Monday, June 16, 2025

June 16, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Vance Boelter, suspected of shooting 2 Minn. lawmakers, is in custody after surrendering to the police . . . Authorities on Sunday located a vehicle Boelter was using abandoned in rural Sibley County, where he lived, and a police officer reported that he believed he saw Boelter running into the woods, Bruley said. Police set up a large perimeter and called in 20 different tactical teams, divvying up the area and searching for him. During the search, police said they received information confirming someone was in the woods and searched for hours, using a helicopter and officers on foot, until they found Boelter. He surrendered to police, crawling out to officers in the woods before he was handcuffed and taken into custody in a field, authorities said. Associated Press

Minn. shooting suspect ran bogus security company and faced 'struggles' after stint in Africa, roommate says

Politics

We Asked Army 250 Parade Attendees Whether Trump is a "King." Here's What They Said. Daily Signal

4 Stars in the Trump Administration Who've Driven Trump's Counterrevolution Against DEI

Trump's blistering response to Tucker Carlson's claims he abandoned 'America First' . . . Donald Trump made it clear he is still the leader of the MAGA movement after Tucker Carlson suggested he's abandoned 'America First' principles to support Israel. 'Well, considering that I'm the one that developed America First, and considering that the term wasn't used until I came along, I think I'm the one that decides that,' he said. Daily Mail

Alex Soros and Huma Abedin's Hampton Wedding Features Democrat Elites and Donors . . . A week of riots, political assassination, and missile exchanges in the Israeli-Iran war failed to cast a shadow on what was called a "political royal wedding" that brought together the forces of mega donors and the Democrat establishment this weekend in the Hamptons. Married were Alex Soros, son of George Soros, the Democrat party's dependable donor and the bane of conservatives, and Huma Abedin, longtime political aid to Hillary Clinton and ex-wife of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner. Breitbart

Culture

Corporate Sponsors Are Pulling Back From Pride . . . An April survey of corporate executives found that 39% of respondents "plan to reduce Pride-related engagement in 2025," with 61% of these business leaders citing "pressure" from the White House as the primary reason for dropping support. Some Pride organizations are reeling: Businesses such as Mastercard, Pepsi, Comcast and more did not contribute to Pride events—in fact, San Francisco's Pride organizations saw fundraising fall by $200,000. New York City's Pride fundraising dropped by 20%. Daily Signal

Weed legalization more dangerous for road safety than previously believed . . . As marijuana legalization spreads across the U.S., transportation and road safety organizations are sounding the alarm that driving high is just as dangerous as driving drunk — and much more complicated. Marijuana, the THC-containing part of the cannabis plant, impairs driving performance by diminishing motor coordination, multitasking abilities, reaction time and distance perception, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board. Center Square

Of course it is.

Parental Rights Group Seeks Title IX Probe of YMCA Over Transgenders in Locker Rooms . . . A parents' rights group is asking the Trump administration to investigate the YMCA for possible violations of federal law for allowing men who identify as women into women's locker rooms and, in several instances, allowing them to expose their naked bodies to women and girls. The request follows news reports that indicated the national YMCA organization had issued guidance as far back as 2017 recommending that biologically male campers and staff be allowed to use the cabins and bathrooms "aligned with their gender identity" at YMCA camps. Daily Signal

Liberals Force Young Children To Participate In Violent, Vulgar Anti-Trump Protests . . . In one video taken by a Daily Caller reporter in Washington, D.C., a young child can be seen using a microphone and saying "Fuck Trump" before his mother could snatch the microphone away. Many in the crowd laughed at the child's comment. A second video taken by a Daily Caller reporter in Los Angeles, where officials imposed a curfew after days of anti-ICE riots, showed a young girl beating apart a pinata in the form of Trump with a stick to the cheers of a crowd. Daily Caller

National Security

Green group with ties to Chinese Communist Party part of network influencing U.S. policy . . . A national-security watchdog group is asking members of Congress to take a closer look at an energy transition advocacy nonprofit that has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. According to State Armor, the watchdog group, nonprofits are coordinating with U.S. climate groups to influence climate policy, advance the interests of the CCP and undermine U.S. national security. A new report by State Armor argues that the CCP is co-opting the American progressive climate change lobby to advance a transition away from fossil fuels. Just the News

Trump Orders ICE To Step Up Operations In Major Democrat-Run Cities . . . U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been ordered to broaden the "single largest Mass Deportation Operation" in U.S. history, targeting "crime-ridden and dangerous" areas in large Democrat-led cities, President Donald Trump declared on Sunday. Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social. "We must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America's largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside," the president said. Daily Wire

Rioters Storm Oregon ICE Building, Injure Officers . . . Rioters stormed a building used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Portland, Oregon, late Saturday night. The riot took place after an anti-Trump "No Kings" demonstration in the city. At least four officers were injured in the attack, which included the rioters hurling fireworks, smoke grenades and rocks, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Daily Caller

These peaceful demonstrations can get pretty dangerous.

International

Iran missile attacks on Israel kill 5, while Israel claims it now has air superiority over Tehran . . . Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, killing at least five people, while Israel claimed in the fourth day of the conflict that it had now achieved "aerial superiority" over Tehran and could fly over the Iranian capital without facing major threats. After days of attacks on Iranian air defenses and missile systems, the Israeli military said its aircraft now control the skies from western Iran to Tehran and had destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers. Associated Press

Israel Has Struck a Blow to Iran's Nuclear Program—But It Isn't Yet a Knockout . . . By Sunday, three days into its campaign, Israel had knocked out centrifuges at Iran's biggest enrichment facility at Natanz, killed up to 10 of the country's top nuclear scientists and destroyed key pieces of the supply chain for building a bomb. But Israel's biggest challenge remains: taking out Iran's most fortified nuclear facility, Fordow, where Iran produces highly enriched uranium. Many believe Fordow, which is built deep into a mountainside near Iran's holy city of Qom, could only be destroyed with a massive bunker-busting U.S. bomb. Wall Street Journal

Israel Kills Iranian Intelligence Chief and Deputy

Trump opposed Israeli plan to kill Khamenei . . . President Trump opposed a recent Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, three U.S. officials told CBS News on Sunday. The Israelis had the opportunity to assassinate Khamenei and Mr. Trump conveyed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it wasn't a good idea, one U.S. official told CBS News. They said the conversation between Netanyahu and Mr. Trump happened since Israel launched a massive attack on Iran last week. CBS

Iran was behind two assassination attempts on President Trump, Israeli PM Netanyahu claims . . . "These people who chant, 'Death to America,' tried to assassinate President Trump twice," Netanyahu said as he was making his case to the American people for launching attacks on Iran amid the Islamic republic and Israel's deadly exchange of missiles over the weekend. "Do you want these people to have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to your cities?" Netanyahu asked. "Of course not. So we're defending ourselves, but we're also defending the world." New York Post

He offered no evidence. It's pretty clear Israel is hoping the United States gets involved.

You should also know

Protester shot and killed at 'No Kings' rally in Utah . . . A man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the "No Kings" protest in Salt Lake City shot at a person who was brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, striking both the rifleman and a bystander who later died at the hospital, authorities said Sunday. Police took the alleged rifleman, Arturo Gamboa, 24, into custody Saturday evening on a murder charge, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a Sunday news conference. The bystander was Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, a fashion designer from Samoa. Associated Press

Guilty Pleasures

Bear trapped using doughnuts after a soak in hot tub . . . The bruin was caught on camera taking a soak in a resident's hot tub before removing the cushions from an outdoor couch and taking a six hour nap in the backyard. FWC personnel used hazing techniques to encourage the bear to leave the property, and it ended up scaling a tree in a nearby vacant lot. The bear descended from the tree Monday and was ensnared in a trap baited with doughnuts, the FWC said. UPI