The Dictatorship
There’s a reason the world can’t seem to look away from the breathtaking Louvre heist
I recently rewatched — for the thousandth time — the 2001 film “Ocean’s Eleven.” Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh’s stylish crime thriller, with a cast of superstars including George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, revolves around a team of smooth-talking, charismatic rogues who knock over three casinos in one night. It has long been one of my comfort movies, because I love stories where rascals do a good job. But this particular viewing was also perfectly timed, because a real-life “Ocean’s Eleven” played out in France.
I’ve had heists on my mind since the brazen smash-and-grab of more than $100 million in jewels from the Louvre in Paris. This past Sunday, around 9:30 a.m., a team of thieves entered the museum by breaking through a second-floor window, busted open three displays and, within four minutes, spirited away with Napoleonic-era treasures.
We live in a golden age of high-profile (though not always successful) plunder.
It was a breathtaking crime at what was thought to be an impregnable home of some of the world’s most famous artworks, including the “Mona Lisa” and the Venus de Milo. But the thieves instead targeted jewelry that once belonged to the French royal family and that, according to some experts, could be melted down for easier sale on the black market. An investigation is underway, and the thieves are now the most notorious criminals in Europe.
We live in a golden age of high-profile (though not always successful) plunder. This heist comes on the heels of a lesser-known crime in Paris last month, when a woman allegedly stole 13 pounds of gold nuggets from the National Museum of Natural History. She was arrested two weeks later in Barcelona, Spain.
In 2022, seven thieves knocked over a Brinks truck in California, in what was called the largest jewel heist in U.S. history; the loot totaled $100 million. In 2019, five men stole a cache of precious 18th century jewels worth $113 million from Germany’s Green Vault museum.
The Louvre heist was a crime that will negatively affect the lives of otherwise innocent people. Museum officials have admitted to security lapses, including insufficient closed-circuit television coverage outside the Louvre’s perimeter. The blame game is just beginning.
But it’s hard to read about this daring plot and not, in a small way, root for these villains. There are far grislier and more destructive crimes committed every day, big and small. This might sound like a rationalization, but petty crooks routinely mug regular folks while wealthy pedophiles escape justice. The thieves who robbed the Louvre, on the other hand, just ripped off the French government.
The sense of rooting for the robbers plays a part in Hollywood’s and audiences’ enduring love for heist movies. One of the genre’s most influential films is Jules Dassin’s 1955 French noir “Rififi,” about a jewel heist led by a debonair master criminal. The black-and-white classic is anchored by its iconic 30-minute break-in — a silent nail-biter as the crew painstakingly muffles the sound of their drilling.
Heist movies are Robin Hood fantasies where hypercompetent thieves take on powerful institutions.
In the decades since, many of Hollywood’s biggest directors have put fresh spins on the genre, including Spike Lee’s lively bank-heist-turned-standoff thriller “Inside Man” (2006), Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver” (2017) and Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” (2010), about a heist team that infiltrates dreams. Even “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), the second-highest-grossing movie of all time and the climax of more than a decade of Marvel movies, hinges on a time-travel heist.
Crime doesn’t always pay in these movies: My second-favorite heist film is Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995), about a seasoned team of seasoned thieves led by a smoldering, goateed Robert De Niro, who are constantly having to look over their shoulders for a Los Angeles police detective, played by Al Pacino. Despite knowing the police are on their tail, the robbers can’t give up the action, and in the end, most of them pay the ultimate price. But we root for these doomed men nonetheless.
Heist movies are Robin Hood fantasies where hypercompetent thieves take on powerful institutions that loom over our moral lives. They cut across cultural and political lines because everyone’s been screwed over by a bank, or an insurance company, or, if you’re a formerly colonized country, a Western empire.
Like their thematic siblings, the prison break flicks — one’s about breaking in, the other’s about breaking out — heist films are tales of the little guy versus the system. The main characters are frequently skilled criminals who adhere to a moral code. They’re committing crimes, but for the most part, they’re “victimless” —banks, casinos and museums are insured and loaded with cash, right?
But the most important part of the fantasy is asking yourself: What if you could get away with it? I am no master criminal. I don’t even like to jaywalk. But I’d make an excellent member of a heist crew. For instance, I have dainty fingers that would be perfect for safe-cracking. I’d certainly enjoy the planning stages: I’m a fan of maps and spreadsheets. But heist movies are simply safe spaces for me to make believe I can wear a tuxedo like George Clooney.
Now that I think about it, I may have to watch “Ocean’s Eleven” again.
John DeVore is a culture writer and author of “Theatre Kids: A True Tale of Off-Off Broadway.”His writing has been published in Esquire, Vanity Fair, Marvel Comics, and many other publications.
In an explosive interview with NBC aired Sunday, President Donald Trump cut the grilling short and left the set after peppering “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker with insults.
“You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump told Welker, who kept a cool demeanor despite the president’s barrage of disparaging slurs.
Moments before he attacked her, Trump — without providing any evidence — said he believes elections in the U.S. are rigged. Then he lambasted television news networks, singling out NBC, CBS and ABC.
“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.
“To be fair, I’m not crooked,” Welker shot back. “But let’s continue.”
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” the president told Welker, who is the second woman and first Black journalist to helm the network’s flagship program.
Trump added, “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
It was not the first time Trump has berated a female journalist on the job covering his presidency.
In November 2025, he told Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey to stop talking, saying, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” One month later, he told ABC’s Rachel Scott she was “the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place.” Last month, he called MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardner “a dumb person” for pointing out that the cost of his White House ballroom project had doubled since it was first announced.
He has also repeatedly lashed out at CNN’s Kaitlan Collinscriticizing her for not smiling enough.
The wide-ranging interview, which was taped last week on a farm in Wisconsin, was interrupted by the loud sound of heavy rain on the metal roof of the barn where they met. Welker questioned Trump on his war with Iran, his “anti-weaponization” fund and the upcoming midterm elections.
On his nearly $1.8 billion fund aimed at compensating people who say they were wrongly prosecuted, including Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, Trump said “people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those people should be compensated.”
He described the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as people who were “being ushered into the building” by law enforcement.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the fund last month and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week the administration would not be moving forward with the fundwhich faced bipartisan backlash.
When asked if the administration would pursue other avenues to revive it, Trump said he does not know what will ultimately happen and called Welker and her network “the fake dirty press.”
Despite campaigning on a promise to end foreign wars, Trump denied that he made such statements. He characterized the Iran war, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, as necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
When asked about the rising cost of living as a result of the war, specifically gas and fertilizer, Trump chastised Welker.
“Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions and you don’t listen to the answers,” he said.
“I love the farmers and the farmers love me,” Trump said, adding that prices will come down after the war.
Welker suggested to her viewers Sunday that she and the president had a cordial conversation Saturday, saying they both “acknowledged the complications” posed by the rain. “He agreed to sit down with me for another ‘Meet the Press’ interview,” she said.
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.
Iran said visas were denied to key members of its national soccer team ahead of the World Cupwhich a U.S. official insisted was necessary so that Iran does not try to “sneak terrorists into the United States.”
In a post on Xthe Iranian embassy in Turkey said “visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others” on its team.
“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy said, accusing the U.S. of the “worst possible form of politically biased interference in sport” and “depriving Iran’s national team of its right to play in the World Cup under normal conditions.”
Iranian officials are accusing the U.S. government of violating FIFA regulations and breaching its obligations as one of the host countries of what is widely regarded to be the biggest sporting event in the world. The diplomatic standoff between the two countries comes just days before the World Cup is set to kick off and more than three months after the U.S. and Israel waged war against Iran.
A Trump administration official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the subject told MS NOW in a statement that the visas “necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.”
The official added, however, “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.”
The statement from the Iranian Embassy in Turkey came in response to a post on X by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack praising embassy staff for processing visas for the Iranian national team.
According to The Associated Presssome of the team’s officials have not received visas to enter the U.S., which is co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico and Canada. Games are set to begin Thursday.
Problems with getting U.S. visas had already led Iran to move its World Cup training base from the U.S. to Mexico. But Iran is still listed on the official World Cup schedule to play its first two games in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, and against Belgium six days later before heading to Seattle to face Egypt.
The Iran Football Federation’s secretary-general and its vice president were among 14 staff and officials without U.S. visas, AP said, citing Iranian state television. The federation reportedly accused the U.S. of “vindictive behavior.”
Emily Hung contributed to this report.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
A shooting near a community festival in Toledo, Ohio, wounded at least 12 people, and police said a search for the suspects was ongoing following an outbreak of gunfire that sent crowds scrambling for cover.
Two of the wounded were in critical condition, Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joe Heffernan said. He said it appeared there were at least two people firing weapons who were “probably shooting at each other.”
The Toledo Police Department said the shooting happened near the Old West End Festival, an annual gathering of live music and home tours in a historic district of the city.
The department said an active search was underway for those responsible.
“I am deeply concerned about the situation in Toledo tonight. Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement.
Multiple videos posted to social media showed people running over the sound of gunshots and emergency officials tending to others who appeared wounded.
Kevin Berry said he was sitting in the neighborhood arboretum listening to live music with his friends when he heard a handful of gunshots ring out.
“Everybody hit the deck,” he said.
When he looked back up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground less than 50 feet (15 meters) away from him. Police officers who were already on-site for the festival immediately responded to the scene.
Berry, who has medical training and served in the U.S. Navy, said he walked around the area looking for potential victims who might need help.
He said he saw at least five people with gunshot wounds.
“The folks who were hit were spread out around the arboretum area,” he said.
The Old West End Festival is a two-day celebration in Toledo’s historic district that includes live music, food vendors, home tours and shopping.
Berry described it as the “kick-off to Toledo’s summer festival season.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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