The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Hannah Murphy Winter Good morning. We have to stop meeting like this. Okay let’s start with what you’ve surely already seen with your own eyes. On Saturday, ICE agents executed a man on th e street in Minneapolis. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old who worked in the intensive care unit at a VA hospital, was part of a small group of demonstrators protesting around federal agents on the street. At the time, he had a handgun in a holster on his waist, which he had a permit to carry. Pretti was trying to help another protester who’d been pepper-sprayed by the feds when agents tackled him to the ground. Agents shouted that he had a handgun on his waist, and one agent pulled it out of the holster and moved away from the scene. Less than a second later, while Pretti was firmly pinned to the ground, ICE agents started shooting him. They shot him at least 10 times in five seconds. The Government Is Still Lying: Just like the Renee Good shooting, the federal government is counting on their ability to spin a narrative that their base can sink their teeth into. They immediately pushed the story that agents fired on civilians because they feared for their lives. DHS claimed that Pretti approached agents with the gun, and that he responded violently when they tried to disarm him. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed he was committing “domestic terrorism,” trying to inflict “maximum damage” and “massacre law enforcement.” But also, just like the Renee Good shooting, the New York Times has already done a frame-by-frame analysis that proves this is all a lie. When challenged with this readily available video, head of Border Patrol Dan Bovino interrupted CNN’s Dana Bash by saying, “Let’s not freeze frame adjudicate this now.” Bovino then claimed that the shooting was Pretti’s fault, because he “meant to be there beforehand” and knowingly inserted himself into an “active law enforcement operation.” “With respect, it feels as though in some ways you’re blaming the victim here,” CNN’s Dana Bash said. “The victims are the border patrol agents,” Bovino replied. “It’s too bad the consequences had to be paid because he injected himself into that crime scene.” And if It’s Not Pretti’s Fault, It’s the Dems: Over the weekend, the Trump administration insisted that Pretti’s killing should be blamed on the Democrats, particularly Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, because of their “violent and heated rhetoric” about ICE’s actually violent actions. “Democrat run Sanctuary Cities and States are REFUSING to cooperate with ICE, and they are actually encouraging Leftwing Agitators to unlawfully obstruct their operations to arrest the Worst of the Worst People!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “By doing this, Democrats are putting Illegal Alien Criminals over Taxpaying, Law-Abiding Citizens, and they have created dangerous circumstances for EVERYONE involved.” What’s Next? As of Monday morning, lawyers for the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis are arguing in front of a federal judge that Trump’s immigration surge violated the state’s sovereignty. The Trump administration calls their case an “unprecedented case of judicial overreach,” which is pretty rich.  Trump’s “Secret Weapon”: Meanwhile, in foreign policy news, the New York Post reported that Trump told them about his secret new weapon that he called “The Discombobulator,” that he says the US military used in their mission to snatch Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. “I’m not allowed to talk about it,” he told the Post, after explaining that US military personnel “pushed a button” that kept any of Venezuela’s missiles from launching. This Scooby Doo-ass story sounds like something Trump’s decaying brain would make up, but there might be some truth to it. A senior official told CNN that the president may be conflating several things into a single weapon. US forces did use “cyber tools” to disable Venezuela’s defense systems, and used an acoustic weapon to disorient personnel on the ground. Our military also has a literal heat ray, but it’s not clear if they used it in Venezuela.  Weather: Twenty states got more than a foot of snow over the weekend, from New Mexico to Maine, and more than 80 million people are still under extreme cold warnings this morning. The storm has already killed at least 11 people, knocked out power, and led to thousands of cancelled flights. As an incentive to keep New Yorkers out of the dangerous weather, Mayor Mamdani announced that the New York Public Library is making Heated Rivalry available on e-book or audiobook for anyone with a library card. The People’s Mayor, ladies and gentlemen.             View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by CNN (@cnn)   Meanwhile: Seattle’s in one of the country’s rare mild pockets today. Our highs are in the high 40s, with some possible frost overnight. The Hawks Are Going to the Super Bowl! On Sunday, the Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams to become the NFC Champs, and now they’re headed down to the Bay Area to play the Patriots in a rematch of the 2015 game. The Seattle Times’s Matt Calkins says that if we could beat the Rams, the Patriots should be a walk in the park. Bad Bunny will play the halftime show, but lest that be a little too “challenging” for the average football fan, never fear: Green Day will be the opening act before the game.   Loser has to paint a bus lane in the winning other city — Gordon Padelford (@gordonofseattle.bsky.social) January 25, 2026 at 8:32 PM   Transit Board Shakeup: King County Council’s Claudia Balducci is likely the reason that the 2 Line exists at all. She championed it through legal challenges, mapping fights, the works. Then, on the heels of the announcement that the 2 and 1 lines will finally connect in just two months, Balducci was just booted from her position as chair of Sound Transit’s expansion committee, which she’s led since 2018. She was also removed from the Executive Committee. The board chair, currently Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, officially makes those assignments, and didn’t offer The Urbanist or public commenters any explanation for the changeup.  Star-Crossed Lovers: Speaking of the cross-lake connection—when the connection date was finally announced last week, The Stranger’s Nathalie Graham did some essential sleuthing. The Cross-Lake Connection is an Aries. And she might not vibe with the 1 Line, a Cancer. “To be honest they probably shouldn’t date,” Nathalie’s sister-in-law told us. Dive into their birth charts here. Adios to the PacSci Gates: As part of the City’s plan to integrate Seattle Center and the Pacific Science Center into one big public space, PacSci started taking down the big metal gates that partitioned off the science center last week. Now we can all reflect beside the pools that leak 26 gallons of water each year. (They say they’re fixing that too.) Some Music for Your Monday: I’d forgotten about this 2017 song from Olympia’s CCFX until it popped up on a playlist this weekend. Figured I’d do you the same favor. ...read more read less