Winter Storm Fern is responsible for at least 17 deaths so far, with fatalities reported in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Arkansas. Officials in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Louisiana have each reported three deaths. Mississippi and Texas have reported two deaths each. The other states have reported one death each, per officials. The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed that an 86-year-old man died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves also confirmed two weather-related fatalities from the winter storm, per NBC News. Ohio police announced a tragic incident in which a snowmobiler was struck and killed by a plow truck. Fox Weather reported on the death of a 16-year-old girl in Frisco, Texas. The teenager died after a sledding crash, and another teenager is in critical condition. Local police said the two were being pulled by an SUV when the sled hit a tree. In Pennsylvania, the coroner’s office said three people died in three separate medical incidents while they were cleaning up snow on Sunday, according to Fox Weather. The outlet also reported that a Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority snowplow struck a married couple who were on a walk. The wife died from her injuries. In New York, several deaths are being investigated as potentially weather-related, so the number of dead could rise. The Northeast is getting the last bit of snowfall from the storm, but the bitter cold temperatures aren’t moving out. According to The Weather Channel, the cold could last well into next week. The National Weather Service has issued extreme cold alerts in parts of the Midwest, South, and Ohio Valley as the frigid air arrives. More than a dozen low-temperature records were broken Monday morning. Some of the cities that dropped to their lowest temperatures include: New Orleans at 27 degrees, San Antonio and Austin at 19 degrees, Tulsa at 0 degrees, and Springfield, Missouri, at a record -11 degrees. The Arctic blast will refreeze existing ice and snow, making power outages worse, especially in the South, where ice has been the biggest threat. The cold temperatures are devastating to regions of the country dealing with power outages. There are more than 800,000 people without power, including 250,000 in Tennessee alone. In Mississippi, more than 145,750 people are without power. Louisiana isn’t far behind, with 117,325 customers still in the dark. Texas has nearly 50,000 without power.

NASHVILLE — Hundreds of thousands remain without power in Tennessee after a crippling snow and ice storm swept through the region.  At least 238,999 customers were out of power by midday on Monday, including over 150,000 near Nashville, according to a power outage tracking website. Most of those outages were caused by fallen utility poles and trees weighted down by ice falling on power lines.  Photos and videos of the aftermath of the storm show whole roads blocked by downed power lines and fallen trees. The ice has also led to hazardous road conditions with portions of the interstate blocked by crashes.  The National Weather Service estimated that Nashville received about two inches of snow and .42 inches of ice, which is enough to cause significant disruption.  Nashville Electric Service, which provides power for much of the area, said Monday that it had already restored power to over 68,000 customers who lost electricity over the weekend. The company said it had deployed 300 linemen working 14-16-hour shifts to restore power. They said that over 140 utility poles had been reported down in the wake of the storm.  (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) Nashville Office of Emergency Management Director William Swann said Monday that people should “plan for this as a long haul of being out of power” and that it could take multiple days for power to be restored.  Parts of the interstate have also been shut down due to accidents caused by icy road conditions. A part of I-65 in south Nashville was shut down after a tractor-trailer jackknifed into a sign hanging over the road, knocking it down. Nashville police have told drivers to treat all intersections as four-way stops due to lights being out of power.  I-65 N at I-440 is presently shut down due to this situation. Roads, particularly in neighborhoods, are icy and hazardous. A number of traffic lights are out. Treat those intersections as 4-way stops. pic.twitter.com/DcYOvqEU5B — Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) January 26, 2026 On Saturday, President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Tennessee, authorizing FEMA “to identify, mobilize and provide, at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.” Many throughout the South have lost power due to the ice storm. Over 45,000 customers in Texas, 117,000 in Louisiana, and 145,000 in Mississippi were without power as of Monday afternoon.

Nashville, Tennessee, where The Daily Wire is headquartered, is covered in a massive sheet of ice. A weekend of freezing rain coated every surface in Music City and surrounding areas of middle Tennessee with an inch-thick layer of ice, causing massive power outages and dangerous structural damage. With temperatures hovering in the teens, there is no thaw in sight. The main culprit has been downed trees, which are blocking roads and taking down power lines all around the Nashville area. Below are some of the scenes, collected by our staff.   Daily Wire Daily Wire   Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire   Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire Daily Wire

Kyle Wagner, a crossdressing Antifa leader who incited violence in Minneapolis over social media, has been kicked off Venmo and Instagram, The Daily Wire has learned. Following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents on Saturday, Wagner took to social media to encourage his followers to take up arms and clash with law enforcement on the streets of Minneapolis. “Show up ready to go. Not talking about peaceful protests anymore,” Wagner said, calling on people to “march…with guns” and saying “the Second Amendment is the only thing that’s going to keep you f*cking protected from literal f*cking Nazi gunmen.” “Get your f*cking guns, and stop these f*cking people,” he added. After this initial call, the self-described Antifa member — clad in tactical gear and a bullet-proof vest, not the women’s clothing he often dons — solicited money from his followers. “My link to my Venmo is in my bio,” he said. “It’s an emergency freedom and defense fund.” “I’m not going to tell you what I’m spending my money on,” Wagner added. “I’m not gonna tell you why I need you to give me large sums of money right now. I just want you to understand that this is an actual guerrilla war in our streets now. They’re using live ammunition to kill our citizens. I need everyone to show up, fully prepared — whatever that means to you — to whatever degree you can.” Within minutes of the video going live, supporters started sending funds over Venmo. Payment notes reviewed by The Daily Wire included, “For protecting women and children” and “Give them hell.” Hours later, Venmo deactivated Wagner’s account for violating its terms of service. Users attempting to send money were met with an error message from Venmo stating, “We’re sorry, the transaction could not be completed. Please contact the person you are trying to pay.” On Monday, Wagner’s Instagram account was deleted, and he appears to have been removed from Facebook and TikTok as well. BREAKING: Antifa leader in Minneapolis Kyle Wagner has been taken off @instagram. Earlier today he was taken off @Venmo. He had been using the platform to incite violence against ICE agents, raise money to fund riots. Nice to see reason prevail. pic.twitter.com/ErZJNpkykR — Brent Scher (@BrentScher) January 26, 2026 A GoFundMe campaign remains active in which Wagner asks for $50,000 to help him “replace my essential documents, apply for political asylum, and relocate my belongings into safe storage.” Wagner says, “Every dollar will go directly toward helping me flee this persecution and secure a future where I am not hunted for my beliefs.” He tells would-be donors that with their support, “we can make a difference and ensure that I am able to continue fighting for what is right.” The Daily Wire reached out to GoFundMe for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Among Wagner’s previous calls to action were videos unrelated to protest activity, including clips in which he appeared dressed in women’s clothing. In one video, Wagner abandoned his tactical wear for a red spaghetti-strap dress, hoop earrings, and heeled boots. “I do this all year, all the time,” he said. “I do this for me … I like to get real clean and pretty and go out and shoot pool or get dinner and go dance.” Wagner is just one of many activists calling for retaliation for Pretti’s death, which led to widespread demonstrations across the city. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz deployed the National Guard on Saturday, though unrest continues. On Monday, protesters vandalized a hotel where immigration officials were staying. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott shared images of the damaged hotel, stating, “This is our Border Patrol being targeted at their hotel in Minneapolis—surrounded, blocked in, glass smashed, [and] people trying to force their way inside.” “This is not a protest,” he added. “This is an attack on law enforcement.” Walz on Monday called President Donald Trump, and had a conversation the president described as “very good.” Trump added that he and Walz “actually seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” and said the Democrat “was happy” that Border Czar Tom Homan was set to visit Minneapolis.

While Winter Storm Fern blanketed much of the southeastern United States with snow — and, of course, ice — media outlets continued to foment panic over President Donald Trump’s use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (the other kind of ICE) and Border Patrol in major cities like Minneapolis. For those who don’t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed. Tensions ramped up over the weekend after a fatal shooting involving Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, where federal immigration officials continue their efforts to apprehend and remove criminal illegal aliens. Sanctuary policies — promoted both by Mayor Jacob Frey and by failed vice presidential candidate and Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) — have left federal agents working not only without the coordination and cooperation of local law enforcement, but sometimes directly in opposition to them. The end result is the impasse that made a surge of federal resources and personnel necessary in the first place: local officials claim that having federal agents in the streets make the people less safe, while federal officials maintain that if state and local police would honor ICE detainers and allow federal officers to apprehend criminal illegals in jails and courthouses, federal officers would not need to be on the streets. By Sunday, the lines in the snow had been drawn and reinforced — and the legacy media outlets brought in Democrats (and a few Republicans) who would question the Trump administration, at least in light of the latest fatal confrontation. ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl began his broadcast of “This Week” with a brief profile of Alex Pretti, 37, who was shot by Border Patrol agents — and quoted Pretti’s mother as saying, “He loved his country, but he hated what people were doing to it.” “He loved his country, but he hated what people were doing to it,” Alex Pretti’s mother told the AP. ABC News’ @JonKarl reports on what we know about the 37‑year‑old, who was shot and killed by federal agents Saturday in Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/nzQJ9tYzE4 — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 25, 2026 Karl then brought in Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) — who is expected to jump into the gubernatorial race in the coming months — to discuss the situation. Klobuchar claimed she would have supported efforts to root out fraud and to apprehend the worst of the worst when it came to criminal illegal aliens — but she believed it was clear that was not what the Trump administration had been doing. “If your goal was to go after fraud, that’s a righteous goal. But that’s not what this is. If your goal was to apprehend violent offenders — good. But that’s not what you’re doing anymore.” Sen. Klobuchar’s message to federal officials after escalating tensions in Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/FRz5VoRNvy — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 25, 2026 Klobuchar addressed the Pretti shooting directly, saying that some Republicans had spoken to her quietly about their concerns regarding the actions of federal agents but that was not enough. “At this point, silence is complicity,” she said, claiming that federal agents were violating constitutional rights at every turn. Klobuchar argued, among other things, that the agents cracking down on violent protests were violating First Amendment rights to assemble — and then claimed that Border Patrol agents were violating the Second Amendment because Pretti had been a legally-permitted gun-owner. Sen. Amy Klobuchar criticizes her Republican colleagues who she says have not spoken about the federal actions in Minneapolis: “At this point, silence is complicity.” https://t.co/Q4LlxAFJW9 pic.twitter.com/Jmda2AVYSx — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 25, 2026 Karl wrapped up the broadcast by giving New York City’s democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani a chance to double down on his calls to defund ICE. “ICE is an organization that cares little for the rules. It’s an organization that operates with reckless impunity and seems to revel in the flouting of those kinds of rules. And that’s what gives people a real sense of fear,” Mamdani claimed. NYC Mayor Mamdani on his calls to abolish ICE: “ICE is an organization that cares little for the rules. It’s an organization that operates with reckless impunity and seems to revel in the flouting of those kinds of rules. And that’s what gives people a real sense of fear.” pic.twitter.com/i3n9c6Np6N — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 25, 2026 On CBS News, “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan brought in Senator Angus King (I-ME) to discuss the surge of agents coming to his state in the same way they’d dispatched to Minnesota, and he drew a hard line: “I believe what we’re seeing is an attempt to intimidate the American people. Again, armed people with masks and telling people they can’t photograph what they are doing and intimidating protesters, that’s not American.” King joined Democrats making noise about another possible government shutdown as he said that he couldn’t possibly vote for a bill that funded ICE. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) says he “can’t vote for a bill that includes ICE funding in these circumstances, what they are doing in my state, what we saw yesterday in Minneapolis.” “I believe what we’re seeing is an attempt to intimidate the American people,” King says. “Again, armed… pic.twitter.com/ESbH4QMwzX — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 25, 2026 King claimed that there was a way for federal authorities to enforce immigration law without “ransacking our cities and terrorizing our residents,” but he did not say how he expected that to happen while local and state authorities were refusing to cooperate with the feds – and while Democrat leaders were actively encouraging civilians to obstruct and push back on the federal agents attempting to do their jobs. When asked how the state and federal government can work together on immigration, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) says federal authorities “can enforce the laws against illegal immigration and people that are criminals without ransacking our cities and terrorizing our residents.” “There… pic.twitter.com/yH2uHNj1sf — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 25, 2026 Brennan also spoke with Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who suggested that the federal agents were going about things the wrong way. “The Minneapolis Police Department went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds and hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn’t shoot anyone,” he claimed, but he failed to address the fact that the city was still awash in criminal illegal aliens that he and his department had done nothing about. After two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in recent weeks, the city’s police chief, Brian O’Hara, says the people of Minneapolis “have had enough” of ICE’s Operation Metro Surge. “The Minneapolis Police Department went the entire year last year… pic.twitter.com/dX3DKVtHbe — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 25, 2026 And on CNN, anchor Dana Bash discussed the situation with newly-elected Governor Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ). Asking Sherrill about the fact that her state was home to numerous “sanctuary” jurisdictions — and was likely to face surges of federal agents as well, Bash asked how she planned to handle such actions. Sherrill’s response was to compare ICE to the communist STASI, East Germany’s brutal secret police. Sherrill on ICE: “This is about a basically Stasi-type force of secret police that wear masks, that are unidentifiable, that are unaccountable, that have leadership in the Trump administration blatantly lying about what’s going on, when the American people can see the videos… pic.twitter.com/oRnMsIUEDE — State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) January 25, 2026

'This is obviously an incredibly traumatic moment'

'Your support is collapsing'

'Trading in his wife'