Transcript

LIVE TRUMP DECLARES WAR on America | ICE BRUTALLY Attacks Protesters After Alex Pretti Murder

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 1 h 12 min · 11,696 words · 123 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "LIVE TRUMP DECLARES WAR on America | ICE BRUTALLY Attacks Protesters After Alex Pretti Murder", an episode of MeidasTouch published January 25, 2026 (1 h 12 min, about 11,696 words). It mentions 18 people, works and ideas, including JT Saskowski, Minneapolis, Angela Jordan, John Fina, ICE.

What this episode is about

The discussion focuses on the ongoing tensions and protests surrounding President Trump's administration, particularly highlighting the actions of ICE against demonstrators following the controversial murder of activist Alex Pretti. Reporters provide grassroots coverage of various protests across major U.S. cities, emphasizing their independent journalism funded by viewer support rather than corporate interests.

Key takeaways

  • Independent journalism thrives in chaos; those without corporate puppeteers often get the rawest truth.
  • While mainstream media chases headlines, real stories unfold in the streets—welcome to guerrilla reporting.
  • Confrontations with ICE reveal America's border tactics; assailants are often quiet until the cameras roll.
  • In a world of corporate influences, funding from the people fuels the voice of accountability.
  • When the news looks like a war zone, it’s a reminder: we’re not just reporting, we're witnessing history.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: Minneapolis, John Fina, JT Saskowski, Angela Jordan
  2. – 20:00: United States (states), Minneapolis, Standing Rock, DHS
  3. – 30:00: Angela Jordan, DHS, Midas Touch
  4. – 40:00: Minneapolis
  5. – 50:00: Minneapolis, Donald Trump, United States (states)
  6. – 1:00:00: Minneapolis, Angela Jordan, John Fina, Midas Touch
  7. – 1:10:00: John Fina, Minneapolis, Midas Touch, United States (states)
  8. – 1:11:32: Minneapolis

Notable quotes from "LIVE TRUMP DECLARES WAR on America | ICE BRUTALLY Attacks Protesters After Alex Pretti Murder"

  • Hey, it's Jordan with Status Coup. We are live late night on the East Coast here with our wonderful, incredible courageous reporter JT Saskowski. you're probably on hour 18 of the.
    about JT Saskowski · at
  • Than fascist federal invasion. we've been on the ground in New York City covering ICE. we've been on the ground in DC covering the National Guard invasion down at Alligator…
    about ICE · at
  • In our rush to get down there, John had left his respirator behind and I had left my goggles behind, which those are the two areas that tear gas agitates. It's your lungs and your eyes.
    about John Fina · at
  • Our job as journalists should be to scream this is lawlessness.
    about Angela Jordan · at
  • They are shooting at unarmed people and journalists. I also want to share JT and I want you to tell the audience and by the way I am not beyond begging the people. We will not beg corporations or.
    about DHS · at
  • The violent federal invasion in LA. We were there for weeks when Trump sent in ICE border patrol. our reporter there, Tina Desburg, got shot in the leg for with a rubber…
    about Tina Desert Berg · at
  • All again pop all these chemical munitions. This is the local this is the local people the local leaders are sponsoring this Governor Tim Walls and Mayor and Mayor Jacob Fry.
    about Governor Tim Walz · at
  • They have. And I will also note that some of them have expressed this feeling of being backed into a corner that they want to see even more action from their leaders, more real…
    about Minneapolis · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • JT Saskowski — Person · Main guest / on-the-ground reporter · 2 mentions · first at
    Primary eyewitness reporter describing the Minneapolis shooting aftermath and federal crowd-control tactics; provides narrative, observations, and moral framing.
  • Angela Jordan — Person · Host / interviewer · 8 mentions · first at
    Leads the livestream discussion, frames the events as authoritarian/fascist violence, and repeatedly appeals for support for independent journalism.
  • John Fina — Person · Cameraman / field producer (referenced key contributor) · 8 mentions · first at
    Operates camera in dangerous conditions; credited with capturing critical footage and keeping the reporter safe; compared the scene to a war zone based on Ukraine experience.
  • Donald Trump — Person · Referenced political leader / antagonist in narrative · 3 mentions · first at
    Presented as directing/embodying the federal crackdown (ICE/DHS actions); repeatedly blamed for escalating violence and authoritarian tactics.
    Platform value the on the ground reporting we do. we have been on the ground when I say we I mean JT John Fina our cameraman Tina Desire Berg who works with us and several others.
  • Big Ben — Person · Referenced partner contact at Midas Touch · 1 mention · first at
    Thanked for enabling the co-stream/partnership and audience reach; not an on-scene participant but important to distribution and collaboration.
    Touch. So to I believe they call you the Midas Mighty. thank you for having us and thank you to Ben and everyone at Midas. this partnership has been incredible. It's really…
  • Tina Desert Berg — Person · Referenced Status Coup team member / field reporter · 2 mentions · first at
    Cited as part of the on-the-ground team across multiple cities; mentioned as having been shot with a rubber bullet during LA coverage.
  • Governor Tim Walz — Person · Referenced public official (Minnesota governor; named as responsible for state police) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as politically responsible for state/local police actions (tear gas deployment) despite public opposition to ICE presence.

Companies & orgs

  • ICE — Company · Business focus · 4 mentions
    Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency involved in the reported events.
  • Midas Touch — Company · Partner · 6 mentions · first at
    Media company co-streaming the content with Status Coup.
    Start by saying the obvious and welcome to all of Midas Touch and your incredible viewers watching. We're co-streaming on Status Coup and Midas Touch. So to I believe they call…
  • DHS — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at
    Department of Homeland Security involved in the reported events.
  • National Guard — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    Military reserve force mentioned in the context of the reported events.
    Than fascist federal invasion. we've been on the ground in New York City covering ICE. we've been on the ground in DC covering the National Guard invasion down at Alligator…
  • Goldman Sachs — Company · Criticized entity · 1 mention · first at
    Financial institution criticized for corporate influence.
    Don't have any funding from United Healthcare. We don't have any funding from Goldman Sachs, the remaining Koch brother, any of the corporate vampire vultures purchasing our…

Concepts & topics

  • United Corporations of America — Concept · Key argument · 2 mentions · first at
    Concept used to criticize corporate influence in politics.
    Have been all over this country. And to be clear, we have the resources, not of CNN. We do not have the budget of CNN, MSN Now, Fox. we have we're basically a gorilla…

Places & events

  • Minneapolis — Place · Setting · 17 mentions · first at
    Primary location where the reported events and protests are taking place.
  • United States (states) — Place · Headquarters · 8 mentions · first at
    Country where the reported events are taking place.
    They are shooting at unarmed people and journalists. I also want to share JT and I want you to tell the audience and by the way I am not beyond begging the people. We will not beg corporations or.
  • Chicago — Place · Setting · 5 mentions · first at
    Location where previous reporting by Status Coup took place.
    Ground in DC covering the National Guard invasion down at Alligator Alcatraz concentration camp. we have been in Chicago for over two months, Charlotte and Minneapolis and I…
  • Standing Rock — Event · Referenced event · 2 mentions · first at
    Historical event referenced to draw parallels with current situation.
    Unarmed people. And I had this experience now a decade ago at Standing Rock. This is reminding me a lot of what I reported at Standing Rock. In that case, you had basically…
  • Alligator Alcatraz — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    Location mentioned in the context of previous reporting.
    Didn't start in Minneapolis. We've been on the ground covering the ICE invasion, the violent federal invasion in LA. We were there for weeks when Trump sent in ICE border…

Full transcript with timestamps

Hey, it's Jordan with Status Coup. We are live uh late night on the East Coast here uh with our wonderful, incredible uh courageous reporter JT Saskowski. Uh you're probably on hour 18 of the working day. Uh so uh we're not going to keep you all night, but we are uh let's start by saying the obvious and welcome to all of Midas Touch uh and your uh incredible viewers watching. We're co-streaming on Status Coup and Midas Touch. So to uh I believe they call you the Midas Mighty. Uh thank you uh for having us and thank you to Ben and everyone at Midas. Uh this partnership has been incredible. It's really we're so appreciative to have such a massive platform uh value the on the ground reporting we do. Uh we have been on the ground when I say we I mean JT John Fina our cameraman uh Tina Desire Berg who works with us uh and several others.

We've been on the ground basically for nearly a year covering President Trump's uh I don't know what you call it other than fascist federal invasion. Uh we've been on the ground in New York City covering ICE. Uh we've been on the ground in DC covering the National Guard invasion down at Alligator Alcatraz uh concentration camp. Uh we have been in Chicago uh for over two months, Charlotte uh and Minneapolis and I forget LA where this all started. So we have been all over this country. And to be clear, we have the resources, not of CNN. We do not have the budget of CNN, MSN Now, Fox. Uh we have we're basically a gorilla journalism outfit funded by the people. So, thank you uh to all the mightest touch folks who have subscribed to our channel and even more so to people who are supporting us financially because we take zero dollars zero dollars from what I like to call the United Corporations of America, the

blood suckers uh donating to both, frankly, the Republican and Democratic Party who have purchased our politicians. Uh so, thank you to everyone who signed up statuscoo.com/join to support this on the ground reporting. Now, let's get to it. JT, you called me this morning. You know, that's basically how this works. You called me uh what's happening on the ground. Uh you've been in Minneapolis now. This is your third time, I think, for us. Uh this time for a week.

I don't even know saying we're r we're rushing over uh another person got shot. That's all that's all you said. Uh so tell me for the minute you got and by the way just so folks are clear I know a lot of people right now all over political media are focusing on you know the the shoot the shooting obviously and the tick tick by tick what happened. Uh obviously there's plenty of channels doing that if you have eyes and a brain this man was assassinated. I mean that's obvious. Uh he was pinned down by I believe six or seven Border Patrol/ICE agents. Uh he was legally carrying a gun and he to be very clear did not did not confront ICE or Border Patrol agents with a gun. He was holding his phone which is his legal right. So we're not going to get into the footage of that.

We want to get into the aftermath which honestly looks like Fallujah. It looks like a third world country. No disrespect to those countries, many of which we've invaded. Um, and literally you and John were ducking, and I don't say this dramatically, for your lives today. So, you you get to the scene, uh, before we start playing some of the clips, because some of you watching might not have seen it. What do you first see? Uh, as far as I could tell, because I had CNN and MS Now on, we were the first ones live of national networks. Yeah, we were on the scene very early. Very early. And in fact, I thought getting over there that we were late to the game, um, so to speak. Uh meaning just that John and I didn't see the initial reports of shots fired that were coming through some of these signal chats that have been much discussed that the activist community here in the Twin Cities area uh is using to coordinate and talk about

um immigration enforcement agents operations in the Twin Cities. The initial reports that were put into those chats I missed. Uh, and John was getting ready for the day and we were about to go out and then suddenly John comes into the room and says, "Hey, have you seen this?" And you know, at that point it was immediately out the door. We got down there. We were able to park like right next to the seat.

Uh I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just want to take people kind of behind the scenes because as humbly as I could say it, we are one of the only national independent keyword independent. We don't have any funding from United Healthcare. We don't have any funding from Goldman Sachs, the remaining Koch brother, any of the corporate vampire vultures purchasing our government uh and the corporate America. But I want to be clear, you guys, thus far, it's basically just this chaotic game of whack-a-ole you guys do on the road. You are f legally as journalists following Border Patrol and ICE throughout the day and you're kind of jumping around from one chaotic situation to the next. So, you guys were planning, correct me if I'm wrong, on following ICE caravans,

correct? Uh, and then you get a call and a lot of times you don't know if it's a false tip, uh, or it could be, you know, what this turned into. So, uh, you were planning on going on a following ICE when you got this call.

Yeah. Yeah. We were getting ready to to head out the door for that. And then we get this tip, we get on the road, we get down to the scene, we're able to, you know, park almost right next to the scene. We hop out. We get up there, uh, our incredible cameraman, John Fina, was, uh, so on the ball. He just had all of our equipment prepped in the car on the way over and he hopped out and was nearly ready to go live. You know, that instant I told him to just, you know, we're going to pump the brakes for just a second because I just wanted to talk to a few people before the cameras were rolling on the scene to find out what I could learn. We did that for a few minutes. Then there was a little bit of technical back and forth with our staff at Status Coup to get on the, you know, to actually get on the air, start start streaming. So, I thought that we were so far behind uh behind the ball on what

was happening here at this scene, I was chastising myself and then came to find out later that no, we were the only ones who were live down there at the scene. Uh, at least for national press, it was just us. And when we got to the scene, what we found was an intersection that had been blocked off on all sides and we arrived and we were on the eastern side to start and then we heard bangs and I didn't know what the bangs were and of course when you're going down to a scene of the shooting you assume the worst but we start to make our way around to the north side and that's when I'm that's when I started to see know it's flashbang grenades that are going off and that just became the start of what will become hours and hours of federal agents firing endless rounds of tear gas and flashbang grenades and pepper balls and pepper spray into the crowds of these protesters who showed up to peacefully protest

ISIS presence in their community. And it was just this neverending slog of of violence directed at anyone and everyone within the federal government's reach down there. There was there was no targeting of particular people. It was just mass pain across South Minneapolis in the several block radius all around this all around the scene over the course of those several hours. We made our way, you know, we circumnavigated basically the entire scene and we saw the worst of the violence there on the south side of this intersection where a large group of protesters had gathered.

They would walk up to some police tape. They did not cross the police tape. They would walk right up to it. They would protest, but they weren't they weren't throwing anything, I will note, until after several rounds of being tear gas, they started to throw the tear gas canisters back at the agents. But for those first few moments, for those first few rounds, it was just people being put in the crosshairs of this of this federal government and continuously victimized and including, you know, John and myself got it. That's, you know, that's part of that's part of on the ground reporting.

So, I want to start uh we put this live stream together pretty quick. So, these clips that we're going to air are we don't know which order they are. Uh but we're going to start showing you some of these clips for those of you who didn't see our live stream or didn't watch the full live stream because honestly, it literally it's not a dramat it's not dramatic to say this looks like a war zone in America. Uh

no, I I should I should call out on that point, Jordan. Uh our cameraman, John Fina, has been in a war zone. He has reported in uh in Ukraine and he was talking and he was talking about this in war zone terms that that's what this reminded him of. Obviously, there weren't, you know, like shrapnel bombs going off. There's not bombed out buildings, but just the the amount of force, the way that you are, you know, at times running, running, dodging, ducking for cover for your life. I mean, that's what he said that it reminded him of is he was taken back to his time in Ukraine.

Good segue. Uh, let's start showing some of that. Colin, whatever clip you got first. Oh no. Oh no.

Flashbang grenades are growing off here in the crowd and the federal law enforcement are kicking tear gas canisters closer to the protesters.

John, run right behind us. Keep going back. John, keep coming back now. Yeah, we got to get out of here.

People taking refuge. Yeah, people are taking refuge inside the building. John, more [ __ ]

You okay? I'm all right. How are you? All right. It's [ __ ] [ __ ] I just got to say it. That continuous firing.

I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. Thank you. I'm okay. There's Yeah. Members of the community out here offering water to everybody who's being directly affected by the tear gas that's being fired there is not being fired by the local law enforcement. It's being fired by the federal government who are standing behind that local law enforcement presence. They're moving this way. I have a lot to say, but you were there. So, let's start with you. Uh, can you kind of describe in the moment, obviously, as a journalist, you don't ever want to be the story, but you're also a human. Can you kind of describe because you were get, you know, we're all taught in journalism school, which by the way, they teach you a bunch of [ __ ] there. Uh, you know, be be neutral. Uh, you know, don't give your opinion. Well, I don't think as a journalist I you should be neutral to fascism. And it seems like you were kind

of finally you were at your breaking point because journalists and unarmed people are being attacked by the federal government.

Yeah. Uh I very much was at my breaking point because of the tactics I was seeing on display. Again, it was the just the way that the federal government was going about going out of its way to victimize people. They had a perimeter that they had established. They had established they had put up, you know, that police do not cross tape at various points around this intersection near where the shooting had happened. And they had set the ground rules for people and given them places to stand. And when the people showed up to protest and stand at the edge of that perimeter, what you're seeing, what you know happens right before that clip is all of these federal agents with police standing in front of them come walking down that street that they have established, you know, with this area where people are supposed to be allowed to stand. They are moving through there and then just tear gasing and

flashbanging, pushing people to their breaking point after they have already killed multiple people in this city. They're now just going into this crowd and then the tear gas falls. So everybody backs up and they're like, "Okay, we won't stand there." And then it doesn't matter. They start throwing tear gas canisters behind where people are standing. So it doesn't matter. They have to run through the gas. They have to have the pain inflicted on them. Ourselves included. Ourselves included. In our rush to get down there, John had John had left his respirator behind and I had left my goggles behind, which those are the two areas that tear gas agitates. It's your lungs and your eyes.

So, between John and I, we have to continuously support each other. And so, my eyes are stinging. I can barely see. I'm blinking out all of the gas in that moment. John is trying his hardest not to breathe. Trying his hardest not to breathe. And then we're finally getting, you know, they push us down the street around a corner back through a parking lot before they finally can't get at us anymore and it ends. Thankfully, there's a moment of reprieve and that's where you see that that that journalistic facade just crack with me. And I I can't I can't you can't you can't contain yourself, nor should you. I mean, that's what you're seeing is just rampant fascism. They came down there and they shot someone after they had already killed someone. They killed someone. They escalated the pressure on this city. And then it came out with a and it led to what? It led to another another execution of a citizen of the

United States by their own government. And then their only response that is further escalation is further pressure on people. I mean, what else can you say aside from this is [ __ ] This is [ __ ] This is your tax dollars at work. It's not coming back to you in the form of healthcare. It's not coming back to you in the form of education. It's coming back to you in tear gas and in bullets.

And by the way, for those of you old enough, uh probably not old enough, but who know history, uh the United States media didn't really report at all really on what was going on in Germany. And what they did what what they did report it was minimized. So it is our job not to sit here and tell you the Department of Homeland Security says this man uh came at usa came at Border Patrol agents with a gun when five different video angles show you he was holding a phone. Our job as journalists should be to scream this is lawlessness.

This is fascism. They are shooting at unarmed people. And I had this experience now a decade ago at Standing Rock. This is reminding me a lot of what I reported at Standing Rock. In that case, you had basically police uh working on behalf of an oil company to literally pour water cannons of freezing water at Native Americans banging on drums and singing trying to save their water from an oil pipeline being rammed through Native American land. I saw, by the way, when you hear the media describe these less lethal projectiles, I literally saw a man nearly have his scalp ripped off at Standing Rock by a less lethal rubber bullet because it was shot point blank in his head. You could die from less lethal these less lethals that they're shooting if you are hit at point blank range. If a flashbang grenade hits you at point blank range, you could be paralyzed or die. That's a fact. So the media is I

it's just this is not a both side situation. This is lawless fascism. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat, a Republican, if you're an alien, if you're politically agnostic. They are shooting at unarmed people and journalists. I also want to share JT and I want you to tell the audience and by the way I am not beyond begging the people. We will not beg corporations or donors to fund us, but we we take zero corporate dollars. And this reporting, full disclosure, we're spending about 10 to$15,000 a month to be on the ground right now in places like Minneapolis.

Before that, Chicago, travel, flights, hotel, rent a car, gas, food, safety equipment. You guys have spent a lot, rightfully so, on safety equipment. It costs a lot of money and a lot of money to do this independently. So, if you can, if you can't, it's okay. But if you can in the audience, you could support us for as low as $5 a month. That's statuscoo.com/join. I want to remind the audience of a few things before we go to the next clip. It's minus 10 degrees out.

Yeah, it was minus 10 degrees while you were out there. our cameraman, John, who is very humble and he won't complain publicly. Yeah.

His fingers are not working while he's holding the camera because his fingers were nearly frostbitten a month ago. For those of you watching, if you remember, a month ago in Minneapolis, there was a clash where ICE agents were literally trying to freeze to death a construction worker on a roof. Protests erupted. It was sub-zero temperatures there. And our cameraman, John, he had gloves on, but to operate the camera, he had to take the tips off of the gloves. Well, he was live for us basically for three to four hours. And his fingers turned black and he had to go to the emergency room for a short period. We didn't know if he was going to have to get a finger taken off.

It was that bad. And it's taking a long time to heal. And he's in a lot of pain, but he's still holding that camera even though his fingers are killing him. And JT, can you kind of describe? Obviously, there's worse things than cold weather, but it's it's - 10°, so with the windchill, it feels like about minus 255. On top of that, I' I've inhald tear gas. It's kind of hard to to speak when you're inhaling tear gas. So, all this is happening. Can you kind of describe like how are you able to do this in the frigid cold with tear gas and tell people what's going on?

Well, you're barely able to, right? You're barely able to function. There was even one moment, and I'm not sure if it came across on the on the stream, I tried to talk about it a little bit, but where my own hand that was gripping the microphone that I was talking into that whole time. You know, you as I'm dodging tear gas canisters and flashbang grenades going off, I'm just gripping this microphone for dear life, I'm not thinking about my hands until I realize at one point like, oh, I actually can't feel my hand anymore. And I know that John had told me that that's how the, you know, the frostbite set in for him is it it wasn't, you know, pain. It was just I lost feeling. And because I lost feeling, I didn't know what was happening to me. And so I recognized that because John had been through it.

And I John luckily had these fancy electric heated gloves. We traded gloves and somebody else, another journalist um got me a hand warmer, activated the get in the glove and actually uh heated up in in that moment in the in the midst of everything going on. Like they like they were disregarding their own safety to no longer pay attention to, you know, the tear gas canisters that are flying through the air in order to get me, you know, get me that um just to get me that relief. And luckily we were able to then uh last for uh several more hours out there like that. But yeah, that I mean it adds a whole level of danger. And and on top of that, anybody who is familiar with a cold weather climate knows that you don't want to be too cold certainly, but you also don't want to be too hot cuz you start to sweat and then that sweat will actually freeze and uh make you uh uh like make your whole body go

cold. regardless of of how many layers you're wearing. And when you're dodging tear gas canisters and sprinting down the street carrying a whole bunch of AV equipment, that was also something that we had to be cognizant of of we need to exert ourselves to be in the safe in safe places, but not so much that then we're, you know, freezing ourselves,

right? Uh Colin, let's play the next clip. Do you feel good about yourself? Do you feel good about yourself?

Kyle, are you there? Did Do you not see the clip I was playing? I was able to see it on my end. It it just is playing out as frames rather than for me it's playing out just as frames rather than uh like the full video. But hopefully you guys are able to see it more clearly on your end.

Yeah, I think chat seats are fine. Uh, hold on. Colin, are you seeing uh JT frozen?

No, that's just you. Yeah, just you, Jordan. You're seeing me frozen? No, no, you're fine. Everything's fine on our end. So, anything wrong is on your end. Okay, I'm not seeing the video play, so I'll uh

just refresh your page. I'll add you back in while I play the video. Hold on. Hold on, folks. We We don't quite have the staff of Midas touch. So,

we'll keep talking and hopefully it can load up the videos. Um, I want to also these authorities are in the wrong firing at you. You don't know what authorities don't know. This is federal DHS police. Uh, and you don't know exactly what they're firing at any one point. Kind of describe both today and in other uh instances you've covered.

What exactly are they firing at people and what's going through your mind? Do do you know every time what's launching and what are some of the symptoms you and others are experiencing?

I I think Jordan was I think Jordan was talking through that. Jordan, I said I was going to play the clip and to refresh your page.

He might not be able to hear us. No, I don't think so. I think we're losing the boss. Apologies to all of you uh watching at home here. It's been quite the day for us and certainly for myself here um as we try to navigate these many hours that that we've been working and

you see me exhausting ourselves. I do. Jordan, hopefully you're able to see and hear me as well.

All right, back back online. All right, Colin. Uh let's play the next clip. See there, the agents moved up to the line in response to protesters putting like barricades up. Now you see them spraying pepper spray, firing more of that, more chemical irritants into the crowd, throwing out tear gas. John and I are edging back away from it.

John had the feet. [ __ ] you. You [ __ ] [ __ ] We're making all the way back.

Agents are now down. Let's go. See, agents are firing the tear gas here behind the protesters as they as they back up.

They have to retreat through clouds of tear gas. You see here protesters trying to lob the tear gas canisters back a little ways.

Mercifully the wind is blowing some of the the tear gas away from us for the most part right now. Hey,

come here. Sorry to see you. Thank you. What the [ __ ] dude? Protesters. They're hearing those bangs go off. Those are just further uh further tear gas canisters being fired. I know. I know.

Some of the some of the what what I'm hearing is what we were just told by a fellow reporter who we're out here with uh just ran up to us and told us that the federal agents are actually actively leaving right now. And so what we might be seeing here is literally a a smoke screen or a use of force just to cover their withdrawal. I have to verify that for myself. So, one of the protesters just walked up and pointed out to me through the smoke as I try to squint through it myself, and it stings your eyes, but that the agents are pulling back into vehicles right now.

Jordan, were you able to see that the clip stopped playing there? Yeah. Perfect. Um, so I'd like to ask, we hear from the right-wing, these are the rioters. All I see are people running for their [ __ ] lives. Could you describe in the moment what's going on? I mean, we see the flashbang grenades, which sound like bombs but

there it seems to me they're just like pepper spraying people for no reason, pour tossing tear gas canisters for no reason with zero threat against them, the agents.

That's what it felt like to stand there is the tear gas canisters, the pepper spray. There were a few occasions where agents actually picked individual people out of the crowd and started chasing after them specifically, but so far as I could tell from and I'm there, I'm on the ground. I'm looking at everything happening just feet in front of my face, I could not tell any rhyme or reason to why the agents were using force other than it was just at their disposal because they could. And because they seem to have a power trip fantasy because one or two canisters of tear gas is probably in those confined streets that that were in there probably is enough to get the crowd to move back. But they would throw I mean a half dozen or more at a time.

And at a certain point after hours of that like John and I were just wondering are they going to run out? Is that what's finally going to bring this scene to an end? because it when it goes on and on and they use so much you don't and you don't understand why. I mean that's almost like what you're praying for is just that they are going to run out so that way you don't have to continuously do this that yeah they would just advance at random chase people back to random points. I saw them back that crowd up to various distances. It didn't seem like they were trying to maintain any sort of real perimeter.

They would just chase everybody back to a to a certain, you know, to a arbitrary point in the street and then they would retreat. It's almost like it was some [ __ ] game to them.

It seems to me like it seems to me they're playing out like their fantasy Call of Duty on the streets of Minneapolis.

Yeah, I mean that Yeah, that's absolutely that's absolutely what it was. I mean, you you even saw like some some of the agents like uh I don't know if celebrate is really the right word, but certainly relish in the moment when they would, you know, throw a particularly well-placed tear gas canister or the like or, you know, or shoot somebody up with with with pepper balls. Um, there were also there was also one strange moment where an agent again when they advanced to arbitrary points. They pushed uh John and I back into this parking lot and were standing there with a couple of other people from the press uh right across from this agent. And the agent uh turns to us and offered us hand warmers in this bizarre like you've just been teargassing us. In fact, there was even one point where John and I were actually like penned in in a parking lot and there's tear gas on both sides, agents on both sides where

we have nowhere to flee to. We're just forced to st stand there and hope that they don't decide to arrest us. Like that's the kind of thing that we're going through for hours and hours out there and then all of a sudden you have an agent like come up to you and be like, "Do you guys need handwarmers?" Like free hand warmers with your fascism. Complimentary hand warmers with fascism and acting as though like, "Hey, we're the good guys here. right media, be sure to, you know, advance the DHS's talking points because we're the good guys here. Look, I'm offering you hand warmers. Meanwhile, the community is doing the same thing on the other side, offering hand warmers, water, uh, food, shelter. There were neighbors who were dropping water bottles out their window, ushering people inside of their buildings for for refuge, and aren't inflicting that pain on people. But the federal government wants to act or this

agent wants to act as though that just, you know, doing this one simple act of kindness makes up for the fact that they are shooting and killing people on the streets of Minneapolis.

Uh hand warmers with your fascism. Uh put that on a bumper sticker. I want to I want to ask you if you could kind of describe as best as you can because I think it's important to kind of put a face to

I guess in this case the resistance. I mean, I've always found that term a little cheesy, but can you kind of describe the actual protesters themselves? Um, they seem to me not to be intimidated. Uh, obviously we're human, so you're going to run if you're being shot at with grenades and tear gas, but they seem very very um courageous. Uh, they seem very very um refusing to back down. what what were you seeing kind of we couldn't see everything on camera in those protesters and how they were responding to this attack.

Yeah, I think I remarked on it several times during the stream of just the bravery that was on display from those protesters when you had seen people being you tackled to the ground, arrested or you know detained by by the federal government. um when you saw them using so much force against people, that crowd every single time, even though you know that the federal government at some point is going to just have that violent reaction, they would still walk back up. And this is a federal government that has demonstrated the willingness to use lethal force on these people. They had done it earlier today and yet this crowd had still would walk back up to that police line tape. They would not cross it, but they would walk back up to that police line tape and stand there and sometimes put their arms up in signs of uh nonviolence. They would kneel down on the ground and obviously do do the chants and such.

When you asked me to describe, you know, what, you know, what this protest or resistance movement looked like, I my first reaction was to be like, oh god, how do I even begin to do that? Because it is so so diverse. I mean, it is a cross-section of life. I mean, there were time John and I captured images on our camera of a woman who had to have been in her 70s being helped out of the uh the clouds of tear gas. I watched somebody in a wheelchair bravely try to uh uh cross that uh police line tape. First asks to be allowed to cross the road when the agents let them through.

Then they try to turn and and go up the street um closer towards the scene of the shooting and agents have to like physically stop the wheelchair and actually like push the person then out of that out of that scene. I saw somebody with a cane uh and wearing a full uh gas mask. I saw, you know, people, I mean, people who had to be as young as teenagers out there, but also, like I said, into their 70s and all walks of life out there. I mean, this really is truly a cross-section of America that was standing on one side of that of that police line tape and on the other line was the government there to try and intimidate and punish Americans for just having the tammerity to stand in their streets.

And I'm I'm curious, and I'm not even asking this just so I could [ __ ] on them, which I I do like to [ __ ] on corporate media, but you know, you know, faces obviously there was a cloud of smoke, but for the most part while you were there, it seemed to me in watching I didn't see like in real time a lot of the major networks live when we were live. I saw them later kind of show up, but were you seeing like more media show up as as the hours went on? because we were live we were live before the major networks but when I when I've been on the ground and I know when you've been on the ground it's very disappointing often because we see when the networks are there they're typically further back let's put it that way.

Yeah. And uh here I have to rely on another reporter my wife um to who gave me a little bit of background after we were done being lived and I called her just to let her know that I was that I was safe. Um I I did see some other press show up. There was one TV camera that was there and then there are several and this is true at a lot of the scenes where we're at. It's usually the independent media who's actually there on the front lines showing the stuff of what's happening on the ground and there were yes several independent uh photographers certainly that were there uh on the ground. Not everybody is you know prominently displaying what news outlet they're with. spoke. I I hesitate to say like, oh, you know, this outlet certainly wasn't there or was because I just don't know. But from what my wife said is her parents, who are conservative, uh, had News Nation on in their house and my wife was visiting

them today. And so apparently that NewsNation crew was near where John and I were because my wife had our stream up in addition to NewsNation being on the TV and she would watch the same scenes play out in both places. But after it turned uh after a uh you know some of that tear gas had been deployed then yes the News Nation camera moved apparently far down the street and is showing things from quite the distance where you can't make out exactly what's happening whereas our coverage I mean John and I stayed there in the thick of the action until until all the authorities had left the scene and then we stayed on the scene afterwards to also show the celebration and the grieving um among the among the protesters.

I brought that up not merely to kind of, you know, brush off our shoulder and frankly, please support us if you can. Again, we we are independent and we take zero dollars from the big banks, the fossil fuel companies, big pharma, big real estate, Silicon Valley, the military-industrial complex, etc., etc. But I I I think it's I think it is uh accurate to say the this type of brutality you don't get to see on major network news. They don't tend to show this level of brutality. Uh often they kind of show up to protest and they pop in and come out. Uh or they kind of shoot it in a way where uh they're showing the police more than protesters being gassed. Uh, so I think it's super important to have independent media out there because we are showing in full brutality and full fascism what is going on. Um, let's play the next clip you have. Colin

is there tackling somebody in the street, piling on him and arresting him. Agent's telling press to back up. You

seeing and hearing me? The man is trying to scream out his name. Uh, I can't. No, I'm seeing the clip.

You're going to have to kill me. You're going to have to kill me. JT, put the microphone. Direct the You're GOING TO HAVE TO KILL ME. I HAVE DONE NOTHING AT ALL.

I HAVE DONE NOTHING AT ALL. I HAVE DONE NOTHING AT ALL. MY NAME IS MATTHEW JAMES ALLEN.

I'm a United States citizen. I If you kill me on this street, they just sprayed pepper spray directly into the man's face.

YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME. THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT. YOU WANT TO KILL ME? YOU WANT TO KILL ME ON THIS STREET, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO [ __ ] KILL ME. I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG.

I have done nothing. I have done nothing wrong. I HAVE DONE NOTHING. AND I HAVE since uh done some more reporting on that man that we just saw arrested there, who he was. Um he is a a a local artist here in the Twin Cities area, known in the Twin Cities area, who goes by Nerd D, and that's Nuren D. Uh but he is a, you know, a known face here in the in the Twin Cities area. And some of those things that he was yelling at times directly uh into our camera um I think are going to uh live with and haunt me for a while. Especially um some challenges that he issued um to the media like including saying like you you know as they're as he's being hauled away in a pickup truck saying you just you just stood there and took pictures meaning you didn't help me. Um, and of course, you know, we're there to just see it and document it, but it will, his words will continue to ring in my ears because at what point, you know, do you

stand up and and try to do something? I, you know, I would like to think that our roles here as journalists are to inform the masses to to, you know, uh, present them what is actually happening on the ground so that um, they can act and hold their hold their leaders accountable that that's our role there. But in those moments, you do feel that you you feel you're a human being first. And John and I during some of those tear gases uh tear gasings and and rounds of flashbangs going off um as we're trying to get our own ourselves to safety, there are you know there are people there that are struggling to breathe or to see and we would try and help them uh to safety as well because at a certain point you are you are just a a person.

I want to point something out with that interaction and I've been following up too. As far as we know, he's been detained. Uh, as of this hour, I don't know if he's been released, but physically he's okay. But there's something you didn't see in that particular clip. Uh, you will see it in the full video which we posted before we went live. So, go check out under our video tab. He was begging for an ambulance. He was saying, "I can't breathe." You remember Eric Garner many years ago. They say the pain is the point with the Trump administration, his Gustapo.

Remember with Renee Good, they refused a doctor on the scene. They refused that doctor to go check on her. And she still had a pulse according to the reporting for as much as 8 to 10 minutes after. And they refused a doctor. They refused her medical care. In this case, JT, you were hearing it, him saying, "I can't breathe. Uh, I need an ambulance." Were you seeing any of the agents there rushing to get him medical relief?

Uh, no. I did hear some of the agents say, you know, he after he had asked for an ambulance, I don't know how many times, many times. Finally, I did hear one of the agents say, "We're going to get you that." But it was basically a negotiation. It's like if you want an ambulance, you have to submit to us and do exactly as we say and then you will get medical care. If you if you want medical care, then you have to allow us to arrest you, detain you, haul you off to We're not telling you where. uh you have to allow us to dog pile you to manhandle you to throw you in the back of this pickup truck and then uh or just voluntarily march off with us to somewhere even though we have already demonstrated our willingness to kill people here in Minneapolis. Um so if you want that medical care you better [ __ ] do what we say.

I'm I'm curious if this was going through your mind at all. I mean, literally, I mean, there's horrifying stories about literally that they're accepting people into ICE and Border Patrol due to AI error that like it's just there's no vetting. There's really no background checks. AI made a mistake and they accepted hundreds of people. Um, so these people, as as Emperor Trump would say, they're not sending their best. Uh, I'm watching that and I'm thinking, Jesus Christ, at any minute they might shoot this guy. I I don't know if that was going through your mind, but like they just killed another person out like an hour or two before that. Were you at all watching that wondering like it's calm now, but could this turn deadly any minute?

Uh, it was on my mind every single second that I was out there. Uh before John and I went live, there was a point where we were making our way from one side of the scene to another and as we're walking, I heard booms. And at first, I would later learn that those booms were the sound of flash uh flashbang grenades going off. But in that moment, what I thought was they're shooting more people or the people of Minneapolis are shooting back. Um and that was my first thought and luckily that was not the case. The city of Minneapolis showed I think heroic restraint today uh given the corner that they have been backed into by the Trump administration. But yeah, when that man was on the ground, he was saying, you know, you're going to kill me uh over and over again because that fear is is so palpable and and so real. And again, just to I am a human being. I have a 5-month old daughter at home. The thing that I'm thinking that

entire time that I was live is just I need to make sure I get back to my wife and I need to make sure that my daughter grows up with a father. And that's what's going that's what's going through my mind even as I'm trying to narrate everything do you know dodge everything make sure John is safe. Like that is the thought that's happening on repeat inside of my head that I'm worried that those agents cuz they were out there with long guns. They were out there with long guns. Uh especially when we first showed up, it seemed like the scene that we that we spent most of our time at eventually those agents with the long guns from what I could see eventually disappeared. I'm not sure where they went. Um but they were out there with long guns and I just kept thinking, you know, am I about to see am I about to see something truly horrific out here?

Thankfully, that was that that did not happen. You know, I I want to make a point. Um JT was the one out there today and he's been out there for us for months. Um, but I think it's so important the audience watching now, we just live in a sea of [ __ ] I don't know what other way to put it. Everybody and their mother have a YouTube channel and a podcast. Everyone's an influencer. Uh, everyone, you know, between Tik Tok and podcast and Substax and YouTube, 99% of the people out there, even some I like, they're sitting in a studio bloating out of their behinds.

some of you know I'm not saying you have to be on the ground to have value. I think might has touched they're not on the ground and they're do amazing work but I want to make a point. It's not dramatic to say JT and John are JT our reporter John they're risking their their bodies to be out there. Uh and we do not have the funding of corporate media and trust me they're not as much as I'd like to pay you more. They're not getting paid what Anderson Cooper is being paid. So when we ask you to support us financially, it's not so we could like go to the casino or have a nice dinner. It's literally to pay to keep the lights on. It's literally to pay for the flight to Minneapolis for the rent a car for the hotels. I mean, they've been in we've been in Minneapolis now for over a month every night at hotels and not super nice ones.

We're asking you to support us for to to help us do living breathing justice journalism. And I call it justice journalism because we're not here to stand like this like neutral robots. If you are neutral to fascism, you are a accomplice to that fascism. If you are going to say, "Well, this side says this and this side says this. We're neutral." You [ __ ] figure it out. No, no, no, no. That's part of why we got Trump because corporate media literally in a decade ago showed his empty podium for 45 minutes at a time. They gave him billions of dollars of free airtime. And I'm not even going to get started with the Democratic party. I know a lot of the Midas audience uh supports Democrats. You could do whatever you want. I'm here to tell you in my opinion at Status Coup, our channel, there's no red team. There's no blue team. The only color that matters in this country is green. Is Trump worse than the

Democrats? Absolutely. Let's let's let's not paint a false equivalence. But the Democrats in many ways have enabled this fascism. And to be clear, seven or eight Democrats before Alex Prey was murdered today voted to continue funding this Gestapo. Seven or eight Democrats voted to provide funding for ICE and DHS. So they're not I'm not saying they are the equivalent of Trump, but we're not going to lie to you and say in Democrats we trust they'll bring you to the promised land. Democrats are part of why we got this.

Uh JT, sorry I got on my soap box, but uh I I I I I want to make the point and maybe you since you were there c could could ask as well. Why is it important to fund independent media? If people want to fund us, please do. But even if it's not us, why is it so important to to fund independent media so we could show this? I've worked in corporate press. I was a local TV reporter. It probably still comes across like a quite a bit probably when I am live at these scenes that I am not, you know, still leaning so much into my emotion and the newfound freedom that I have in reporting for uh an outlet like Status Coup that allows me to actually show what is happening on the ground. Uh, but I've seen the way that they work and I know that the way that this will be framed and it didn't surprise me when my wife told me how NewsNation was framing it in conjunction to uh, you know, in comparison to what

we were showing live. They were trying to already spin uh, the uh, the victim, Alex uh, Alex Prey before we even knew his name trying to spin that this was a criminal. um essentially just taking the government's the government's line and running with it or acting like this is this is in some way a legitimate source of information even though they have demonstrated the ability to and the willingness to lie repeatedly about these situations because unfortunately this is not the first person these government agents have shot and killed.

But what the corporate press is going to do is they are going to say well on one side we have these protesters who seem pretty angry and on the other hand we have uh here's what the federal the lies the federal government are saying uh I don't know you figure it out and they're going to they're going to leave all of the actual the actual journalism the factf finding the truthtelling uh to someone else not them because that's a hard job. Uh so that's why it's important to uh support independent media because we're actually there. We actually put our bodies on the line to be able to show what these scenes are really like. Uh we're not constrained by their by corporate presses uh you know advertiser constrained uh newscasts or or newspapers where they only have certain number of column inches that they need to fit around the uh ads for toothpaste and whatever. Um, we can just we can talk for as long as we need to to

get the full truth out there and then we don't have to be beholden to that that corporate influence in telling that truth. We can say exactly what we exactly what we see without worrying about making an advertiser mad

because we don't have any advertisers. Uh, I also want to tell the Midas audience, uh, uh, and again, thank you to Midas Touch, uh, the Midas Mighty, as they call it. Uh, you remember that historic image on January 6 of Officer Daniel Hajes, his Capitol police officer's head rammed into the door by he's crushed like a sardine by a mob of Trump insurrectionists. That image was brought to you by Status Coup, our cameraman, John Fina, who was there today. So, this is not our first rodeo. Uh, again, if you came to this late, we didn't start in Minneapolis. We've been on the ground covering the ICE invasion, the violent federal invasion in LA. We were there for weeks when Trump sent in ICE border patrol. Uh, our reporter there, Tina Desburg, got shot in the leg for with a rubber bullet. Unfortunately, it didn't hit her skin cuz she was wearing Kevlar. We were we were on the ground in New York City at the federal

courthouse as they were attacking immigrants, politicians. We've been there. We were on the ground. When I say we, JT and John were on the ground for over two months. Over two months. He's got a newborn child. And he was on the ground on and off for two months in Chicago to show you that violent fascism at the Broadview Detention Center. He we were on the ground uh down at Alligator Alcatraz, one of the few outlets that were down there. We went there twice. Uh we were on the ground in Charlotte where Border Patrol came up to our cameraman's car and threatened to arrest him for the crime of filming them and now Minneapolis. So again, support us if you can. JT, I know it's been a long night. I'm gonna play one more clip and then let you go because you deserve

20 whisies, frankly. Uh Colin, if we could play one more clip. And we're got to get on that again. Going off here in the crowd down making a beline out of it.

Wasn't clear to me what led up to that. Nothing. Yeah, it seemed like the It seemed like the Law enforcement and protesters are just content standing there and then all of a sudden law enforcement starts throwing tear gas.

Keep going. Keep going. over here. Trying to safely make our way out of that cloud of tear gas. You see,

when agents use tear gas, when authorities use tear gas, they tear gas everyone, including including the elderly. I mean, it affects entire communities.

That's going another one. We're looking at agents throw even more out now. I keep saying agents. These are not the federal government. This is local authorities who are doing this.

Let's get out of here. John and I are backing up down the street here. Just trying to make sure that we're staying a safe distance. It looks like

authorities are the tear gas roll behind John. We're trying to keep ourselves off to the side. We're behind a car taking shelter.

There's more tear gases being thrown behind where we're standing right now. So, we're going to try and move and get beyond it before it builds up and

traps us in the middle of it. So yeah, there is the that's the that's from the very end of the of the violence out on those streets. And that actually that round of tear gasing was actually courtesy of local and state police who were out there uh securing uh part of that scene. And there you see that I'm not ready when that tear gas is deployed. I even asked John at some point because uh after all that tear gas had been deployed because I I asked him what what prompted that. Was there something with the crowd or something and he said no they just did it and it seemed to be to just cover their withdrawal that they just they just pop all again pop all these chemical munitions. This is this is the local this is the local people the local leaders are sponsoring this Governor Tim Walls and and Mayor and Mayor Jacob Fry.

They're it's their police forces that are doing this. Even as they're saying, you know, ICE, get the [ __ ] out of of Minnesota and and calling, you know, for some relief for their population to stop terrorizing them. It's it's their police forces that are that are deploying all of that tear gas. It seemed like to be a smoke screen so that they could uh so that they could leave. Though, it's not clear to me why that is a necessary tactic when they could just drive away. I I can't begin to wrap my mind around it. But then, yeah, that's that scene where you see a woman who had to have been at least um in her uh 60s, if not her 70s, um being helped out of the smoke there by people. And that's a one of those images from today that I think will probably never leave me.

You know, my last question for you. I think when all of this is going on and this chaos, you know what does Trump and his sickopants like to call it? Flood the zone just with non-stop insanity, lawlessness, Doge, cutting Medicaid, cutting food pro programs, handing the government to Elon Musk. But I think what gets lost in this beyond the tear gas, beyond the grenades when you were just interviewing folks yesterday at the general strike, there's actually a real crisis going on in America. Can you kind of talk about what you've been hearing from folks in Minneapolis, Chicago? Because as horrible as the violence is, people are I mean people are working three jobs. Mhm.

People are having to choose between medicine and groceries right now. While those things are going on, while health care rates are doubling, the president of the United States and his mass vigilante stormtroopers are declaring war on Americans when Americans right now are are are just struggling to kind of stay afloat. Can you kind of talk about what you've heard from people in Minneapolis about the real crisis going on? Yeah, it's something that in our on the ground reporting as we're reporting on this encroaching fascism in the United States, one thing that I have been asking people in uh in first in Chicago, now in Minneapolis, this recurring question is if rather than spending these billions upon billions of dollars on these uh on this secret police force, on this Gestapo, on this uh partisan uh army that exists, uh that is ultimately only answerable to the president. Instead of spending that

money on brutalizing your communities, what are ways the federal government could spend that money to actually offer you relief? The answers I get back from people are always about addressing their just basic abilities to live in this country. They are asking for child care for their children, something that is actually affordable, ideally universal. They are asking for cheaper if not free government sponsored healthcare. They they want they don't want to you know feel the the the the pressure of uh if I lose my job suddenly I lose my ability to stay alive. They're talking about the prices of groceries. I mean they're talking about simple basic staple things in their lives. They don't feel secure.

they don't feel like they always have access to just the ability to live and to address their needs and their famil family's needs uh on a on a week-to-eek basis. They just want the means and that sense of safety and security. And instead, what the federal government is doing is shattering that sense of safety on a daily basis. And I will add uh a great way to change the subject if you were the president of the United States from the fact that you were best friends with a global sex predator who had a global child sex trafficking ring and that documents reveal you either were directly involved with that sex child trafficking ring or at the very least knew about it and looked the other way.

Not to mention documents seem to indicate you've committed significant amount of financial crimes. Uh, one hell of a way to change the subject possibly permanently from that is to declare war on your own people. Uh, JT, my last question. Do you see this from your perspective on the ground? Do you see this fizzling out anytime soon? Or do you think the people of Minneapolis are ready for the long haul here to protest uh until, as they call it, get ICE, get the [ __ ] out? I the only way I see this fizzling out in the short term, like some immediate relief for the city of Minneapolis, is if suddenly the federal government has a change of heart and removes all of its agents. if it decides that it has caused enough pain and suffering. Short of that, what almost every single person I have talked to on the ground has told me is that they will be in the streets for as long as it takes. They do not care if

it is weeks, months, years. They're taking it one day at a time. They will continue to resist the Trump administration in the same ways that they have. And I will also note that some of them have expressed this feeling of being backed into a corner that they want to see even more action from their leaders, more real leadership, the ability to take the pain to the administration. We saw the one-day general strike and the tens of thousands of people, it turned out grinding the economy of Minnesota to a crawl, if not a halt, on Friday.

And now already you were seeing signs out in the street tonight because uh tonight I went to a a vigil turned march uh that went to the site of today's shooting and there were already people who were holding signs up that said expand the strike. That there is already people who are calling for broader action whether that be in expanding to a nationwide strike or something more indefinite or protracted. They want to see more action be taken to try and bring this administration to heal by any means necessary.

Uh I want to thank you JT. Um frankly status coup has existed now for eight years and for most of it I've basically been it and it took me a while to find somebody like you to kind of be my co-pilot. But everybody should be grateful to not just you, but also he's not on right now. Our cameraman, our cameraman, John Fina, deserves multiple awards.

He got that footage on January 6th. Uh he has gotten incredible footage in a war zone in Ukraine.

Uh he is the first one to run into the burning building, not run out. Um, and he is not somebody who likes to come on camera and get the spotlight, but he he is responsible for this footage being on camera. Uh, as as much as JT is responsible for relaying, uh, what exactly is going on without John Fina, none of this exists. Um, and I thank you JT because I know from doing this, it is it's not just physically exhausting. It is mentally and spiritually draining to do this work. Uh, and it's work. We're not just sitting here pontificating our opinions. Even though we love certain channels like Midas Touch, you do that.

We're out there in the streets and this is not, you would agree, JT, our our on the ground reporting nine times out of 10 is not the one that goes viral. It's not what YouTube recommends. But I hope people seeing you today uh and us tonight and uh maybe just being introduced to Status Group for the first time. If you can't support us financially, that's okay. Subscribe, share. Word of mouth matters. But at the very least, um I really think it's important to spread the word of what's actually going on on the ground. And like you said, it's not, well, the Department of Homeland says this, uh, and protesters, I don't know, they seem kind of rowdy.

We're going to be neutral. You figure it out. No, no, you can't be neutral to fascism. Uh, so thank you so much, JT. Any any parting words for the audience?

Uh, I'll just reiterate your praise for John Fina. He is the one who keeps me so safe out there. If you listen closely on our live streams, when the situation turns hairy like that, you might be able to faintly hear him in the background barking orders to me to make sure that I am standing in the right spot or um you know, he's just keeping me safe because I am uh so focused on what's happening around me and describing it for the audience. So, I grateful to him. I'm grateful to our entire team here at Status Coup. You Jordan for giving me this opportunity and to all of our producers who uh you know uh work insanely long hours as well to be able to turn around all the content that we uh that we produce and get all of these stories out there. And also big thanks to our Midas touch partners as well.

They are partners in the reporting that we are doing on the ground. we would not be able to reach the the number of people that we do because the algorithms do not reward the kind of journalism that we do. It's through the partnership at Midas Touch that we are able to tap into such a big audience at that. So huge thanks to them as well and grateful to the audience for for tuning in and um I've seen some of the comments expressing uh so much concern for John and I and I thank you for being people and for uh uh watching and um you know tuning in tuning in to us and making us your your source of news. I promise not to let you down.

Most important question I forgot. Did you miss the cut off? Is the hotel bar still open?

I did I think I did miss the cutoff. If we've gone for longer than an hour, I think I missed the cup. But I did tell John Fina to order me a double. Um, so that is waiting for me. I think he's probably watching the stream downstairs and he's probably got the drink in his hand. And as soon as uh as soon as we get off here, I am going to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Uh, drink that and have a shower and feel like a new man.

All right. Thanks, Ben. And to you uh to you the audience, uh, thank you again for watching. Thank you to the mighty uh the mightest mighty uh as they call them and to Ben and everyone at Midas Touch. It's been a real gamecher uh to be able to broadcast on your channel uh for you guys to as they say signal boost our on the ground reporting. Uh you didn't have to do that. There was really very little in it for you. I I I think in a in a sea of [ __ ] artists, which is kind of digital media, uh you guys are are genuine uh genuine ones and you value this on the ground uh justice journalism. So, we thank you. We look forward to this partnership kind of evolving. And to everyone in the audience, um thank you. Thank you. Uh we're remaining in Minneapolis. Uh, we're going to probably swap in a few different people so JT and John can get a break, but we'll be staying on the ground in Minneapolis. Uh, definitely

subscribe if you haven't subscribed. Support us financially if you can. statuscoo.com/join. You could support us for as low as $5 a month. That's 16 cents a day. 16 cents a day. Uh, you could also sign up for our Substack, which you could sign up. Uh, there are free options. Uh, our Substack is good because we send out an email when we're live. Uh, so you'll get a notification through Substack when we go live on the ground in Minneapolis and elsewhere. Uh, we're on Instagram and Twitter and Blue Sky and wherever else.

I forgot. Uh, but most importantly, thank you guys for watching. Thank you Colin uh, editing and producing. He's been working literally since 9:00 am today. So, he's been going all day with us. Michelle, everybody. Uh, thank you. Uh, and everybody have a good night.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "LIVE TRUMP DECLARES WAR on America | ICE BRUTALLY Attacks Protesters After Alex Pretti Murder"?

Jordan (Host), JT Saskowski (Host), John Fina (Guest).

What is "LIVE TRUMP DECLARES WAR on America | ICE BRUTALLY Attacks Protesters After Alex Pretti Murder" about?

The discussion focuses on the ongoing tensions and protests surrounding President Trump's administration, particularly highlighting the actions of ICE against demonstrators following the controversial murder of activist Alex Pretti. Reporters provide grassroots coverage of various protests across major U.S. cities, emphasizing their independent journalism funded by viewer support rather than…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

18 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including JT Saskowski, Minneapolis, Angela Jordan, John Fina, ICE, Midas Touch. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "LIVE TRUMP DECLARES WAR on America | ICE BRUTALLY Attacks Protesters After Alex Pretti Murder"?

The episode runs 1 h 12 min; the transcript is about 11,696 words in 123 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 25, 2026.