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    Judge blocks White House from defunding 34 municipalities over ‘sanctuary’ policies

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    A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from cutting off federal funding to 34 “sanctuary cities” and counties that limit cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement, significantly expanding a previous order.The order, issued on Friday by the San Francisco-based US district judge William Orrick, adds Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as Boston, Baltimore, Denver and Albuquerque, to cities that the administration is barred from denying funding.Orrick, an Obama appointee, previously ruled it was unconstitutional for the Trump administration to freeze funding to local governments with “sanctuary” policies, limiting their cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).The April ruling came after cities including San Francisco, Sacramento, Minneapolis and Seattle sued the administration over what they claimed were illegal executive orders signed by Donald Trump in January and February that threatened to cut off funding if Democrat-controlled cities do not cooperate.Cities and counties suing the administration contend that the executive orders amount to an abuse of power that violate the constitution. The administration argues that the federal government should not be forced to subsidize policies that thwart its control of immigration.The administration has since ordered the national guard into Los Angeles and Washington DC, both cities with sanctuary designations, under a law-and-order mandate. On Friday, Trump said Chicago is likely the next target for efforts to crack down on crime, homelessness and illegal immigration.“I think Chicago will be our next,” Trump told reporters at the White House, later adding: “And then we’ll help with New York.”The number of people in immigration detention has soared by more than 50% since Trump’s inauguration, according to an Axios review published Saturday, reaching a record 60,000 immigrants in long-term detention or around 21,000 more than at the end of the Biden administration.Separately, the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, last week issued fresh threats to 30 Democrat-led cities and states, including to the governors of California, Illinois and Minnesota, and the mayors of New York, Denver and Boston, to drop sanctuary policies.Bondi said in the letter that their jurisdictions had been identified as those that engage “in sanctuary policies and practices that thwart federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of the interests of the United States”.“This ends now,” Bondi wrote.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionDemocrat leaders uniformly rejected the Trump administration’s assertion. Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, said in response that Bondi’s order was “some kind of misguided political agenda” that “is fundamentally inconsistent with our founding principles as a nation”.The accelerating confrontation between the administration and Democratic-led jurisdictions comes as the Pentagon began ordering 2,000 national guard troops in Washington to carry firearms.US officials told NBC News that the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, had authorized national guard members who are supporting local law enforcement will probably carry weapons but troops assigned to city beautification roles would not.The official said troops supporting the mission “to lower the crime rate in our nation’s capital will soon be on mission with their service-issued weapons, consistent with their mission and training”, according to the outlet. More

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      ‘We’re anti-federal chaos’: Democratic cities prepare for worst after Trump’s tirades against DC and LA

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      As sand-colored Humvees rolled down Washington DC streets against the wishes of local leaders, mayors around the country planned for what they would do if the Trump administration comes for them next.Donald Trump’s disdain for Democratic-run cities featured heavily in his 2024 campaign. The president vowed to take over DC – a promise he attempted to fulfill this week. Earlier this year, he sent national guard troops to Los Angeles amid protests despite California opposing the move, which led to a lawsuit from the state.City leaders say there are appropriate ways for the federal government to partner with them to address issues such as crime, but that Trump is using the pretext of crime and unrest to override their local authority, create chaos and distract from a bruising news cycle about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.Many cities have worked to bring down violent crime rates – they are on the decline in most large cities, though mayors acknowledge they still have work to do to improve the lives of their residents.“President Trump constantly creates a narrative that cities like Seattle are liberal hellholes and we are lawless, and that is just not the fact,” said Bruce Harrell, the mayor of Seattle. “We are the home of great communities and great businesses. So his view of our city is not aligned with reality. It’s to distract the American people from his failures as a president.”By sending in the military, some noted, Trump was probably escalating crime, contributing to distrust in the government and creating unsafe situations both for residents and service members.Even Republican mayors or mayors in red states have said they don’t agree with Trump usurping local control for tenuous reasons. The US Conference of Mayors, currently led by the Republican mayor of Oklahoma City, David Holt, pushed back against Trump’s takeover of DC, saying “local control is always best”.“These mayors around the country, by the way, from multiple ideological backgrounds, they love their city more than they love their ideology,” said Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis.Mayors told the Guardian they are ready to stand up for their cities, legally and otherwise, should Trump come knocking. They are working with their chiefs of police to ensure they agree on the chain of command and coordinating with governors in the event the national guard is deployed. Because Trump has so frequently brought up plans to crack down on cities, large Democratic cities have been strategizing with emergency planning departments and city attorneys.But Trump has shown he’s willing to bend and break the law in his pursuits against cities. The Pentagon is reportedly planning to potentially put national guard troops at the ready, stationed in Alabama and Arizona, to deploy to cities experiencing unrest. He has indicated this is just the beginning of an assault on cities. His attorney general sent letters to a host of Democratic cities this week, threatening to arrest local leaders if they don’t cooperate with federal authorities on immigration enforcement.The idea that troops could be on the ground for any number of reasons in cities around the US should alarm people, said Brett Smiley, the Democratic mayor of Providence, Rhode Island.“This is not something that we should be used to, and we shouldn’t let this administration break yet another norm or standard in our society, such that a couple years from now, we don’t think twice about when we see troops in our cities,” Smiley said.Why Trump is going after citiesThe roots of Trump’s battle with cities stretch back to his first administration, and they align with common narratives on the right about how cities today have fallen off because of liberal policies. Project 2025, the conservative blueprint, called for crackdowns on cities, including withholding federal funds to force compliance with deportation plans.His campaign promises included a commitment to “deploying federal assets, including the National Guard, to restore law and order when local law enforcement refuses to act”. In a video from 2023, he explained: “In cities where there has been a complete breakdown of law and order, where the fundamental rights of our citizens are being intolerably violated, I will not hesitate to send in federal assets including the national guard until safety is restored.”In 2020, he reportedly wished he cracked down much harder and faster on protesters and rioters during the demonstrations after George Floyd’s murder. Now, he’s using smaller problems – anti-immigration protests and crime against a government employee – to declare emergencies.Minneapolis, where the protests began after a police officer killed Floyd, has at times made Trump’s list of rundown cities. Frey, a Democrat, said he didn’t know whether 2020 protests played a role in Trump’s current actions.“I don’t think anybody can pretend to know what’s in Donald Trump’s head,” Frey told the Guardian. “It’s an utter mess of idiocy. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t know what he’s thinking or what the rhyme or reason is. I mean, clearly there’s a focus on Democratically run cities.”When Trump called out other cities on his radar, he named blue cities run by Black mayors – Baltimore, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago.“The fact that my city and all the others called out by the president on Sunday, led by Black mayors, are all making historic progress on crime, but they’re the ones getting called up – it tells you everything that you need to know,” Baltimore’s mayor, Brandon Scott, said in a press call this week.DC is differentThe federal government can often partner with cities to address crime – several Democratic mayors noted that they worked with the Biden administration on this front successfully. But those partnerships are mutually agreed upon collaborations, not overrides of local policing.“We’re not anti-federal help. We’re anti-federal chaos,” Frey said.Detroit’s mayor, Mike Duggan, said in a statement that his city is seeing its lowest homicides, shootings and carjackings in more than 50 years, crediting a partnership with federal agencies and the US attorney as a major part of that success.“This partnership is simple and effective: DPD does the policing and the feds have strongly increased support for federal prosecution,” Duggan said. “We appreciate the partnership we have today and are aware of no reason either side would want to change it.”Mayors are not saying they have solved the issue of violent crime, Scott said, though they are acknowledging they have reduced it and will continue to work toward further reductions. “We need folks that want to actually help us do that, versus try to take and show force and make us into something other than a representative democracy that we all are proud to call home,” he said.Mayors throughout the US made a clear distinction between Trump’s authority in Washington DC compared to other cities. Washington has a legal provision in the Home Rule Act of 1973 that allows for a president to take over its police department during an emergency on a temporary basis, though Trump is the first to use this power. Other cities have no similar concept in law.Even with the Home Rule Act, Washington officials sued Trump after his attempt to replace the city’s police chief, saying the president was mounting a “hostile takeover” of DC police. Trump and the city agreed to scale back the federal takeover on Friday, keeping DC’s police chief in place.“We know when people want to say they’re going to be a dictator on day one, they never voluntarily give up that aspiration on day two,” Norm Eisen, an attorney who frequently sues the Trump administration, said in a press call this week. “That is what you are seeing in the streets of the District of Columbia.”Cities are preparingIn Minneapolis, Frey said the city has prepared operational plans with police, fire and emergency management and readied itself legally.“Our chief of police and I are lockstep, and he reports up to the commissioner of safety, who reports up to me,” Frey said. “There’s no lack of clarity as to how this reporting structure works, and it certainly does not go to Donald Trump. Doing something like that in Minneapolis, it would be just a blatantly illegal usurpation of local control were this to happen here. Of course, we would take immediate action to get injunctive relief.”Trump’s decision to send in national guard troops to Los Angeles is also legally questionable. Governors typically direct guard troops. The California governor, Gavin Newsom, sued Trump for using the military for domestic law enforcement in defiance of the Posse Comitatus Act. The case was heard by a judge this week.Harrell, of Seattle, said he is confident he will be able to protect his police department and the city’s residents if Trump sends troops.“What I have to do is make sure that the people under my jurisdiction as mayor feel confident in an ability to fight his overreach, and that our law department is well geared to advance our legal arguments,” he said.Scott, of Baltimore, said he was prepared to take every action “legally and otherwise”.Still, there is some uncertaintyand unsteadiness about how cities can respond if Trump calls up the national guard.“It’s very difficult to know what our options are, because we’re in unchartered territory here,” Smiley, of Providence, said. “It’s unprecedented and I don’t know what my options are with respect to preventing troops from coming in, which is one of the reasons that I’m trying to be so proactive about making it clear that it’s not necessary, it’s not wanted.” More

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      Democratic socialists think they’re on a winning streak – can they build on Zohran Mamdani’s victory?

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      It’s an energizing time for democratic socialists across the country, and not only because New York state assembly member Zohran Mamdani’s recent win in the New York City mayoral primary moves the United States’ most populous city closer than it ever has been to having a member as mayor.For supporters of the leftwing, worker-led political ideology, last weekend’s annual democratic socialists of America national convention in Chicago, which welcomed tens of thousands of politically minded individuals from across the country to the unionized McCormick Place convention center, was further recognition of the growing influence of the DSA, the country’s largest socialist organization, founded in 1982.Amid the backdrop of a fraught national political stage, one in which traditional Democrats are struggling to connect with voters and a Donald Trump-led GOP continues to push a far-right agenda, a growing cadre of democratic socialist politicians are finding increasing success in local elections by touting platforms of progressive policies, tapping into social media with snappy, engaging content, and connecting face to face with typically forgotten voter blocs.View image in fullscreenThe continued presence of democratic socialists Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York representative; and Rashida Tlaib, the Michigan representative, in Congress has been an inspiration to many of these similarly minded political hopefuls.However, it’s Mamdani’s recent success that many DSA-endorsed candidates like Jake Ephros, running for Jersey City council; Kelsea Bond, running for Atlanta city council; Jorge Defendini, running for Ithaca common council; and others who attended this convention are hoping to replicate. The goal is to show that the campaign isn’t a flash-in-the-pan win, but instead a burgeoning tide shift toward a leftwing political future divorced from capitalism, despite criticism from traditionalist Democrats and Republicans alike.“Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York or Omar Fateh in Minneapolis, also poised to become a socialist mayor of a major city – these are things that come after years of structure that DSA helped build up in a bunch of chapters … This is also why DSA is growing so much and having all this new energy, because we’re just really demonstrating what the alternative is,” said Ashik Siddique, the national co-chair of the DSA. “The Democratic party has not really presented a meaningful alternative.”With the DSA’s membership having surged in recent months, and both the 2026 midterm and 2028 presidential elections on the horizon, this weekend’s convention was a key opportunity for many to strategize on how to capitalize on expanding influence and recent wins.“There’s so much excitement around our huge victory, Zohran Mamdani winning the primary,” said Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair for the New York City chapter of the DSA. “People are coming up to us and asking us about the campaign, wanting to learn from our experience as well, and I’ll say that the big change that I’ve seen over the years is that DSA as an organization has matured politically.”While the NYC-DSA continues its work, other chapters will attempt to follow its lead, organizing around their own socialist candidates while the national DSA organization reaffirms its position on Palestine, organizes to end US aid to Israel, supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement – which calls on consumers to stop supporting both Israeli companies and companies that have supported Israel – and stands against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in solidarity with immigrants.That and a clear economic agenda that supports the working class “over billionaires, the bosses, the corporations that are raising prices, that are keeping our wages low” are what will lead to further success for democratic socialist candidates, in Gordillo’s eyes.Persistence can also be helpful.It helped Alex Brower, who won his election for Milwaukee common council district three alderman in an April special election after the death of his predecessor, in his third bid for office as a democratic socialist.“That happens to a lot of socialists because … if socialists were 100% successful, we’d have a socialist America right now. So there’s a lot of losing, but I think, honestly, I think we learn more by losing than winning,” Brower said.Many DSA-endorsed candidates will also be deep in the throes of fieldwork in the coming months: knocking on doors, attending events, meeting with neighbors and being visible in communities, all key to keeping the DSA’s recent momentum going, according to Ephros, who is currently running for the Jersey City council on a platform of affordable social housing, universal rent control, universal childcare, public healthcare and the Green New Deal, among other issues.“It goes a long way to just demonstrate: ‘Oh, this isn’t some shadowy, weird, fringe guy who calls himself a socialist and that means scary things to me; it’s my neighbor and he’s active in the community and he’s showing up,’” he said.Over the three days of the convention, the conference’s largest in its history, DSA members gathered to deliberate resolutions that will guide chapter actions and concerns over the next two years.Members voted to approve a measure for “a fighting anti-Zionist DSA”, a resolution that prompted much debate and some resistance due to a clause that would expel members for supporting Israel. Arguments both for and against the measure were raised to the crowd of voting members on Sunday afternoon, delayed by calls from DSA leadership to hold applause in favor of the silent American Sign Language motion for clapping, consisting of the waving of both hands. The request was only mildly successful.Members also voted to prioritize efforts to put up a DSA-endorsed socialist candidate for the 2028 presidential election, and elected both new and returning delegates to the DSA’s national political committee, the 16-person body that serves as the organization’s board of directors.On Friday, members heard from Rashida Tlaib, the keynote speaker for this year’s convention. As one of Congress’s most outspoken supporters of Palestine, Tlaib largely spoke about the responsibility Congress has to condemn Israel’s bombing and starvation of the people in Palestine. She also emphasized the work she believes the DSA still has to do.View image in fullscreen“For DSA to live up to our potential, we have to be willing to grow ourselves. We need more members for more diverse communities and leadership roles, y’all. We are failing, and again, I’m telling you as a big sis, we are failing when a room like this only has a handful of our Black neighbors. You need to be intentional,” Tlaib said to Friday’s intently listening crowd.“A lot of working-class folks have strong historical ties to the Democratic party. They know they have been let down, and they’re looking for a new home. They want to envision the alternatives, and we have it.”Álvaro López, an electoral coordinator for NYC-DSA who assisted Mamdani’s campaign, attended the DSA convention for the first time after being a member since 2017. He’s grappling with what to take from the convention’s more introspective measures.“In this convention, unfortunately, Donald Trump was not raised. Zohran’s victory was not strategically discussed, and I think that’s a product of our larger, big-tent organization that we have. I think there is a lot of work for the left and the DSA to still get to a point where we are really thinking about how do we build power, and how we are not so inward looking and think of ourselves as the protagonist of everything around us,” López said.The NYC-DSA’s strategy for creating successful campaigns has previously involved contesting local and state-level positions, before shifting to one that seeks to place democratic socialists in the highest levels of local politics. With many DSA chapters strategizing what that looks like for them back home, taking similar steps may help, Gordillo believes.“Many working-class people, for example, don’t really know what the state assembly is,” he said.“It’s harder to get traction or to do mass communications that way, so we decided to run a socialist for mayor,” he said of reaching voters in local elections. “We need to do that, not just in New York City. We need to do it in Minneapolis. We need to do it in Los Angeles and in Detroit and Michigan, eventually in 2028. I hope that we take that to the federal stage in the presidential run.”A resolution brought up at this year’s DSA convention would create a strategy to build socialism in each of the 50 states and help the DSA build more statewide organizations. The DSA has also previously expanded an electoral program to provide more support to chapters that want to learn how they can run their own candidates and develop class-struggle elections.It’s political actions like these that can be the key to winning races, even by the smallest of margins, Tlaib said on Friday, reminding DSA members of her win in 2018 by only 900 votes.“We are standing at a crossroads in American history,” Tlaib said. “We are going to take this country back for our working families and defeat these pathetic, cowardly, hateful fascists. We’re going to win because we don’t have any other options, and yes, we are going to free Palestine. They don’t have any other choice. Our movement isn’t going anywhere, and we’re just getting started.” More

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      Two Democratic lawmakers shot, one fatally, in ‘politically motivated assassination’ in Minnesota

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      A prominent Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota and her husband have been killed, and another Democratic state lawmaker and his wife were shot, in the early hours of Saturday.State representative Melissa Hortman has died, as has her husband, Mark, the state’s governor, Tim Walz, confirmed at a press conference on Saturday. He said the shooting “appears to be a politically motivated assassination”. Hortman was the top Democrat in the Minnesota house and the former speaker. The Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were both shot multiple times and are out of surgery, and Walz said he was “cautiously optimistic” both will survive.The gunman was still at large, law enforcement said on Saturday, and the city of Brooklyn Park was still under a shelter-in-place order. The shooter was impersonating a police officer, dressed in a uniform that would appear to be real to most people, police said. Sources told the Associated Press that 57-year old Vance Boelter is currently being sought as a suspect.“No Kings” protests against the Trump administration are set for midday at the Minnesota state capitol and around the country, but the Minnesota state patrol and Walz have asked the state’s public not to attend “out of an abundance of caution”. The state patrol said “No Kings” flyers had been found inside the suspect’s vehicle.Organizers said they would cancel events across the state that hadn’t already started, though the main protest at the state capitol in St Paul is under way, with people in attendance.Brooklyn Park’s police chief, Mark Bruley, said at a press conference that the suspect drove a vehicle that looked identical to an SUV police squad car. “It was equipped with lights, emergency lights, that looked exactly like a police vehicle, and yes, they were wearing a vest with Taser, other equipment, a badge very similar to mine, that, no question, if they were in this room, you would assume that they are a police officer.”View image in fullscreenThe man had a list of other lawmakers and officials in the vehicle police searched, and alerts were sent out to take action and provide security to others, Bruley said.“There was a list of individuals, and the individuals that were targeted in this situation were on that list,” said Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension. He added that it was “far too early in the investigation” to provide a motive or assess whether the victims had been targeted for their political affiliation, but that he believes the state will be able to provide more information on the motivation behind the attacks as the investigation unfolds.“We’re here today because an unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota,” Walz said. “My good friend and colleague, Speaker Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed early this morning in what appears to be a politically motivated assassination. Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends.”He added that Hortman was “someone who served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humor and a sense of service. She was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota. She woke up every day determined to make this state a better place. She is irreplaceable.”Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were both shot multiple times and are out of surgery, and Walz said he was “cautiously optimistic” both will survive.“This was an act of targeted political violence,” Walz said. “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”At about 2am local time, police received a call in Champlin, a suburb of Minneapolis, that Hoffman and his wife had been shot, Evans said. Police in Champlin responded to that location, and police in a nearby suburb, Brooklyn Park, assisted.Police in Brooklyn Park went to Hortman’s house at about 3.30am to check on her, given the nearby shooting of Hoffman. Upon arrival at Hortman’s house, officers saw a supposed police vehicle in the driveway with emergency lights on and what appeared to be an officer coming out of the house, Bruley said. The gunman, impersonating an officer, immediately fired at them, and then was able to escape out the back of the house, Bruley said.“This is somebody that clearly had been impersonating a police officer, again, using the trust of this badge and this uniform to manipulate their way into the home,” Bruley said.View image in fullscreenPolice found a man with gunshot wounds, Hortman’s husband, and administered first aid, but he was pronounced dead shortly after. Officers then used a drone to identify the woman, Hortman, in the home.Bruley advised people in the area to call in to the police department if an officer arrives to ensure the officer belongs there, which dispatch would be able to confirm. Officers were approaching people in pairs of two officers as the search continued, he said, so if there is a single officer outside your door, do not answer. Police had detained several people for questioning, but did not have anyone in custody at the time, Bruley said.Bob Jacobson, the commissioner of the state’s department of public safety, said there was increased security in place for elected officials and others who may be at risk.“This is a dark day today for Minnesota and for democracy,” Jacobson said. “We will not allow fear or violence to define who we are or how we move forward. We will stand together. We will stand strong … These are public servants, leaders who committed their lives to improving the lives of others, and they were targeted in a violent and cowardly way.”Minnesota’s house of representatives was evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats have a one-vote majority in the state senate.Amy Klobuchar, the state’s Democratic senator, called the shootings “a stunning act of violence”: “My prayers are with the Hortman and Hoffman families. Both legislators are close friends and devoted to their families and public service.”Trump said in a statement that he had been briefed on the shootings, which appeared to be a “targeted attack against state lawmakers”. The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, and the FBI was investigating and would prosecute anyone involved “to the fullest extent of the law”, Trump said. “Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America,” he said. “God bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”The shootings took place at a time when political violence has become more commonplace in the US, though the vast majority of Americans do not support it, according to a University of Chicago survey. More

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      Supreme court rejects Chauvin’s appeal of George Floyd murder conviction

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      The US supreme court rejected on Monday a conviction appeal for the former Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd.The decision affirms Derek Chauvin’s conviction for second-degree murder and sentence of more than 20 years in prison.In October, Chauvin’s legal defense requested the highest court in their nation take up their client’s case, arguing he was denied a fair trial in 2021 because of prejudice in the pretrial due to publicity.They also argued juror misconduct, alleging that it was in the jurors’ best interest to find Chauvin guilty to avoid threats of violence from the public.The supreme court did not provide comment on its decision to refuse Chauvin’s appeal.Floyd, who was Black, was killed by police on 25 May 2020, igniting global protests calling for his murderers to be brought to justice and an end to police brutality and racism worldwide.Chauvin, a white officer, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine and a half minutes outside the convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill.A video captured by a bystander showed Floyd’s final moments as he called out for his mother and said, “I can’t breathe,” which became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.Three other former officers involved in Floyd’s murder – J Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane – received lesser state and federal sentences.Chauvin is separately appealing his conviction on federal civil rights charges. More

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      Minnesota Muslims vow to continue call to prayer despite rise in mosque attacks

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      Muslims in Minnesota have vowed not to stop answering the call to prayer, despite a series of attacks on mosques some believe to be a backlash to a new rule that permits the Adhan to be broadcast at any time of the day or night.In April, Minneapolis made history when it became the first major city in the US to allow mosques to broadcast the call to prayer using loudspeakers at any time. Before the change to a city noise ordinance, it had only been permitted to be put out between 7am to 10pm.Depending on the time of year, this prevented the first and last prayers being broadcast, as is demanded by Muslim tradition. The first prayer, the Fajr, is called before the sun rises. The last, the Isha, is said when darkness falls.Members of the Muslim community and their supporters celebrated the move, which was passed unanimously by the city council. Yet since the city started talking about the measure earlier this year, there have been up to six attacks on mosques and community centers in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul.While Muslims in the city have long had to battle Islamophobia, some believe the change in the law was, in part, responsible.“This has increased the worry, and the fear of Islamophobia, with a lot of congregation saying this is because of the Adhan,” said Wali Dirie, executive director of the Islamic Civic Society of America and the Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque, in the Minneapolis’s Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.Three years ago, his mosque was the first to obtain permission for the broadcast of all five calls to prayer during Ramadan, a move that paved the way for April’s city-wide change.“We tell them ‘we don’t know 100%’ … We also tell them this is not new. We tell them we are not going to stop, and that we’re going to continue, and that we’ll work with law enforcement,” he says.During a recent morning prayer, 70-year Sareedo Abdi said she was sad the attacks had taken place and frightened her mosque could be targeted too: “We feel it’s Islamophobia.”Dirie said members of the community met with the office of the Democratic governor, Tim Walz, the mayors of Minneapolis and St Paul, and different police departments. They have asked different agencies for advice on how to improve security, and install cameras. They have also spoken to the state attorney general, Keith Ellison, himself a Muslim, who has vowed to act against hate crimes.The Twin Cities, long a Democratic party stronghold, is home to one of the largest Somali-American populations, with upwards of 70,000, according to a non-profit, Minnesota Compass. The community says it has about 30 mosques, with 22 of them located in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis city council, which unanimously passed the amendment during the month of Ramadan, has three Muslims among its 13 members.In 2018, Ilhan Omar became the first Somali-American elected to Congress, and with Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, was one of the first two Muslim women to take office. Omar and others have often been the target of abuse and Islamophobic attacks. In 2019, then-president Donald Trump earned applause from his supporters at a rally in Minneapolis when he repeated false conspiracy theories about Omar from a rightwing blog, and declared: “Congresswoman Omar is an American-hating socialist. How do you have such a person representing you in Minnesota?”In April, there was outcry over a cartoon about the new rule permitting the call to prayer published by the Star-Tribune. The cartoonist claimed his intention was to show support for the move. It was later condemned by several state legislators, who also denounced the attacks on the mosques.“Globally, many Muslims report not being respected by those in the west, and this cartoon adds to that sentiment right here in Minnesota,” the lawmakers said in a statement.The newspaper’s publisher and CEO, Steve Grove, went on to apologize for publishing the cartoon.Aisha Chughtai, 25, was elected to the council in 2021. She is both a Muslim and its youngest ever member. She cautions those who link the attacks on the mosques to the change in law, which may appear to be a form of “victim blaming”. She attributed the cause to an increase in white supremacist beliefs.Growing up after 9/11, Chughtai said Muslims in the city had routinely been victims of hate crimes and abuse.“Attacks on mosques in Minnesota are shockingly common,” she said in an interview.“Being Muslim in this country, being Jewish in this country, being Black in this country, being a person of colour in this country, being an immigrant in this country, means that you experience discrimination, racism and violence in all aspects of life.”Earlier this spring, data released by the FBI showed hate crimes in America in 2021 increased by 12% on the previous year. In Minnesota, the number of incidents reported rose from 196 to 274, an increase of almost 40%.Chughtai, a Democrat, was elected to represent Ward 10, a downtown neighborhood. The previous representative was Lisa Bender, who five years ago was elected chair of the council but did not seek re-election in 2021. In the aftermath of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by then police officer Derek Chauvin, Bender led calls to defund the Minneapolis police department (MPD), a controversial move that ultimately did not get voted on.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionEarlier this month, a damning Department of Justice (DoJ) investigation into the MPD found it engaged in a history of excessive force and discrimination against Black and Native American residents of the city. It said the pattern of behavior “made what happened to George Floyd possible”.“The patterns and practices of conduct the justice department observed during our investigation are deeply disturbing,” said the US attorney general, Merrick Garland.In a statement issued after the justice department report, the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, vowed to rebuild trust with the community. “These findings are a major step in reforming this department into one that provides a level of service that will be a model for law enforcement agencies across the country.”Chughtai believes people of colour in the city have suffered from underinvestment in basic services and been forced to contend with a greater level of violence.“It’s really devastating and terrifying when the people who are supposed to serve and protect you are the ones furthering harm,” she added. “The responsibility of city leaders right now and the administration, is figuring out [how to address] these deep systemic issues so that our communities are safer.”The attacks on the mosques have been detailed by groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair). They include someone breaking into the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center before that facility was destroyed in an arson attack in May. An arrest has been made in that case.In April, authorities arrested and charged 36-year-old Jackie Rahm Little with two arson attacks on mosques in Minneapolis. He was also accused of spraying graffiti on Representative Omar’s city office and damaging a police vehicle assigned to a Somali-American officer.Mohamed Ibrahim, the deputy director of Cair Minnesota, said the community was asking for more help.“People are wary of sending their kids to the mosque,” said Ibrahim. “But we also have a strong portion of the community also saying we will not allow this to stop us from attending the mosque. So, a lot of community members are showing resiliency.”Minneapolis’s mayor, Jacob Frey, said he spoke to mosque leaders, and police dispatched extra units when the incidents happened.“Places of worship in Minneapolis are places of peace and are sacred for those who visit them – we intend to keep it that way,” he said. “To our Muslim community: we have your back, and we will show it in our actions. These crimes won’t be tolerated in our city, and we will continue to hold perpetrators accountable.”Ellison said in a statement that he traveled across the state to different communities to gather ideas on how to counter hate crimes and vowed to “do everything in my power as attorney general to ensure every Minnesotan lives with dignity, safety, and respect”.At the Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque, people said they were offering help and support to those who had been attacked.Dirie said some mosques in the region decided to hold off broadcasting the call to prayer until they had done more outreach to the community, in an effort to avoid more violence. In the meantime, he said people were invited to attend his mosque.Ahmed Jamal, 52, was one of those who delivered the call to prayer. He said he did not feel frightened and added: “When I am calling, it makes me feel so happy.” More

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      Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 and a half years for murder of George Floyd – latest news

      by

      Key events

      Show

      3.55pm EDT
      15:55

      Chauvin given 22 and a half years for George Floyd murder

      1.42pm EDT
      13:42

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      13:28

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      12:17

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      12.05pm EDT
      12:05

      Georgia governor slams DoJ voting rights lawsuit

      11.10am EDT
      11:10

      Justice Department sues Georgia over voting law

      Live feed

      Show

      5.43pm EDT
      17:43

      Gabrielle Canon here, taking over from the west coast for the evening.
      Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has tweeted his reaction to the Chavin sentence it “historic” but agreeing with others that more needs to be done.
      “This is a positive step toward justice, but our work is not done. We’ve known all along that accountability in the courtroom is not enough,” he says.

      Governor Tim Walz
      (@GovTimWalz)
      Today, Judge Cahill gave Derek Chauvin a historic sentence. This is a positive step toward justice, but our work is not done. We’ve known all along that accountability in the courtroom is not enough. https://t.co/mlLijFciIf

      June 25, 2021

      “The statements today from George Floyd’s family and members of the community were painful but powerful,” he continues. “Now, as Derek Chauvin faces years behind bars, we must come together around our common humanity and continue on towards justice for all”.
      The stataement echoed the statement the governor issued on April 20, when Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, when he said that systemic change was needed to prevent this from happening again.
      Here is more from his statement in April:

      “Too many Black people have lost—and continue to lose—their lives at the hands of law enforcement in our state.”
      “Our communities of color cannot go on like this. Our police officers cannot go on like this. Our state simply cannot go on like this. And the only way it will change is through systemic reform.”
      “We must rebuild, restore, and reimagine the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve. We must tackle racial inequities in every corner of society—from health to home ownership to education. We must come together around our common humanity.”
      “Let us continue on this march towards justice.”

      Updated
      at 5.47pm EDT

      5.27pm EDT
      17:27

      Evening summary

      That’s it for me. Here’s a recap of what happened today:

      Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the death of George Floyd.
      Here’s Joe Biden responding to the ruling.
      The UFO report is out.
      Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida addressed the building collapse and efforts by rescue workers there.
      The Manhattan district attorney informed attorneys for Donald Trump that criminal charges could be filed against the family business.

      5.13pm EDT
      17:13

      Here’s Al Sharpton reacting to the ruling. Like Ellison, he said the ruling was not enough. Sharpton noted that the ruling is “longest sentence they’ve ever given but it is not justice. Justice is George Floyd would be alive.”

      ABC News
      (@ABC)
      Rev. Al Sharpton on Derek Chauvin 22.5-year sentence: “Had they done sentences like this before, maybe Chauvin would not have thought he would have gotten away with it.” https://t.co/IuuRKnTv3s pic.twitter.com/vw7mGKzXvh

      June 25, 2021

      5.06pm EDT
      17:06

      Some reaction from various corners of Twitter to the Chauvin ruling:

      Jemele Hill
      (@jemelehill)
      If you’re wondering if Derek Chauvin’s sentence is fair, Chauvin will be 60 years old when he’s released from prison after serving 15 years of his 22 1/2-year sentence. George Floyd was murdered by Chauvin when he was 46. Floyd can never resume his life. Chauvin can.

      June 25, 2021

      Meena Harris
      (@meena)
      Just a reminder that Chauvin being sentenced to 22 years in prison is not justice. George Floyd being alive today — along with countless other black people murdered by the police — is justice. There’s no achieving justice from a system that is fundamentally unjust.

      June 25, 2021

      W. Kamau Bell
      (@wkamaubell)
      White people, do not celebrate Derek Chauvin’s sentence. Figure out how you can put the same attention & activism on all police murders of Black people that you put on George Floyd. Your work is not done.

      June 25, 2021

      Harry Litman
      (@harrylitman)
      Presumptive sentence for the crime for a person of Chauvin’s criminal history is 12.5 years. So in effect Judge Cahill imposed an additional 10 years for the aggravating factors. Remember, Chauvin waived his right for a jury to determine & probably jury would have found even more

      June 25, 2021

      5.02pm EDT
      17:02

      My colleague Adam Gabbatt had a long dispatch about the UFO report:

      The mystery of UFOs seen in American skies is likely to continue following the release of the US government’s highly anticipated UFO report.
      The report released Friday afternoon made clear that while American intelligence officials do not believe aliens are behind the UFOs – or what scientists prefer to call unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) – that were observed by Navy pilots, they cannot explain what the flying objects are.
      The report confirms that the observed phenomena are not part of any US military operations.
      The Pentagon studied over 140 incidents reported by Navy pilots of UFOs seen over the last two decades for the report, many of which were seen during the summer of 2014 into the spring of 2015.
      The release of the report caps a six-month wait, since a group of elected officials succeeded in including the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 in a $2.3tn coronavirus relief bill signed by Donald Trump last December.
      The act ordered government agencies to provide a declassified “detailed analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena data and intelligence” and “a detailed description of an interagency process” for reporting UFOs.
      The discussion of UFOs – at government level or outside it – has been stigmatized for decades. While some have used the UAP materials as fodder for theories on alien life, officials have pointed to the possible threat of the UAPs being from an adversary using technology unknown to the US.

      4.50pm EDT
      16:50

      The much-awaited (at least to me) Director of National Intelligence report on UFOs is here. Read it.

      4.41pm EDT
      16:41

      Joe Biden was asked about his reaction to the Chauvin ruling. Here’s the pool report:

      Question: Do you have a reaction to Derek Chauvin being sentenced to 22.5 years in prison?
      Biden: “I don’t know all the circumstances that were considered but it seems to me, under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate.”
      Thanks to the AP’s Darlene Superville for lending a good recording of the quote.
      More quotes coming.

      The Recount
      (@therecount)
      President Biden reacts to Derek Chauvin sentence of 22.5 years, saying “that seems to be appropriate.” pic.twitter.com/hNGv84W1LY

      June 25, 2021

      Updated
      at 4.51pm EDT

      4.32pm EDT
      16:32

      Oliver Laughland

      Just before sentencing Derek Chauvin to 22 and a half years, judge Cahill, known as a forthright and relatively brusque jurist, stated he had written a lengthy, 26 page sentencing memo to explain his thinking on the sentence, which is 10 years above the state guidance for second degree murder. “What the sentence is not based on is emotion or sympathy, but at the same time I want to acknowledge the deep and tremendous pain families are feeling, especially the Floyd family,” Cahill told the court.
      The document itself is filled with a lot legal reasoning, but the conclusion is worth reporting here as it’s a neat summary of Cahill’s thinking.
      He writes: “Part of the mission of the Minneapolis police department is to give citizens ‘voice and respect’. Here, Mr Chauvin, rather than pursuing the MPD mission, treated Mr Floyd without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings and which he certainly would have extended to a friend or neighbor. In the court’s view, 270 months, which amounts to an additional 10 years over the presumptive 150 month sentence, is the appropriate sentence.”

      Updated
      at 4.36pm EDT

      4.17pm EDT
      16:17

      Here is the sentencing order on the Chauvin ruling in the Floyd case.

      4.16pm EDT
      16:16

      Attorney Ben Crump has also responded to the ruling.

      Ben Crump
      (@AttorneyCrump)
      22.5 YEARS! This historic sentence brings the Floyd family and our nation one step closer to healing by delivering closure and accountability.

      June 25, 2021

      4.15pm EDT
      16:15

      Ellison continues: “My hope for Derek Chauvin is that he uses his long sentence to reflect on the choices he made … my hope is that he takes the time to learn something about the man whose life he took.”
      Ellison is going on to say the sentencing “is not enough”.

      Updated
      at 4.19pm EDT

      4.14pm EDT
      16:14

      Ellison is now speaking.
      “The sentence that the court just imposed on Derek Chauvin … is one of the longest a former police officer has ever received for an unlawful use of deadly force,” Ellison said. “Today’s sentencing is not justice but it’s another moment of real accountability on the road to justice.”

      Updated
      at 4.19pm EDT

      4.12pm EDT
      16:12

      Attorney General Keith Ellison of Minnesota is about to speak about the ruling and Derek Chauvin’s sentencing. More