The Wire - January 28, 2026

//The Wire//2300Z January 28, 2026//
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//BLUF: TENSIONS BUILD IN MIDDLE EAST AS AMERICAN CARRIER STRIKE GROUP ENTERS THE REGION. COUNTER-ICE MOVEMENT CONTINUES NATIONWIDE.//

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-International Events-

Middle East: Tensions are stirring up throughout the region once again as the Abraham Lincoln CSG arrives in theater. President Trump posted remarks on his Truth Social account this morning, threatening military strikes if IRGC leadership does not come to the negotiating table.

Analyst Comment: Right now, there aren't too many indications of an imminent war, though kinetic strikes can always be carried out by long-range bombers, just like last time. The "armada" as referenced in President Trump's post is really just a standard Carrier Strike Group, with other support vessels already being in theater to plus-up the military posture. Various military exercises and show-of-force demonstrations are already underway throughout the Arabian Gulf, which also add to the increase pressure being placed on Iranian officials to seek a deal with the United States.

-HomeFront-

Minnesota: Protests and Demonstrations continue as before. Most demonstrations overnight were carried out by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a Communist Revolutionary group linked to many other demonstrations. Separately, an incident was reported at the Urban League Twin Cities building in North Minneapolis, which involved Rep. Ilhan Omar being sprayed with an unknown substance by an assailant during a speech. The attacker was subdued immediately at the scene, and Rep. Omar continued her speech after the incident. The suspect was later identified as Anthony Kazmierczak, and the mystery substance in the syringe was tested to be apple cider vinegar.

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Analyst Comments: Around the United States, a state of unease has slowly been growing over the past few weeks, with demonstrations transitioning into civil unrest more regularly, with hotspots beginning to take form in other areas than just Minneapolis. Just examining one of these hotspots as an example, assaults and fights at public events are common in Philadelphia as anti-ICE activists become more organized throughout the city.

Throughout Philadelphia, the main groups in play are the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia (NSM), which serves as a Command and Control (C2) cell for organizing demonstrations (such as the one today at city hall), in addition to providing anti-ICE training sessions at local churches and other religious institutions. Another group responsible for mobilization in south Philadelphia is the Juntos organization, which mostly handles strategic planning for anti-ICE efforts, to include running intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance networks throughout the city. There are a handful of other smaller cells and groups around the city as well, all with separate command structures and organization, but all united by the same general goal of resisting the enforcement of immigration law. All of these groups have been around for years, and none of this is unique to just one city...every city has had a dozen networks like this functioning for decades. However most of these organizations have seen a surge of membership and participation in the wake of the Minneapolis riots, and now that certain political developments are being worked on to de-escalate the situation in Minneapolis, groups in other cities are working to escalate the situation in their areas, using the lessons that have been learned so far in the Twin Cities.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
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