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livingwillie.bsky.social

@livingwillie.bsky.social
976 followers 780 following 2.9K posts

Son of a proud Marine. Who survived Iwo Jima. 🇺🇸 I’ve seen the damage war can do, up close and personal. Spent 24 years around politics. Local & National. No messages

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Reposted by @livingwillie.bsky.social
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
After training was cut from five months to 42 days, 1,200 new ICE officers with no prior LEO experience have already gotten their badge and a gun. ICE had ~6,000 deportation officers in Jan. 2025. A year later, 4,200 new deportation officers have since completed training and 800 retirees came back.
The percentage of new deportation officers who are actually ready to go out on the streets, however, is much lower than what the administration has been claiming, according to five DHS and ICE officials I spoke with. About 1,200 recruits have completed courses at ICE’s training academy, and another 3,000 have finished online training courses for new hires with previous policing experience. ICE has also brought back about 800 retirees who can earn a salary on top of their pension. These roughly 5,000 new deportation officers are considered “operational,” and have been given a badge and a gun, though some have yet to deploy due to administrative and logistical reasons. Three of the officials told me they estimate that it will likely take five or six months for the target number of new deportation officers—10,000—to be fully ready.
ICE veterans I’ve spoken with have concerns about the qualifications and aptitude of their new colleagues, especially those with little or no previous law-enforcement experience. Some academy classes have had dropout rates near 50 percent because so many failed the physical-fitness requirements. The Trump administration slashed the length of the training course from about five months to 47 days last summer—because Trump is the 47th president, three officials told me at the time—then cut it further. Now it’s 42 days.
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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
I was privileged to spend time today with a Minneapolis local, Hope, who lives a block away from the site of Alex Pretti's murder & to listen to her powerful message for all Americans: youtu.be/UQacjBTJ48A?...
youtu.be
🚨 LIVE FROM MINNEAPOLIS: Visiting MEMORIAL Sites Of ICE MURDERS
YouTube video by Katie Phang
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26/01/2026
Simon: "They don't just want the public stuff which anyone can get - name, address, voting history, stuff like that. What they want is very personal, private, sensitive data on millions of people - namely, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, military service history where applicable"
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26/01/2026
Trump: "MELANIA, the Movie, is a MUST WATCH. Get your tickets today — Selling out, FAST!"
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Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The Democratic commentators, "strategists," and data bros who've been counseling appeasement of Trump's fascism need to take responsibility for how unbelievably fucking wrong they were. For history tells us that appeasement signals weakness, encourages escalation, and accelerates freedom's end.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 26/01/2026
Memphis has been experiencing a show of force similar to those in cities like Minneapolis, where the Trump administration has sent hundreds of agents to enforce its immigration crackdown. But backlash has been far more muted in Memphis, where Republican state leaders support the operation.
nyti.ms
In Memphis, Federal Crime Task Force Keeps Residents on Edge
Support from Republican state leaders for the crime-fighting operation — and to an extent, from the city’s Democratic mayor — has kept tensions to an uneasy simmer.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
STEPH CURRY ON THE PROTESTS: “In negative ten degree weather — It was beautiful to that turnout in those elements.”
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Wow — REPUBLICAN Chris Madel drops his bid for governor of Minnesota, saying ICE has gone too far and he can’t support Trump’s “retribution on the citizens of our state”
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26/01/2026
Sean Duffy: "If you come to a protest with a 9mm firearm, that's fine believing in the Second Amendment, but you stand on the sidewalk and you hold your sign. You take that 9mm and you start to engage with ICE officers, and then you resist arrest -- listen, I don't want anyone to die, but ... "
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The deficit and national debt is going to absolutely explode over the next year because of the Republican budget. I have no problem being one of the only Democrats continuing to talk about that.
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Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
ICE is a profit-driver for the major brands we use who donate to the politicians refusing to abolish it. Profits drive donations, donations secure contracts — and the cycle continues. Working with ICE needs to be toxic for these brands.
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Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Their fiscal year 2026 budget is already 5 months late. A long govt shutdown already happened. Last week The Cowardly Speaker passed appropriations bills and then sent the House home until Feb 3rd, making it impossible for Senate to make changes this week. It's recklessness beyond words.
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CNN @cnn.com · 26/01/2026
The chance of several government agencies shutting down this week is growing, as Senate Democrats fall in line behind a commitment to reject a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security after another deadly shooting by a federal officer in Minneapolis.
cnn.com
Where government funding talks stand after the Minneapolis shooting | CNN Politics
If the Senate fails to pass legislation by midnight on Friday, then parts of the federal government will shut down.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
"This is a criminal president and a criminal administration. This is straight-out fascism. This is about ending democracy. These people are destroying the Constitution. And if we say it in words that are any less blunt, we are not telling the truth." www.ms.now/the-weekend-...
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 25/01/2026
Alex Pretti was already restrained when federal agents shot and killed him in Minneapolis, a New York Times analysis of video shows. The footage contradicts the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the shooting.
trib.al
Timeline: How the Shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti Unfolded
A moment-by-moment analysis of video from the scene shows that Mr. Pretti was already restrained when fatal shots were fired, which appears to contradict the federal government’s account of the event.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
On both the Renee Good and Alex Pretti situations: If the federal agents ever had to go under oath in front of jury questioned by a real lawyers about what they did they would get absolutely destroyed. They are only getting away with this because the govt won’t allow that.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
This is batshit crazy. She’s nuts. bsky.app/profile/atru...
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Bill Kristol is making a clearer case for what Democrats can and should do in the minority than Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries ever has
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
AND IMPEACH AND REMOVE. We need to clamor for that even if the votes aren't there—yet.
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Sarah Longwell @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Part of what strikes me about Trump, Noem, Bovino, Miller, et al and their willingness to lie in the face of overwhelming video evidence, is their absolute certainty in the tribal stupidity and cynicism of their supporters—especially on here—who will blindly repeat their lies.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Bondi's letter—essentially offering to stop attacking and murdering citizens in Minnesota in exchange for the state's voter rolls—shows what Trump, Miller et al. are really after: They want to fuck with the nation's elections so that they never have to cede power or answer for their crimes.
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@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Bash is doing a helluva job here holding Bovino to account. Incredible, necessary questions. Bovino does not answer any of her questions directly and she is not letting up. CNN has still frames and videos ready to throughout the interview. This is how you do it.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Exactly. Report the facts. One of the most striking facts here are the lies. And they are lies. Intentional lies.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Whether they will say it or not, surely there must be some people in the MAGA movement who are able to see that Stephen Miller is a psychopath.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Yes.
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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but what we are seeing is NOT (just) a training problem. It is a VETTING problem. Law enforcement *disproportionately* attracts sociopaths. Layers of screening and oversight are needed to give the kind of power these goondas have. It’s broken.
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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
NYT video review confirms this. Pretti had a 2nd Am right to carry a firearm. But even if he didn’t he wasn’t pointing it at anyone or threatening agents. There is no legal justification for the execution-style shooting & no basis for DHS’s claim he was there to massacre them. He was a helper.
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Yes, the GOP controls Congress. That's why it's key to show Congress COULD stop the madness. And it's not just the DHS bill. Congress could repeal the prior multi-year $75b for DHS; set up a special investigative committee (cf. Watergate); amend the Insurrection Act; etc.
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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
“.. It was the first time Evans could recall state investigators with jurisdiction over a crime scene being denied access by federal officers. ‘We’re in uncharted territory here,’ he said.” @wsj.com www.wsj.com/us-news/poli...
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Please share. 💔
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Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Alex Pretti served as a nurse in the intensive care unit of the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis. He cared for the most vulnerable patients in the veteran population. I've been thinking the veterans who received care from him. Some homeless, some without family. He was there for them.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 25/01/2026
They’re just gonna try to lie their way through it
Mullin: A deranged individual who came in to cause massive damage with a loaded pistol was shot and killed. How much more does it have to go on before the Democrat leaders take responsibility for their words?
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
TW ⚠️ The stabilized version is brutal.
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Kara Swisher @karaswisher.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
That tech oligarchs are noisy and incensed about the remote possibility of a wealth tax and utterly silent about the murder of a man who was only using the phone they invented to chronicle the thuggish government goon squads should tell you everything about these desiccated souls.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
It got worse.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
“Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.”
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Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
No words for this. Please share widely.
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Polling USA @usapolling.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Im a poet with words
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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
This is a MUST-READ affidavit. This eyewitness to Alex Pretti’s murder — who is too scared to even go home because she doesn’t trust federal agents — directly refutes what the feds are saying happened today:
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
AOC: They need 10 Democratic votes in the Senate to pass, continued unfettered ICE funding with no guardrails. Regardless of where you are in the Democratic party, this moment proves that the status quo cannot stand I would implore my Democratic colleagues in the senate to vote no
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 24/01/2026
AOC on Noem's lies: "They are asking you to give up your belief in your own senses and instead hand over your belief to anything they say ... look at it for yourself and what you will see is an innocent man being executed in the street."
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 24/01/2026
AOC: "In directing this around Mayor Wray and Gov. Walz, claiming they are 'inciting,' Noem is equating disagreement with incitement ... she is laying the groundwork for the Insurrection Act ... they are taking issue with the people of Minnesota who have duly elected their own elected officials"
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 24/01/2026
AOC: "How rich is it that she is saying showing up to the scene of a protest with a legally owned weapon should be grounds for a person's death, execution at the hands of the state, by the same party and administration that praises Kyle Rittenhouse."
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 24/01/2026
an administration staffed to the top with degenerate liars
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says the city will be asking a federal judge to order an end to Trump's immigration crackdown immediately.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
FWIW, on Xitter there are a number of gun rights people, libertarians, and actual conservatives who are (with varying degrees of caution) criticizing the murder. If that keeps up Trump could create a problem for himself, especially given that all those implicated in the murder are attacking 2A.
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Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
This. A handful of Americans have the power to stop this NOW, and they are refusing to.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Filming federal agents in public is not a crime, nobody should be harassed or restrained for doing so, nobody should have their phone confiscated for it, and nobody should get the death penalty for it. This is supposed to be a free Republic, not an authoritarian police state.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
> @startribune.com www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
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