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Trump's AI-generated entrance into papal politics

Trump's AI-generated entrance into papal politics

Washington Post06-05-2025

Politics
Trump's AI-generated entrance into papal politics
May 6, 2025 | 8:02 PM GMT
The Sidebar panel and Senior political correspondent Naftali Bendavid discusses President Donald Trump's unusual AI-generated wade into Papal politics. Subscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube: https://wapo.st/2QOdcqK Follow us: Twitter: https://twitter.com/washingtonpost Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/washingtonpost/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/washingtonpost/

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Live Updates: Manhunt for Minnesota Assassin Enters 2nd Day as State Mourns Victims
Live Updates: Manhunt for Minnesota Assassin Enters 2nd Day as State Mourns Victims

New York Times

time23 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Live Updates: Manhunt for Minnesota Assassin Enters 2nd Day as State Mourns Victims

The police have said that the suspect in Saturday's attacks, Vance Boelter, 57, disguised himself as a police officer before going to the homes of two state lawmakers in the Minneapolis suburbs. The man suspected of shooting two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota early on Saturday had served on a state board with one of the victims, records show. The suspect identified by the authorities, Vance Boelter, 57, was appointed several times by Minnesota governors to the Workforce Development Board, where he served with State Senator John A. Hoffman, who was shot and survived. Mr. Boelter and Senator Hoffman attended a virtual meeting together in 2022 for a discussion about the job market in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, minutes from the meeting show. Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said investigators did not yet know how well the two knew each other, if at all. Mr. Boelter was appointed to the board in 2016 by Mark Dayton, a Democrat who was then the governor. More recently, he was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz, also a Democrat. The board has 41 members who are appointed by the governor, and its goal is to improve business development in the state. A state report in 2016 listed Mr. Boelter's political affiliation as 'none or other,' and another report in 2020 listed him as having 'no party preference.' Voters do not declare political affiliation when they register in Minnesota. The police have said that the suspect in the attacks disguised himself as a police officer and went to the homes of two state lawmakers in the Minneapolis suburbs. He shot and wounded Senator Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, and fatally shot State Representative Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark. He remains on the run. U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota, said in an interview that the gunman had a list that included her name and the names of other lawmakers, all of whom were Democrats. The list included about 70 potential targets, a federal law enforcement official said, including doctors, community and business leaders, and locations for Planned Parenthood and other health care centers. Some of the targets were in neighboring states. Image A State Patrol helicopter flies near a home where a search warrant was executed in Minneapolis on Saturday. Credit... Tim Gruber for The New York Times David Carlson lives at an address in Minneapolis where the police executed a search warrant for Mr. Boelter and said he has been one of his best friends since fourth grade. Mr. Boelter's listed address is in Green Isle, Minn., about an hour's drive away. Mr. Carlson said that Mr. Boelter also rented a room in the same home as him, and stayed there several days a week. Mr. Boelter worked at a funeral home, owned guns and had voted for President Trump last year, he said. Mr. Carlson read a text message that he had received from Mr. Boelter early on Saturday morning, in which he wrote that he might be dead soon. The message did not describe any details of the attacks, Mr. Carlson said. On Friday, Mr. Boelter had given Mr. Carlson four months' worth of advance rent payments — which was about $220 a month — for a small room in the shared house. He had said he needed some rest and so Mr. Carlson left him alone. Mr. Carlson said Mr. Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposed abortion. He had never mentioned either of the lawmakers who were shot, Mr. Carlson said, and had generally avoided talking about politics. He said Mr. Boelter had been experiencing financial and mental health challenges. Mr. Boelter and his wife run a private security company in Minnesota, according to its website. The company, Praetorian Guard Security Services, lists Mr. Boelter as the director of security patrols and his wife as the president. The firm's website describes using Ford Explorer S.U.V.s, 'the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use.' On Saturday afternoon, the police towed a Ford Explorer from outside Representative Hortman's home. The firm says it offers only armed security. 'If you are looking for unarmed guards, please work with another service to meet your needs better,' the website says. Image The police towing a Ford Explorer that they said the suspect used from near Representative Melissa Hortman's home in Brooklyn Park, Minn., on Saturday. Credit... Tim Gruber for The New York Times Mr. Boelter's public professional history is varied. State reports and his LinkedIn profile indicate that he was recently a general manager of a 7-Eleven in Minneapolis and, before that, had worked as the general manager of a gas station in St. Paul. A report in 2017 listed him as an executive at an energy company. More recently, he had said on LinkedIn that he was the chief executive of a company called Red Lion Group, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dedicated to creating 'good jobs for local people,' according to its website. Mr. Boelter has delivered several sermons at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a video of one that was posted online, he appeared to criticize gay and transgender people. 'There's people, especially in America, they don't know what sex they are,' he said. 'They don't know their sexual orientation, they're confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.' In the sermon, he said he had given his life to Jesus as a teenager and had been blessed with five children. In a video posted online, seemingly for an educational course, Mr. Boelter said he had picked up work at funeral homes to help pay his bills. It was not clear when the video was uploaded, but Mr. Boelter said he worked six days a week for two funeral homes in the Minneapolis area. At one, he said, he sometimes helped to remove bodies from crime scenes and would work with police officers and death investigators. A spokesman for Des Moines Area Community College, in Iowa, said Mr. Boelter took classes in the school's mortuary science program, an online program, in 2023 and 2024. The website for Mr. Boelter's security company makes expansive claims about his work experience, which could not immediately be verified, including that he had been 'involved with security situations' in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and that he had worked for 'the largest U.S. oil refining company, the world's largest food company based in Switzerland and the world's largest convenience retailer based in Japan.' Image Sweeping the neighborhood near the home of Ms. Hortman in Brooklyn Park, Minn., on Saturday. Credit... Tim Gruber for The New York Times I.R.S. tax forms show that Mr. Boelter and his wife once led a Christian nonprofit called Revoformation Ministries. An archived version of the group's website described Mr. Boelter as becoming an ordained minister in 1993. Mr. Boelter, the site said, had traveled previously to violent areas 'in the Gaza Strip and West Bank,' the site said, and had 'sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.' In November 2018, Mr. Boelter urged his followers on LinkedIn to vote in that year's election, saying he had been to countries where people could not elect their leaders and that were 'not places that anyone of us would want to live in.' 'I am very big on just telling people to be a part of the process and vote your values,' he wrote, 'and be part of this adventure we are all a part of living in the United States of America.' 'I think the election is going to have more of an impact on the direction of our country than probably any election we have been apart of, or will be apart of for years to come,' he continued. One of the victims on Saturday's attacks, Ms. Hortman, ran successfully for re-election that year. Julie Bosman , Kevin Draper , Adam Goldman , Bernard Mokam and Jay Senter contributed reporting. Jack Begg and Kitty Bennett contributed research.

Macron to visit Greenland to show European support for the strategic Arctic island coveted by Trump

time28 minutes ago

Macron to visit Greenland to show European support for the strategic Arctic island coveted by Trump

NUUK, Greenland -- French President Emmanuel Macron's first trip to Greenland, the strategic Arctic island coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump, is aimed at shoring up Europe's political backing for Denmark and its semiautonomous territory. Macron's visit on Sunday comes just ahead a meeting of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations next week in Canada that will be attended by both Macron and Trump. The French president's office said the trip to Greenland is a reminder that Paris supports principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders as enshrined in the U.N. charter. Macron is also to meet with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen. Macron mentioned Greenland last week in his opening speech at the U.N. Ocean Conference, saying it isn't 'up for grabs' in remarks that appeared directed largely at Trump. 'The deep seas are not for sale, nor is Greenland up for grabs, nor are the Arctic or the high seas for sale, nor are fishing licenses in developing countries up for grabs, nor are scientific data and the security of coastal populations to be sacrificed,″ Macron said at the summit in Nice, France. Macron in recent months has sought to reinvigorate France's role as the diplomatic and economic heavyweight of the 27-nation European Union. The French president has positioned himself as a leader in Europe amid Trump's threats to pull support from Ukraine as it fights against Russia's invasion. Macron hosted a summit in Paris with other European heads of state to discuss Kyiv, as well as security issues on the continent. Sunday's visit will also be the occasion to discuss how to further enhance relations between the EU and Greenland when it comes to economic development, low-carbon energy transition and critical minerals. The leaders will also have exchanges on efforts to curb global warming, according to Macron's office. A meeting between Macron, Frederiksen and Nielsen will take place on a Danish helicopter carrier, showing France's concerns over security issues in the region, Macron's office said. Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to acknowledge that the Pentagon has developed plans to take over Greenland and Panama by force if necessary but refused to answer repeated questions during a hotly combative congressional hearing Thursday about his use of Signal chats to discuss military operations. Hegseth's comments were the latest controversial remarks made by a member of the Trump administration about the Arctic island. The president himself has said he won't rule out military force to take over Greenland, which he considers vital to American security in the high north. The Wall Street Journal last month reported that several high-ranking officials under the U.S. director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had directed intelligence agency heads to learn more about Greenland's independence movement and sentiment about U.S. resource extraction there. Nielsen in April said that U.S. statements about the island have been disrespectful and that Greenland 'will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.'

Legal immigrant sees small business boom after opening doors to police injured during anti-ICE riots
Legal immigrant sees small business boom after opening doors to police injured during anti-ICE riots

Fox News

time38 minutes ago

  • Fox News

Legal immigrant sees small business boom after opening doors to police injured during anti-ICE riots

LOS ANGELES – A restaurant owner outside Los Angeles is opening up about her decision to help police officers who were tear-gassed during riots outside her business June 7. Elizabeth Mendoza is the owner of La Ceiba Restaurant, a Salvadoran eatery in Long Beach, who told Fox News Digital she welcomed both police and protesters who entered her business seeking help after being pepper-sprayed that Saturday afternoon. "I feel sad because my city … it's a good city," she said. "My people is honest. My people have to work a lot. I'm here for 14 years. I know my people, and I feel bad … when I saw the police. The police need my help, too, because they are human like me. They feel everything like me. "They have to … work," she said, adding she has received thanks from police for helping officers that day Mendoza initially said her restaurant had suffered because the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and police presence in the area made people "scared" to walk around. But now her business is thriving due to the positive attention she has received nationally for helping officers. She has been living in the United States for more than 30 years and is a legal U.S. citizen. The business owner said the recent riots and ICE raids have made her "sad" because immigrants like her want "peace" and "work" in the United States. While outsiders have treated what she described as her "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant with respect, Mendoza called on protesters to condemn violence against other local businesses. "Everything is OK. I want to say that protest is good," she said. "But no[t] something bad — the street, the windows. Please, don't do that." Protests escalated in the Los Angeles area beginning June 6 and June 7, when ICE raids began across the county, resulting in hundreds of illegal immigrant arrests. The Department of Homeland Security shared information with Fox News about some of the most violent offenders arrested by ICE those two days. Rioting broke out on the evening of June 7, a Friday, as agitators burned cars, threw objects and fireworks at police, blocked traffic, vandalized public buildings with graffiti and smashed windows of the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters downtown. The rioting continued into the weekend and ensuing weeknights.

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