Mike Johnson Says ICE Shooting a Priest Doesn’t Cross the Line

House Speaker Mike Johnson thinks faith leaders and journalists are fair targets for federal law enforcement officers that have descended on Chicago.

During a press conference Tuesday, Johnson flailed when asked where he’d draw the line on brutality by federal officers carrying out President Donald Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz.”

“We’ve seen images out of Chicago of federal agents shooting faith leaders with pepper balls and arresting journalists,” a reporter said. “Where’s the limit for you on what’s acceptable conduct by federal law enforcement? And when is it incumbent on Congress to amend oversight on federal law enforcement?” 

“I’ve not seen them cross the line yet,” Johnson replied, saying that there were some committees with jurisdiction over federal law enforcement. “It’s not risen to that level.” 

But the few instances cited in the question are evidence enough that federal forces have crossed several legal and ethical lines. 

In September, at the ICE facility in the Chicago neighborhood of Broadview, an ICE agent shot a Presbyterian minister in the head with a pepper ball. Last week, a federal judge barred federal law enforcement from firing certain kinds of crowd control tactics, including less-lethal projectiles and chemical irritants. The temporary restraining order required officers to issue two warnings before using riot control weapons. Still, federal agents reportedly released tear gas on residents responding to a violent arrest during a protest in Albany Park, without giving any warning. 

Also last week, Border Patrol agents violently arrested Debbie Brockman, a producer for Chicago television station WGN-TV, despite a judge’s temporary restraining order barring agents from detaining journalists. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed that Brockman had thrown objects at the agents’ vehicle and was “placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer.” Brockman was released without charges.

Johnson said he was much more concerned with the alleged “abuse of law enforcement by radical leftist activists.” The Louisiana Republican joked that “the most threatening thing” he’d seen yet was a parade of nude cyclists in Portland—a tame example of the violent dissent he hoped to demonstrate. As for the alleged “physical assaults” against “valiant, brave, patriotic” ICE agents, Johnson didn’t deign to summon a single example.  

MAGA Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene somehow continues to come off as one of the realest legislators in all of Congress, stating that the men in her party are “weak” and “afraid” of women like her.

Greene spoke to The Washington Post in an exclusive interview published on Tuesday, and continued her trend of bucking her party to speak out independently on how she feels about Republican leadership.

“My district knows I ran for Congress trashing Republicans.… They voted for me because they agreed with that. My district’s not surprised,” Greene said. “Whereas President Trump has a very strong, dominant style—he’s not weak at all—a lot of the men here in the House are weak.

“There’s a lot of weak Republican men and they’re more afraid of strong Republican women,” she continued. “So they always try to marginalize the strong Republican women that actually want to do something and actually want to achieve.”

Greene noted specifically that Speaker Mike Johnson had issues dealing with women like her, contrasting him to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whom she said elevated women in the party, calling it a “night and day” difference.

“They’re always intimidated by stronger Republican women because we mean it and we will do it and we will make them look bad,” she said.

While Greene has her fair share of alarming, conspiratorial, and easily cancelable takes, she has been more on point than even many Democrats in recent weeks.

“I’m absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will DOUBLE if the tax credits expire this year. Also, I think health insurance and all insurance is a scam, just be clear!” Greene said, just a week ago. “Not a single Republican in leadership talked to us about this or has given us a plan to help Americans deal with their health insurance premiums DOUBLING!!!”

“I don’t think it’s believable to tell the American people that while we control the White House, the House, and the Senate, that we can’t return to work in Washington, D.C., because Chuck Schumer and six other Democrats won’t vote to open the government,” Greene said just days later. “I know people. They don’t believe that.”

She has been even more shockingly progressive on Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, striking a more progressive tone than the likes of Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries.

“The relentless bombing of the Palestinian people—and many of them have just been innocent people. They’re not Hamas, they’re literally women and children, and you can’t unsee the amount of pictures and videos of children that have been blown to pieces,” she told CNN last week, just days after she called out her own party on health care. “They’re finding them dead in the rubble. Those aren’t actors, that isn’t fake war propaganda, it’s very real. And I think that is equally horrific. I wanna see an end to it, and I think most Americans do.” She doubled down on a podcast days later, stating that the IDF “is still unbelievably controlling and brutal to people at checkpoints.”

While Greene has by no means switched loyalties—and will likely say something appalling about Jews, transgender people, or immigrants before the month is out—there is no ignoring the transparency and resonance statements like these have carried. If it continues, the GOP will have a serious, loud problem on their hands.

In an interesting turn of events, MAGA is now in favor of the government pressuring Big Tech platforms to censor users’ speech.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed that the Department of Justice got Facebook to remove a group page where users shared information about Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Chicago area.

“Today following outreach from [the Justice Department], Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target [ICE] agents in Chicago,” Bondi announced on X Tuesday.

The attorney general, without evidence, attributed a “wave of violence against ICE” to “online apps and social media campaigns designed to put ICE officers at risk just for doing their jobs.” She vowed to continue “engaging tech companies to eliminate platforms where radicals can incite imminent violence against federal law enforcement.”

The Trump administration has lately accused those who videotape ICE agents in public, or share public information about ICE actions, of illegal “doxing”—despite legal experts and court rulings affirming that the First Amendment covers such activities.

As Ari Cohn of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said in response to Bondi, “Discussion of where ICE has been spotted operating, and even the identities of agents, is protected by the First Amendment.”

The removed Facebook group appears to be a page titled “ICE Sightings—Chicagoland,” which, ABC7 Chicago reports, had amassed over 90,000 followers prior to its removal.

The page had recently drawn the ire of MAGA provocateur Laura Loomer. Two days before Bondi’s announcement, Loomer accused Mark Zuckerberg, who controls Facebook, of “leftist subversion of Trump and his policies” for keeping the page, and others like it, online.

“Perhaps Zuck needs to be contacted by the DOJ as well since he has no regard for the life of [ICE] agents,” Loomer wrote on X. It seems like Bondi followed through, and Zuckerberg—despite his purported embrace of free expression just prior to Donald Trump’s inauguration—caved and censored speech at the government’s behest.

Some of Donald Trump’s biggest fans can’t seem to grasp his new stance on Ukraine.

After spending months making concessions to Russia, the U.S. president has suddenly changed his tune on the foreign power’s invasion of Ukraine. Last month, Trump claimed that the non-NATO ally could reclaim all of its occupied territory and, this week, has publicly considered sending Tomahawk missiles—which have a range of more than 1,500 miles—to Kyiv should Russia not end its assault.

But notable MAGA talking heads aren’t understanding the rationale. Speaking with Tucker Carlson on the ex-Fox host’s podcast, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wondered aloud why Trump was “suddenly changing course.”

“We have to ask the calculus of why the president, who’s Mr. Peace Prize and has done a great job helping in seven other conflicts, which I totally support, why is he suddenly changing course?” Jones said, referring to Trump’s desperate (and unsuccessful) second-term bid to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Carlson was equally critical, damning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy—a democratically elected official—as an “unelected dictator” and questioning why Trump would choose to invite him back to the White House this week.

“I don’t understand it; he does not have a Democratic mandate,” Carlson said of Zelenskiy. “He’s not an elected leader. He’s a murderer. They’ve sold our weapons to some of the worst terror groups in the world. And we’re treating him like he’s a head of state. Why are we doing that?”

But the dynamic duo have their own questionable histories with the Kremlin. Last year, Carlson conducted an eyebrow-raising softball interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin—who is actually a dictator.

The interview was the fruit of Carlson’s endless sucking up to Russia. For years, the conservative celebrity had advocated against U.S. support for Ukraine and called for Americans to revisit their prejudices against Putin and the Russian government—even after Russian military officials were caught interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. That last detail helped the dead-end career commentator gain airtime in Russian state-run media outlets.

Jones, meanwhile, took part in a two-day event in Moscow in June “aimed at broadcasting Russia’s state ideology and an ultra-conservative, neo-imperialist vision,” reported the Moscow Times.

MAGA politics neatly align with Russian interests. Halfway across the world, between the borders of America’s Cold War nemesis, elements of the MAGA agenda have already been perfected: It is a crime to be gay or transgender, the majority of the country identifies homogeneously as Orthodox Christians, and NATO is a loathed institution rather than a celebrated one.

A conversation caught on a hot mic between President Donald Trump and President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia reveals that Trump was arranging a conversation between his son Eric and the Indonesian president, as world leaders gathered at Monday’s ceasefire summit in Egypt.

In the clip, Prabowo can be heard discussing a location that is “in a region” that’s “not safe, security-wise.” Trump says something in response, but can’t be heard clearly.

“Can I, can I meet Eric?” Prabowo asks the president, who promises to arrange a phone call: “I’ll have Eric call you,” Trump says. “Should I do that? He’s such a good boy. I’ll have Eric call.” Prabowo says yes, and, after an inaudible exchange, Trump thanks him.

It’s not certain what the two were discussing, but it’s possible the conversation was related to at least one of various existing and pending projects in Indonesia by the Trump Organization, where Eric Trump is an executive vice president.

In March, the president’s organization opened a new golf club in Indonesia, in a joint venture between the Trump Organization and MNC Group, an Indonesian conglomerate. The Trump Organization also lists a golf club and resort in Bali as “coming soon” on its website, and in February, development on a Trump Organization–MNC Group project was halted by Indonesian environmental authorities.

As the conversation continues, Prabowo adds, “I told Hary also”—possibly referring to Hary Tanoesoedibjo, a businessman who owns MNC Group and has partnered with the Trump Organization on its Indonesian projects.

Trump asks if Prabowo had spoken to someone whose name is inaudible, before Prabowo replies, “We’ll look for better place,” which Trump seems to agree is a good idea.

Trump then tells Prabowo to reach out to him at a later stage—“You let me know when something [inaudible],” he says—to which the Indonesian leader agreed.

“I’ll have Eric call you,” Trump assures him again, and Prabowo also mentions he would be open to speaking to Trump’s eldest son, Don Jr., who is also a Trump Organization executive vice president.

“Eric or—Eric or Don Jr.,” Prabowo says.

After sharing more inaudible words, Trump calls Prabowo a “fantastic guy” and promises to “have one of them call you.” Trump continues: “Thank you, my friend. I like that you told me,” and their conversation cuts off as Trump says: “We don’t need—”

While the conversation was unclear, it certainly seems to be yet another example of Trump, as is his wont, blending the presidency with his personal business interests.

The Department of Homeland Security has been caught in yet another lie about the victim of a violent immigration arrest.

A shocking video that went viral Saturday showed the violent arrest of a young woman by law enforcement officers. In the video, unmarked cars swarmed a suburban street, as another vehicle screeched to a halt on what appears to be a driveway. As the driver was pulled from the stopped car, she could be heard loudly pleading with the arresting officer. The officer threw her to the ground and appeared to put his knee on her neck as he restrained her hands behind her back. Multiple X accounts claimed she had yelled, “I’m 15!”

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied that the arrest was part of a rash of brutal arrests by federal law enforcement that took place in Chicago over the weekend, claiming the footage wasn’t even from this year.

“Imagine being so desperate to demonize law enforcement you post a video from a burglary arrest Chicago Police made over a year ago,” McLaughlin wrote on X Sunday. “This isn’t even ICE.”

But McLaughlin wasn’t telling the truth.

McLaughlin was referring to the 2024 arrest of a 15-year-old girl who was charged with attacking and robbing multiple people on public transit. But the video couldn’t possibly be of that arrest. The Chicago Police Department said the teen charged with robbery had been arrested on the 1200 block of West 109th Street, a location in South Chicago, CBS News reported. Block Club Chicago identified the location of the video as Hoffman Estates, a Chicago suburb an hour away.

CBS News confirmed late Monday that the video showed the Friday arrest of 18-year-old Evelyn, a U.S. citizen, and reported that she had not claimed to be a minor but shouted, “I’m not resisting!” during her arrest. Evelyn and her friends had been monitoring ICE’s presence in the area, according to independent journalist Jacqueline Sweet.

Evelyn’s parents told CBS News that their daughter and her two friends were taken in cars to the Hoffman Estates Police Department parking lot, where they remained for hours before being released without charges. It’s still unclear what agency was responsible for making the arrest.

Hoffman Estates police released a statement confirming that ICE was present in their parking lot on Friday. “Two ICE agents also came into the police department to make a police report regarding an incident that occurred while in our Village,” the statement said.

Illinois Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi condemned the brutal arrest and demanded transparency from DHS. “The events in Hoffman Estates embody everything that’s wrong with the Trump Administration’s militarized ICE raids: cruelty without accountability, secrecy without oversight, and power without restraint,” he said in a statement.

Since federal forces have been unleashed on Chicago as part of President Donald Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” DHS has appeared to bend the truth on several occasions. Last week, an attorney told a judge that Border Patrol agents had rammed into his client’s car, not the other way around as federal officials claimed, and one agent had menacingly said, “Do something, bitch,” before shooting his client five times. DHS claimed the officer had acted in self-defense.

Last month, DHS claimed that ICE had shot and killed “a criminal illegal alien with a history of reckless driving” while trying to detain him—but a closer look found that the man had no criminal history, and his last traffic violation was in 2013.

ICE agents kidnapped a U.S. citizen in Chicago who had just finished working a double shift because she didn’t “look” American to them.

Maria Greeley, 44, was on her way home from her job at Beach Bar earlier this month when she was surrounded, seized, and zip-tied by three ICE masked agents without cause or warning and interrogated for an hour. ICE determined she was an undocumented immigrant because she didn’t “look like” a Greeley. Greeley, who was born in Illinois, is Latina and adopted. She had her U.S. passport on her when she was detained.

“I am Latina and I am a service worker,” Greeley said. “I fit the description of what they’re looking for now.... They said this isn’t real, they kept telling me I’m lying, I’m a liar,” she told The Chicago Tribune. “I told them to look in the rest of my wallet, I have my credit cards, my insurance.”

Greeley was later released.

This type of indiscriminate racial profiling has been protocol for ICE for some time now, and is effectively legally codified. Last month, the Supreme Court lifted an injunction blocking federal agents in Los Angeles from accosting and harassing people based on their race or ethnicity. This is exactly what’s happening in Chicago and other cities nationwide, and there’s no sign of anyone stepping in to stop it. There will only be more Maria Greeleys in the near future.

The military has no more space for overweight soldiers.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegesth confirmed Monday that he had sent some of the Texas National Guard members stationed in Illinois back to their home state for failing to meet the department’s new height and weight requirements.

“Standards are back at The @DeptofWar,” Hegseth wrote on X, circulating a screenshot of an article announcing the sudden change of the guard.

The troops’ departure followed public backlash to a string of photos published by ABC News, which captured several heavyset Texas National Guard members as they arrived in the Prairie State.

“In less than 24 hours, Texas National Guardsmen mobilized for the Federal Protection Mission,” a department spokesperson told military news website Task & Purpose over the weekend. “The speed of the response necessitated a concurrent validation process, during which we identified a small group of service members who were not in compliance and have been replaced.”

But fat people aren’t the only individuals that the former Fox News host has chosen to discriminate against: Hegseth announced new physical expectations for U.S. troops during a rare assembly of the military’s top brass late last month. Speaking before hundreds of America’s top military commanders at a mandatory in-person meeting in Quantico, Hegseth unveiled his latest efforts to de-woke-ify the country’s armed forces, including resetting military combat requirements to the “highest male standard only.”

“When it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral,” Hegseth said during his speech. “If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it.”

In the same speech (that military leadership found pointless and uninspiring), Hegseth pledged that there would be “no more beardos” in the U.S. armed forces, a decision that will disproportionately affect Black service members due to the potentially injurious effects of frequently shaving their faces, given the curl pattern of their hair.

Ironically, Hegseth’s strict new standard is undermining one of Donald Trump’s goals: sending troops to U.S. cities.

It looks like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new press policy will ensure that the only outlet with a desk inside the Pentagon is a MAGA propaganda machine.

Hegseth, who has reportedly been “consumed” by trying to stop numerous leaks from his department, has moved to install a new “pledge” for journalists covering the Pentagon, requiring them to abstain from receiving any unauthorized material. Under the new rules, all agency information “must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified,” and those who fail to follow the policy would have their credentials revoked.

If Hegseth wanted a press he could control, it seems he may be getting his wish. Nearly every mainstream outlet has balked at the policy. As of Tuesday morning, it looks like the only news outlet that will retain access to the Pentagon will be One America News Network, a right-wing news outlet that is outrageously pro-Trump.

In May, OAN partnered with the United States Agency for Global Media to replace Voice of America, a government-funded broadcaster the Trump administration was recently blocked from shuttering, with its own right-wing newsfeed.

Hegseth claimed in a post on X Monday that the new press policy would prevent the reporters from roaming free, require them to wear badges, and bar them from “solicit[ing] criminal acts.” But reporters were always required to wear badges and never allowed to wander the halls of the Pentagon. Still, the secretary had previously barred the press from certain areas of the building in May.

The Military Reporters and Editors, a nonprofit for journalists covering the military, published an article by military journalist Steve Walsh Monday urging reporters not to sign onto the new policy, calling it an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.”

“Secretary Hegseth has not briefed Pentagon reporters in nearly four months, and Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson has not conducted a briefing in two months,” Walsh wrote. “The Defense Department has avoided questions from the press, all while U.S. troops are operating around the globe, the Pentagon has conducted legally questionable military strikes that have killed people in international waters and the administration has deployed troops to American cities.”

Even Fox News joined with ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC to release a statement Tuesday afternoon rejecting the policy, saying it was “without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections.”

This story has been updated.

Former FBI Director James Comey scored an early victory this week, as U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff shut down the Justice Department’s proposed restrictions on Comey’s ability to access discovery, the evidence and information the prosecution provides to the defense before trial.

The DOJ had sought to prohibit Comey’s access to discovery when not under the supervision of his attorneys, citing the “sensitive” nature of the records. Comey’s lawyers disagreed, saying this would place the defense “at a severe and unnecessary disadvantage.” After all, they noted, throughout his prosecutorial career through his time at the FBI, Comey was “entrusted with some of the most sensitive and highly guarded information in the country.”

The court sided with Comey on Monday, with Nachmanoff ruling that “the circumstances of this case do not support the government’s proposed limitations on the sharing of ‘Protected Material’ with Defendant or prospective defense witnesses, which would unnecessarily hinder and delay Defendant’s ability to adequately prepare for trial.”

Comey was indicted last month on charges, widely regarded as politically motivated, of false statements to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. Comey pleaded not guilty, and his legal team is expected to try getting the case dismissed for “vindictive prosecution.” Though such dismissals are rare, Comey seems to have a better-than-average chance, given President Donald Trump has made obvious his animosity toward him.