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For Immediate Release
December, 09 2016, 01:00pm EDT
Contact:
Virginia Cramer, virginia.cramer@sierraclub.org, 804-519-8449
Sierra Club: McMorris Rodgers Wrong Choice for America's Public Lands, Wildlife
WASHINGTON
President-elect Donald Trump is expected today to announce his plans to appoint Chair of the House Republican Conference, Cathy McMorris Rodgers as Secretary of the Interior. McMorris Rodgers currently represents the state of Washington.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune issued the following statement.
"The Department of the Interior exists to protect and manage the nation's natural resources and cultural heritage. Yet President-elect Trump seems to have missed the 'protect' part of that statement when nominating Rep. McMorris Rodgers to head the agency.
"Selling off our public lands to the highest bidder and opening them to drilling, mining and logging is not in the best interest of our country, but that is exactly what Rep. McMorris Rodgers has voted to do over and over again. From expanding offshore drilling to undermining attempts to protect our wild places, it's clear that McMorris Rodgers would jeopardize the future of our public lands if appointed as Secretary of the Interior.
"America's public lands are vital to our shared history, our national identity, our economy, and perhaps most importantly our future. We urge Senators, who are elected to represent and protect the American people, to stand up for everyone who enjoys the outdoors and oppose this nomination."
The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.8 million members and supporters to defend everyone's right to a healthy world.
(415) 977-5500LATEST NEWS
Body Camera Footage and Texts Show DHS Lied About Shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago
"We live in a strange time right now where we cannot trust our federal government," said Martinez's lawyer.
Feb 12, 2026
Newly released evidence shows that the Department of Homeland Security lied about the shooting of yet another US citizen.
In October, a Border Patrol agent shot Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old school assistant, five times while she was in her vehicle in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. She had been tailing agents while warning the neighborhood that “la migra” was coming.
Immediately after the shooting, DHS leapt to defend the agent who shot Martinez, Charles Exum. The agency claimed in an incident report that Martinez was blocking agents and had "rammed" them with her car. The agency described her as a "domestic terrorist."
Martinez, who survived the shooting, was charged with assaulting officers and pleaded not guilty.
The government's case was fatally undermined in November when it was revealed during a hearing that Exum had bragged to friends about injuring Martinez over text message: “I fired five rounds, and she had seven holes. Put that in your book, boys," he said.
Martinez's lawyers also said body camera footage—kept under seal by a federal protective order—showed a different series of events from what the agency had portrayed.
In November, federal prosecutors dropped the case against Martinez without explanation. But even afterwards, federal officials have continued to label her as a terrorist.
"This is before there’s any investigation done," said her attorney Chris Parente, who has argued that the public should be able to view the evidence for itself.
On Wednesday, the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago released body camera footage from two other agents involved in the incident—Adam J. Perkins and Lorenzo Cordero—as well as dozens of Exum's other emails and text messages from the incident's aftermath.
Parente, who presented the evidence in a press conference on Wednesday alongside Martinez and her other lawyers, said that with the release, “People can actually see the real evidence as opposed to the false claims by our government.”
He said the release after several months of keeping the footage buried was a "misguided attempt to take the sting out of just how damaging it is for the government.”
Block Club Chicago, which reviewed the body cam footage, explained that it "counters the incident report’s narrative" that Martinez had been the aggressor. Rather, it shows that she was attempting to drive away and that agents chose to ram her.
It shows Cordero and Perkins with weapons drawn and pointing out the rear passenger window about one minute before the collision and shooting of Martinez.
The phrase “it’s time to get aggressive” and “we’re going to make contact, we’re boxed in,” can be heard by one of the three agents before Exum is seen yanking his steering wheel to the left and hitting Martinez’s car.
After the collision, Exum is seen getting out of the car and firing five shots within two seconds.
The body camera footage verifies claims made by Martinez's attorneys, who said that after drawing their weapons, one of the agents could be heard saying, "Do something, bitch."
It also provides support to attorneys’ claims about text messages sent by agents after the shooting. Exum is seen bragging about the shooting, calling it a “great new scenario to add to our training.” Other agents sent messages praising him: One called him “a legend among agents.” Another said, “Good job, brother, glad you’re unharmed.” A third said, “Beers on me.”
Exum replied with the phrase "Fuck around and find out," which has been an oft-used slogan within the Trump administration to justify killings by law enforcement and the military.
Exum also discussed the "big time" support he was getting from top Trump administration officials. He said "everyone" had been "supportive," including then-Border Patrol Commander at Large Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and even "El Jefe himself," likely referring to President Donald Trump.
Less than four hours after the shooting, Exum received an email from Bovino, who offered to extend his retirement age beyond 57 and praised his "excellent service to Chicago."
On Wednesday, the same day the new evidence was released, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times that Exum has now been placed on administrative leave. They did not clarify how long the leave would last or when it began.
Parente said the smearing of Martinez as a terrorist fits a pattern that the Trump administration has since used to justify other shootings by agents.
"We live in a strange time right now where we cannot trust our federal government," he said. “Within an hour of the actual incident, DHS branded [Martinez] a domestic terrorist. The same thing they did to Renee Good. The same thing they did to Mr. [Alex] Pretti,” referring to two other US citizens shot and killed last month by agents in Minneapolis.
Martinez has announced plans to sue the federal government and Exum for "tens of millions of dollars," citing physical injuries to her right leg, right forearm, and chest; reputational damage; and emotional harm.
During a hearing earlier this month on Capitol Hill about the violent use of force by DHS agents, she described the shooting as an attempted "execution."
"I looked down and noticed blood gushing out of my arms and legs, and I realized I'd been shot multiple times," she said. "What happened to me in a matter of seconds on October 4th will unfortunately be with me for a lifetime."
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‘No More Hiding’: House Dems Vow to Hammer GOP With More Votes on Destructive Trump Tariffs
"We will keep holding Republicans accountable for raising prices on families and fighting to end Trump’s senseless trade war," said Rep. Suzan DelBene.
Feb 12, 2026
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution to overturn President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, and Democratic lawmakers are vowing to keep the pressure on their Republican counterparts.
The House voted to roll back Trump's Canada tariffs by a margin of 219 in favor to 211 against, with six House Republicans crossing the aisle to back the measure. Among Democrats, only Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) voted in favor of keeping the tariffs in place.
According to Politico, the vote on ending Canadian tariffs was just the start of a number of votes House Democrats have planned aimed at rolling back the president's taxes on imported goods.
"Senior House Democrats plan to call up at least three more resolutions that will force many Republicans to choose between protecting their tariff-hit districts and pleasing their MAGA voter bases," Politico wrote, "not to mention their loyalties to a president who has, up until this week, not tolerated any House GOP dissent on the matter."
In an interview with Axios, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said that he planned to push a resolution overturning Trump's tariffs on Mexican goods next.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) released a statement celebrating the vote to repeal the Trump tariffs, while warning her Republican colleagues that there will be "no more hiding" on the issue.
"This is the first vote to restore congressional authority and repeal Trump’s tariffs," she said. "We will keep holding Republicans accountable for raising prices on families and fighting to end Trump’s senseless trade war. The Senate must now take up this measure."
In a video posted on social media, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) outlined the damage that Trump's tariffs have caused both to US consumers and international relations with longtime allies.
"Canada has been our close friend and ally for more than 200 years," Beyer explained. "Donald Trump promised to lower the cost of living, but his tariff regime is doing the exact opposite. These tariffs have done nothing but hurt the American people."
Trump's tariffs crushed our economy, raised prices, and alienated our allies.
Republicans passed rules preventing the House from voting to stop him.
We defeated that 'gag rule' last night, and now we're voting on ending Trump's tariffs on Canada.
Here's why I'm voting YES: pic.twitter.com/cwbOT2apKQ
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) February 11, 2026
Ontario Premiere Doug Ford hailed the vote to end the tariffs and expressed hope that it was the start of better relations between the US and Canada.
"Thank you to every member from both parties who stood up in support of free trade and economic growth between our two great countries," he wrote. "Let’s end the tariffs and together build a more prosperous and secure future."
Trump, however, has shown no signs of backing down and vowed to support primary challengers against any Republicans who joined with Democrats to roll back his tariffs.
"Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!" Trump wrote in a Wednesday Truth Social post.
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Omar Condemns Trump Oil Blockade of Cuba as 'Cruel and Despotic' Regime Change Ploy
"Innocent civilians will pay with their lives to force regime change," warned US Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Feb 12, 2026
US Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday condemned the Trump administration's oil blockade against Cuba as part of an "economic war designed to suffocate an island" and force regime change, a longtime goal of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other right-wing American officials.
"The US oil blockade on Cuba is cruel and despotic," Omar (D-Minn.), the deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote in a social media post as fuel and food shortages and public health outcomes in Cuba continued to worsen due to the Trump administration's ramping up of the decades-long strangulation of the island nation's economy.
Omar, who visited Cuba along with other progressive lawmakers in 2024, warned that "innocent civilians will pay with their lives to force regime change," and called for the immediate lifting of the US blockade, which most of the international community views as illegal.
Omar's demand came after the Wall Street Journal reported that "children are being sent home from school early, people can barely afford basic food like milk and chicken, and long lines have sprung up at gas stations" as the Cuban people reel from the Trump administration's decision to deprive the country of oil from Venezuela—previously Cuba's largest supplier—and threaten economic retaliation against any nation that sends fuel to the Caribbean island.
"The last oil delivery to the country was a January 9 shipment from Mexico, which has since halted supplies under US pressure," the Journal noted. "President Trump’s executive order on January 29 called Cuba 'an unusual and extraordinary threat' and warned of new tariffs for any country that supplies oil to the island. The new measures go on top of a comprehensive set of US sanctions on Cuba that began in the early 1960s."
One Cuban, 36-year-old Raydén Decoro, told the Cuba-based Belly of the Beast that "the future is extremely uncertain, but something has to happen, somehow, because we’re the ones suffering the most."
"Electricity is impossible to get, food is getting more and more expensive," said Decoro. "Right now, fuel is only available in dollars, and inflation keeps rising."
Earlier this week, Omar joined other progressives in the US House in introducing a resolution calling for the annulment of the Monroe Doctrine, an assertion of US dominance of the Western Hemisphere that the Trump administration has openly embraced and expanded.
The resolution, led by Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), calls for "the termination of all unilateral economic sanctions imposed through executive orders, and working with Congress to terminate all unilateral sanctions, such as the Cuba embargo, mandated by law."
“This administration's aggressive stance toward Latin America makes this resolution critical," said Velázquez. "Their 'Donroe Doctrine' is simply a more grotesque version of the interventionist policies that have failed us for two centuries."
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