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.