The Morning Sixpack - January 8, 2026

Wouldn't it have been nice if we could have just said, "Today is Elvis' birthday? But NO...

ICE Agent Kills Minneapolis Woman As Officials Clash Over What Really Happened

A woman is dead, an ICE agent pulled the trigger, and now every level of government is sprinting to push its own version of events.

The murder of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good unfolded on an icy Minneapolis street and instantly became a political fault line. A video shows officers swarming her stopped car before one agent fires multiple rounds into the driver’s side of the SUV as the vehicle begins to move. From there, the narratives diverge into entirely different universes, each more self-serving than the last.

One version is correct. One version is all bullshit.

Good’s family painted a picture of a gentle, generous woman who spent her life caring for others. As her mother put it, “Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known.” She lived in the Twin Cities with her wife, Becca, and leaves behind a six-year-old son whose relatives now fear he has “nobody else in his life.” Her former father-in-law didn’t mince words, calling the shooting “murder.”

City officials say Good was a citizen acting as an “observer” amid a heavy federal presence—not a target of immigration enforcement. The video, which shows the agent shooting as the car moves past him, hardly fits the Trump administration’s rapid-fire claims that she was a “violent rioter” committing “domestic terrorism.” The mayor didn’t hide his fury, calling the federal spin “bullshit” and the agent’s actions “reckless.” Hard to argue when the officer seen “recovering in the hospital” was, moments earlier in the same footage, walking around upright. This supposed “ICE agent” showed zero remorse and no indication that he believed he had made a grave mistake.

Washington, of course, treated the tragedy like a political opportunity. Trump defended the ICE agent as a hero, while his DHS surrogates suggested Good weaponized her vehicle—a claim contradicted by witnesses AND multiple videos who say she appeared to be trying to leave, not kill. Minnesota’s governor and local leaders blasted the feds for turning Minneapolis into a stage for militarized theatrics, warning for weeks that this exact scenario was inevitable.

Crowds quickly gathered at the site, the same neighborhood still scarred by George Floyd’s murder. Anger, fear, and exhaustion mingled in the cold air as federal agents poured into a city that never asked for them. Against that backdrop, Good’s death feels less like an isolated tragedy and more like the predictable outcome of an administration treating communities as props in a political drama.

Source: The Independent

Editor: The federal government calling this “domestic terrorism” is the rhetorical equivalent of slapping a fresh coat of paint on a collapsing wall—except the wall keeps killing people.

Conservative Ex-Judge Says ICE Agent “Should Be” Charged in Killing of Renee Nicole Good

When even a conservative former judge says the shooting looks criminal, you know the official excuses are falling apart.

In a Newsmax interview that surely rattled ICE defenders, former Judge Andrew Napolitano said plainly that the agent who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis “should be” charged under Minnesota law. That’s not coming from a left-wing activist—it’s coming from a longtime conservative legal voice who watched the same video the rest of us did: a woman turning her wheel away from an agent right before he fired into her windshield.

Napolitano emphasized that the footage undermines the claim that Good was attacking anyone. “There is a video showing her turning the wheel to the right, as if to avoid him,” he said, undercutting the narrative ICE and the Trump administration have been aggressively pushing. His point was simple: if the jury sees what he sees, the shooting is criminal. No euphemisms, no political acrobatics—just the law.

The former judge also swatted away fantasies that the Department of Justice could swoop in and shield the agent from Minnesota prosecutors. The state is sovereign, he reminded Newsmax’s host, and any criminal case would have to run its course there before the feds could even dream of intervening. A rare conservative acknowledgment that state laws and accountability still matter—even when a federal badge is involved.

Napolitano went further, saying the jury could infer Good’s mindset from her attempt to steer clear of the officer. “If the jury inferred that she tried to avoid him, then his shooting of her is criminal,” he explained. A concise takedown of the “domestic terrorism” storyline that Trump allies keep flinging at the wall in hopes it somehow sticks.

When a conservative legal figure is spelling out the potential charges on right-wing TV, it’s safe to say the official defense of this shooting is leaking credibility faster than ICE can issue talking points.

Source: Raw Story

Editor: When Newsmax guests start sounding more reasonable than the government officials running the show, it’s not a renaissance in integrity—it’s a sign the cover story has collapsed under its own weight.

Funeral Interrupted by Gunfire: Two Killed, Six Injured Outside Mormon Church in Salt Lake City

A funeral service became a scene of chaos when gunfire erupted in the parking lot, leaving two dead and a community stunned at how quickly grief turned into terror.

Salt Lake City police say Wednesday night’s shooting outside a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse does not appear to be a religiously targeted attack. Instead, investigators believe an altercation in the parking lot escalated into deadly violence—because apparently even funerals aren’t off-limits for people who can’t settle disputes without bullets.

Dozens were gathered inside for a service when shots rang out. Two people were killed instantly, and six others were wounded—three critically. Police Chief Brian Redd stressed it was too early to pin down a motive, but what they do know is that at least one suspect fled, leaving behind chaos and a grainy surveillance image that offers more questions than answers.

Authorities say several individuals have been detained as they sift through video and eyewitness accounts. A possible suspect vehicle was last seen heading north from the church, prompting a wide search perimeter. Meanwhile, the church itself says it’s cooperating fully, though you can hardly blame worshippers for wondering why they now need to fear violence in their own parking lots.

This incident lands in a country already stretched thin by violent flare-ups in everyday spaces. When a funeral turns into an active crime scene, it underscores just how threadbare our public sense of safety has become—and how tired Americans are of pretending this is normal.

Source: NYT

Editor: There’s something deeply broken when mourners can’t even bury their dead without needing an exit strategy. The “thoughts and prayers” crowd should try offering policies instead.

Trump Declares Exit From 66 Global Organizations in Sweeping Retreat From Multilateralism

In one evening, Trump took a sledgehammer to decades of U.S. diplomacy and declared the country done with 66 international bodies—all in the name of “sovereignty.”

The White House memo, signed with characteristic flourish, pulls the United States out of a sprawling list of organizations: 35 outside the U.N. system and 31 within it. This includes the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change—yes, the backbone of global climate cooperation—along with bodies focused on gender equality, oceans, scientific collaboration, and cultural exchange. In other words, the stuff nations usually work on together because reality refuses to respect borders.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio framed the move as a patriotic cleanup operation, calling these institutions “redundant,” “wasteful,” and—his favorite—tools of “globalist” agendas. He blasted everything from gender equity to climate policy as elitist ideology detached from U.S. interests. It’s the same refrain the administration uses to justify pulling out of WHO, UNESCO, the U.N. Human Rights Council, the Iran nuclear deal, and the INF Treaty. If it involved cooperation, Trump has probably withdrawn from it—twice, in several cases.

Rubio even bragged about dismantling the so-called “NGO-plex,” celebrating the shuttering of USAID like it was a victory parade instead of a self-inflicted wound to the country’s global influence. The White House fact sheet went further, accusing many international organizations of pushing “radical climate policies” and “global governance,” as though monitoring ocean health is some secret plot to overthrow America.

Trump, for his part, did his standard routine. He insisted the U.N. has “tremendous potential” but simply “isn’t being well run”—which is rich coming from someone whose response to mismanagement is to yank the U.S. out rather than improve anything. As he signed the memo, he claimed the exits would save taxpayers money, though he didn’t mention the price of ceding leadership to nations more than happy to fill the vacuum.

The United States once shaped the postwar world by participating in it. Now the administration brags about walking out of the room. If “America First” means America alone, this is certainly one way to get there—just don’t expect the world to wait for us.

Source: UPI

Editor: You almost have to admire the efficiency—most presidents take four years to erode U.S. influence, but Trump manages to fast-track it with a single memo and some warmed-over campaign rhetoric.

Judge Demands Answers From Lindsey Halligan for Calling Herself U.S. Attorney After Court Ruled Her Appointment Illegal

When a federal judge has to ask why you’re still using a title the court already stripped from you, your legal credibility is circling the drain.

U.S. District Judge David Novak didn’t wait for a defendant to complain—he issued his own three-page order demanding to know why Trump ally Lindsey Halligan continues to call herself the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. This comes after another federal judge ruled in November that her appointment was unconstitutional and tossed out her high-profile prosecutions of James Comey and New York AG Letitia James. Yet here she is, still signing indictments like none of that ever happened.

Novak’s order is blunt: explain why you’re still using the title, why the court shouldn’t strike your name from an entire indictment, and why your behavior doesn’t amount to making “a false or misleading statement.” Judges don’t usually talk like that unless they’re out of patience—and Novak even hinted at disciplinary action. Halligan must sign her response herself, a not-so-subtle reminder that this isn’t a matter her office can spin away.

The underlying problem is simple: Judge Cameron McGowan Currie already ruled that Halligan’s appointment was unconstitutional and that her actions—including the Comey and James indictments—were “unlawful exercises of executive power.” The DOJ appealed, but there’s no stay, meaning the ruling is still binding. Novak made that clear: until it’s reversed, it cannot be ignored. Yet Halligan appears to be ignoring it anyway, and even DOJ documents still label her as U.S. attorney—a remarkable institutional shrug at a constitutional violation.

This isn’t the first time judges in the district have shown irritation. One now routinely places an asterisk next to Halligan’s name in filings, footnoting the earlier ruling like a permanent legal scarlet letter. It’s the judicial equivalent of “we all know what’s going on here.”

The question now isn’t whether Halligan overstepped—that’s already been adjudicated. The question is why she keeps pretending nothing happened, and why the Justice Department is letting her.

Source: NBC News

Editor: If your appointment is unconstitutional, maybe stop acting like the job is yours. Even mall cops understand the concept of authority better than this.

More Than 1,000 Companies Sue Trump as Supreme Court Eyes the Future of His Tariffs

When over a thousand companies pile into court at once, it’s not a policy debate—it’s a financial stampede to claw back billions they say Trump never had the authority to collect.

With the Supreme Court expected to rule as soon as Friday on whether most of Trump’s tariffs are legally valid, corporate America is rushing the courthouse steps like it’s Black Friday for refunds. After months of watching from the sidelines, businesses across nearly every sector—from manufacturers to importers to global retailers—filed lawsuits in a late-breaking surge triggered by the justices’ pointed skepticism during a Nov. 5 hearing.

The stakes? Billions. Companies have shelled out massive sums under Trump’s expansive tariff regime, and now more than 1,000 corporate entities are hoping the Court will hand them back their money. For all the political bravado behind these tariffs, the legal question is straightforward: did Trump actually have the authority to impose them the way he did? A growing chorus of justices seems unconvinced.

What makes this moment so unusual is not just the volume of lawsuits but the timing. The moment the Court hinted it might strike down the policy, companies scrambled to secure their place in line—because if the tariffs fall, refunds won’t be automatic. They’ll depend on who sued, when, and under what claim. This isn’t just litigation; it’s triage for trade-dependent businesses that have waited years for relief.

And if the administration loses? Buckle up. The government will face a monumental refund tab, the president’s signature trade doctrine will unravel, and corporations will be vindicated in their long-held belief that the tariff program was more political theater than sound economic strategy.

It turns out the biggest threat to Trump’s trade war wasn’t China or the EU—it was the Supreme Court and a thousand furious accountants.

Source: Bloomberg

Editor: If your signature economic policy collapses the moment nine justices ask real questions, maybe it wasn’t a “revolutionary trade strategy” so much as a very expensive dare.

BONUS because in Trumplandia, there can never be enough space for bullshit in the news

RFK Jr. Rewrites America’s Diet: New Pyramid Puts Meat, Cheese and “Real Food” on Top

The Biden-era food pyramid is officially dead—and RFK Jr. just replaced it with one that elevates red meat, cheese, and whole foods while kicking ultra-processed staples off the table and sending grains to the basement.

At a Wednesday press conference, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled what they’re calling the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. nutrition policy in history. The new inverted food pyramid places Protein, Dairy & Healthy Fats at the top left, Vegetables & Fruits at the top right, and relegates Whole Grains to the bottom tier. Translation: steak, salmon, whole milk and cheddar are now the stars of American nutrition, while cereal and bread get demoted.

Kennedy framed the shift as long-overdue course correction, declaring, “Protein and healthy fats are essential and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines. We are ending the war on saturated fats.” He and Rollins blasted America’s dependence on heavily refined and ultra-processed foods, blaming them—along with sedentary lifestyles—for a national obesity rate north of 70%. Their message was blunt: Americans need to return to “real food that nourishes the body.”

But critics didn’t wait long to fire back. Stanford nutrition expert Christopher Gardner, who served on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, said he was “very disappointed” to see red meat and other saturated-fat-heavy foods showcased at the top. He argued this “goes against decades and decades of evidence,” pushing instead for more plant-based proteins. Major institutions like the American Heart Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics echoed concerns about saturated fat’s link to heart disease—even though the guidelines still recommend capping it at 10% of daily calories.

Other researchers took a more nuanced view. Tufts cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian noted that both low-fat and full-fat dairy can fit into a healthy diet and have been associated with lower cardiovascular risk. And he praised the guidelines’ crackdown on ultra-processed foods, calling it “a very positive move for public health.”

The practical impact will be enormous. These guidelines shape school meals, military menus, and federal nutrition programs for mothers and infants. While most Americans will never read them, they will absolutely feel them—right down to what shows up on their kids’ lunch trays.

Source: NPR

Editor: Only in America could we reinvent the food pyramid by flipping it upside down and declaring victory. If the goal was to start a cage match between cardiologists and the cattle industry, mission accomplished.