The Wire - January 13, 2026

//The Wire//2300Z January 13, 2026//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: LOS ANGELES TERRORIST RELEASED ON BAIL AFTER BEING CHARGED ONLY WITH A MISDEMEANOR. SOMALI FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE IN MAINE. RIOTS CONTINUE IN MINNEAPOLIS.//

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-HomeFront-

Minneapolis: The nightly riots continued yesterday evening, with unrest largely centering around the Whipple Federal Building. Tear gas has been deployed at this location daily, as rioters routinely try to block vehicles from entering/exiting the facility's Entry Control Point (ECP). Overnight, the perimeter at the Federal Building was expanded and fortified with more fencing. Throughout the city, most of the kinetic activity has been confined to E 34th Street, with tear gas and flashbangs being used regularly in a defensive role, to prevent rioters from physically assaulting ICE agents during arrests.

Maine: Investigations into Somali fraud have continued to expand. In the town of Lewiston, a Somalian man at the center of recent scandal has resigned a few days after being sworn in. Iman Osman was reportedly elected to office last month, even though he had been indicted by a federal grand jury for stealing firearms.

Analyst Comment: The Osman case has been developing for a while. Scandal first arose after citizens realized that he committed fraud on his campaign paperwork regarding his official residence. His official residence as per campaign paperwork is actually a vacant building that had been condemned because it had been used as a meth lab, so no one can verify that he actually lives in the district. Yesterday, the other members of the City Council voted to investigate his residency status, and Osman's only act as a City Councilor was to be the only vote against the investigation into himself. After the votes came out 6-1 against him, he resigned.

California: The man who carried out the vehicle ramming attack at the Iranian protest in Los Angeles has been identified as Calor Madanescht. As the attack only wounded two people (both of whom refused medical care at the scene), the assailant has only been charged with reckless driving. Madanescht's bond has been set at zero dollars (the standard for misdemeanors in California), and he was released from jail Monday afternoon.

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Analyst Comments: In their own press release, the LAPD admits that he intended to ram the crowd and police officers, forcing several of them to jump out of the way (thus confirming deadly intent). It must be noted that the details of this case are pretty sketchy overall, considering how the attacker did not cause nearly as much damage as he could have. The odd statements found on the assailant's social media page, and the fact that he claims to be an Iranian refugee who happens to have an incredibly non-Iranian name, all add to the strangeness of this incident. However, just because this guy is the most ineffective terrorist in recent memory doesn't mean that he isn't still a terrorist. And now, he's back on the street at a time when Iranian protests are continuing throughout Los Angeles, and tensions remain palpably high in the Middle East.

Any time that tensions escalate overseas regarding a hot-button issue, these tensions nearly always are mirrored within the American homeland, which often manifest in attacks or at minimum clashes between protest groups. In this case, the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating the attack, which is a moot point if the terrorist has been released by the local authorities. As anti-regime protests (of varying size) are fairly regular throughout Los Angeles, it's quite likely that the original assailant himself, but more likely others who will see that he got away with this, will conduct copycat vehicle ramming attacks over the next few days. Whether or not any terrorist is willing to capitalize on this is anyone's guess, but the situation