In the hours after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis yesterday, officials from the Department of Homeland Security offered an account that conflicted with available video evidence. The Trump administration’s misleading and hyperbolic rhetoric has been
a feature of its siege of Minneapolis,
a notional campaign of immigration enforcement whose larger and transparent purpose has been provocation and political theatre.
Elsewhere, Xi Jinping’s
purge of Chinese military leaders continues.
If General Zhang Youxia is formally dismissed, as expected, he would be the highest-ranking active-duty military officer ousted by Mr Xi. Not since Mao has a Chinese ruler swept away generals on this scale. It is striking evidence of the challenges Mr Xi still faces in trying to transform the People’s Liberation Army into a fully modern fighting force.
