Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Wednesday.
Agents who shot Minneapolis protester are put on leaveThe two federal agents who shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and Veterans Affairs nurse, were placed on leave after the shooting on Saturday. An official confirmed the move to The Times today. Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol chief, previously said the agents had been transferred but were still working. Stephen Miller, a top adviser to President Trump, said that federal agents “may not have been following” protocol before the shooting of Pretti. Miller had previously described Pretti as an “assassin” who had “tried to murder federal agents.” Miller’s comments came as the president and some of his aides have sought to soften their tone about the shooting, in a tacit acknowledgment of a broad backlash. It remains to be seen, however, whether the rhetorical shift will result in changes on the ground in Minnesota. Trump’s frustrations this weekend were more about the coverage of the events rather than the shooting itself, according to people familiar with the dynamic. Elsewhere in Minneapolis: The authorities are investigating an attack on Ilhan Omar, a Democratic congresswoman who represents parts of the city. During a town hall last night, a man rushed the lectern and sprayed her with a strong-smelling liquid. On Facebook, the man, Anthony Kazmierczak, frequently wrote and shared posts about conservative issues. His mother told The Times that many of her son’s friends are not conservative, something that may have grated on him. In Washington: Senate Democrats threatened to withhold votes to fund large parts of the government unless restrictions are put on ICE, which Republicans have made the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency. Democrats also laid out their broad demands: They want federal agents to remove their masks, carry proper identification, and end roving immigration patrols. They also want agents to observe conventional law enforcement standards on use of force.
The F.B.I. searches a Georgia election centerF.B.I. agents executed a search warrant today at an election center in Fulton County, Ga. The jurisdiction has been at the center of Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Agents were searching for all “physical ballots from the 2020 general election” in the county, along with other voting records, according to a copy of the warrant viewed by The Times. The warrant said the search was being conducted as part of an investigation into possible violations of federal laws against destruction of election-related records, and of a federal law against knowingly procuring fraudulent voter registration or fraudulent votes.
Trump threatens IranThe president intensified his threats against Iran today, suggesting that the U.S. might attack the country “with speed and violence” if its leaders did not agree to a set of demands made by his administration. U.S. and European officials said that they had put three demands in front of the Iranians: a permanent end to all enrichment of uranium; limits on their ballistic missiles; and an end to all support for proxy groups, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen. U.S. allies in the Middle East have been pressing for a deal to prevent an attack against Iran. Notably absent from the demands is any reference to the protests that rattled Iran over the last month. Trump had vowed to come to the aid of demonstrators after the government violently cracked down on dissent, but he has hardly mentioned them recently. For more: Iran killed thousands of protesters. Here are five of their stories.
Students are finding new ways to cheat on standardized testsThe SAT, the standardized test used to assess applicants at many top colleges and universities, recently went digital. Its organizers said the move from No. 2 pencils to laptops would help avert cheating. But sites in China are selling test questions, online forums are offering software that promises to bypass test protections, and educators are raising alarms. More top news
This week, San Francisco residents got an unusual alert: Beware of mountain lion. Click the video below to see the 2-year-old animal roam around the city.
Sundance says goodbye to Park CityThere’s a sense of nostalgia this week among the thousands of movie industry insiders at the Sundance Film Festival. This is the last year that the event will be held in Park City, Utah, its home for 40-plus years, and the first festival since the death of its founder, Robert Redford. “What I will miss most is my youth,” said Ethan Hawke, whose acting career took off after his early movies appeared at Sundance in the 1990s. “The streets are full of memories.” Here are some of the films that stood out at this year’s festival.
Chanel celebrates grown-up womenChanel’s new designer, Matthieu Blazy, opened his debut couture show yesterday in Paris with a model in her 40s. It wasn’t a fluke, our fashion critic Vanessa Friedman writes. It was a part of his mission statement about who Chanel is for and what he is trying to do with the brand. With his clothes, Blazy showcased a deft ability to make Chanel’s heritage his own. Want more? Sign up for our Fashion Week newsletter, and check out Jacob Gallagher’s latest dispatch from Paris, where some track jorts caught his eye.
Dinner table topics
Cook: This creamy macaroni and cheese is light-years better than the boxed version. Read: Mike Pitts’s compelling new book sets out to solve the mysteries of Easter Island. Watch: “The Wrecking Crew” makes the most of its muscular leads, Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, with great action sequences. Plan: Do you love cities? These stylish hotels are for you. Learn: |
