Minnesota shooting fuels impeachment calls; Winter storm cripples US travel
Another deadly shooting in Minneapolis is fueling protests, lawsuits and calls for impeachment. It’s the third DHS-involved shooting there in less than three weeks, and pressure is mounting for a deeper federal investigation.
Plus, a major winter storm continues to hammer the country. Power outages are spreading, flights are canceled, schools are closing and millions are bracing for days of brutal cold.
And President Donald Trump says there’s a framework for a Greenland deal. His treasury secretary claims the U.S. is getting a better bargain, even as allies push back and questions mount.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, January 26, 2026.
Trump administration scrutinized over account of deadly Minneapolis shooting
Calls for a deeper investigation, and even for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached, are growing after a deadly Border Patrol-involved shooting in Minneapolis over the weekend.
It’s the third federal enforcement shooting there in less than three weeks, two of them deadly.
Law enforcement watchdog groups and civil rights advocates are raising alarms over the killing of Alex Petti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse shot on Saturday. They’re saying the video does not match the Trump administration’s account of what happened.
Federal authorities claim Pretti “approached” officers with a gun and that a border patrol agent shot him “defensively.”
But so far, no evidence has been made public to back up that claim or a separate assertion by senior border patrol official Greg Bovino, who said it looked like Pretti was trying to “massacre law enforcement.”
Bovino stood by his version in a heated interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. He insisted that Pretti shouldn’t have been there in the first place:
CNN’s Dana Bash: What you are saying is that he went there to try to stop this law enforcement operation. All of the video that we have seen shows him documenting it with his cellphone, which is a lawful thing to do, and the only time he seemed to interact with law enforcement is when they went after him when he was trying to help an individual who law enforcement pushed down. So, where do you have the evidence to show that he was trying to impede that law enforcement operation?
Greg Bovino: “Sure, Dana, first, he was there in the scene. He was in the scene actively impeding and assaulting law enforcement to the point –“
Bash: “But that’s not illegal. He wasn’t impeding it, he was filming it, which is a legal thing to do in the United States…”
Bovino: “Now, Dana, let’s don’t freeze frame adjudicate this now. He was there for a reason, and that reason was to impede law enforcement.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara is also pushing back on the administration’s account.
In an interview with CBS Sunday, he said he has not seen any evidence to support their claims. However, he added that, at this point, that’s not even the bigger issue:
“The greater issue is, even if there is an investigation that ultimately proves that at the time of the shooting it was legally justified, I don’t think that even matters at this point, because there is so much outrage and concern around what is happening in the city.
People have had enough. This is the third shooting now in less than three weeks. The Minneapolis Police Department went the entire year last year, recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds and hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn’t shoot anyone. And now this is the second American citizen that’s been killed, it’s the third shooting within three weeks. People have been speaking out, saying that this was going to happen again, and I think everyone is kind of waiting for folks on both sides to come together and just figure this thing out.”
— Brian O’Hara, Minneapolis police chief
President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal his administration is “reviewing everything” about the shooting while also criticizing Pretti for bringing a gun to a protest.
Trump said, “I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest, and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets.”
Trump also posted an image of what he says is Pretti’s gun on Truth Social, accusing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of keeping the city’s police from helping protect ICE officers.
He’s also blaming Democrats for what he called “chaos” in the city.
Meanwhile, a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security, barring the agency from altering or destroying any evidence connected to Pretti’s killing.
That comes after the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said it was blocked from accessing the scene and shut out of the investigation just as it was in the earlier case involving the deadly shooting of Renee Good.
Democrats pull support for DHS funding deal after Minneapolis killing
The shooting in Minneapolis is detonating a political fight in Washington. It’s one that could shut down part of the federal government by the end of the week.
Senate Democrats are drawing a hard line. They say they will not vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security after the killing in Minneapolis over the weekend. They’re daring Republicans to strip DHS out of the broader spending deal.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer put it bluntly over the weekend, saying what’s happening in Minnesota is “appalling,” and Democrats won’t move forward if DHS stays in the package.
Patty Murray, the top Democrat on appropriations, flipped her position over the weekend. She had been trying to hold the deal together.
Now, she said in a post, she won’t support the DHS bill as written, adding, “federal agents cannot murder people in broad daylight and face zero consequences.”
That puts a partial government shutdown back on the table, possibly as soon as Friday, because Republicans need Democratic votes to pass the remaining spending bills.
Some Republicans are breaking from the White House tone.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on X the credibility of ICE and DHS is at stake and is calling for a full joint federal and state investigation.
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is pushing in the opposite direction. He told Democrats, “Now is not the time to defund one of our major national security priorities.”
And on CNN Sunday, Chris Murphy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees DHS funding, went even further.
“We cannot fund a Department of Homeland Security that is murdering American citizens, that is traumatizing little boys and girls across the country in violation of the law,” Murphy said.
According to The Associated Press, Democrats are now demanding changes to the DHS bill itself, including warrant requirements for ICE arrests, stronger training standards, and limits on ICE’s operations within U.S. cities.
The problem: the House has already passed all six remaining funding bills as a single package. Pulling DHS out now is procedurally messy, and time is short.
Add to that, the Senate isn’t even back until Tuesday because of the snowstorm, and the House is out all week.
Winter storm hits millions, disrupting flights and causing outages nationwide
A massive winter storm is still hammering the Northeast while millions across the South and Mid-Atlantic wake up to the damage it left behind.
Power is still out for more than 800,000 people, flights are still being canceled, and forecasters say the cold will linger for days.
In New York and Washington, D.C., the storm is bringing postcard-worthy snow.
Snow is piling up in Central Park, the Capitol is wrapped in white, streets are finally quiet and people are actually stopping to enjoy it by sledding, throwing snowballs, and just taking it all in.
“It’s beautiful. It’s so fun to go down Capitol Hill. It was great powder this morning. It’s getting a little sleety now, but we’re having a great time,” one D.C. resident said.
In New York, tourists are loving the snow but hating what it’s doing to their plans.
“I love and hate at the moment. It’s great because we don’t have this kind of weather in London. But it’s bad because we can’t go around,” said Esra Karakas, who is visiting from London.
But the storm isn’t just pretty. It’s punishing.
Ice buildup is knocking down power lines across the south.
Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas are getting hit the hardest, with tens of thousands of outages in each state.
At least eleven people have now died in the brutal cold, most of whom were found outdoors. Officials say hyperthermia is the likely cause.
The National Weather Service says nearly 90 million people are under extreme cold alerts right now.
Air travel is taking a hit, with more than 4,000 flights already canceled on Monday.
Airports up and down the East Coast are struggling to catch up.
The federal government is stepping in.
Emergency declarations are now in place for more than a dozen states, FEMA has pre-positioned supplies and rescue teams, and Homeland Security is urging people to stay home if they can.
Unfortunately, the cold isn’t going anywhere fast.
Forecasters say this system is unusual not just for its width, but also for what comes next: bitter cold, record-low wind chills, and ice that could take days to melt.
Ukraine says US security pact is ‘100% ready’ to sign
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a U.S. security guarantees agreement is “100 percent ready” following two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi among Ukraine, the United States and Russia.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv is now awaiting a signing date from its partners. Once that happens, the deal would head to both the U.S. Congress and Ukraine’s parliament for ratification.
The meetings marked the first time in years that diplomats and military officials from all three countries sat down together. Zelenskyy called the talks constructive but said major gaps remain, particularly over territory.
Trump’s envoys, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, were among those present.
U.S. officials announced that negotiators will return to Abu Dhabi on Feb. 1 for further discussions. They’re also discussing a possible ceasefire and the future of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied nuclear power plant.
Trump pitches Greenland ‘framework’ that favors US
The Trump administration is now attempting to rebrand its Greenland effort and raise the stakes.
After a week of backpedaling and softer talk, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated Sunday that the “framework” of the agreement Trump reached with NATO’s Secretary General is not typical, and that the U.S. is gaining something meaningfully new.
“I promise you, the deal is not what we had before. It is much more fulsome for the United States,” Bessent said.
However, crucial details of the agreement remain unclear, such as the specific changes being implemented and what Greenland and Denmark consent to.
NATO’s Mark Rutte is scheduled to address lawmakers in Brussels regarding Arctic security, with the ongoing territorial dispute serving as the backdrop.
Meanwhile, an image posted by the White House has made the situation even stranger. The White House on Friday posted an image of Trump walking with a penguin in Greenland.
The internet quickly pointed out that penguins don’t live in Greenland. China’s official state news outlet jumped on the trend, posting an AI video of Trump dressed as Uncle Sam dragging a penguin by a leash.
The White House doubled down anyway, saying, “The penguin does not concern himself with the opinions of those who cannot comprehend.”
Patriots and Seahawks head to Super Bowl LX
Super Bowl LX is set, and it’s a rematch more than a decade in the making.
The Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will meet in Super Bowl LX in California after winning their respective conference championships on Sunday.
The Patriots beat the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the American Football Conference (AFC) title game, securing their 12th Super Bowl berth. It’s the team’s first trip to the Big Game since Tom Brady retired from the team in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks, led by quarterback Sam Darnold, defeated the L.A. Rams 31 to 27 in the National Football Conference (NFC) championship. Darnold played one of his best games of the season, throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover.
This will mark the Seahawks’ fourth Super Bowl appearance.
The game is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 8, at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
More from Straight Arrow News:
How a quiet ICE warehouse tour blindsided Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officials in Missouri’s largest city are demanding an explanation after federal agents quietly scouted a massive southside warehouse for use as a “mega” immigration detention center. Despite the Trump administration’s calls for local cooperation, the mayor, a member of Congress and a police captain told Straight Arrow News they received no prior notice of the Jan. 15 tour by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Federal law doesn’t require ICE to notify local authorities before operations, but Kansas City officials told SAN this case is different: siting a large detention center within city limits without notice raises long-term concerns.
Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca, whose district includes parts of Kansas City, was tipped off that DHS agents were at the warehouse and arrived to find them outside the building, according to local media. Abarca told KCUR that the federal agents confirmed to him they were touring the empty warehouse, alongside contractors, as a possible site for a future detention center.
“They are national, regional, local teams that are looking to open an ICE facility, a mega detention facility — something that will have a regional impact that’s pretty dramatic,” he said.
In the wake of the unannounced visit, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas addressed the public in a press release: “We are working to verify reports about potential DHS detention facilities in Kansas City. Regardless of what we learn, I want to reaffirm our city’s commitment to being welcoming and inclusive.”
Kansas City–based immigration attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford, who serves on the Board of Directors at American Immigration Council, called the plan ill-conceived.
“You want to put 7,500 people in an over 900,000 square-foot warehouse in the middle of Kansas City? And we didn’t know this was going on?” Sharma-Crawford told SAN. “How does that work? There are going to be local resources that are going to be necessary if that’s what they’re gonna do.” Read the full story now>
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
