Hegseth, Rep. McCollum spar over LA riots, response to unrest after George Floyd murder

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., opened a hearing on the Defense budget Tuesday by sharply questioning Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Trump administration’s response to demonstrations in Los Angeles and how the federal government was paying for it.

Hegseth, also a Minnesotan, responded in kind as the sparring turned toward the response to the civil unrest in Minneapolis following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police.

McCollum asked Hegseth about the deployment of U.S. Marines and the federalizing of the California National Guard to face off in the streets of Los Angeles against anti-ICE protesters by invoking the shared memory of Minneapolis in 2020.

“I was in the Twin Cities during the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd,” McCollum said. “At no point did we need ... the Marines to be deployed.” The longtime Democratic congresswoman said local and state law enforcement were better situated to handle crowd control.

—Star Tribune

Protesters or agitators: Who is driving chaos at LA immigration protests?

LOS ANGELES — The crowd near Los Angeles City Hall had by Sunday evening reached an uneasy detente with a line of grim-faced police officers.

The LAPD officers gripped “less lethal” riot guns, which fire foam rounds that leave red welts and ugly bruises on anyone they hit. Demonstrators massed in downtown Los Angeles for the third straight day. Some were there to protest federal immigration sweeps across the county — others appeared set on wreaking havoc.

Several young men crept through the crowd, hunched over and hiding something in their hands. They reached the front line and hurled eggs at the officers, who fired into the fleeing crowd with riot guns.

Jonas March, who was filming the protests as an independent journalist, dropped to the floor and tried to army-crawl away. “As soon as I stood up, they shot me in the a--,” the 21-year-old said. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has drawn a distinction between protesters and masked “anarchists” who, he said, were bent on exploiting the state of unrest to vandalize property and attack police.

—Los Angeles Times

‘A welcome silence’ emerges from insurance companies on COVID vaccine coverage

ATLANTA — Headlines blared in May when U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for some people — namely healthy pregnant women and healthy children over 6 months old. That could mean insurance no longer covers it.

But then the recommendation didn’t stop after all — it was tweaked, prompting more confusion. Two weeks in, how’s it playing out for patients?

So far, as one pediatrician called it: “A welcome silence” from insurance companies who still appear to be paying the vaccination bills, both private and Medicaid-affiliated.

That’s just for now. Actions taken by Kennedy on Monday might change that in the coming weeks or months. For the moment though, doctors and public health officials in Georgia say the vaccine is available and being covered as it was before.

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Israel deports Greta Thunberg after Gaza aid ship blocked

TEL AVIV, Israel — Greta Thunberg, who attempted to deliver aid to Gaza by sea along with other nearly a dozen other activists, was deported from Israel after their sailboat was intercepted by the military, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France)," the ministry posted on X, along with a picture of the 22-year-old boarding the plane.

The ministry had announced hours earlier that Thunberg and other passengers of the boat had arrived at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv to return to their home countries.

Three others are also due to leave Israel, local media reported. But eight other activists are to remain in custody for the time being because they refused to sign the necessary deportation documents, the Israeli news portal ynet reported. Among them is Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.

—dpa