Pentagon draws up rules on possible use of force by Marines deployed to LA protests
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon was scrambling Monday to establish rules to guide U.S. Marines who could be faced with the rare and difficult prospect of using force against citizens on American soil, now that the Trump administration is deploying active duty troops to the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles.
U.S. Northern Command said it is sending 700 Marines into the Los Angeles area to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents. The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines are coming from Twentynine Palms, California, and will augment about 2,100 National Guard soldiers in LA responding to the protests.
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Canada Standard
21 minutes ago
- Canada Standard
How far-right ideas in Canada are working their way into mainstream politics
The fortunes of the Conservative Party and its leader Pierre Poilievre in Canada's April 2025 election seemed to have shifted dramatically after United States President Donald Trump called for Canada to become the 51st state. Political pundits regarded Mark Carney and the Liberal Party's victory - along with the failure of Poilievre to retain his own seat - as a "Trump slump" and a repudiation of both Trump's and Poilievre's style of politics. But is that an accurate assessment? The Conservative Party received its largest vote share since Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Exit polling data suggested stronger support for the Conservative Party among people aged 18-34 than among people aged 55 and older. Although Trump has said Poilievre is "not a MAGA guy," some political analysts have likened the rhetoric of Poilievre and other Canadian Conservatives to American Republicans who lean towards far-right Christian nationalist politics.. As an inter-religious humanities scholar of the U.S. far right, I have observed alarming parallels between the rise of the far right in mainstream politics in the U.S. and the scene in Canada. Read more: A 'Trump slump' has lifted the left in Canada and now Australia - what are the lessons for NZ? In the U.S., both scholars and news media have been highlighting the connections between far-right Christian ideology and politics. Trump's first presidential term ended with the Jan. 6, 2021 violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Scholars like Matthew Taylor, author of The Violent Take it by Force , have pointed to Christian nationalism and other far-right ideologies as factors that motivated the rioters. In February 2025, Trump appointed televangelist Paula White-Cain to head the newly created White House Faith Office. White-Cain's appointment followed an executive order establishing a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias. Thea appointment adds to the the narrative that U.S. Christians are facing persecution, a refrain since at least the 1970s and heightened during Barack Obama's presidency. Scholars have linked the assertion that "Christianity is under attack" to the rise of Christian nationalism in mainstream politics. Read more: Trump may have emboldened hate in Canada, but it was already here American sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry define Christian nationalism as "a cultural framework that blurs distinctions between Christian identity and American identity, viewing the two as closely related and seeking to enhance and preserve their union." It's tempting to read "Christian idenity" and "American identity" and assume it does not affect Canada. But Christian nationalist ideologies were present during the so-called Freedom Convoy in Ottawa in 2022. According to Canadian scholars, national identity is blurred in online spaces, allowing U.S. nationalist ideals to take hold in Canada.] Christian nationalism is not synonymous with Christianity or any specific branch of Christianity, like evangelical Christianity. According to U.S. sociologist Daniel Miller, Christian nationalism is not a set list of ideological or religious beliefs. Instead, Miller says, Christian nationalism emerges when people identify with "a very narrow, idealized prototype of the 'real or 'authentic' American." He says two mechanisms connect people to Christian nationalism. The first is perceived loss of power by the people who historically held power. This is known as a "power devaluation crisis." The second is a narrative of decline - known as a a "declensionist narrative" - which asserts that American society has declined since the 1960s and needs repair and reclamation. Poilievre is not open about his religion and does not call for Canada to be a Christian nation. But whether Poilievre intends to stir up Christian nationalists, some of his rhetoric has indicated support for the classic definitions of Christian nationalism. According to Miller, support for Christian nationalism is not always direct. It can be activated by stoking a crisis of lost power, like the decline of the "traditional" family or by asserting a narrative of decline, like "Canada is broken." For example, Poilievre's 2025 campaign mobilized both of the narrative mechanisms that attract Christian nationalist mentioned by sociologists: a power devaluation crisis and the narrative of decline. In the lead-up to his 2025 campaign, Poilievre repeatedly called Canada "broken.". He cited increased crime, addiction, high grocery prices and more as evidence of Canada's brokenness, accusing the Liberal government of erasing Canada's past. When Poilievre calls Canada "broken," it affirms the world view of Christian nationalists. Another strategy Poilievre reportedly adopted from Trump was his work to court conservative Christians. In an 2024 interview with The Tyee , religious right scholar Carmen Celestini of Waterloo University said Poilievre had "ramped up" his presence at churches. Additionally, The Globe and Mail reported there were fewer photos ops of Poilievre visiting mosques in 2024. Of course, visits to churches are not enough to signal alignment with Christian nationalists. And Poilievre has not espoused any Christian evangelical ideals in any public speech. But it's still important for Canadians to remain alert about Christian nationalists and their ambitions to become part of mainstream politics. A study from the U.S. has linked the rise in Christian nationalist ideologies to attacks on religious minorities. The 2024 qualitative data from the study indicates that when politicians rhetorically supported Christian nationalist values, there was a increased violence against minority groups. According to Statistics Canada, the violent crime rate in Canada rose 13 per cent from 2021-2022.. Police-reported hate crimes increased 32 per cent from 2022 to 2023. Crimes targeting religion rose 67 per cent in 2023, primarily targeting Jewish and Muslim communities. While I know of no studies showing the rise of the far right is directly leading to violence in Canada, Canadians should be aware of the pattern in the U.S. Research shows that growing Christian nationalists and far-right world views south of the border are, in fact, connected to a rise in violence.
Winnipeg Free Press
28 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Judge tosses lawsuit over Trump's firing of US African Development Foundation board members
A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit over President Donald Trump's dismantling of a U.S. federal agency that invests in African small businesses. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., dismissed the case on Tuesday, finding that Trump was acting within his legal authority when he fired the U.S. African Development Foundation's board members in February. In March, the same judge ruled that the administration's removal of most grant money and staff from the congressionally created agency was also legal, as long as the agency was maintained at the minimum level required by law. USADF was created as an independent agency in 1980, and its board members must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 2023, Congress allocated $46 million to the agency to invest in small agricultural and energy infrastructure projects and other economic development initiatives in 22 African countries. On Feb. 19, Trump issued an executive order that said USADF, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Inter-American Foundation and the Presidio Trust should be scaled back to the minimum presence required by law. At the time, USADF had five of its seven board seats filled. A few days later, an administration official told Ward Brehm that he was fired, and emails were sent to the other board members notifying them that they had also been terminated. Those emails were never received, however, because they were sent to the wrong email addresses. The four board members, believing they still held their posts because they had not been given notice, met in March and passed a resolution appointing Brehm as the president of the board. But Trump had already appointed Pete Marocco as the new chairman of what the administration believed to now be a board of one. Since then, both men have claimed to be the president of the agency, and Brehm filed the lawsuit March 6. Leon said that even though they didn't receive the emails, the four board members were effectively terminated in February, and so they didn't have the authority to appoint Brehm to lead the board. An attorney for Brehm did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Another lawsuit over the dismantling of the agency is still pending before the same judge. In that case, two USADF staffers and a consulting firm based in Zambia that works closely with USADF contend that the Trump administration's efforts to deeply scale back the agency wrongly usurps Congress' powers. They also say Marocco was unlawfully appointed to the board, in part because he was never confirmed by the Senate as required. Leon's ruling in Brehm's case did not address whether the Trump administration had the power to install Marocco as board chair on a temporary basis.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Arizona governor vetoes bill to ban teaching antisemitism in Arizona's public schools
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has vetoed a proposal that would ban teaching antisemitism at the state's public K-12 schools, universities and colleges and expose educators who violate the new rules to discipline and lawsuits. On Tuesday, the Democratic governor said the bill is not about antisemitism but rather about attacking teachers. 'It puts an unacceptable level of personal liability in place for our public school, community college, and university educators and staff, opening them up to threats of personally costly lawsuits,' she said in a statement. Additionally, it sets a dangerous precedent that unfairly targets public school teachers while shielding private school staff.' The measure cleared the Legislature on Wednesday on a 33-20 vote by the House, including a few Democrats who crossed party lines to support it. It's one of a few proposals to combat antisemitism across the country. The proposal would prohibit teachers and administrators from teaching or promoting antisemitism or antisemitic actions that create a hostile environment, calling for the genocide of any group or requiring students to advocate for an antisemitic point of view. It also would bar public schools from using public money to support the teaching of antisemitism. Educators would personally be responsible for covering the costs of damages in lawsuits for violating the rules. Democrats tried but failed to remove the lawsuit provision and swap out references to antisemitism within the bill with 'unlawful discrimination' to reflect other discrimination. The bill's chief sponsor, Republican Rep. Michael Way, of Queen Creek, has said his proposal would create accountability when educators fail to protect students from the rise in antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Opponents say the bill aims to silence people who want to speak out on the oppression of Palestinians and opens up educators to personal legal liability in lawsuits students could file. Students over the age of 18 and the parents of younger pupils would be able to file lawsuits over violations that create a hostile education environment, leaving teachers responsible for paying any damages that may be awarded, denying them immunity and prohibiting the state from paying any judgments arising from any such lawsuits. The proposal would create a process for punishing those who break the rules. At K-12 schools, a first-offense violation would lead to a reprimand, a suspension of a teacher or principal's certificate for a second offense and a revocation of the certificate for a third offense. At colleges and universities, violators would face a reprimand on first offense, a suspension without pay for a second offense and termination for a third offense. The proposal also would require colleges and universities to consider violations by employees to be a negative factor when making employment or tenure decisions. Under the proposal, universities and colleges couldn't recognize any student organization that invites a guest speaker who incites antisemitism, encourages its members to engage in antisemitism or calls for the genocide of any group. Elsewhere in the U.S., a Louisiana lawmaker is pushing a resolution that asks universities to adopt policies to combat antisemitism on campuses and collect data on antisemitism-related reports and complaints. And a Michigan lawmaker has proposed putting a definition of antisemitism into the state's civil rights law.
