The Dictatorship
DHS labeling Renee Good a ‘violent rioter’ fits its ongoing propaganda campaign
After ICE officer Jonathan Ross killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin immediately blamed the victim. She said ICE offices were “conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.”
Video footage from the scene doesn’t seem to support the government’s description of Good or capture the complexities of the scene, and Ross hasn’t been charged with a crime. But McLaughlin’s “violent rioter” label wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark. Rather, this is a phrase the Trump administration, particularly DHS, has regularly and quite purposefully used to characterize people who show up to oppose its officers and actions.
This is a phrase the Trump administration has regularly used to characterize people who show up to oppose its officers and actions.
Chicago was the site of many protests throughout the fall and winter, as ICE agents flooded the city streets during Operation Midway Blitz. DHS consistently described those protests with one-sided, inflammatory language. On Nov. 14, for example, DHS posted a video on X that characterized protesters outside an ICE facility as “violent rioters” attempting to secure the release “of some of the worst human beings on planet earth.” Jack Jenkins, a reporter for The Christian Century who was present that day, wrote that among the peaceful protesters that day was the Rev. Michael Woolfa Baptist preacher who, Jenkins reported, was standing “alongside fellow protesters, fiddling awkwardly with his backpack as faith leaders and other protesters chant slogans at a line of police officers.”
When an officer walked up, grabbed Woolf’s wrist and yanked, Jenkins reported, “Demonstrators attempted to hold onto Woolf, who was wearing a clerical collar, but four officers wrenched him from the crowd and tossed him to the ground.”
Womp womp, cry all you want. These criminal illegal aliens aren’t getting released.
Like clockwork, violent rioters have arrived at the Broadview ICE facility to demand the release of some of the worst human beings on planet earth.
Get a job you imbecilic morons. pic.twitter.com/k4HdE5IqNu
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 14, 2025
Also in Chicago, Marimar Martinez was shot multiple times by a CBP agent in October, who claimed he was acting in self-defense after she assaulted him with her car. A DHS statement called Martinez a “domestic terrorist” and initially charged her and a co-defendant with assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers — only to drop the charges before the case could fully get underway. A defense attorney said bodycam video showed an agent drove into Martinez’s truck.
As The Guardian pointed out, “Since Operation Midway Blitz began in September, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has characterized protesters as violent rioters and vowed to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. But of the more than two dozen people arrested for impeding or assaulting federal officers or other protest-related offenses, none have gone to trial and charges have been dropped against at least nine of them.”
There’s no doubt that some federal agents have been confronted by violent individuals who want to hurt them, but the government’s broad, seemingly reflexive use of “violent rioters” has helped push the noxious idea that it’s criminal to publicly gather and express outrage at government officials and law enforcement as they carry out Trump’s deportation agenda. In Minneapolis, the government seems determined that we not think of Good as an American who had the right to object to her government’s actions. They want us to reduce Good to a “violent rioter” who got what violent rioters are due.
This attitude has been confirmed by leadership at some of the highest levels of the U.S. Border Patrol. During an Oct. 30 deposition related to a lawsuit alleging overly aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago, Locke Bowman, a lawyer for plaintiffs, asked U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino a question about how federal agents had responded to “protesters.” Bowman said agents had responded “to violent rioters and assaultive subjects.”
“Will you acknowledge that some of those at the Broadview facility who came to that location to protest are not violent rioters and assaulters?” Bowman asked. And Bovino said, “I don’t know what they are.”
Quoting Bovino’s phrase “violent rioters and assaulters,” the lawyer asked, “Have you ever interacted with anybody who wasn’t that?”
“I can’t remember,” he replied.
It’s noteworthy that, in that deposition, Bovino’s refusal to acknowledge the presence of peaceful protesters at that Broadview ICE facility came after the attorney showed him video of Pastor David Black being shot in the head with a pepper ball. His refusal also came after Bovino was shown video of the CBP commander climbing over a barrier and personally tackling a man who was walking away after calling Bovino a fascist. (Despite the video evidenceand to a federal judge’s dismayin the deposition, Bovino wouldn’t even admit he’d tackled that man.)
I shared the lawyer’s exchange with Bovino with Ashley Howard, author of “Midwest Unrest: 1960s Urban Rebellions and the Black Freedom Movement,” who has written thoughtfully about the way the words “riot” and “rioter” have been used to depoliticize and delegitimize violent protest. But, in this case, the federal government is using “riot” to describe nonviolent protest. Bovino was shown the video footage of the pastor being hit by federal agents and still wouldn’t say whether any peaceful protesters had been in attendance.
“It would be comically absurd if it wasn’t so terrifying,” Howard said, of Bovino’s testimony. “People who can use force with impunity need to justify the use of that force, and so they must portray these people, regardless of how they’re engaging, as violent, as rioters.”
“They have a vested interest in suppressing this type of protest,” Howard noted, “and so they need to drum up this idea that they are in imminent danger and that the people who are out in the streets pose an immediate and violent threat.”
To be clear, the stretchy use of the word “riot” didn’t start with the Trump administration. Howard’s book, which focuses on the 1960s, quotes the U.S. criminal codewhich shows that it’s easy for the government to paint a protest (or even a gathering) as a “riot.”
“It’s three people,” Howard said. “Three people acting in concert, and that can be a group of high school students tipping over a trash can. That can be people out in the street blocking a car. They can use that designation of ‘riot’ or ‘riots’ as they see fit. And that’s what makes it so dangerous.”
The day after his October arrest, the Rev. Woolf told a reporter, “It’s just foolish to be called, like, a violent rioter by someone when you’re with a clerical collar, and you’re simply trying to express your First Amendment rights.”
“Foolish” doesn’t really get at it. It’s more authoritarian.
Tricia McLaughlin isn’t the first government official to try to weaponize language in this way. But the government’s push to immediately dehumanize Good in the wake of her killing is just another sign of how authoritarian this government is becoming.
Jarvis DeBerry is an opinion editor for MS NOW Daily.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran again launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrainand Kuwaiton Sunday following new U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” in negotiations to end the warif Washington continues its attacks.
Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuzwithout Iran’s oversight has sparked days of crossfire. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday it would expand a route near Omanfor inbound and outbound traffic.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday reiterated the claim that Tehran must govern the strait to the Persian Gulfthat once carried a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas.
“Any attempt to establish new or separate arrangements from those currently being carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran will only lead to further complications, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and increase the level of tension,” Araghchi said.
The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels going through a route near the Omani side.
A Pakistani official involved in the technical talks between the U.S. and Iran told MS NOW Sunday that talks between the sides are on hold given the ongoing fighting between the two sides. The source, who did not want to be named to discuss the sensitive matter, said the U.S., Iran, Pakistan and Qatar all have representatives currently in Switzerland to restart discussions when instructed to do so.
But the Trump administration said nothing has been canceled and technical talks are on track for the coming days.
Talks include arrangements around the strait, the removal of a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran, and the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The two sides have 60 days from their signing of the memorandum of understanding earlier this month to work out details.
Continued conflict in Lebanon threatens the agreement, which says fighting must end on all fronts before certain issues can be discussed.
Strikes target Gulf states hosting US military
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Kuwait, which hosts a major U.S. military base, said air defenses intercepted Iranian drones and two missiles just after the U.S. strikes in Iran. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Bahrain said the Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport and no one was killed. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. The damaged building was not near its headquarters.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry denounced what it called “a dangerous escalation that reveals that what Tehran is doing is not a passing act, nor an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression.”
Later on Sunday, Qatar said a civilian had been killed, and another person was hurt, by shrapnel related to “military operations in the area” after a vessel didn’t return at its scheduled time on Saturday. It did not give details.
Trump accuses Iran of violating ceasefire
The U.S. military said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship on Saturday. The Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, another key mediator.
U.S. President Donald Trump on social media accused Iran of violating the deal and warned of a point where the U.S. may “be forced to militarily complete the job.”
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote.
The exchanges of fire began when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vesseloff Oman on Thursday and the U.S. military retaliated.
Ship traffic on the strait had increased over the past 72 hours, “despite the elevated threat environment,” the multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that “U.S.-assisted commercial transits continued uninterrupted.”
It said 89 such transits had been made, below the historical average of 138 vessels a day.
Iran calls for new ‘conflict control unit’ in Lebanon
Last week, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreementto end the latest fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, which began two days after the Iran war started when Hezbollah fired at Israel. Israel has responded with an invasion of southern Lebanon and it has said it will not withdraw until Hezbollah is disarmed.
The agreement did not include Iran or Hezbollah, which has criticized itand rejected calls to disarm.
On Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister again said the U.S. must force Israel to halt attacks and withdraw. Israel occupies around 600 square kilometers (231 square miles) in southern Lebanon, which it says it needs as a security buffer.
Sporadic clashes have continued, and Hezbollah’s leader said Saturday that the group would continue fighting until Israel withdraws from Lebanon.
Key Iranian negotiator and parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Sunday that a meeting of a new “conflict control unit” formed among Iran, the United States and Lebanon should meet as soon as possible, Iran’s state broadcaster reported.
Two strikes hit southern Lebanon on Sunday morning — one in Taybeh town and the other in the Nabatiyeh area, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Overnight, Hezbollah militants killed an Israeli soldier in Deir Siryan village in southern Lebanon, according to Israel’s military. Hezbollah did not comment.
Israel targets a village in Syria
Israel’s military targeted Abdin village in southern Syria’s Daraa province with artillery shelling Sunday evening, Syrian state media reported. There was no immediate report of casualties.
State news agency SANA earlier reported that residents had blocked the road into the village with stones to prevent Israeli forces from entering it again after they had entered and withdrawn.
Earlier Sunday, Israel’s military said it had killed several armed men in southern Syria but gave no details. There was no statement from Syrian officials.
Israel seized control of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria in December 2024 following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in an insurgent offensive. Israeli officials initially called the move temporary, but more recently they have said they plan to occupy the zone indefinitely.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has a message for political opponents using him as the new face of the Democratic Party: “Let them.”
Recent primary races in New York turned into a proxy war between progressives, including democratic socialists like Mamdani, and establishment Democratic politicians after candidates endorsed by Mamdani faced off against those endorsed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. After all three of Mamdani’s endorsements bore fruit, a national spotlight shone on the mayor as a growing influence in the Democratic Party.
Asked on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday how he felt about Republicans making him the “poster child” for the Democratic Party, Mamdani said, “Let them. We don’t have to ask ourselves what life looks like if a socialist wins. I won last November, and over the course of these last six months, what we’ve delivered for working people are the very things we were told were impossible.”
He touted recent campaign promises he delivered on, including freezing rents for nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments, expanding free child care and filling potholes across the city.
“I think we are seeing a hunger that is not just felt by New Yorkers, but frankly by Americans from coast to coast for a new politics, one that puts working people at the heart of it,” Mamdani told ABC.
Mamdani dismissed criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike. Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said last week that he and the mayor “agree to strongly disagree about some of his endorsements, and he’s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward.” Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said, “The effort to nationalize New York is going to fail.”
Mamdani said he’s focused on the three congressional candidates he has already endorsed: Brad LanderDarializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez. But he didn’t rule out future endorsements outside of New York.
“It’s not just New York City where working people are asking themselves ‘why can’t I afford my rent, why can’t I afford my groceries, why can’t I find enough money in my pocket for childcare no matter how hard I work?,’” Mamdani said.
When asked about a recent manifesto penned by a number of moderate House Democrats and Democratic candidates, promoting capitalism over socialism, Mamdani doubled down on his vision for the party.
“I’m not interested in writing a manifesto, or frankly, in reading one,” the mayor said. “I’m interested in delivering.”
Mamdani also criticized Democrats who continue to make antagonizing Trump the center of their politics rather than working people.
“You’ve got to have something that you are not just willing to stand up for, but that you’re also willing to explain how this is relevant to working people,” he said. “And I think this just comes back to the fact that I’m leading a city that’s the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. I could end the sentence there and say that life is great for 8.5 million people. But it’s also a city where one in four are living in poverty. And for far too many Americans, those contradictions have become their day to day life.”
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Despite remaining undefeated in the initial round of the World Cupthe Iran national team is going home after failing to secure enough points to advance. But they do not leave quietly.
Iran’s tumultuous journey in the World Cup has been the subject of widespread attention amid the U.S. war with Iran, with the United States being one of three countries hosting matches. The Iranian team captain, Mehdi Taremi, blamed FIFA, saying, “It’s a disaster World Cup. A disaster.”
“I mean, FIFA, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately they could not solve it since the beginning,” Taremi said at a press conference Friday after his team drew with Egypt, knocking Iran out of the tournament.
He pointed to the team’s biggest obstacle. “We don’t have our logistics people here. They don’t have a visa,” Taremi said, adding, “We always complain about these things but no one helps. No one.”
The Trump administration denied visas to key Iranian staff and severely restricted players’ travel. The team’s base camp was moved from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, where it was required to return immediately after each game.
“How is it possible we always have to travel from Tijuana? We love the people in Tijuana. We love Mexico,” the Iran team captain said, but added, “It’s not fair.”
Throughout the tournament, the Football Federation of Iran lamented the number of issues, threatening to lodge a formal complaint against FIFA. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei called his team the “most oppressed” in the tournament. A few days before Iran’s final match against Egypt in Seattle on Friday, the U.S. loosened travel restrictions to allow players to enter the United States two days before the game.
“The Iran team will still be required to leave the day the match ends,” the Department of Homeland Security said ahead of the match. “The overall security measures and protocol are the same. We remain committed to providing the safest tournament possible for players, staff, and fans alike.”
Still, Iran finished Group G in third place with three points earned after drawing in its matches against Belgium, New Zealandand Egypt. Under FIFA’s new 48-team format, the top eight of third-place teams move on to the next round, but Iran narrowly fell short.
The team initially seemed poised to advance when it was tied with the same amount of points as Algeria, which scored a goal in stoppage-time against Austria Saturday night. But moments later, Austria tied the game, guaranteeing Iran’s elimination.
Off the field, tensions with Iran heightened Friday when the U.S. struck Iran despite signing a memorandum of understanding meant to halt hostilities in order to finalize a peace deal.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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