Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Carl Quintanilla

@carlquintanilla.bsky.social

> @punchbowlnews.bsky.social

January 24, 2026 at 10:59 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Molly Jeffery, PhD MPP

@mollyjeffery.bsky.social

I’m going to stand at 50th and Penn if anyone wants to join

ISAIAH @isaiahmn.org · 3h

🕯️ SHINE A LIGHT FOR MINNESOTA

Tonight • 7:00 PM CT

Step outside and light a candle — on our street corners, with our neighbors, for our communities & Alex.

Together we call for #ICEOutNow.

🔁 SHARE WIDELY!

SHINE A LIGHT FOR MINNESOTA
TONIGHT AT 7:00PM CT
STEP OUTSIDE AND LIGHT A CANDLE ON OUR STREET CORNERS.
WITH OUR NEIGHBORS.
FOR OUR COMMUNITIES AND ALEX.
ICE OUT NOW
SAT. JAN 24, 7:00 PM (CST)

January 24, 2026 at 9:33 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

ISAIAH

@isaiahmn.org

🕯️ SHINE A LIGHT FOR MINNESOTA

Tonight • 7:00 PM CT

Step outside and light a candle — on our street corners, with our neighbors, for our communities & Alex.

Together we call for #ICEOutNow.

🔁 SHARE WIDELY!

January 24, 2026 at 8:44 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Bill Kristol

@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social

With Rosen, Cortez Masto, and Warner all now No’s on cloture on DHS Approps, the filibuster will get above 40 (I assume they’ll get pretty much every Dem senator). The question then will be what the Dems demand to let it go forward. Get ICE and CBP out of MN is the easiest message. It’s also right.

January 24, 2026 at 9:55 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Minnesota Star Tribune

@startribune.com

An overhead view of protesters gathering at the scene of the shooting.

Live coverage: www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

📽️ Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune

January 24, 2026 at 9:46 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Osita Nwanevu

@ositanwanevu.com

Nonviolence is, in fact, working. This administration is weaker than it was a year ago. More and more of the public is becoming galvanized against it; its agents are being impeded.

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 4h

Do you honestly think people in the civil rights movement and other nonviolent movements faced no violence themselves? They practiced nonviolence because it works, because the oppressor wants a shooting war, which is the war it will win

Arno_Xen, PhD (ANTIFA) @arno-aman.bsky.social · 4h

How's your non-violent working Mr Gandhi stancil? They will kill each and everyone of you right if they had the chance and you will still be writing Kumbaya.

January 24, 2026 at 9:53 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Espy

@esp1371.bsky.social

It feels, I don't know, frivolous to be doing this today, but I need something to keep my sanity at least slightly intact, so here goes: At the Kusko 300, Mike Williams, Jr. was first into the Aniak checkpoint. He arrived 17 minutes ahead of Emily Robinson. #mushersky 1/

Espy @esp1371.bsky.social · 7h

The teams are resting in Upper Kalskag now, and the start differential will be taken here. I think I said yesterday it was 12 hours of mandatory rest, but it's only 10 with 4 of those coming at the last checkpoint of Tuluksak. So, most will probably take 3 hours here, I think. #mushersky 3/3

January 24, 2026 at 8:35 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Jess

@fartsock.bsky.social

The world is awful, so I rage-hiked our trail and Sheridan managed to snowmobile some of it so the dogs could run.

Small glimpses of heaven in a hellish world.

January 24, 2026 at 8:32 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

ATAO Kennel

@ataokennel.bsky.social

I'm so proud of Shawn! They got third!! 😮 look out for their undoubtedly hilarious update soon.

ATAO Kennel @ataokennel.bsky.social · 1d

Amidst a lot, @goggdog42.bsky.social has been training hard to make it to their second big race, the 2026 Two Rivers 100. We'll be updating from Patreon this year. If you follow us there (you can do so for free!), you'll get email updates as we post. I'm so proud of Shawn and the dogs. Onward team!!

Race Day! Two Rivers 100 | ATAO Kennel

Get more from ATAO Kennel on Patreon

www.patreon.com

January 24, 2026 at 9:54 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS

@dimitridrekonja.bsky.social

Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now

Alex Pretti from his early days working at the VA

January 24, 2026 at 7:39 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS

@dimitridrekonja.bsky.social

Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him.

White. Hot. Rage.

January 24, 2026 at 7:31 PM

Melissa Whitler

@mwhitler.bsky.social

Locals will understand when I say teenagers in Edina are holding impromptu ICE OUT protests on the street corner the sentiments are widespread and normie.

January 24, 2026 at 7:35 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Wedge LIVE!™

@wedge.live

Crowd has gathered 26th and Nicollet

January 24, 2026 at 7:23 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Anna Bower

@annabower.bsky.social

“The government has also argued that I must accept this as true because they said it, and they are the government…I respectfully suggest that the petition is frivolous.”

The judge who wrote this is a Bush appointee and two-time Scalia clerk.

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 5h

A magistrate judge found no probable cause to support arrest warrants for 5 people involved in the St. Paul church protest.

DOJ appealed to the 8th Cir.

That appeal led to this remarkable letter from the Chief Judge of the Minnesota district court…

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Re:
In Re: United States of America
No. 26-1135
Dear Chief Judge Colloton,
I apologize for addressing this letter to you, but, for reasons I will describe, I do
not have any other option.
I am working from home today, as the program that my mentally disabled adult son attends each day is closed because of the extreme cold At 11:34 am, I received an email regarding Case No. 26-1135, entitled "In re: United States of America." The order in its entirety read:
The motion of the United States to seal is granted. The Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota is invited to file a response, at his discretion, to the petition for writ of mandamus. Any response is due by 2:00 p.m. Friday, January 23.
This is the first that I have heard of any petition for a writ of mandamus. The
United States did not have the courtesy to tell me that they would be filing such a petition, nor did the United States serve the petition on me. I am unable to access any documents in Case No. 26-1135 because, at the request of the United States, the case is sealed-apparently even from me. So I have been given about two-and-one-half hours to respond to a mandamus petition that I have not read and cannot read.
Apparently I am supposed to guess what the petition is about and guess what
the mandamus petition says and then respond. I will do so.

The Honorable Steven M. Colloton
January 23, 2026
Page 2
On the evening of Tuesday, January 20, the United States presented an application for eight arrest warrants to Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko in connection with the disruption of a religious service at Cities Church on Sunday, January 18. Judge Micko was the magistrate judge who was on duty at the time. Judge Micko found there was probable cause to issue warrants with respect to three of the suspects but not with respect to the other five.
Minutes after Judge Micko signed three arrest warrants, the U.S. Attorney
notified me that his office wanted a district judge to review Judge Micko's decision -either by hearing an appeal of that decision or by considering the application de novo. The first thing I did is ask our Clerk's Office to randomly assign a district judge to consider the government's request. I was the judge who was randomly assigned.
It is important to emphasize that what the U.S. Attorney requested is unheard of
in our district or, as best as I can tell, any other district in the Eighth Circuit. I have surveyed all of our judges — some of whom have been judges in our District for over 40 years —and no one can remember the government asking a district judge to review a magistrate judge's denial of an arrest warrant. I have also surveyed the chief judges of all of the districts in the Eighth Circuit. I have heard back from almost all of them, and all of those responding have said that, to their knowledge, no district judge has ever reviewed the decision of a magistrate judge to deny an arrest warrant. The reason why this never happens is likely that, if the government does not like the magistrate judge's decision, it can either improve the affidavit and present it again to the same magistrate judge or it can present its case to a grand jury and seek an indictment.
On Wednesday, January 21, I informed the U.S. Attorney that because he was asking me to do something that was unprecedented, and because m…

January 24, 2026 at 6:06 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Philip Bump

@pbump.com

If you want a distraction, this week’s newsletter is out. Lots to skim through there, from tree ring records to hall of fame votes to tracking plane flights. Oh, and this.

How To Read This Chart @howtoreadthisch.art · 8h

This week’s newsletter is out! Here’s the path my family tree took from Edward Boumpass, born in 1603, to my kids.
www.howtoreadthisch.art/the-robots-h...

January 24, 2026 at 5:23 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

TashasEv

@tashasev.bsky.social

My heart is hurting so bad this morning, if yours is too, here is a Zuri to help

A closeup of the head of a large fluffy white dog resting on my stomach on top of a forest green quilt. Her normally floppy ears are standing up flopped out. She’s dozing with her eyes mostly closed

January 24, 2026 at 5:20 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Anne Helen Petersen

@annehelen.bsky.social

A write-up of yesterday's protest + general strike that'll make you feel something

www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/hate-has-t...

Hate Has to Scatter When Minneapolis Arises

At the general strike.

www.hamiltonnolan.com

January 24, 2026 at 5:28 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Jen Bendery

@jbendery.bsky.social

People are rolling trash bins down the street toward the federal agents and leaving them in the middle of the street, apparently creating a barricade.

January 24, 2026 at 5:37 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Jen Bendery

@jbendery.bsky.social

More and more angry residents keep pouring in and are shouting at the federal agents, who have been retaliating with lots of tear gas.

People have been running up to people getting tear-gassed and giving them water to pour in their faces.

It's negative six degrees out here

January 24, 2026 at 5:18 PM

Reposted by Melissa Whitler

Minnesota Reformer

@minnesotareformer.com

Please note: As our colleagues at @stateline.org reported earlier this week, footage, documents have often been at odds with DHS accounts of immigration enforcement incidents minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/23/r...