Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 6/22

[SVPete]

DHS Says Iranian World Cup Team Tried to Smuggle IRGC Members Into the United States

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/josephchalfant/2026/06/21/dhs-says-iranian-world-cup-team-tried-to-smuggle-irgc-members-into-the-united-states-n2678061

According to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security, members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp attempted to smuggle themselves into the United States under the guise of the Iranian World Cup team.
...
Secretary Markwayne Mullin revealed the Iranian plot on Fox News Sunday morning.

“Most teams travel with around 120 people,” Mullin said. “That’s their support staff, doctors, coaches, everybody else that comes along with them and their delegation. We accepted 53 individuals coming in. The rest of the individuals Iran tried to bring in all also had direct ties to the IRGC and aren’t their normal traveling group.”

An administration trying to block known terrorists? That's so crazy it might even work!

[SVPete]

Former Olympic Athlete Among Those Arrested for Reflecting Pool Vandalism

https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/06/former-olympic-athlete-among-those-arrested-for-reflecting-pool-vandalism/

The Left has become oddly obsessed with President Donald Trump’s $14 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The Washington Post kicked off the controversy with an article suggesting the project made little noticeable difference in the pool’s appearance. CNN, meanwhile, fixated on the algae bloom that turned the water a vivid shade of green, dispatching a crew to collect water samples and consult experts in what seemed like an effort to portray the renovation as a costly blunder. Buried deep within the report, however, was the key detail that algae blooms are a frequent occurrence after a pool has been drained and refilled. And I’ll get to ABC News‘ Jonathan Karl’s latest round of absurdity later in this post.
...
But even more troubling than the media’s fixation on the newly refurbished Reflecting Pool are reports of deliberate damage to the pool’s liner.

According to multiple media reports, former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, 67, was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property after he was observed “interacting with a partially detached section of the pool liner.”

The three-time Olympian vehemently denied responsibility for removing the piece of the liner. He claimed that, at the end of a 52-mile bike ride, he decided to visit the Reflecting Pool to see the results of the renovations when he noticed an already-peeling piece of the liner in the water. He maintains that he merely touched it “to see what it felt like,” and insists that he “didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already being handcuffed.”
...
Here is (journalis) Miller’s video of Hearn’s arrest. She accused him of grabbing the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae.
...
It seems unlikely that Hearn was the one who originally cut the section of liner from the pool because, 90 minutes before posting the video of his arrest, Miller reported that “a man” had been arrested for cutting out a “big piece” of the pool liner.

Additionally, Fox News reported that “multiple people” had been arrested for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool over the past few days.

According to Miller, “seven people were detained Friday and five people were detained Saturday in separate incidents, which has led to a major security surge.”
...
Oh, yes, ABC News‘ Jonathan Karl. He traveled to the Reflecting Pool last week to conduct what amounted to a theatrical inspection of the renovation. Karl reached down and pulled up the loose piece of the pool liner, triumphantly displaying it to viewers as though he had uncovered evidence of a major scandal. The segment was presented with all the gravity of an investigative exposé, despite the likelihood that the problem was caused by vandalism.

[SVPete]

At Least Three Dead After Shooting in Montreal Jewish Neighborhood

https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/06/22/active-shooter-near-montreal-jewish-center-n4954244

An unidentified shooter or shooters, one of whom died during an exchange of gunfire with police, murdered at least one officer and a local resident in an attack in a Jewish neighborhood of Montreal, Canada.

Arutz Sheva (7INN) reported Monday that a shootout in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, near a Chabad House and a kosher supermarket, was deadly. At least three people are dead, including a police officer and a shooter. The shooter also injured a second officer, and it was initially unclear whether she would survive. A later report from the CBC stated that she was in critical but stable condition. The latest update , as of around 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, reportedly identifies the civilian victim as Montreal resident Michael Moshe Mizrahi.

Chabad's emissary to Montreal, Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Cohen, spoke with Ynet and confirmed, "The shooting was at a building that is close to the Chabad House — from the hotel they fired at another building. One shooter was caught, and the other is apparently still being sought."

Despite the danger to the Chabad House as a potential target if the shooter or shooters were antisemitic terrorists, police did evacuate people from nearby hotels to the Chabad House. "There are a hundred of us here, the volunteers and the people who were brought here. I was sitting in my office, and suddenly the police came in, said that it was forbidden to leave the building, and evacuated people from hotels to us. We are fine," Shlomo said.

Need I explain why I doubt that Montreal PD will investigate this thoroughly if it chances to lead in a certain direction?

[Ptarmigan]

Judge Quashes "Blatantly Unlawful" DOJ Subpoenas Targeting Walz And Ellison In ICE-Obstruction Case
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-quashes-blatantly-unlawful-doj-subpoenas-targeting-walz-and-ellison-ice-obstruction

A federal judge has quashed six DOJ grand jury subpoenas issued to Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties.

US District Judge Patrick J. Schlitz ruled that the subpoenas amounted to harassment, and said that the Justice Department inquiry into whether Minnesota officials obstructed or impeded law enforcement is illegitimate.

"Initiating a criminal investigation in order to harass political opponents or to coerce them into taking official action, particularly official action that the federal government cannot directly require those political opponents to take, is a blatantly unlawful and unethical use [of] the grand-jury process," Schlitz wrote in his ruling.

We have the enemy within.

[Ptarmigan]

Biden Judge Sparkle Sooknanan Blocks Trump Admin SAVE Act Database
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-judge-sparkle-sooknanan-blocks-trump-admin-save-act-database

A Biden-appointed federal judge - who quit her previous job as partner at the Jones Day law firm because they did work for the 1st Trump administration - just ruled against the administration's plan to create a database to verify citizenship to be able to vote in US elections.

Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled on Monday that officials across several government agencies "haphazardly combined and repurposed the private information of millions of Americans, including citizenship data that they knew to be unreliable," in order to comply with the Trump administration's attempts to implement election integrity measures.

A March executive order directed the Social Security Administration (SSA) to create a “State Citizenship List” derived from its data, naturalization records and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, an existing database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that is used to determine eligibility for federal programs.

The left hates voter ID. Most people support it. It is used worldwide.