Today
ICE KILLED TWO MEN IN ONE WEEK — NEITHER WAS THE TARGET, THE PENTAGON LAUNCHED A TASK FORCE TO PROSECUTE LEAKERS, TRUMP DECLARED HIMSELF “GUARDIAN” OF THE STRAIT AND DEMANDED A 20% TOLL — AND RUBIO VOWED TO DISMANTLE THE ICC “BRICK BY BRICK”

Two men killed by ICE agents in seven days. Neither was the person the agents were looking for. Neither agent was wearing a body camera. On Tuesday, ICE suspended most vehicle stops across the country.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was 52. He lived in Houston for decades. He was a father. On July 7, ICE agents approached his car during an enforcement operation. The Department of Homeland Security says he used the vehicle as a weapon. His passengers say he did not. He was shot and killed. He was not the target of the operation.

Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was 26. He was from Colombia and lived in Biddeford, Maine. His neighbor said he was authorized to work in the U.S. On Monday, ICE agents shot and killed him during a vehicle stop. DHS said he posed “a threat to public safety.” There is no video. He was not the target either.

Since Trump returned to office, at least 22 people have been shot at by ICE agents. Six are dead… including three U.S. citizens. ICE made 10,000 arrests in a five-day stretch in late June… 2,000 a day. Mexico’s president called for criminal investigations into 17 Mexican deaths in U.S. custody or at the hands of agents. Fourteen died in detention. Three were killed by agents.

Victor Salgado Araujo… Lorenzo’s brother and the key witness to the Houston shooting… now has his own deportation hearing scheduled for next week. The man who saw what happened is being removed from the country.

22 PEOPLE SHOT AT. SIX DEAD. THREE OF THEM AMERICAN CITIZENS. NOT ONE AGENT WORE A BODY CAMERA.

BREAKING

The Pentagon and DOJ Launched a Joint Task Force to Hunt Down and Prosecute Anyone Who Talks to the Press

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Pentagon and the Justice Department have created a joint task force to “identify and prosecute” anyone who leaks government information to the press. “Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust,” Hegseth said in a video on X. “Those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law.”

The task force gives the Pentagon’s top lawyer the power to demand records, information, and support from every office in the department. Staff must respond within 48 hours. The FBI will be involved. Hegseth thanked Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and said the two departments are now working “closer than we have ever before.”

This follows a pattern. Last year, Hegseth opened investigations into suspected leakers and threatened polygraphs. He forced Pentagon reporters to sign a pledge saying they would not seek unauthorized material… even if it was unclassified. Most reporters returned their press badges rather than sign. A judge struck down the requirement that journalists be escorted by an official chaperone at all times.

In March, the DOJ subpoenaed Wall Street Journal reporters. In April, Trump threatened to jail journalists who revealed that a missing airman was inside Iran. On Friday, agents went to the homes of four New York Times reporters. And on Monday… the task force became official. The infrastructure is now permanent.

EXPOSED

Trump Declared Himself “Guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz and Demanded a 20% Toll on Every Ship That Passes Through

Before the war, about 130 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz every day. Last Sunday, 14 made it through. The strait carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply. And on Monday, the president said the United States would start charging 20% of the value of all cargo that passes through it.

“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’” Trump posted on Truth Social. “But as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped.” He told Fox News: “We’ll probably run it.”

Brazil’s President Lula called it “piracy.” The UN’s shipping agency… the International Maritime Organization… said it “stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation.” Shipping experts say a 20% charge would be roughly ten times the normal rate… so high that no company would pay it. The ceasefire deal signed in June banned Iran from charging tolls on the strait. The U.S. condemned those tolls as illegal. Now the U.S. is imposing its own.

Trump also reinstated the naval blockade of Iran’s ports, starting Tuesday at 4 p.m. During the first blockade from April to June, CENTCOM redirected more than 140 ships, disabled nine others, and allowed 50 humanitarian vessels to pass. The war started with strikes. Now it runs on tolls.

“This used to be considered piracy.”

— President Lula of Brazil, on the proposed Strait of Hormuz toll

DEVELOPING

Rubio Vowed to “Dismantle” the International Criminal Court “Brick by Brick” — the Only Court That Can Prosecute War Crimes

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that the United States will “systematically disable” the International Criminal Court’s ability to operate. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed and a video on X, he called the ICC “an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty” and said it was “backed by leftist NGOs, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments.”

The campaign includes more sanctions, travel bans, and visa bans for ICC staff. Rubio is calling on every nation that partners with the U.S. military to reject the court’s authority or face “increased scrutiny.” The EU called the threats “unacceptable.”

The ICC issued arrest warrants last year for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant over the war in Gaza. The Trump administration responded with sanctions on ICC judges and the chief prosecutor. Three ICC judges sued the U.S. last month… the first time sitting judges of the court have ever sued a national government.

Human rights groups say the timing is not about sovereignty. It is about exposure. U.S. strikes on boats near Venezuela killed more than 200 people. A strike on a school in Minab, Iran, killed more than 100 children. Observers say Rubio’s campaign may be designed to block any investigation before it starts.

Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, said the goal is simple: “to be able to commit war crimes with impunity.” The only international court built to hold leaders accountable for the worst crimes on earth is being taken apart by the country with the largest military on earth.

 Connecting the Dots 

▸ The Bigger Picture

Four stories from one week. ICE agents killed two men who were not the people they were looking for… and neither agent wore a camera. The Pentagon and the Justice Department built a permanent task force to prosecute anyone who talks to reporters. The president declared himself the guardian of the world’s most important shipping lane and demanded a 20% cut of everything that passes through it. And the Secretary of State launched a campaign to take apart the only international court that can try leaders for war crimes.

The press covers each one on its own page. An “immigration reform.” A “national security measure.” A “trade policy.” A “sovereignty dispute.” But the thread is the same in every one.

The machine is not just acting without oversight. It is dismantling oversight itself. Agents who kill without cameras cannot be held accountable. A task force that hunts leakers ensures the public never learns what happened. A toll on the strait turns a war into a revenue stream. And a campaign to destroy the ICC removes the last court on earth that could call any of it a crime. This is not policy. It is architecture. And every wall being built this week faces the same direction… inward.

When the machine dismantles every institution that can question it… the machine becomes the only institution left. That’s the Seventh Floor.

They rely on the shadows.
It’s time to turn on the lights.