLITICAL MOTIVATION?

Melissa Hortman, a 55-year-old mother of two who had served 20 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, was remembered by Walz as someone with “grace, compassion and tirelessness.”

Walz, who was Kamala Harris’ Democratic vice presidential running mate in last year’s election, said the gunman went to the Hortmans’ residence after shooting the Hoffmans multiple times in their home in the nearby town of Champlin.

The Hoffmans underwent surgery, Walz said, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic” that they would survive “this assassination attempt.”

“This was an act of targeted political violence,” he said. “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”

The shootings prompted reactions of shock and horror from Republican and Democratic politicians across the country and calls for dialing back increasingly divisive political rhetoric.

The incident comes on the heels of a heated hearing in Congress on Thursday, in which Walz and two other Democratic governors defended their states’ policies to maintain sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, drawing attacks from Republicans who support Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

The Minnesota State Patrol chief, Colonel Christina Bogojevic, said police had found flyers in the suspect’s vehicle with “No Kings” printed on them but that he had no direct links to the thousands of nationwide “No Kings” protests on Saturday against President Donald Trump’s policies.

The protests were timed to counter Trump’s long-sought military parade in Washington. The organizing No Kings Coalition canceled all protests in Minnesota, citing a shelter-in-place order and the suspect’s at-large status.

Trump said he was briefed on the “terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers.”

“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!” Trump said in a statement.

POLICE IMPERSONATOR 

Hortman and her husband were shot dead in their home in Brooklyn Park, Walz said. The Minneapolis suburb is in the northern part of Hennepin County, a Democratic stronghold in a state where Republicans have made gains in recent years.

Before Hortman’s killing, the Minnesota House of Representatives she served in was evenly split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans.

The FBI released photos of Boelter wearing a rubber mask in a police-like uniform and offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Law enforcement officials said the gunman attacked the Hoffmans around 2 a.m. CDT (0700 GMT), then drove about 5 miles (8 km) to the Hortmans’ residence.

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said a “very intuitive” police sergeant who responded to the Hoffman attack asked colleagues to “proactively” check the Hortmans’ home.

The two officers arriving at the Hortmans’ residence saw a police-like vehicle with lights on and were immediately fired upon by the suspect. Bruley said they returned fire, but the suspect ran.

POLITICAL VIOLENCE SURGE

The pre-dawn Minnesota killings come amid a surge in U.S. political attacks in recent years, underscoring the dark side of the nation’s deepening political divisions.

These include the attempted 2020 kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and a man who broke into Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence in April and set it on fire.

In July last year, then-candidate Trump escaped an assassination attempt by a gunman while speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump has faced criticism from some opponents over his handling of incidents involving political violence.

In one of his first moves in office earlier this year, Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged with participating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Reporting by Tom Polansek and Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Jason Lange, Jarrett Renshaw, Sarah N. Lynch and Kanishka Singh; Writing by David Lawder and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Diane Craft and Deepa Babington

Includes Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia

International news via Reuters:

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering significantly expanding its travel ban by potentially banning citizens of 36 additional countries from entering the United States, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters.

Earlier this month, the Republican president signed a proclamation that banned the entry of citizens from 12 countries, saying the move was needed to protect the United States against “foreign terrorists” and other national security threats.

The directive was part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this year at the start of his second term, which has included the deportation to El Salvador of hundreds of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members, as well as efforts to deny enrollments of some foreign students from U.S. universities and deport others.

In an internal diplomatic cable signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department outlined a dozen concerns about the countries in question and sought corrective action.

“The Department has identified 36 countries of concern that might be recommended for full or partial suspension of entry if they do not meet established benchmarks and requirements within 60 days,” the cable sent out over the weekend said.

The cable was first reported by the Washington Post.

Among the concerns the State Department raised was the lack of a competent or cooperative government by some of the countries mentioned to produce reliable identity documents, the cable said. Another was “questionable security” of that country’s passport.

Some countries, the cable said, were not cooperative in facilitating the removal of its nationals from the United States who were ordered to be removed. Some countries were overstaying the U.S. visas their citizens were being granted. 

Other reasons for concern were the nationals of the country were involved in acts of terrorism in the United States, or antisemitic and anti-American activity.

The cable noted that not all of these concerns pertained to every country listed.

The countries that could face a full or a partial ban if they do not address these concerns within the next 60 days are: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

That would be a significant expansion of the ban that came into effect earlier this month. The countries affected were Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

    The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – has also been partially restricted.

During his first in office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.

Reporting by Humeyra PamukEditing by Bill Berkrot

Just 20% of respondents to the poll agreed that the Supreme Court is politically neutral

International news via Reuters:

Americans are divided on major issues that the U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on in the coming weeks, but most agree on one thing – neither Republicans nor Democrats see the nation’s top judicial body as politically neutral, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Just 20% of respondents to the poll agreed that the Supreme Court is politically neutral while 58% disagreed and the rest either said they did not know or did not respond. Among people who described themselves as Democrats, only 10% agreed it was politically neutral and 74% disagreed, while among Republicans 29% agreed and 54% disagreed.

The two-day poll, which closed on Thursday, was based on responses from 1,136 U.S. adults. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The court has issued major rulings in recent years including in cases rolling back abortion rights, expanding gun rights, recognizing presidential immunity from prosecution for official acts, rejecting race-conscious collegiate admissions and curbing the power of federal agencies. Its 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Republican President Donald Trump in his first term in office.

In the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 44% of respondents expressed a favorable view of the court, including 67% of Republicans and 26% of Democrats. 

The Supreme Court’s popularity has declined since its June 2022 decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide. Some 57% of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted at the end of 2021 expressed a favorable opinion of the court. By the end of June 2022, that figure had fallen to 43%. 

The justices are expected to issue rulings in major cases in the coming weeks as they near the end of their current term that began in October. Among these cases are one on the legality of Tennessee’s Republican-backed law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and one involving Trump’s executive order restricting automatic birthright citizenship, part of his hardline approach to immigration.

Some 53% of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they supported “laws that prevent transgender children under the age of 18 from getting medical treatment related to gender identity and gender transitioning.” Another 28% opposed such laws and the rest were unsure or did not answer the question.

Among Republicans, support for such laws was at 57% and opposition at 28%, while among Democrats support was at 23% and opposition at 54%. 

The Tennessee law prohibits medical treatments such as puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors. During December 4 arguments in the case, the court’s conservative justices signaled their willingness to uphold the law. The eventual ruling could affect other state laws targeting transgender people. 

After Trump signed his birthright citizenship directive in January, 22 states as well as immigrant rights advocates and pregnant immigrants sued, arguing that it was a violation of citizenship language in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

In the Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 24% of all respondents supported ending birthright citizenship and 52% opposed it. Among Democrats, 5% supported ending it, with 84% opposed. Among Republicans, 43% supported ending it, with 24% opposed. The rest said they were unsure or did not respond to the question.

The court also by the end of this month is expected to issue a ruling on the legality of a Texas law that requires people to verify the age online before accessing pornographic websites.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found strong support for such laws. Among all respondents, 70% were in support and 14% opposed. Among Democrats, 65% supported and 18% opposed, while among Republicans 80% supported and 7% opposed.

During January 15 arguments in the case, the justices seemed to agree that states can try to keep adult material from minors but also voiced concern over burdens imposed on adults to view constitutionally protected material.

Reporting by John Kruzel, Andrew Goudsward and Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Will Dunham