The Daily Populous Thursday January 8th, 2026 day edition
Authored by commondreams.org and submitted by Silent-Resort-3076

President Donald Trump on Wednesday posted an account of the deadly shooting in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer that was completely at odds with all evidence seen so far.

In a post on Truth Social, the president claimed that the woman killed in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer "violently, willfully, and viciously ran over" him, forcing him to fire his weapon at her in self-defense.

Trump further claimed that it "is hard to believe" that the ICE officer "is alive" after being supposedly run over.

Eyewitness videos taken at the scene of the incident, however, do not show the officer getting run over at all. In fact, the officer can be seen walking around after discharging his weapon, with no signs of any injury.

In fact, the video Trump posted on his Truth Social that he claims shows the officer being run over does not at all show the officer being run over, but rather stepping safely out of the way as the car starts moving forward.

The New Republic's Greg Sargent carefully examined the video posted by Trump and concluded that it "demonstrates nothing close to what" the president claimed it showed.

"This is a sick, malicious lie from Trump," Sargent commented.

Reporter Sam Stein of the Bulwark also provided a swift debunking of Trump's claims.

"Hard to believe the ICE officer is still alive, writes the president," Stein wrote on X, "of an ICE officer who was not hit at all and was well enough to go run down the street to check on the woman he had killed."

John Hopkins University economist Filipe Campante was struck by just how little effort the president feels he needs to exert to make his lies convincing.

"That he chooses the 'me or your lying eyes?' approach, in the full knowledge that there are multiple videos out there, is a striking commentary on the nature of propaganda in the modern information environment," Campante wrote on Bluesky. "Censorship is no longer viable, so the approach is to use your own content provision to drown out any negative facts/evidence."

Tour guide and author Ben Edwards marveled at the president's ability to make completely fact-free assertions.

"The country is slowly starting to come apart," Edwards observed. "Trump lives in an alternate reality. He cannot speak a word of truth."

Disinformation researcher Kate Starbird warned that Trump's low-effort propaganda was still likely to prove effective with his followers.

"The right-wing bullshit machine is operating at full steam and across all cylinders today," Starbird wrote, "strategically framing the horrific ICE killing of a Minnesota woman to defend/bolster their political aims. For example, Trump's message... will shape how his supporters (willfully mis)interpret the video evidence."

Pour_Me_Another_ on January 8th, 2026 at 01:48 UTC »

I just saw the video myself. I'm confused as to why people think she was running anyone over. It seemed more like the ICE agent was pissed she wasn't listening. I'm not comfortable with the casual murder of Americans being celebrated by other Americans. If you want your fellow Americans to die then move to the Middle East and let everyone forget you exist.

East-Will1345 on January 8th, 2026 at 01:25 UTC »

I hang out in New for a lot of political subs and it has been absolutely insane seeing how busy various entities are trying to push alternate narratives about Minneapolis when we have a video very clearly showing a guy straight shoot a woman in the face with basically zero warning.

GOTuIN_aSTRANGLEHOLD on January 8th, 2026 at 01:20 UTC »

This isn't ICE anymore, this is the re-incarnation of The Gestapo, and people should be referring to them that way.