California
FBI probing drive-by attack on Nijjar aide in California
The FBI is investigating an August 11 drive-by shooting that targeted a California activist with close ties to Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was fatally shot last year in a killing that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said could be linked to India.
In an interview with Reuters, Satinder Pal Singh Raju, of Woodland, California, said FBI agents on Thursday came to speak with him and a friend who was driving the truck when they and another passenger were attacked on Interstate 505 South in Yolo County on their way back from a late dinner in Vacaville.
Nijjar was killed in June 2023 outside his gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia. That killing, and Trudeau’s suggestion of possible Indian government involvement, triggered a diplomatic crisis between the countries.
Speaking through an interpreter, Raju said a white car pulled up to the left of their truck, then fell back behind them before pulling up alongside them again. That was when the first bullet was fired.
“With the first shot, I ducked down,” he said. “But then I heard more gunshots fired.”
As they attempted to escape the gunfire, their truck skidded and veered off the road into a ditch, said Raju. He and his two friends fled into a nearby field and hid behind a haystack while they called 911. Police officers later told him they located at least five shell casings.
The FBI’s Sacramento office confirmed it is collaborating with the California Highway Patrol “in support of the investigation” into the shooting.
A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol confirmed the shooting occurred, but declined to provide details and said the investigation is ongoing.
In the same month as Nijjar’s killing, the FBI foiled an alleged assassination attempt against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, another prominent Sikh separatist with dual citizenship in Canada and the United States. Pannun is general counsel for Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a banned outfit in India.
The US Justice Department has charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with trying to arrange Pannun’s murder at the behest of an Indian intelligence official.
Gupta pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial in New York.
Four Indian nationals in Canada are facing charges of murder and conspiracy in the death of Nijjar.
India has denied involvement in both incidents, and it was not clear if there is a connection between the drive-by shooting involving Raju and those earlier incidents.
The Indian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment on Friday about the recent shooting in California.
In the days and months after Nijjar’s killing, the FBI and the Canadian Royal Mounted Police privately warned at least seven Sikh activists that their lives could be in grave danger, without specifying the source of the threat.
Raju told Reuters he was not among those who received such calls. Raju is involved with SFJ, an advocacy group co-founded by Pannun that organises non-binding referendums around the world to urge Punjab to secede from India and carve out an independent state called Khalistan.
The movement led to a violent insurgency in India’s Punjab state in the 1980s and 1990s.
The August 11 shooting occurred two weeks after Raju had returned from Calgary, Canada, where he helped organise a referendum that drew the participation of an estimated 55,000 members of the Sikh community, according to Pannun.
In 2019, India declared SFJ an unlawful association, citing its involvement in extremist activities. Pannun and its members deny these allegations.
Raju is not as well known as Pannun internationally, but he said he is active with organising referendums.
He said he does not have enemies, and suspects the shooting was motivated by a desire to stoke fear in those supporting the Khalistan movement. “…this attack on me and the death threats is not going to deter me from continuing the campaign,” he said.
California
Northern California county reports measles outbreak with 8 cases
Public health officials say they’ve identified a total of eight measles cases in Shasta County as contact tracing continues.
The cases are linked to one first identified Jan. 30, with Shasta County Health and Human Services officials saying all seven new cases involve close contacts of that person.
Officials noted that the new patients all isolated before they became possibly contagious.
“Our public health teams want to thank the individuals affected, those who were exposed, and our community as a whole for working closely with our staff and following public health guidance. Your quick action and support have helped us manage this outbreak and continue protecting our community,” said Shasta County Public Health Director Katie Cassidy in a statement.
California has seen a total of 17 confirmed measles cases in 2026, with Napa County recently seeing its first case in nearly 15 years.
Across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control reports a total of 733 confirmed measles cases in 20 states so far in 2026. Along with the more than 2,400 measles cases in 2025, the U.S. is reportedly poised to lose its “measles-free” classification from the Pan American Health Organization.
Contact tracing is still underway in Shasta County for people who may have been in the following areas and times:
-Ninja Coalition, 900 Dana Drive on January 23 from 2:30 to 5:20 p.m.
-An informal, outdoor capture the flag sport event at Highland Neighborhood Park, 555 Mill Valley Parkway, Redding, on January 23 from noon to 4 p.m.
-Osaka Sushi, 1340 Churn Creek Rd., on January 23 from 6:30 to 10 p.m.
-A gym basketball game at the former CrossPointe Community Church, 2960 Hartnell Ave., Redding on January 24 from 1:45 to 5 p.m.
-Costco, 4805 Bechelli Lane, Redding, on January 24 from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
-Churn Creek HealthCare clinic, 3184 Churn Creek Road, Redding, on January 28 from 1:45 to 5 p.m.
California
Judge blocks California mask ban for federal agents
Trump on immigration: ‘We can use a little bit of a softer touch’
In an interview with NBC News, President Donald Trump said his administration “can use a little bit of a softer touch” when it comes to immigration.
A federal judge has blocked California from enforcing a new law that would ban federal immigration agents and other law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings.
The Department of Justice sued to strike down the ban in November after it was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September. In a ruling on Feb. 9, U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder preliminarily struck down the law and upheld another California law that requires federal officers to display their identification while performing their official duties.
The Trump administration hailed the ruling as a win, with Attorney General Pam Bondi calling it a “key court victory.” The DOJ argued in the lawsuit that immigration agents “face a real threat of criminal liability from state officials who have made clear their intent to target federal officers and disrupt federal law enforcement activities, including federal immigration enforcement.”
“These federal agents are harassed, doxxed, obstructed, and attacked on a regular basis just for doing their jobs. We have no tolerance for it,” Bondi said in her statement on Feb. 9.
Newsom also counted the ruling to uphold the identification law as “a clear win for the rule of law,” and said “no badge and no name mean no accountability.”
In the ruling, Snyder said that the federal government would likely prove the mask ban to be unconstitutional because it treated state officers differently than federal officers; the law included local law enforcement officers and federal officers but not state officers.
The ruling comes as political tension is heightened over President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement actions in primarily Democratic-led states and cities. Weeks of protests have spread nationally after federal officers fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis, where the administration recently announced the departure of hundreds of immigration enforcement personnel. In videos and photos, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents are routinely seen wearing face coverings while conducting operations, making arrests and clashing with protesters.
Los Angeles has also been a target for enhanced immigration enforcement, which sparked protests that at times turned violent last summer.
Scott Wiener, the state senator who introduced the mask ban, said in a statement that he will introduce new legislation to include state officers, and said the ruling demonstrates that California has the right to block officers from covering their faces if state officers are included.
“Today’s federal court ruling is a huge win: The Court ruled that California has the power to protect our community by banning officers, including federal agents, from wearing masks and thus inflicting terror and shielding themselves from accountability,” Wiener, a Democrat whose area of representation includes San Francisco, said.
“ICE and Border Patrol are covering their faces to maximize their terror campaign and to insulate themselves from accountability. We won’t let them get away with it,” Wiener said.
Contributing: Reuters
California
After US Judge Blocks California’s ICE Mask Ban, Scott Wiener Says He Will Make It Enforceable | KQED
He continued: “People do not want masked law enforcement in their communities, people want to be able to see who is patrolling their communities, people understand that if ICE and any other law enforcement wear ski masks, that creates an atmosphere of impunity and terror, and prevents accountability.”
But it’s not clear if Newsom would sign such a bill. In response to the ruling, his press office wrote on social media, “Mr. Wiener rejected our proposed fixes to his bill — language that was later included in the identification bill the court upheld today. He chose a different approach, and today the court found his approach unlawful.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the ruling on X, calling it “ANOTHER key court victory.”
“Following our arguments, a district court in California BLOCKED the enforcement of a law that would have banned federal agents from wearing masks to protect their identities,” Bondi wrote. “We will continue fighting and winning in court for President Trump’s law-and-order agenda.”
In court on Monday, Snyder dismissed several arguments the Trump administration has made to justify why agents should be allowed to mask.
She noted that there are no federal laws or regulations that require federal law enforcement officers to wear facial coverings or conceal their identity, and “in fact, some federal laws and regulations require visible identification in certain circumstances.”
Historically, she noted, federal officers have not been masked.
Snyder also found that the federal government “has not met its burden to show that enforcement of the challenged provisions … would interfere with or take control of federal law enforcement operations,” — comparing them to traffic laws that dictate how a federal officer may drive on state roads.
And she rejected the argument that bills will put officers at risk of attacks and physical harm, noting that the potential harms cited in court — including doxing, threats and assault — are all crimes themselves.
“A rule that prohibits law enforcement officers from wearing masks or requires them to have visible identification does not facilitate or enable criminals to harm law enforcement officers,” she wrote. To the contrary, she added later, the “presence of masked and unidentifiable individuals, including law enforcement, is more likely to heighten the sense of insecurity for all.”
And in a clear rebuke to statements made by Vice President JD Vance and others after the Minneapolis shootings, Snyder noted that, “The law is clear that federal officers do not have absolute immunity from state prosecution.”
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