19 JAN 26 SITREP

• Anti-ICE activists entered a church in St. Paul, Minnesota during a Sunday worship service and disrupted congregants by shouting, filming worshipers in the pews, and confronting attendees during the service.
• Don Lemon was present with the activist group before and during the disruption, was observed greeting organizer Nekima Armstrong, praising the activists, distributing coffee and donuts, and stating on camera that the group was preparing for resistance and protest at the church.
• Activist William Kelly filmed worshipers inside the sanctuary and accused them of being “pretend Christians,” claiming they lived comfortably while immigrants were suffering, and directed aggressive remarks toward women seated in the pews.
• Members of the congregation described the incident as intimidating and disruptive to religious worship, and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is reviewing the incident for potential violations of the FACE Act, which protects the free exercise of religion at places of worship.

• Manal Wasef, 46, and Elaine Antao, 46, functioned as marketers and recruiters who referred Medicaid recipients into New York City adult daycares and a home healthcare company in exchange for illegal kickbacks and bribes.
• Recently, Wasef and Antao pleaded guilty to a $68 million fraud scheme in which Medicaid was billed for adult daycare and home healthcare services that were not provided or were induced through illegal payments.
• The scheme ran from approximately October 2017 through July 2024 and relied on laundering cash used to bribe patients while submitting claims to Medicaid for nonexistent services.
• In a separate case, James Bessell, Sr., 65, of Shirley, New York, was sentenced after stealing more than $1 million from Medicaid through Jim Jim Rentals, Inc., by billing transportation for patients who were deceased, incarcerated, or hospitalized, as reporting also flagged New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program as a recurring target for sophisticated fraud while Governor Kathy Hochul previously dismissed a Republican-backed audit effort as a political stunt.

• German troops withdrew from Greenland after approximately 44 hours following their arrival for the Danish-led NATO exercise Operation Arctic Endurance, with personnel seen departing from Nuuk on a commercial passenger flight.
• The withdrawal unfolded as Greenland became a higher-stakes flashpoint due to U.S. attention on the territory’s Arctic shipping routes, rare earth mineral potential, and existing American military infrastructure, while Denmark maintains sovereignty over the island.
• Denmark and seven allied European nations issued a joint statement reaffirming Danish sovereignty and describing the exercise as pre-coordinated and non-threatening, while reporting indicated German forces received instructions to return on short notice despite official denials that the mission ended early.
• The withdrawal coincided with an anti-American protest in Greenland where several hundred demonstrators marched toward the U.S. Consulate with signs including “Yankee Go Home” and “We are not for sale.”