Morning Brief: Nigerian Christians Slaughtered, Russia Standoff, & Illegal Alien TikToker Nabbed

Persecution reaches a fever pitch in the “Christian Murder Capital” of the world, Russia ratchets up its saber-rattling with a nuclear drill, and an illegal immigrant honored by the City of Los Angeles allegedly rams an ICE vehicle.

It’s Thursday, October 23, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.

Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:

If you would rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:

The Christian Genocide You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Topline: The Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria has claimed thousands of lives this year alone, but human rights advocates say the Nigerian government has turned a blind eye.

In the first nine months of this year, advocacy groups estimate that more than 7,000 Christians have been killed across Nigeria, many in attacks that leave entire communities burned to the ground.

For more than a decade, this pattern of violence has gone largely unnoticed. But American lawmakers — including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) — are calling for Nigeria to be reclassified as a “country of particular concern” for religious persecution.

“Many in the media share the same woke mindset that they will not call out radical Islamic terrorism for what it is, especially when it’s Christians who are the victims. And so it takes the rest of us to highlight this needs to end,” Cruz told Morning Wire.

Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now.

Judd Saul is the founder of Equipping the Persecuted, a group that has been on the ground trying to minister to Nigerian Christians. He said the crisis has been building for decades as radical Muslim groups have been taking control of the area.

“What they have done is they move in, they populate, and once they gain population, they start taking political control. And once they gain political control, the killing starts,” Saul told Morning Wire.

These deaths often occur among women, children, and the elderly who can’t easily flee their small villages.

Why the silence: One of Saul’s biggest frustrations is how little the world knows about the ongoing genocide. The Nigerian government effectively controls what gets reported. Western outlets too often repeat official denials without sending reporters to see the devastation themselves.

“The mainstream media never shows up. They just take the government’s word for it, and every time Christians are killed, it’s always ‘unknown gunmen.’ But we know who’s doing it,” Saul said.

Now footage is emerging of burned churches, mass graves, and displaced families living under tarps in camps with no food or medicine.

Response from Washington: Cruz introduced legislation this month: the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025. It will impose sanctions on Nigerian officials accused of facilitating violence against Christians and other religious minorities.

Response from Nigeria: Nigerian officials continue to deny that Christians are being targeted for their faith. They’re framing the violence as clashes between herders and farmers. But many international watchdogs like Open Doors and International Christian Concern say that’s false.

Saul says the Nigerian military has repeatedly failed to respond to warnings of attacks. It’s because of this inaction that many Nigerian Christians are calling on the United States government to use its international influence to shine a spotlight on these atrocities.

The Push For Peace In Ukraine

Topline: President Trump canceled a second summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and hours later, a fresh barrage of Russian missiles rained down on Ukraine.

Moscow doesn’t appear to want to end the war. It recently launched another major missile and drone attack on Ukraine that killed seven people – part of Russia’s campaign to knock out Ukraine’s energy supplies ahead of winter.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the United States has given Ukraine the green light to launch its own attacks inside Russian territory. Trump has denied that report, but on Tuesday, Ukraine used a British Storm Shadow cruise missile to hit a plant in Bryansk, Russia.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also announced on Wednesday a “substantial pickup” in sanctions against Russia.

The exchange in missile attacks came as Trump backed out of a second peace summit with Putin. It was supposed to be held in Budapest, Hungary. The White House canceled the summit after a phone call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Trump said Tuesday he canceled the summit because he did not “want to have a wasted meeting.”

Foreign policy experts say this was a necessary move by Trump, recognizing that Putin does not feel enough pressure for peace talks to be productive.

Ceasefire deal?: Trump said this week that the battle lines should be frozen where they are as a precondition to peace talks. Europe has backed that position, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“I think that was [a] good compromise, but I’m not sure that Putin will support it,” Zelensky told reporters after landing in Oslo.

The Ukrainian president has continued to press his case for Tomahawk missiles after his meeting at the White House last week. Zelensky said in a post on X that “Russia continues to do everything to weasel out” of a ceasefire, and “as soon as the issue of long-range capabilities for Ukraine became less immediate, [Moscow’s] interest in diplomacy faded. This signals that deep strike capabilities may hold the key to peace.”

Israel: Vice President JD Vance paid a visit to Israel this week, primarily signaling the Trump administration’s commitment to holding together the ceasefire and moving forward with Trump’s 20-point peace plan. While there, Vance recognized some of the limits of the current situation.

“You basically have two regions in Gaza, one of which is relatively safe – I wouldn’t say very safe – and one of which is incredibly dangerous, and part of ensuring that we get to a durable peace is to broaden the scope of the area that’s safe,” said Vance. “The international security force is a big part of that. We don’t yet have the international security force set up. That’s something we’re working towards.”

Illegal Alien TikToker Nabbed In Los Angeles

Topline: An illegal immigrant and well-known TikToker was shot by federal authorities in Los Angeles after he tried to evade arrest for a second time and allegedly rammed a federal vehicle.

The illegal immigrant allegedly behind the attack is Carlitos Ricardo Parías, 44, who is known on TikTok as Richard LA and who regularly exposes ICE operations online to his more than 132,000 followers.

The suspect allegedly tried to impede an ICE operation months ago, but got away. He was seen in handcuffs being hauled into a vehicle by bystanders while federal authorities were trying to arrest him for allegedly interfering with immigration operations, federal law enforcement sources told The Daily Wire.

U.S. Marshals encountered him again this week, arresting him while he attempted to flee a second time. During the attack on ICE agents in which Parías allegedly rammed a federal vehicle, agents responded with gunfire, hitting Parías in the elbow. A U.S. Marshal was wounded by a ricochet bullet that hit him in the hand.

Parías has been charged with assaulting a federal officer, which carries a sentence of up to eight years in prison.

Parías has been considered somewhat of a local hero, being honored by the Los Angeles City Council for his “tireless efforts to safeguard our neighborhoods from illegal raids” in exposing ICE operations on TikTok.

He is being prosecuted aggressively by U.S. attorneys in part because federal officials get so little support in deep blue, sanctuary areas that protect illegal aliens.

New York City riot over deportations: Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday raided New York City’s Canal Street, notorious for illegal immigrant crime, as a mob of rioters attempted to stop them.

Law enforcement arrested illegal aliens of African origin, each with a lengthy rap sheet. Five of the aliens entered the United States illegally and were let go under former President Joe Biden.

The raid on Canal Street came after Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez exposed African immigrants selling counterfeit designer handbags along the sidewalk. The aliens would take off running wherever the police showed up.

Sanctuary policies have protected the illegal immigrants, as well as facilitated their illicit activities on Canal Street, according to federal officials.