Le Journal

The FBI has asked agents from field offices across the United States to voluntarily travel to Minneapolis for temporary assignments as the city reels from anti-ICE protests and the fatal shooting of Renee Good, according to two sources. The request was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by a law enforcement official familiar with the messages and another source familiar with the requests who has seen the messages. It isn’t clear what the exact assignment would be for volunteers who do relocate, but the second source told NBC News that the agents will investigate AFO cases — an FBI designation to identify and charge suspects accused of assault on a federal officer. Agents are also needed to investigate vandalism and theft of property from FBI vehicles, the second source added. It comes as there’s been a surge of federal immigration personnel in Minnesota and protests have rocked the state in outrage over the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Good in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. At the moment, the request call is voluntary, and there’s not a mass surge of FBI agents to Minneapolis, the sources said. A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment. The scale of the immigration enforcement presence in Minneapolis — with roughly 3,000 federal immigration officers— appears to be greater than prior operations in blue cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles. Residents have described the swell of officers as “an invasion,” with agents seen in unmarked cars idling on neighborhood streets, at stores and parking lots, and going door to door. Local officials including Mayor Jacob Frey have called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave the city. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump last week threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to protesters, calling them “professional agitators and insurrectionists.”

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would impose a new 10% tariff on Denmark and seven other European countries until a deal is reached for the U.S. to purchase Greenland. If the tariffs do go into effect, economists NBC Bay Area spoke to say people can expect to pay more on everything from cosmetics to cars. And even higher tariffs may be imposed this summer. President Trump’s announcement is the latest step in a sharp escalation in tensions between the U.S. and some of its closest allies in Europe. The president says he plans to implement ten percent tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. “Tariffs are bad,” said Christian Roessler, Associate Professor of Economics Cal State East Bay. “Both for the nation imposing them and the nation they’re imposed on the long-term impact is reduced growth for the United States.” Trump says he will impose the tariffs unless a deal is reached for the U.S. to buy Greenland and if that doesn’t happen by June 1, the tariffs will increase to 25%. If the tariffs go into effect, experts say Americans can expect to pay more for cars, pharmaceuticals, and much more. “We import a lot of luxury goods from Italy and France for example, perfumes and cosmetics, European wine and spirits so having a good time is going to cost more,” said Sung Won Sohn, economics professor at Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles. The E.U. is America’s largest trading partner and its largest source of imports. Some fear the escalating tensions could threaten to undo 70 years of security and stability in the Atlantic under the NATO alliance. In a joint statement, the European Commission president and European Council president said: “The EU stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland” “It’s not an economic reason, in this case Trump is using the tariffs as a geopolitical tool because he feels for national defense having control over Greenland is critical,” said Sung Won Sohn. Economists said the proposed tariffs would also increase the costs of industrial machinery and they say it’s highly likely the E.U. would implement reciprocal tariffs against the U.S. which would also drive-up prices.