More fallout.
Just the headline will do here.
Washington Post, Letters to the Editor, 11 Jan 2026: MAGA justice: Shoot first, don’t even ask questions later
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NY Times, 10 Jan 2026: F.B.I.’s Inquiry Into ICE Shooting Faces Doubts After White House’s Remarks
First para:
The Trump administration blocked Minnesota officials from investigating the death of the woman shot on Wednesday by a federal agent, then quietly offered this explanation: Local investigators simply could not be trusted to conduct a fair inquiry.
This is, of course, exactly upside down. It is the Trump administration that cannot be trusted to conduct a fair inquiry, because it’s already passed judgment about the victim as some kind of left-wing agitator who deserved what she got, within a mere couple hours after the incident, and before exculpatory videos came in.
Mr. Trump had already declared the shooting justified. Vice President JD Vance has asserted that federal agents had “absolute immunity” from prosecution. The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, has spoken about the incident as if it were a closed case: Ms. Good had “weaponized” her S.U.V. to kill agents, she said, even though video analysis by The New York Times suggested it was more likely that she was turning her car away from officers.
All of their claims are wrong.
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Similarly at JMG: Junior: ICE Agent Should Sue Democrats For Slander
The media owes JD Vance, and all of America a big apology. The Minneapolis ICE shooting is literally Covington 2026. The video clearly shows the ice officer getting hit by the car. She comes right at him. It doesn’t get more conclusive than that.
This is absolutely not true. The video clearly shows something different. Do these people think they can get away with lying to everyone, all the time?
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Stepping out.
NY Times, David French, 11 Jan 2026: Trump and Vance Are Fanning the Flames. Again.
He begins by setting the context. George Floyd, Michael Brown Jr., the beating of Rodney King in 1992 in LA
The King case was a preview of our modern dilemma. How do political leaders respond when video evidence causes the public to make up its own mind — regardless of what any judge or jury might have to say?
The terrible divisiveness of police violence is why responsible leaders respond to every incident with extreme care. You lament the lives lost, you promise a fair and thorough investigation, and you call for calm. You do not prejudge the case. You do not set up an expectation that justice will be done only if your side’s interests are vindicated. And you definitely don’t send out allies and subordinates to whip up public anger.
… But Trump isn’t a responsible leader, and he’s at his absolute worst in a crisis. He lies. He inflames his base. And — most dangerous of all — he pits the federal government against states and cities, treating them not as partners in constitutional governance but as hostile inferiors that must be brought to heel.
That’s exactly what has happened in the hours and days since an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good on the streets of Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Instantly, the administration’s narrative locked in.
… But if you watch videos of the shooting, one thing is clear: No fair-minded person could watch that incident and conclude that Good was a “domestic terrorist” on a mission to run down ICE agents. The administration’s claims of terrorism are false — absurdly so.
But we’ve learned not to believe anything Trump or his administration says already; this is just another reason why. The problem is that there is apparently a large segment of the population, who only glancingly pays attention to the news, that *does* believe him, by rote. And they are as culpable for this administration’s bad behavior as anyone.
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Another broader perspective.
Paul Krugman, 9 Jan 2026: The Mad King’s Madness Deepens, subtitled “Trump wants war, war and more war – even against Americans”
And as January 6th 2021 showed, Trump simply can’t stand political rejection. He will do anything, use any tool or any person at his disposal, to obliterate the sources of that rejection.
So as we head into the 2026 midterm season, the best way to understand U.S. policy is that it’s in the pursuit of one crucial objective: Propping up Trump’s fragile ego.
And so Maduro and Venezuela. And then Minneapolis.
Trump and his minions responded by flatly lying about what happened. But their accounts have been refuted by video evidence which show an out-of-control ICE agent gunning down a woman who was simply trying to get away from a frightening situation. Yes, MAGA loyalists will fall into line, preferring to believe Trump rather than their own lying eyes. But public revulsion over Good’s murder and Trump’s mendacity are high and growing.
And so Trump changes the topic by announcing a huge increase in military spending. Just what dictators need. Krugman concludes:
And here’s a warning to those directly perpetrating Trump-directed atrocities: He will not be in power forever, and I expect and hope that you will be held accountable, personally, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Here’s another long-term perspective, a new thought today. Everyday politics is driven by inattention and ignorance and short-term thinking. The longer-term view will be written by historians and captured by novelists and filmmakers. And in their view, Trump will go down as perhaps the greatest villain in American history. He’s perverted American ideals and undercut its ambitions and ruined its reputation in the world. Like Hitler, in German history. Hitler didn’t “win,” and neither will Trump.
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One more take.
Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson: January 10, 2026
Yesterday, in an apparent attempt to regain control of the national narrative surrounding the deadly shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, Vice President J.D. Vance led the administration in pushing a video of the shooting captured by the shooter himself, Jonathan Ross, on his cell phone.
She describes the video in more detail than I’ve seen anywhere else. Then:
What is truly astonishing is that the administration thought this video would exonerate Ross and support the administration’s insistence that he was under attack from a domestic terrorist trying to ram him with her car. The video was leaked to a right-wing news site, and Vance reposted it with the caption: “What the press has done in lying about this innocent law enforcement officer is disgusting. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.” The Department of Homeland Security reposted Vance’s post.
As senior editor of Lawfare Media Eric Columbus commented: “Do Vance and DHS think we can’t actually watch the video?” Multiple social media users noted that Good’s last words to Ross were “That’s fine. I’m not mad at you,” while his to her, after he shot her in the face, were “F*cking b*tch!”
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I have some comments about the new “food pyramid” and how it reflects interests other than science, but keep putting them off in favor this latest scandal.
