Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, and JeremyBloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Chicago Sun-Times: Mayor Johnson defends executive order aimed at holding ICE accountable for alleged abuses by Fran Spielman and Sophie Sherry
Mayor Brandon Johnson Tuesday defended his decision to order Chicago police officers to document alleged abuses by federal immigration agents for potential felony prosecution after the county’s top prosecutor questioned his plan’s “legality.”
Johnson said the executive order he outlined last weekend is “not something we thought we would have to do as a local municipality.”
Under normal circumstances, Johnson said the federal government would “hold itself accountable” by investigating agents carrying out the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign.
Outrage boiled over last month when federal agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, just months after Silverio Villegas González was killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer outside Chicago.
“The abnormality of this moment cannot be underscored enough… when you have rogue, reckless behavior of federal agents that actually undermines the work that police officers in our city are doing. That’s really what my larger concern is,” the mayor said during his weekly news conference.
CNN: Trump says states are agents of federal government in elections by Donald Judd
President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed that “a state is an agent for the federal government in elections,” as he defended his call for Republicans to nationalize elections.
“I want to see elections be honest — and if a state can’t run an election, I think the people behind me should do something about it,” Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins during an Oval Office signing ceremony with Republican lawmakers.
“A state is an agent for the federal government in elections. I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do them anyway,” he said, adding that it’s a “disgrace” how “horribly” some states run elections.
Elections are run by state and local officials, with the federal government playing only a limited role. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from attempting to revamp how elections are conducted, as his administration pushes to overhaul rules ahead of the midterm elections.
The New York Times: Racial Debate Rattles Texas Democratic Primary for Senate by J. David Goodman
Tension over race and electability in the Democratic primary campaign for U.S. Senate in Texas burst to the surface this week over a comment attributed to one of the top candidates, James Talarico.
The comment, in a private conversation with a onetime supporter, did not focus on his main rival in the Democratic primary, U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett, who is Black. Instead, Mr. Talarico, a state representative who is white, was said to have disparaged another Black politician, former Representative Colin Allred, who dropped out of the Senate race in December, though the exact nature of the affront is in dispute.
“James Talarico told me that he signed up to run against a mediocre Black man, not a formidable and intelligent Black woman,” Morgan Thompson, a Dallas-area political content creator, said in a video over the weekend.
Mr. Talarico’s remark was then amplified by Mr. Allred, who responded in his own video.
The Guardian: Brazilian influencer who defended US immigration crackdown arrested by ICE by Tom Phillips
A rightwing Brazilian influencer who claimed Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown targeted only “crooks” has been arrested by ICE agents in New Jersey.
Júnior Pena, whose full name is Eustáquio da Silva Pena Júnior, declared his support for the US president in a recent video message to his hundreds of thousands of social media followers.
“I [support] Donald Trump – I like the guy,” announced the South American TikToker and Instagrammer whose account purports to show “the reality of the United States” from a migrant’s perspective.
In a previous video, Pena reportedly urged Brazilians to stay calm and not “despair” after reports that ICE agents were rounding up migrants, including Brazilians. “But they’re all crooks. The lot of them,” he falsely claimed of the migrants being seized.
AlJazeera: In war-torn Ukraine, showing sympathy for Palestine is no longer a taboo by Nils Adler
At the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced support for Israel, while First Lady Olena Zelenska said Ukrainians understand and “share the pain” of the Israeli people.
Billboards across Kyiv lit up the capital with Israeli flags.
The response reflected a position held by much of Ukrainian society and many Western leaders at the time.
For some people straddling both identities, the early reactions were difficult to watch.
Hashem, a Gaza-born medical professional who obtained Ukrainian citizenship after nearly a decade living in the country, said the contrast in how Palestinians and Ukrainians are treated internationally has long been apparent.
“Travelling as a Ukrainian opens doors; travelling as a Palestinian closes them,” he said, describing the stark difference in freedom of movement, visa access and public sympathy attached to each of his identities.
FilmoGaz: Ricky Martin Pens Open Letter to Bad Bunny by Riley Calderon
Ricky Martin recently expressed his admiration for fellow Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny following his remarkable success at the Grammy Awards. On February 1, Bad Bunny won three prestigious awards, including Album of the Year for his Spanish-language project, *Debí Tirar Más Fotos*. This win marks a historic moment in Grammy history.
In a heartfelt open letter published in *El Nuevo Día* on February 3, Martin celebrated Bad Bunny’s achievements. Titled “When One of Ours Succeeds, We All Succeed,” the letter highlights the significance of this victory not just for Bad Bunny, but for Puerto Rico as a whole. Martin shared a screenshot of his letter on his Instagram stories, expressing deep emotion over Bad Bunny’s accomplishments.
