Evening Brief: Minneapolis Shooting, Navy Apology, FBI Purge, Olympic Snowboarder Cartel Arrest, ICE Threats in Ohio

The former Defense Department mandate, in effect between 2021 and 2023, resulted in more than 8,000 service members across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and Coast Guard being separated for non‑compliance, according to the VA. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has directed all service secretaries to conduct a proactive review of personnel records, targeting those discharged with general (under honorable conditions) characterization for vaccine refusal. Hegseth has called the forced discharges “unconscionable” and signaled that the burden is on the military to fix the record, not on the individual to re‑protest the past. For SOFREP readers with boots on the ground or newly separated contacts, this is now an active window: the Navy, and the rest of the force, are actively working to right what leadership now calls a clear institutional wrong.   FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. Image Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst FBI Cuts Experienced Agents, Prompting Resignation in ICE Shooting Probe An FBI agent who began a civil rights investigation into the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good has resigned from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The resignation is part of a broader pattern of removals and pressure against seasoned agents within the Bureau, especially those tied to prior investigations involving President Donald Trump. The agent in Minnesota had opened the investigation into the shooting as a civil rights case but was later ordered to reclassify it as an assault on the ICE officer instead. After that shift, the FBI blocked the state BCA from participating in the review, effectively taking full control of the probe. Her resignation comes amid a new wave of purges across the FBI, with multiple sources saying dozens of experienced agents in several states have now been removed or pushed out. The Bureau recently conducted a review of internal messaging and began targeting agents who had made negative comments about Trump, some stretching back nearly a decade. The purges are part of an ongoing effort by FBI Director Kash Patel to remove personnel involved in past investigations into Trump. That includes FBI officials in New Orleans, Miami, and other major offices, many of whom held senior leadership roles. Patel has publicly denied any political motivation. During his confirmation hearing in January, he promised lawmakers that no agent “will be terminated for case assignments,” and vowed there would be no “retributive actions” and “no politicization at the FBI.” But the FBI Agents Association, a nonprofit representing current and former agents, has pushed back. In a letter to Congress this summer, it warned that Patel was making personnel decisions without proper due process, and that agents were being fired without notice or a chance to defend themselves, in violation of long‑standing FBI rules. The Minnesota case and the wider purge feed a growing concern among federal law enforcement professionals: that the FBI’s internal independence is eroding at a time when public trust in the Bureau is already fragile.   Ryan James Wedding, an alleged drug kingpin and former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, has been arrested by the FBI. Image Credit: ABC7 FBI Catches Former Olympic Snowboarder on ’10 Most Wanted’ List in Mexico The FBI has taken into custody Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and now one of the Bureau’s “Ten Most Wanted” fugitives, ending a manhunt that spanned the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Colombia. Wedding, 45, was arrested in Mexico Thursday night and handed over to U.S. authorities, arriving Friday at Ontario International Airport in Southern California. Officials allege that Wedding evolved from a Vancouver‑based drug trafficker into one of Canada’s largest cocaine distributors and a transnational cartel operator. The FBI and Justice Department say his criminal enterprise moved bulk cocaine from Colombia through Mexico into the U.S. and Canada, generating over a billion dollars annually in illicit proceeds. FBI Director Kash Patel described Wedding at a press conference as a “modern day Escobar,” crediting “tremendous cooperation” with Mexican authorities for the capture. Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed that Wedding voluntarily turned himself in at the U.S. Embassy before being delivered to the FBI. The indictment unsealed in October 2024 charges Wedding with running a criminal enterprise, large‑scale cocaine trafficking, and multiple murders. Prosecutors allege he ordered the November 2023 killings of two members of a family in Ontario in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment, and a May 2024 killing over a drug debt. This is not Wedding’s first run in with U.S. federal courts. In 2008, he was arrested in a San Diego drug sting, convicted of cocaine trafficking in 2009, and served four years in prison. After his release, federal prosecutors allege he began building the multinational operation that eventually landed him on the FBI’s most wanted list, with a $15 million reward for his capture. Officials seized weapons, luxury vehicles, artwork, and other assets as part of the operation and are still hunting additional suspects tied to the cartel network. Wedding is expected to make his first federal court appearance as early as Monday.   DOJ records show the guns recovered by law enforcement agents from Novoa’s house. Image Credit: Department of Justice Ohio Man Charged After Social Media Threats Against ICE Followed by Gun Raid A 21‑year‑old Columbus, Ohio, man has been federally charged with making threats against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after HSI agents uncovered multiple rifles, ammunition, and body armor in his home. Justin Mesael Novoa is accused of posting threatening messages directed at ICE on social media, including a June 2025 tweet that said “they should blast every ice agent they find,” and later declaring, “can’t wait to shoot these p—y ice agents and r——d maga maggots.” The threats were flagged as interstate communications targeting federal law enforcement, leading to a Homeland Security Investigations probe. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Ohio say authorities executed a search warrant at Novoa’s residence in December 2025. During the raid, agents seized two rifles, two shotguns, and one handgun, along with significant quantities of ammunition, according to the DOJ. Investigators also recovered helmets and body armor, and federal photos show a pro‑Palestinian flag hanging nearby the weapons and gear inside the home. Novoa is charged with making threatening interstate communications and threatening to assault or murder a federal officer, offenses that carry combined maximum penalties of up to 10 years in federal prison. Prosecutors have not yet announced whether additional charges are expected. The case underscores a pattern federal agencies are watching closely: violent online threats against federal agents, paired with access to weapons and protective gear, are treated as serious threats even when no attack has occurred. In this instance, the threats were made under the username @Father2High, and again weeks later, with specific language urging the killing or shooting of ICE personnel. The seized weapons and body armor suggest planning far beyond mere rhetoric, raising concerns about the ability of lone actors to transition from online rage to armed violence. Federal law enforcement has increasingly targeted such threats as part of its broader efforts to protect officers from physical attacks and to deter copycat violence in an age of politicized and often dehumanizing online rhetoric.