More Words, Deeper Hole

"IED", literally "improvised explosive device", can be nearly anything; "IED", in the Iraq occupation sense of "we don't want to give it an accurate name" is awfully unlikely, since they're not, e.g., rushing about trying to find the industrial facility producing directional anti-vehicle mines.

There's an increasing number of financially desperate people as the service industry stays collapsed; with Dougie enabling mass evictions, there's going to be a fraction of the desperate-and-soon-to-be-homeless committing suicide. Gaudy suicide in front of the courthouse doesn't seem especially implausible.

Won't get a departure from authoritarian language unless a news org makes a conscious effort to present a social justice take on events, but certainly nothing in that initial story makes the authoritarian take seem especially plausible.