Minnesota
Minnesota Jewish leaders highlight VP pick Tim Walz's commitment to community, Israel
The “small but mighty” largely liberal Minnesota Jewish community started their work day on Tuesday morning with the highly anticipated news of Vice President Kamala Harris selecting their governor, Tim Walz, as her running mate over runner-up Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania.
With Shapiro, as the second Jewish Vice Presidential nominee in history, came antisemitic attacks over his support of Israel.
Ethan Roberts, Deputy Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, told The Jerusalem Post that his organization was disturbed by the unfair negativity directed at Gov. Shapiro, who holds the same positions on Israel and antisemitism as Walz.
“I’ve never met Gov. Shapiro, but I know Gov. Walz,” Roberts said. “And it was clear to us that all of this negativity at Gov. Shapiro was that he was the wrong kind of Jew, and we condemn that as being antisemitic.”
Though Roberts said Walz is excellent, bringing to the table six years as governor, 12 years in Congress, 24 years of the National Guard and experience as a teacher.
“I’d like to believe that Governor Walz was selected because of all of the things that he brings to the table, and not because the far left were given a veto over Gov. Shapiro,” Roberts said.
Roberts added he thinks it’s important for people who don’t know a lot about Walz to understand that all of the options that were before Harris, including Walz, were pro-Israel options.
“If anyone thinks that somehow, because Governor Walz was selected and not Governor Shapiro, they got the candidate of the far left or the squad, they didn’t,” Roberts said. “Absolutely not.”
According to Roberts, people were looking at the fact Shapiro was Jewish and the positions he was taking, which he called unacceptable.
“What [JCRC] was trying to say is that Walz has the same position,” Roberts added. “If it’s about the positions, you should be against all of them.”
Beth Kieffer Leonard is a board member of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and is heavily involved in the Minneapolis Jewish community, previously serving as president and campaign chair for the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and serving on The Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors since 2008.
JDCA was quick to endorse Walz after the announcement of his selection broke Tuesday morning.
To Jewish voters across Pennsylvania and beyond who were hoping for Shapiro as the pick, Kieffer Leonard said Democrats want to win, and that’s what the focus should be on.
Walz has an understanding of rural and urban America, two important things Kieffer Leonard said have been missing from the Democratic Party.
“If people understand what’s at stake in this election, it will be obvious that everything that Gov. Walz has done to date is about bringing people together and providing them with opportunities, both as individuals or in whatever group you align with,” Kieffer Leonard said.
She added Democrats have to find the winning ticket and all get behind it, keeping the bigger picture in focus.
Walz’s Record
“Being a proud Minnesotan, it’s hard not to have a dog in the hunt with Gov. Walz, who I’ve been a supporter of for a very long time, including when he was in Congress, and have been proud to be a Minnesotan with him at the helm of our state.”
As an educator, he advocated tremendously Holocaust education, and then as a governor, he mandated legislation requiring Minnesota schools to teach the Holocaust, Kieffer Leonard said to The Post.
From his days as an educator through Congress and to the Governor’s mansion, Kieffer Leonard said Walz has been “steadfast in his support of Israel” and even more so since October 7, as he’s maintained that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas.
In Congress, Kieffer Leonard said Walz voted in favor of aid to Israel at every option he had, including voting to provide for Israel’s air defense system, and wanting to expand the strategic partnership between US and Israel.
Locally, Kieffer Leonard said Walz has repeatedly condemned acts of antisemitism around the country and reaffirmed Minnesota’s solidarity with its Jewish friends and neighbors.
Steve Hunegs, executive director of the JCRC, told The Post that Walz has been a “stalwart friend of the Jewish community, the JCRC, and a strong supporter of a robust US-Israel relationship.”
Hunegs noted three JCRC events within the past year or so where Walz showed his support for the Jewish community, starting with the JCRC’s 2023 annual event which honored Holocaust survivor Dora Zaidenweber, whose testimony before the Minnesota House of Representatives helped lead to the mandate of Holocaust education across the state.
Walz then attended JCRC’s vigil on October 9, speaking with “great eloquence” about the need to defend the US-Israel relationship, according to Hunegs, who said Waltz’s line at the vigil about the need for moral clarity in that moment really resonated with people.
Walz also ordered the flags at the Capitol at half-mast after October 7.
“So in that way, he’s been front and center with the community, there at our side,” Hunegs said. “Certainly expressing some of the most important principles with respect to the Jewish community, and Israel and antisemitism.”
Hunegs highlighted Walz for being the first governor in Minnesota’s history to appoint a Jewish member to the state’s Court of Appeals, who later became the senior judge.
He also praised Walz for repeatedly opposing BDS resolutions or petitions calling for the Minnesota State Board of Investment to divest directly or indirectly the state’s pension holdings from Israel.
Hunegs described Walz as a man with Midwestern roots who is also deeply conversed in international relations, understanding that Minnesota and the broader Midwest do not live in isolation.
If the Harris-Walz ticket wins the White House, Hunegs said he expects Walz to approach Israel policy by “expressing himself in a powerful way about the importance of the relationship between the US and Israel.”
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FIRST ON FOX: ICE officials on Saturday released a shocking list of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants arrested during their recent surge in the sanctuary state of Minnesota, including child rapists and nearly a dozen killers.
ICE told Fox News the criminal illegal immigrants were roaming freely in Minnesota prior to their recent arrest, and that they are the type of people Democratic politicians and activists are referring to as their “neighbors,” as they attempt to interfere with ICE.
“Regardless of staged political theatrics, ICE is going to continue to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota and elsewhere,” ICE director Todd M. Lyons wrote in a statement. “Some of these criminal aliens have had final orders of removal for 30 years, but they’ve been free to terrorize Minnesotans.”
Anti-immigration enforcement agitators clash with federal law enforcement outside an ICE facility in Minneapolis, Minn. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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“ICE’s arrests prevent recidivism and make communities safer, but it feels like local politicians want to ignore that part and drum up discontent rather than protect their own constituents,” he continued.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted to the arrests on X Saturday, calling the convicts “sick people.”
“This is why we have ICE Agents,” Leavitt wrote in the post. “May God Bless them for their thankless work to protect American communities from these sick people.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a photo of a plane on X Saturday captioned, “Lawbreakers going wheels up in Minneapolis.”
Some of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants arrested in Minnesota include:
Sriudorn Phaivan, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of strong-arm sodomy of a boy and strong-arm sodomy of a girl. (ICE)
Sriudorn Phaivan
Sriudorn Phaivan, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of strong-arm sodomy of a boy and strong-arm sodomy of a girl, another aggravated sex offense, nine counts of larceny, unauthorized use of a vehicle, four counts of fraud, vehicle theft, two counts of drug possession, obstructing justice, possession of stolen property, receiving stolen property, burglary and check forgery.
He also has pending charges for two counts of receiving stolen property, flight to avoid prosecution or confinement and burglary.
Phaivan has had a deportation order since 2018.
Tou Vang, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of sexual assault and sodomy of a girl under the age of 13, and procuring a child for prostitution. (ICE)
Tou Vang
Tou Vang, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of sexual assault and sodomy of a girl under the age of 13, and procuring a child for prostitution.
Vang has had a deportation order since 2006.
Chong Vue, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of the strong-arm rape of a 12-year-old girl, and kidnapping a child with intent to sexually assault her. (ICE)
Chong Vue
Chong Vue, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of the strong-arm rape of a 12-year-old girl, and kidnapping a child with intent to sexually assault her.
Vue has had a deportation order since 2004.
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Ge Yang, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of strong-arm rape, aggravated assault with a weapon, and strangulation. (ICE)
Ge Yang
Ge Yang, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of strong-arm rape, aggravated assault with a weapon, and strangulation.
Yang has had a deportation order since 2012.
Pao Choua Xiong, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of rape and child fondling. (ICE)
Pao Choua Xiong
Pao Choua Xiong, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of rape and child fondling.
Xiong has had a deportation order since 2003.
Kou Lor, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of rape, rape with a weapon, and sexual assault. (ICE)
Kou Lor
Kou Lor, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of rape, rape with a weapon, and sexual assault.
Lor has had a deportation order since 1996.
Hernan Cortes-Valencia, a criminal illegal immigrant from Mexico, was ordered to leave the country in 2016 and has been convicted of sexual assault against a child, sexual assault-carnal abuse and four DUIs. (ICE)
Hernan Cortes-Valencia
Hernan Cortes-Valencia, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was convicted of sexual assault of a child and DUI.
Cortes-Valencia has had a deportation order since 2016.
Abdirashid Adosh Elmi, a Somalian illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide. (ICE)
Abdirashid Adosh Elmi
Abdirashid Adosh Elmi, a Somalian illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide.
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Gilberto Salguero Landaverde, a criminal illegal immigrant from El Salvador, has been convicted of three counts of homicide. (ICE)
Gilberto Salguero Landaverde
Gilberto Salguero Landaverde, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant, was convicted of three counts of homicide.
Landaverde has had a deportation order since June 2025.
Gabriel Figueroa Gama, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide. (ICE)
Gabriel Figueroa Gama
Gabriel Figueroa Gama, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide.
Gama was previously deported in 2002.
Galuak Michael Rotgai, a criminal illegal immigrant from Sudan, has been convicted of homicide and assault. (ICE)
Galuak Michael Rotgai
Galuak Michael Rotgai, a Sudanese illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide.
Thai Lor, a criminal illegal immigrant from Laos, has been convicted of two counts of homicide. (ICE)
Thai Lor
Thai Lor, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of two counts of homicide.
Lor has had a deportation order since 2009.
Mariama Sia Kanu, a criminal illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone, has been convicted of two counts of homicide, four DUIs, three counts of larceny and burglary. (ICE)
Mariana Sia Kanu
Mariana Sia Kanu, an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone, was convicted of two counts of homicide.
Kanu has had a deportation order since 2022.
Aldrin Guerrero Munoz, a criminal illegal immigrant from Mexico, has been convicted of homicide and assault.
Aldrin Guerrero Munoz
Aldrin Guerrero Munoz, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide.
Munoz has had a deportation order since 2015.
Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, a Somalian illegal immigrant, was convicted of manslaughter.
Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed
Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, a Somalian illegal immigrant, was convicted of manslaughter.
Ahmed has had a deportation order since 2022.
Mongong Kual Maniang Deng, a criminal illegal immigrant from Sudan, has been convicted of attempt to commit homicide, weapon possession and DUI.
Mongong Dual Maniang Deng
Mongong Dual Maniang Deng, a Sudanese illegal immigrant, was convicted of attempt to commit homicide, weapon possession and DUI.
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Aler Gomez Lucas, a criminal illegal immigrant from Guatemala, has been convicted of negligent homicide with a vehicle and DUI.
Aler Gomez Lucas
Aler Gomez Lucas, a Guatemalan illegal immigrant, was convicted of negligent homicide with a vehicle and DUI.
Lucas has had a deportation order since 2022.
Shwe Htoo, a criminal illegal immigrant from Burma, has been convicted of negligent homicide with a weapon. (ICE)
Shwe Htoo
Shwe Htoo, a Burmese illegal immigrant, was convicted of negligent homicide.
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Vice President JD Vance said he stands with ICE agents after the fatal shooting of a woman at a protest in Minnesota.
Childhood vaccine schedule gets lighter
Kids in the United States will now have four fewer recommended vaccines on their childhood vaccine schedule, the Department of Health and Human Services announced. The four vaccines are for rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease and hepatitis A, which will now be considered a shared decision between parents and doctors. Insurers will continue covering the vaccines regardless of the category, the HHS said. The administration says the move aligns the U.S. vaccine schedule with that of other developed nations; public health experts say the decision puts children’s health at risk.
Fraud scandal drags down Tim Walz
A bare-knuckles 2026 campaign season has barely begun, and it has already knocked out one high-profile candidate. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, dogged by a scandal that saw hundreds of millions of dollars in state Medicaid payouts exposed as possibly fraudulent, says he will not seek reelection. “I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election,” Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential campaign, said in a statement. Dozens of people in Minnesota have been charged with stealing taxpayer dollars in what the Justice Department called the “largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.”
I’ll have a sniff and a slice
Candle shoppers are still melting down over some of the offerings in Bath & Body Works’ “Perfect Pairings” collection − in particular, the Pizza & Ranch candle, which promises notes of “gooey cheese, crispy pepperonis and ranch.” The fragrance, released in December as one of the “fun and unexpected” fragrances for Candle Day 2025, brought reactions that border on the unprintable, including one that referenced a Diaper Genie pail. Other scents were Coffee & Donuts, Chips & Salsa and Popcorn & Slushie. As of Jan. 5, only the Chips & Salsa candle was available on the company’s website, and alas, there was no word on restocking.
The great Oscars countdown has begun
Roll out the red carpets and chill the champagne: Hollywood’s race for the Oscars kicked off Jan. 4 with the Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California, where “Sinners” and “Frankenstein” led the field with four wins each. “One Battle After Another” won best picture; for best actor and actress, Timothée Chalamet of “Marty Supreme” and Jessie Buckley of “Hamnet” took home the trophies. Next up on the watch list: the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11. Hollywood’s biggest night, the Academy Awards, comes March 15.
Snoop goes unleashed in his NBA game call
Coaches clashing with officials is nothing new, but this brouhaha came with a Snoop Dogg play-by-play – and a rebuke from the coach’s mom. The coach was the Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr, who had to be restrained after he was ejected from the game in a dispute over a missed goaltending call against the LA Clippers. “Steve’s raining fire on them. Woo-hoo!” barked Snoop, a guest analyst for Peacock. “The Arizona Wildcat came out. … Rawr, rawr!” Later, Kerr said he was amused by Snoop’s call, but his mother, who was at the game, was “terribly disappointed in me.” − Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol
Protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are continuing across the Triangle this week, fueled by anger and fear after a woman was shot and killed during an immigration enforcement operation Wednesday in Minnesota.
Adali Abeldanez, owner of Moroleon Supermarket in Durham, said fear is impacting daily life and local businesses, including his own.
“People are still stressed and worried,” he said.
Abeldanez said he has seen a noticeable change in customer behavior since ICE operations intensified. While his store has offered delivery services for years, he noticed requests surged in November, when ICE was in the state, and have remained high.
“That uptick in delivery – do you believe that’s directly tied to people’s fear about ICE?” WRAL asked Abeldanez.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” he said.
He said some store clients are afraid to leave their homes and are relying on organized deliveries instead. Abeldanez said his wife is undocumented and frightened, a feeling he said is widely shared in the immigrant community.
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Abeldanez believes ICE agents need more training and greater accountability.
“They’re dealing with people — human beings. It’s life,” he said. “The law should be enforced, but obviously with due process and taking into consideration humanity, being humane.”
He also criticized what he described as racial profiling; he said agents approach people in public spaces based on appearance rather than targeted investigations.
“They should have some kind of plan to know where to go, who to look for, and not just randomly pick people,” Abeldanez said.
Despite his concerns, Abeldanez said he felt encouraged by this week’s protests, as long as they remain peaceful.
“As long as it’s something peaceful, I feel proud,” he said. “Seeing people protest in favor of protecting the immigrant community — I think that’s awesome.”
But while both sides believe peaceful protesting is important, the divide is regarding ICE’s actions.
Matt Mercer, communications director for the North Carolina Republican Party, said the Minnesota shooting involved an agent acting in self-defense, citing video evidence and injuries the agent sustained.
“There’s a human element where someone loses their life, which you never want to see,” Mercer said. “But the video speaks for itself.”
Mercer said recent confrontations with ICE agents are not peaceful protests but attempts to obstruct federal law enforcement.
“If you wish to protest, do that in ways you can traditionally protest,” Mercer said. “Surrounding agents, obstructing vehicles or creating chaos is not legitimate protest.”
The Minnesota incident remains under investigation. Meanwhile, protests in the Triangle are expected to continue, including one Friday night in Durham.
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