Tuskegee basketball coach 'violated' after being handcuffed by police at end of game

Tuskegee men’s basketball coach Benjy Taylor is considering legal action after being handcuffed and led off court at the end of his team’s loss to Morehouse College on Saturday.

Tuskegee athletic director Reginald Ruffin said Taylor had attempted to make sure protocols were followed when opposing Morehouse football players joining the basketball players in the postgame handshake line.

“You don’t do that … that’s a security breach,” Ruffin told HBCU Gameday. “We have security measures for our protection of our officials, our student athlete coaches and spectators.”

Videos of the incident soon spread online. Taylor is clearly animated in the footage, but did not appear to be physically aggressive before he was handcuffed by a police officer and taken away from the court.

Taylor’s attorney, Gregory Reynald Williams, said the coach was “concerned about a group of players from Morehouse’s football team who were acting aggressively towards the Tuskegee players and their parents.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/01/tuskegee-basketball-coach-violated-after-being-handcuffed-by-police-at-end-of-game

Doesn't say if he was charged with anything. This is pretty weird all around.

A Letter to our Fellow Americans: a Joint Statement from 150+ Episcopal Bishops on ICE actions

US is in talks with Cuban leadership, says Trump, after blockade threats

Washington is negotiating with Havana’s leadership to strike a deal, Donald Trump has said, days after threatening Cuba’s reeling economy with a virtual oil blockade.

“Cuba is a failing nation. It has been for a long time but now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up. So we’re talking to the people from Cuba, the highest people in Cuba, to see what happens,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday.

“I think we’re going to make a deal with Cuba.”

Trump gave no indication what such a deal might entail.

The US president had said on Saturday: “It doesn’t have to be a humanitarian crisis. I think they probably would come to us and want to make a deal … They have a situation that’s very bad for Cuba. They have no money. They have no oil. They lived off Venezuelan money and oil, and none of that’s coming now.”

Trump’s second administration has been ratcheting up pressure on the communist-run island nation off south Florida since it ousted the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, whose country was a close ally of Havana and a crucial source for oil exports to Cuba

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/us-is-in-talks-with-cuban-leadership-says-trump-after-blockade-threats

Cuba was the Second Big Mistake post-WWII. Thank you, Allen Dulles. Fry in hell.

Kyrsten Sinema gave $9,000 to man she's accused of having an affair with

A man identified in court filings as having an affair with former senator Kyrsten Sinema received almost $9,000 from Sinema’s former campaign committee in October, according to newly filed documents. The filings come just weeks after the man’s estranged wife accused Sinema of wrecking their marriage.

According to a report from Notus, which cites a newly filed Federal Election Commission (FEC) document, the recipient was Matthew J Ammel, who worked as a security guard for Sinema. He was paid $1,815.91 on 15 October and $7,136.14 on 31 October in payments listed as “payroll”, according to a filing submitted on Saturday by Sinema for Arizona.

FEC records show that between July 2024 and October 2025, Ammel received a total of more than $128,000 from Sinema for Arizona and a separate political action committee tied to the former senator.

The filing also shows that Sinema has formally shut down her Sinema for Arizona committee, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars last year on expenses that appeared to be largely unrelated to campaign activity.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/kyrsten-sinema-senator-bodyguard-payment

What's the female equivalent of a john? A jane? This girl is going to prison and that's a good thing!

Undercover investigation of Meta heads to trial in New Mexico in first stand-alone case by state

The first stand-alone trial from state prosecutors in a stream of lawsuits against Meta is getting underway in New Mexico, with jury selection starting Monday.

New Mexico’s case is built on a state undercover investigation using proxy social media accounts and posing as kids to document sexual solicitations and the response from Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. It could give states a new legal pathway to go after social media companies over how their platforms affect children, by using consumer protection and nuisance laws.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed suit in 2023, accusing Meta of creating a marketplace and “breeding ground” for predators who target children for sexual exploitation and failing to disclose what it knew about those harmful effects.

“So many regulators are keyed up looking for any evidence of a legal theory that would punish social media that a victory in that case could have ripple effects throughout the country, and the globe,” said Eric Goldman, codirector of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law in California. “Whatever the jury says will be of substantial interest.”

Meta denies the civil charges and says prosecutors are taking a “sensationalist” approach. CEO Mark Zuckerberg was dropped as a defendant in the case, but he has been deposed and documents in the case carry his name.

https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-trial-new-mexico-social-trial-facebook-instagram-whatsapp-d8b812efd001e5cabbef9e1a47143226

Lots of whining from social media owners. I hear it all the way to NOW VA.

Re ICE: I read this yesterday but can't find the source today

I don't remember if it quoted Noem but I think it did. Anyway, the person quoted said that "80% of ICE would resign if they were forced to remove their masks."

Now why would that be? Are they ashamed of what they're doing? Do their mommies and daddies not know what they're doing? Or are they just scared little boys afraid of being doxxed? Which is it, boys? Answer up!

ICE claim that a man shattered his skull running into wall triggers tension at a Minnesota hospital

Intensive care nurses immediately doubted the word of federal immigration officers when they arrived at a Minneapolis hospital with a Mexican immigrant who had broken bones in his face and skull.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall,” according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release.

But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the 31-year-old’s brain, said three nurses familiar with the case.

“It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about,” said one of the nurses, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss patient care. “There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall.”

The explanation from ICE is an example of recent run-ins between immigration officers and health care workers that have contributed to mounting friction at Minneapolis hospitals. Workers at the Hennepin County facility say ICE officers have restrained patients in defiance of hospital rules and stayed at their sides for days. The agents have also lingered around the campus and pressed people for proof of citizenship.

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minneapolis-hospitals-32cd5ca61d495e155d43b7cfd5e563b9

You know damn well they beat the crap out of him. And I'm a retired RN so I know this---the only way you are allowed to restrain patients is this: either you have a doctor's order, OR the patient is a prisoner and you are therefore legally entitled to shackle them to the bed. ICE has none of these requirements, therefore cannot restrain patients. Law enforcement must be called.

Atlanta FBI boss ousted after balking at 2020 election probe

The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office was forced out this month after questioning the Justice Department’s renewed push to probe Fulton County’s role in the 2020 election, two people familiar with the matter told MS NOW.

Paul Brown was ousted after expressing concerns about the FBI’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s longstanding and unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in the county anchored by Atlanta, and for refusing to carry out the searches and seizures of records tied to the 2020 election, according to the sources, who spoke to MS NOW on condition of anonymity.

The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operation Center near Atlanta, as part of a criminal investigation into records from the 2020 presidential election. Authorities seized 700 boxes related to the county’s 2020 general election.

Brown was appointed to oversee all investigations and personnel in Georgia last February. The Associated Press reported that the FBI moved to replace him last week.

https://www.ms.now/news/atlanta-fbi-boss-ousted-after-balking-at-2020-election-probe

But of course...

Tulsi Gabbard's role in the FBI's Fulton County raid gets even more provocative

Even if we were to remove Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard from the equation altogether, the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at the Fulton County elections office near Atlanta as part of Donald Trump’s ongoing crusade related to his 2020 election defeat would still be awfully tough to defend.

There’s no credible reason for federal law enforcement to seize these election materials, which have already been thoroughly scrutinized, just as there’s no reason for the FBI to act as a vehicle for the president’s discredited conspiracy theories. What’s more, as The New York Times noted, there are also related concerns about whether this “might also be a harbinger of things to come, signaling Mr. Trump’s growing willingness to use the vast powers of federal law enforcement to intervene in election matters in the lead-up to the critical 2026 midterms, which will determine the extent of his authority for the remainder of his second term.”

But that Gabbard, eager to work her way back into the White House’s good graces, personally participated in the raid in Georgia, adds a scandalous element to a burgeoning controversy. As a Politico report summarized:

Democrats, election experts and even some members of the Trump administration expressed alarm and bewilderment about why Tulsi Gabbard was on the scene as the FBI raided a Georgia election office that has been at the center of Donald Trump’s debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

The administration’s official line is that the DNI “has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference, including operations targeting voting systems, databases, and election infrastructure.”

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/tulsi-gabbard-role-fbi-fulton-county-raid-election-2020

Sure, Donnie, sure. And her reason/excuse for being there was...?

California-based emergency team deployed to Tennessee for winter storm aid

Governor Gavin Newsom has deployed specialized emergency management resources from California to assist Tennessee as the state responds to impacts from a deadly winter storm.

According to the Governor’s Office, a 30-member California-based federal Complex Incident Management Team has been sent to support “response and life safety efforts” following an icy snowstorm that created hazardous travel conditions, widespread power outages and emergencies across the state. Multiple deaths have been reported in connection with the storm.

“I’m thankful to the local firefighters, who are stepping up to help fellow Americans during their time of need,” said Newsom. “When disaster strikes, California answers the call to support our partners across the country. Deploying this Incident Management Team to Tennessee reflects a commitment to protecting lives and helping our neighbors respond and recover to extreme weather events.”

The deployment comes as large portions of the eastern United States recently faced heavy snowfall, ice accumulations and subfreezing temperatures, disrupting critical infrastructure.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is facilitating the deployment while ensuring the Golden State maintains its own emergency response readiness at home. Acting Cal OES Director Tina Curry said the assistance reflects the importance of interstate mutual aid.

https://www.wate.com/news/tennessee/california-based-emergency-team-deployed-to-tennessee-for-winter-storm-aid/

When FEMA depends on a distator's whims, THIS is what states should be doing! Thanks, Gov. Nowsom, for helping out my former home state!