17/06/2025

TUESDAY | JUNE 17, 2025

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Trump deportation drive to target Democratic cities

Suspect in lawmaker shooting arrested MINNEAPOLIS: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said a 57-year-old suspect was arrested on Sunday over the killing of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband while posing as a police officer. The arrest was the culmination of a huge manhunt after the shooting and deaths of Minnesota House top Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, which Walz characterised as a “politically motivated assassination”. Authorities said the suspect Vance Luther Boelter also allegedly shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away. Walz said Hoffman, who was hit by nine bullets, was heading for recovery after emerging from his last surgery. Boelter has links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters. He is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, a Hennepin County criminal complaint showed. Three of the charges are punishable with up to 40 years’ jail, according to the complaint unsealed on Sunday. When police searched Boelter’s SUV after the shootings, they found three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun, and a list of other public officials and their addresses, the complaint showed. The killing was the latest episode of high-profile US political violence. Such incidents range from a 2022 attack on former Democratic US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their home to an assassination bid on US President Donald Trump last year, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house in April. – Reuters OAXACA: Four armed men stormed a mayor’s office in southern Mexico, killing her and another member of her staff on Sunday, police said. The men arrived on motorcycles at the town hall in San Mateo Pinas, Oaxaca, police said. After threatening officers guarding the facility, they stormed into Lilia Garcia’s office and proceeded to shoot her and official Eli Garcia dead. Two municipal police officers were wounded in the attack, authorities said. “There can be no impunity for this act,“ wrote Oaxaca Governor Salomon Jara on social media. The state prosecutor’s office said it was investigating the attack while military and federal agents were deployed in the area. Dozens of local officials in Mexico have been targeted by organised crime groups in recent years, especially in areas where powerful drug trafficking gangs operate. The violence has recently spread to the capital, Mexico City, where two close associates of Mayor Clara Brugada were murdered a month ago in public. – AFP ONE DEAD, 10 HURT IN HOT AIR BALLOON CRASH IN BRAZIL SAO PAULO: An unlicensed hot air balloon carrying tourists crashed on Sunday in southeast Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, killing one person and injuring 10, military police said, Xinhua reported. Some 35 people were on board the balloon when it crashed in a rural part of Capela do Alto, a town near Ipero, from where it had taken off. The dead victim was a 26-year-old woman. Brazilian news channel GloboNews reported that the balloon was not licensed to fly for recreational or tourism purposes, and the pilot was arrested. The Brazilian Balloon Confederation, based in the city of Boituva, said the aircraft was not registered with the organisation. – Bernama-Xinhua SOUTHERN MEXICO MAYOR SHOT DEAD IN OFFICE

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Sunday directed federal authorities to ramp up deportation efforts in Democratic-led cities, doubling down on a politicised anti-immigration drive after major protests in Los Angeles. “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,” he said on Truth Social. “These, and other such cities, are the core of the Democrat power centre,” he claimed, citing debunked right-wing conspiracy theories that undocumented immigrants are voting in US elections in significant numbers. Raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency in Los Angeles have sparked days of mainly peaceful protests, although they have seen sporadic violence at times. Trump has pounced on the violent o ‘Such towns represent left-wing power centre’

demonstrators marching outside City Hall ahead of the curfew. Trump said ICE agents “are subjected to violence, harassment and even threats from radical Democrat politicians”. He insisted that “nothing will stop us from executing our mission. ICE officers are herewith ordered to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest mass deportation programme in history”. He listed grievances against Democrats, including charges that they “believe in open borders, transgender for everybody and men playing in women’s sports”. He said that is why he wants ICE and other law enforcement agencies “to focus on our crime ridden and deadly inner cities”. He also said he has directed his entire administration “to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of mass destruction migration that has turned once idyllic towns into scenes of third world dystopia”. Trump said he wanted “our brave officers to know that real Americans are cheering you on every day”. – AFP

incidents to deploy 4,000 National Guards and 700 Marines to the city, against the wishes of local and state authorities. California has sued to regain control of the National Guardsmen from Trump, arguing that he overstepped his authority. That suit is working its way through federal court. Mayor Karen Bass said on Sunday an overnight curfew put in place last week to stop vandalism and looting at the protests would be extended for “a couple more days”. “We do not know how many raids are going to happen, we do not know what the character of the raids will be, and every time that happens it really generates a lot of anger in the city.” She described the fear and anger that have taken hold in the heavily Latino city over the immigration raids. “People are afraid to leave their homes,” she said, adding that the raids have at times felt “indiscriminate”. “This is the United States. You are not supposed to have to show your papers if you go out in public,” she said. Los Angeles was mostly calm on Sunday, the ninth day of protests, with just a handful of

BR I E F S

Peaceful protests conducted during G7 summit CALGARY: Hundreds of protesters supporting various causes assembled peacefully in downtown Calgary on Sunday as the G7 summit began in the mountain resort of Kananaskis. several areas in the city designated as protest zones. Police said no protesters were present at the other two local demonstration zones, including one near the Calgary airport where the leaders began arriving. calm atmosphere. “I am a little underwhelmed. I thought there would be a lot more confrontation because last year’s Gaza protest was quite tense.“ Hostility towards US President The crisis in Gaza was a dominant theme for the crowd of about 500 gathered in front of Calgary’s main municipal building, one of several areas in the city designated as protest zones. – AFPPIC

Donald Trump emerged as another major theme, particularly regarding his suggestion that Canada become America’s 51st state. Calgary native Diane Houston carried a sign calling Trump an “abomination” and a “sociopath” as she wanted “to make sure he is under no illusion that Canadians want to be a 51st state”. Tracy Osterland from nearby Canmore echoed this sentiment: “Trump is a wannabe dictator and he definitely needs to be stopped. Enough of the 51st state stuff already. We are not at all interested.” – AFP

In recent years, G7 protests have become tightly controlled affairs. Demonstrators are confined to designated spaces, often more than 100km from where world leaders meet. This edition is no different, with protesters voicing their anger in Alberta’s largest city. Canadian officials promised a livestream of their messages to the isolated mountain town of Kananaskis, where leaders of the seven industrialised nations are meeting. The crisis in Gaza was a dominant theme for the crowd of about 500 gathered in front of Calgary’s main municipal building, one of

“I am here because I am an indigenous person,“ said Emrys Peacock, who came by bus from British Columbia’s Okanagan region. “I cannot ignore a fellow indigenous nation being bombed, murdered and starved at the hands of an occupation, (something) my people have been through since colonisation,“ she said. Dozens of other protesters also railed against the war in Gaza. Calgary student Terrence, who declined to give his last name, seemed surprised by the