BRUSSELS, Jan 11 (Reuters) – It is now up to Russia to show it is interested in peace, after Kyiv and its allies agreed on a peace plan and security guarantees that would take effect following a ceasefire, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said.

Speaking to reporters, she said the peace plan was the 20-point proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of last year.

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She added that, alongside the plan, there were substantial, robust, and well-defined security guarantees for Kyiv from the United States and Europe.

“Now, Russia has to show that they are interested in peace,” von der Leyen said.

She said the security guarantees would rely first on Ukraine’s armed forces, which she said were well-trained and battle-experienced. It would be the task of the Europeans to make sure the Ukrainian army is also well equipped, she said.

The second line of defence would be the so-called Coalition of the Willing — 35 states including most EU countries as well as Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey.

“Here it is very good that the Americans are involved, specifically in the verification and the monitoring, but also with a backstop,” von der Leyen said.

She said that the EU was working on plans to ensure Ukraine’s economic prosperity after a ceasefire, with ideas to be spelled out in a forthcoming “prosperity paper”. The document would set out measures for the short-term and over the next decade to boost Ukraine’s economy and support its recovery.

HAVANA (AP) — As U.S. seizures of Venezuela-linked oil tankers surge, concerns grow in Cuba about whether the island’s government and economy will survive.

Experts warn that a sudden halt in Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba could lead to widespread social unrest and mass migration following the stunning U.S. military raid that resulted in the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro.

“I’d be lying if I told you that I don’t want to leave the country,” said 16-year-old Cuban student Amanda Gómez. “We’re all thinking about leaving, from the youngest to the oldest.”

Long before the Jan. 3 attack, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

The lack of Venezuelan oil could push Cuba over the brink, experts say.

“This will take an already dire situation to new extremes,” said Michael Galant, senior research and outreach associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. “This is what a collapsing economy looks like.”

The lack of Venezuelan oil could push Cuba over the brink, experts say.

“This will take an already dire situation to new extremes,” said Michael Galant, senior research and outreach associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. “This is what a collapsing economy looks like.”

Galant said he believes that’s the goal of the Trump administration: “to cause such an indiscriminate suffering in the civilian population as to instigate some sort of uprising, regime change.”

Someone is going to have to take the big pill’

From 2020 to 2024, Cuba saw its population drop by 1.4 million, which experts largely attribute to migration spurred by the worsening crisis.

Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos, a Cuban economist and demographics expert, noted that while Cubans with means have already left, migration will continue.

“Fuel is a factor that affects everything,” he said. “People are going to feel that they are in worse conditions, and people who hadn’t considered leaving will feel the need to do so.”

At the Spanish embassy in Havana on Friday, Ernesto Macías, a 53-year-old doctor, stood in line behind dozens of people to request a family member visa for his daughter, having already obtained his Spanish citizenship.

“I wouldn’t want Cuba to be invaded or anything like that. I hope it doesn’t happen, but I’m sure people will continue to emigrate because there is no other way,” he said.

Cuba’s gross domestic product has fallen 15% in the last six years, and President Miguel Díaz-Canel noted in December that there was a 4% decrease in 2025 alone.

Although the Cuban economy never fully recovered after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, it experienced relative prosperity between 2000 and 2019, fueled by a boom in tourism and exports of services, nickel, rum and tobacco.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and coupled with a radical increase in U.S. sanctions under Trump’s second administration to pressure for political change – stifling every imaginable sector – Cuba’s crisis erupted with force.

Through it all, Cuba remained dependent on Venezuela for oil, receiving an estimated 35,000 barrels a day from the South American country before the U.S. attacked, along with some 5,500 barrels daily from Mexico and roughly 7,500 from Russia, according to Jorge Piñón, of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, who tracks shipments using oil tracking services and satellite technology.

Even with all those shipments, blackouts persisted, experts noted.

“An indefinite shutdown of the electrical system, which is no longer so impossible to imagine, can be envisioned under a total suspension of oil shipments from Venezuela, which seems to be the current strategy of the American government,” said Jorge Duany, with the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.

“It would lead us to imagine the possibility of mass protests,” he said.

Andy S. Gómez, retired dean of the School of International Studies and senior fellow in Cuban Studies at University of Miami, said that even if protests do occur, he doesn’t envision the downfall of Cuba while Raúl Castro is still alive and running the military.

“Are they concerned? You bet,” Gómez said. “They’re not well armed; their equipment is outdated.”

But Gómez noted that civilians aren’t armed, and that it’s unlikely one of the three factions of Cuba’s army would break with the ruling elite.

“At the end of the day, someone is going to have to take the big pill, and it’s either going to be Díaz-Canel or (Prime Minister) Manuel Marrero Cruz for not being able to solve the problems,” Gómez said.

Food, electricity and a home

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker as part of a wider push by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally.

It’s not clear if any of the seized tankers were bound for Cuba, but experts believe any obstruction in the supply line would be a shock given the fragility of the island’s economy.

As the uncertainty continues, Gómez said Cuba only has one card to play with the U.S.: mass migration.

“I don’t think that Cubans are going to provoke the United States at this time,” he said, adding that Cuban authorities “can absolutely control that.”

“Cuban military forces are on high alert,” he said.

Gómez added that even if the worsening crisis does lead to unrest and the ouster of a top government official, that person would likely be replaced by a well-known figure.

“It would just be a continuation of the government,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe it would bother a majority on the island. “The Cuban people only care about one thing right now, unfortunately….they want to put food on the table, have electricity, have a place to live, have a job and then what do we do about the government.”

___

With evidence emerging of more than $9 billion worth of taxpayer fraud in Minnesota, the media are finally starting to cover the problem of criminals stealing from the taxpayer. But fraud is by no means limited to Minnesota—it is a nationwide problem that leaders at both the federal and state levels need to tackle before it gets even worse.

Even the New York Times was forced to take notice, publishing an explosive article showing evidence of more than $1 billion of taxpayer money stolen by about 80 different Somali immigrants to Minnesota. Just days after the Minnesota story broke, a Somali immigrant in Maine was accused by a whistleblower of defrauding both Medicaid and the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program. The alleged fraudster in the case, while ostensibly working in Maine, ran for office in Somalia and boasted of raising money for the Somali military. According to the whistleblower, his non-profit organization had, for years, sought reimbursement from the federal government for non-existent “services” under Medicaid.

Now, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts announced charges against two Boston men for trafficking more than $7 million worth of food stamps, and a local news station in Oregon uncovered more than $91,000 in food stamp fraud in Oregon just in the month of November alone.

This dizzying list of fraud cases just keeps getting longer.

For years, conservatives have been sounding the alarm about the problem of fraud, but too often those warnings fell on deaf ears. Finally, it seems like the sheer scale of the fraud has shocked the media and their viewers alike: The fraudsters in these cases have stolen more than 10 times as many tax dollars than the entire Somali community in Minnesota pays in taxes each year.

Much of the reporting has focused on the missteps of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who backed down on any attempts to stop the fraud out of fear of being labeled a racist. This scandal is career-ending for Governor Walz, but the story is much bigger than him or Minnesota.

The fraud in these sensational news stories is just the tip of the iceberg.

The non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) has documented nearly $3 trillion in known waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government over the last 22 years. This number is just the waste, fraud, and abuse that we know about—and it does not even include all federal programs. According to GAO, more than 10 cents out of every food stamp dollar is wasted or stolen.

The good news is that President Trump is fighting back against the fraudsters. Not only is the Department of Justice arresting them and putting them in jail, but President Trump signed new policies into law that will make it a lot more difficult to steal from the taxpayer. Instead of checking eligibility annually, states will be required to double-check the eligibility of Medicaid recipients every six months.

President Trump’s new law will also kick millions of illegal immigrants off welfare, reserving welfare resources to help Americans who need it the most. The new law will even penalize states who fail to protect taxpayer dollars, requiring the worst offenders to pay back a percentage of their own erroneous payments.

But there is a lot more to do. Many states, including Minnesota, Maine, and Massachusetts, are using budget gimmicks to hide the real rate of fraud from the federal government. The most salient is called Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility, which is when states don’t bother to check if someone is eligible for one welfare program if they’re already receiving another kind of welfare. This just multiplies fraud where it occurs and gives the false impression to the federal government—and to voters—that fraud is less common than it really is. Every state in America needs to stop using this blatant loophole, do their jobs, and check to ensure that people receiving our tax dollars are actually eligible.

This holiday season’s string of fraud cases is infuriating to hardworking Americans who pay their taxes and follow the rules. But after decades of waste and fraud of our tax dollars, they ought to be the trigger that finally leads to the real reforms we need.

Adam Gibbs is the Communications Director for the Foundation for Government Accountability.

An Indiana band delivered the national anthem before the Peach Bowl, which saw No. 1 Indiana face off against No. 5 Oregon in a high-stakes matchup with a College Football Playoff berth hanging in the balance.

The national anthem performance was somewhat unconventional: rather than featuring a celebrity or solo performer, the Indiana band commanded center stage. The rendition generated mixed reactions across social media. “The National Anthem should have been a combination of the bands from both schools. IMO,” one critic posted.

“Gotta be the worst damn National Anthem I’ve ever listened to,” another college football fan commented. It came after Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was given an NFL Draft advice that speaks volumes about the New York Jets.

However, others responded more favorably. “For those who missed the Star Spangled Banner at the Peach Bowl, Indiana vs Oregon, you missed the best live performance by the Indiana Band,” one supporter shared on Twitter.

“I haven’t heard the National Anthem played like this in Decades. Truly inspirational for Americans. As it once was.”

A fan pointed out that the band’s Indiana roots might have influenced the crowd’s response.

“A quick observation during the National Anthem for Peach Bowl,” they penned.

“The camera panned the crowd and the fans (middle-aged fans) for Oregon stood with their arms folded, staring forward, while the Indiana fans, young and old, stood with their hands on their hearts singing the words to the National Anthem, while the Oregon fans stood like statues.”

The Indiana band, known as The Marching Hundred, joined forces with Oregon’s band to get the crowd going with a series of pre-game medleys.

One supporter believed the Oregon fans’ response would affect the team’s on-field showing. “I was on Oregon to win this game. Then the National Anthem played,” they posted.

“They scanned the stands. EVERY SINGLE OREGON FAN HAD ARMS CROSSED AND WAS CLEARLY NOT HAPPY WITH THE ANTHEM. Incredible Go back and look. Go Hoosiers.”

Oregon did, in fact, endure a disastrous opening to the contest, with Moore throwing a pick-6 on the opening drive.

The Ducks struggled to contain quarterback Fernando Mendoza and the dominant Indiana offense during the opening half. The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner connected on 10 of his 11 attempts for 110 yards and three touchdowns as the Hoosiers surged to a 35-7 lead at the break.

Indiana continued to dominate in the second half, eventually pulling off a 56-22 rout of Oregon to secure a spot in the national championship game against Miami.

“Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out”—David Horowitz

Islamophobic Iranian Protesters Burn Mosques

In the West, they’re building mosques, while in Iran they’re tearing them down.

January 11, 2026 by Daniel Greenfield 

Newsletter

In an outpouring of Islamophobia, pro-democracy protesters in Iran have been accused of burning down as many as 30 mosques.

Video has shown the Al-Rasool Mosque in Tehran being set on fire on Friday, a ‘holy day’ for Muslims, in a show of troubling ‘Islamophobia’ which Iran’s Chief Islamic Judge warned would result in “maximum punishment”. That’s saying something for a regime which already chops off fingers and rapes female protesters before executing them.

It’s unknown what occasioned this ‘Islamophobia’ from protesters.

Perhaps it was the generations of oppression in the name of Islam.

Perhaps it was the constant state of Islamic terror, not at the hands of bombers or hijackers, but the regime that they installed.

Perhaps it was the mandatory ‘hijab’ that is celebrated by western liberals, but which brave Persian women risk their lives to tear off.

Leftists believe that Islam is a force of liberation. That’s why they supported the Islamic Revolution which took over Iran and imposed decades of death, terror and tyranny. The Iranian people know better which is why they’re fighting and dying for freedom from Islam.

Western liberals may call them ‘Islamophobes’, just as they condemned the protesters in East Germany and Hungary, but just as those who lived under Communism knew it best, who knows Islam better than those who are forced to suffer under it?

In the West, they’re building mosques, while in Iran they’re tearing them down.

The people of Iran have been here before with mass protests, and the Iranian authorities have honed their playbook. There is a long way to go in terms of how much they could crack down, and they have shown no sign of relenting.

Diana Magnay

International correspondent @DiMagnaySky

Sunday 11 January 2026 04:

Mass protest is a long way from revolution.

The people of Iran have been here before. In 2009, over perceived electoral fraud; in 2019, over fuel prices; in 2022, over the abuses of the morality police.

The authorities have honed their playbook, through the thuggery of the revolutionary guard and the Basij militias, the killing of protesters, mass detentions, public executions and the shutting down of the internet.

That last point is hugely significant. It means that people don’t know if anyone else is going out.

They can’t connect. They won’t know whether it’s worth continuing to stick their heads above the parapet after the last two nights of protest, which had been signposted and communicated in advance.

The videos they’ll see are those on state TV where they’ll hear the threats to use the death penalty on protesters dubbed ‘vandals’ or ‘terrorists’ and see pro-government crowds, and tempered but still sinister crackdowns.

It is hard to keep momentum going across Iran’s 31 provinces, especially a protest with no apparent leader (at least within Iran itself), if people are left in an information black hole.

Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah, clearly has some support on the streets, but he is in the US, and his calls for strikes and further protest may have problems filtering through.

And of course, the shutdown allows the authorities to crack down as they choose, without the visibility that connectivity would confer on them.

That’s what happened in 2019 when at least 1,500 protesters were killed. We are still a long way from those kinds of numbers, although given the scarcity of information, it is hard to tell.

The one barrier to the regime extending that blackout indefinitely is the economic toll it will take on an already gasping economy.

But there is a long way to go in terms of how much they could crack down, and they have shown no sign of relenting.

Revolutions would require elite buy-in – for elements of the security apparatus to decide that continuing to defer to the 86-year-old supreme leader no longer makes sense. That doesn’t look like it’s happening either.

The wild card is Donald Trump. He has promised to hit Iran hard if the regime opens fire on protesters. And then there is Israel, too, which might take the opportunity for another strike.

Iran’s Islamic theocracy is more vulnerable than it has ever been. But it was born of a revolution itself, and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not about to show weakness.

Rumours invariably become one of the main sources of public unrest. The line between news and speculation can become blurred quickly, and social media can aid in the quick spread of false narratives. Euronews takes a look at some of the most viral rumours surrounding the Iranian protests.

Rumours have been particularly widespread throughout the two weeks of mass protests across Iran. Many of those rumours originate from anonymous users on social media platforms, and are being covered by media outlets, purely for headline purposes.

And although some of these rumours carry an element of truth, they should, at large, be viewed with scepticism and investigated thoroughly for credibility.

This article will look at a few examples of rumours which have galvanised social media users and circulated heavily across the various platforms throughout the last couple of weeks.

‘Transfer of Gold Bars to Russia’

On 7 January, anonymous users on social media claimed that gold bars were transferred from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Russia, without providing any details, alleging that Iranian officials were preparing to flee the country.

The bars were meant to continue funding their ‘lavish’ lifestyles in Moscow, in the event that the protesters were successfully able to topple the theocratic government, whose been in power since 1979.

Tom Tugendhat, a UK lawmaker and former security minister, gave an explanation in Parliament regarding what he called “the Ayatollahs preparing to fight and flee”.

He requested Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to explain reports of the presence of a Russian aircraft in Tehran, which he says is there for “shaping of the security and operational environment”.

He also stated that reports had been published regarding the transfer of Iranian assets to various destinations, using it as an argument to support his hypothesis of an ongoing ouster.

Despite such reports, there is still no evidence to support that gold bars were actually transferred from Iran to Russia, nor has it been confirmed by any independent source.

Some of these reports are based on events that have previously occurred in countries with circumstances similar to Iran, where a “dictator” has fled the country after witnessing protests.

For example, it has been reported that Bashar al-Assad transferred large amounts of money and gold to Russia when he fled Syria, after a surprise rebellion, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled his government in early December 2024.

Furthermore, according to reports, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, took millions of dollars in cash and gold out of the country when he departed on 26 December 1978 during the Islamic Revolution.

‘Abbas Araghchi has fled to Lebanon with his family’ Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, had travelled to Lebanon as part of his regional tours. It was reported that on this trip, he had taken his wife and young child to Beirut, contrary to his usual practice.

This incident sparked a wave of speculation about the Iranian top diplomat’s preparations to flee the country.

Of course, given the current state of relations between Tehran and Beirut and the reception he received in Lebanon, it is unclear whether emigration to Lebanon would be a viable option for him should the regime be overthrown.

Nevertheless, Araghchi returned to Iran after the conclusion of his trip and on Saturday, where he received his Omani counterpart, Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran, and held bilateral talks.

‘Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is ready to flee to Russia’ Another piece of news that received a great deal of attention in recent days was the Times’ report about Khamenei’s escape.

The prestigious UK media outlet had reported in its article that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic would flee to Russia should domestic unrest intensify, to avoid capture.

The report, however, did not provide verifiable details, stating that should the Ayatollah sense a defection within the army, the Revolutionary Guard, or other security forces, he would leave the country for Russia, accompanied by a small circle of his close associates.

Although the report was published by a reputable publication, there is, for the time being at least, no sign of truth to that claim.

Additionally, Khamenei appeared in a speech to his supporters on Friday, where he insisted that he “won’t back down” in the face of protests.

The possibility and speculation that the Iranian leader might make such a decision should protests against the government intensify, seems unlikely.

An anonymous account on the social media platform X, also published a post with an image of Khamenei, claiming he had been wounded while fleeing to the airport.

This post caught the attention of those keen to hear such news. However, the reality is that there is no credible or reliable information to indicate that such an incident did in fact occur.

In recent years, the leaders of Ukraine and Syria, following domestic protests, decided to flee the country and seek refuge in the arms of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.

‘Ghalibaf’s family seeking French visas’

Emmanuel Rastegar, an Iranian-French journalist and writer, claimed on France’s Channel 1 broadcaster that the family of the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, are trying to obtain French visas. According to the journalist, these individuals are attempting to obtain visas for their families through an Iranian-French lawyer in Paris.

He, however, did not provide any details about his claim, citing only the country’s hosting of Ruhollah Khomeini – who founded the Islamic Republic – prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution as the reason for choosing France.

This claim comes at a time when France is unlikely to be considered a safe host for senior Iranian officials.

Should a change occur in Iran, and the government is indeed toppled, it is unlikely that the EU member state would host the government leaders with whom it has had numerous problems over the last two decades.

In recent years, Canada has been a favoured destination for the families of Iranian officials, and a number of them, or their family members, have obtained Canadian residency.

However, as to whether Ghalibaf sought a French visa, no credible report has been issued by any French government body or reputable sources to confirm the validity of this claim to date.

A day after the publication of this report, the Media Centre of the Islamic Consultative Assembly described these reports as “fake and false” and slammed “foreign enemies” for exploiting the people’s legitimate demands, to incite chaos and unrest.

However, a mere denial by the Iranian parliament is not synonymous with such a report being false, and still requires further investigation and clarification from the relevant authorities.

Do rumours work with or against the protests? Although the spread of such rumours may be intended to encourage more protesters to take to the streets, some believe that a review of the protest movement over the past few decades has shown that such policies generally benefit the government and harm the protesters.

For example, during the 2009 protests, although the repressive forces killed many protesters, exaggerated reports about the deaths of certain individuals by some ill-intentioned users caused even some reputable media outlets to republish these stories without careful verification.

After a significant wave of news had formed, Iranian officials published documents showing that those particular reports were false.

This was an event that was likely a scenario fabricated by the government from the outset, with Iranian government officials deliberately creating spreading fake news for the media to process, so that after its falsity was revealed, they could discredit those media outlets publicly.

In this article, Euronews has merely reported on a few rumours that have recently been circulated on social media and in no way endorses them.

EURONEWS

Charity is no part of the legislative duty of government,” James Madison wrote at the founding of the United States.

Absolutely correct.

Charity is not the job of government. The moment you force people to pay for it, it’s not charity.

When billions of the “charity” goes to grifters and thieves, as with USAID and Minnesota, it’s surely not charity.

Separate charity and state. Just like church and state.

Michael J. Hurd, Daily Dose of Reason

It seems to me that if “affordability” is your primary goal, you would support steps such as: lower taxes (passed along by companies to individuals); lower inflation and lower gas prices (happening under Trump); less regulation (passing along lower prices to consumers); privatized healthcare, privatized education (enabling cost competition and price reduction); and the “accountability to customers” mentality of free markets rather than government monopolies with no price competition, no accountability to customers (think: post office, DMV).

Yet Mamdani, Sanders, AOC, and all the Democrats call for precisely the opposite. They will drive all prices up, making everything unaffordable and then still blame the capitalism they have outlawed.

Note that the ONLY people who support socialism are those who have never lived under it. If you live under socialism, you run for your life.

Michael J. Hurd, Daily Dose of Reason

January 09, 2026 / Luis Feliz Leon

The whistle blows in short bursts: PHWEEE! PHWEEE! PHWEEE! PHWEEE! Code: ICE is nearby. Then comes the long blast: PHWEEEEEEEEEEE! Code: ICE has taken someone.

These are the codes immigrant rapid responders are using to alert their neighbors and co-workers to ICE sightings and kidnappings.

Federal agents are armed with military-style weapons. Up against them, everyday people have whistles, boundless courage, and the acronym S.A.L.U.T.E. for information to gather: the size of deployments of federal agents, the actions they are taking, the specific location, the uniforms they are wearing, the time, and the equipment, or type of weapons.

At trainings across the country, rapid responders are role-playing how to show solidarity with immigrants, and overcoming their fear to defy the terror. They are continuing a proud American organizing tradition, stretching a history of struggles that abolished slavery, established our big unions, and won the democratic revolution in civil rights.

The 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was a champion in that freedom struggle. Like legions of other Americans from all walks of life, she was acting as the eyes and ears of her Latino and Somali neighbors, alerting them to where ICE and other federal agents were deployed.

Good, a mother of three, was part of a loose ICE Watch rapid responder group made up of parents at her son’s charter school. She “was trained against these ICE agents—what to do, what not to do, it’s a very thorough training,” a parent told the New York Post, a conservative tabloid that tried to put a negative spin on her activism. “To listen to commands, to know your rights, to whistle when you see an ICE agent.”

‘THE LIVES OF OTHERS’

The Trump administration has portrayed her as a “domestic terrorist.” But people who knew Good described an avowed Christian, a widow to a veteran, a queer woman, a singer, and a poet. “What I saw in her work was a writer that was trying to illuminate the lives of others,” said a teacher, describing her interest in the lives of the elderly, veterans, and people from different countries and eras.

Like many of us who have busy lives but make time to show up for others, she had dropped her six-year-old child off at school shortly before ICE murdered her. Video footage analysis from three angles by the New York Times shows that Good appears to be steering her SUV away from federal officers as ICE agent Jonathan Ross walks in front of it. Then he fires three shots into the vehicle at point-blank range, killing her, in broad daylight, on video, not far from her home.

Her wife was on the scene with her. “On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns,” Rebecca Good said in a statement Friday. “We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness.”

Last September, cook Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed at a traffic stop in Chicago, shortly after dropping off his two kids at childcare, while allegedly attempting to flee. Farmworker Jaime Alanís García broke his neck in July, when he fell from a greenhouse roof in Ventura County, California, while attempting to flee ICE agents on the hunt. He later died at a hospital. Thirty-two people died in ICE’s custody in 2025—the agency-turned-paramilitary force’s deadliest year since its founding in 2003.

Unlike Villegas-Gonzalez and Garcia, who were both Latino immigrant workers, Good was a white U.S. citizen. She wasn’t supposed to be on the target list of those people ICE has been brutalizing with impunity because of their racial and ethnic backgrounds, or immigration status. But she refused to be a bystander, looking out for her neighbors. She didn’t have to take sides, but she did. In fact, some family members would have preferred she didn’t.

I wish she would’ve minded her business and stayed out the way,” Joseph Macklin, Good’s former brother-in-law, told the Washington Post. “I know families are being broken apart… and it’s heartbreaking, but now it’s our family.”

We often say solidarity is a verb, and Good acted, by exercising the democratic rights we all have, regardless of immigration status, to document police activity and speak out.

Claude Cummings, Jr, president of the Communications Workers, tied her solidarity to labor struggles. “We have a tradition in our union of wearing red every Thursday to honor a very special CWA member, Gerry Horgan, who was killed while exercising his fundamental right to strike and walk a picket line,” said Cummings in a statement. “Just like Gerry, Renee Nicole Good was killed while exercising her constitutionally protected right to speak out and to stand in solidarity with her community.”

GOOD VS. ICE

We are what we do. If the choice we face is between Good and ICE, the people of Minneapolis are choosing Good. An estimated 10,000 people attended a candlelight vigil January 7 to honor her life. One of those people was Daniel Mendez-Moore, a union organizer with SEIU Local 26 in the Twin Cities.

“The only reason why this isn’t a picture of my blood is pure luck,” he said in a Facebook post, sharing a photo of the bloody seat of Good’s SUV. “I too live 3 blocks away from the murder site. I too bring my kids to school in the morning. I too stop my car to observe federal agents when they are in my neighborhood.

“I share this horrendous picture to urge any of you on the fence right now, that if you love me, the only way to protect my life is to get active,” he wrote. “It doesn’t even matter what you do… just take 2 steps more than what you are currently doing to stop this creeping [fascism]. This is in fact the only way to keep ourselves alive.”

One day after Good’s murder, news broke that ICE agents had shot and injured a man and a woman in Portland, Oregon. An ICE spokesperson accused them of weaponizing a vehicle to run over the law enforcement agents.

“There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past,” said Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, calling on ICE to leave and for an independent investigation into the shootings.

What can stop all this? “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me,” an emboldened Trump told the New York Times, musing about his power, after the U.S.’s military attacks on Venezuela and kidnapping of the country’s president.

It’s up to us to stop him. Building the mass movement we need will take millions of people acting like Good, practicing good deeds, making good trouble