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  • Senate Banking panel GOP chair: Powell didn’t commit crime

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    WASHINGTON — Democrats and one Republican on a key committee are seeking to hold up advancing President Donald Trump’s choice to be the next Federal Reserve chair until the administration’s investigation into the current one is put to rest.

    It comes as the top Republican on the panel expressed confidence that Kevin Warsh’s nomination will move forward soon, even as he said current Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not commit a crime. 

    What You Need To Know

    • This week, all Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — which plays an essential role in the process of confirming nominees for the Federal Reserve — sent a letter to the panel’s Republican chair, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, urging him not to hold a hearing on the president’s pick for the next head of the Fed until investigations launched under the Trump administration into Powell and Fed Governor Lisa Cook have been closed

    • It echoed what one Republican on the committee, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose support is likely critical, expressed after Trump announced his pick of former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to be the next chair last week

    • Powell’s announced last month that the Justice Department is investigating him regarding renovations to the Fed’s office buildings and his testimony to Congress about it

    • Scott said in an interview this week that he does not believe Powell committed in crime in his testimony; He also expressed confidence Warsh’s nomination would move forward 
    • Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to rule out the possibility that the administration would seek to sue Warsh if he doesn’t lower interest rates during an appearance in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill Thursday

    This week, all Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs — which plays an essential role in the process of confirming nominees for the Federal Reserve — sent a letter to the panel’s Republican chair, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, urging him not to hold a hearing on the president’s pick for the next head of the Fed until investigations launched under the Trump administration into Powell and Fed governor Lisa Cook have been closed. 

    “The nomination comes after months of repeated efforts by President Trump and his Administration to influence the Fed by intimidation, including by opening criminal investigations into Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Fed Chair Jerome Powell,” the 11 Democrats on the committee wrote in the letter. “These ongoing efforts by the President to control the Fed — which must be able to exercise independent judgment — undermine public confidence in any nomination for chair at this time.”

    It echoed what one Republican on the committee, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose support is likely critical, expressed after Trump announced his pick of former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to be the next chair last week. 

    “My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved,” Tillis wrote on X despite noting that he believes Warsh is a “qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy.”

    Tillis — who announced his retirement from Congress at the end of his term after a high-profile spat with the president — initially pledged to to oppose any nominee for the Fed, including Trump’s upcoming pick for chair, in the wake of Powell’s announcement last month that the Justice Department is investigating him regarding renovations to the Fed’s office buildings and his testimony to Congress about it. The revelation caused a firestorm on Capitol Hill. The administration has also sought to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations — which she denies — in a case that is now in front of the Supreme Court.

    Trump has consistently criticized Powell since he returned to the White House, making clear his disapproval of the Fed chair for not lowering interest rates as much or as quickly as he would like. The president has held off on moving to try to oust him, however, often citing the fact that Powell’s term as chairman is up in May. 

    Despite noting he is glad the country is set to get a new Federal Reserve chair, Scott said in a notable statement Wednesday he did not believe Powell committed a crime during his testimony in front of the committee the South Carolina Republican chairs about the central bank’s renovation project. 

    “I found him to be inept at doing his job, but ineptness or being incompetent is not a criminal act,” Scott told Fox News in an interview regarding Powell. “I believe what he did was make a gross error in judgment. He was not prepared for that hearing. I do not believe that he committed a crime during the hearing.”

    Scott went on to express confidence that Warsh’s nomination will be able to move forward despite the demands from Tillis and the panel’s Democrats. 

    “I believe that we’re going to resolve that issue, we’re going to move forward, and Thom Tillis will be voting for Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve,” he said. 

    Trump announced his pick of Warsh days ago after weeks of speculation about whom he would tap for the role as the president has left no doubts that he hopes the person would seek to lower interest rates. 

    Trump has said that he didn’t ask Warsh to commit to cutting rates ahead of time — referring to such a request as “inappropriate” — but has made clear he believes his pick wants to and will. 

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, declined Thursday to rule out the possibility that the administration would seek to sue Warsh if he doesn’t lower interest ratesduring an appearance in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill Thursday. 

    “That is up to the president,” Bessent said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Backyard vegetable gardens are healthy for people, planet. Here’s how to start

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    OHIO — If you want healthy food, experts say to eat what’s local, organic and in-season. Those foods benefit the planet too, because they are less taxing on the soil and they don’t travel as far.

    It doesn’t get more local, organic and in-season than a backyard vegetable garden.

    What You Need To Know

    • At this time of year, many backyards across the country are still covered in snow

    • Vegetable gardens benefit the surrounding ecosystem by adding diverse plant life, especially where they replace grass or cover a deck or patio

    • Homegrown vegetables and fruits are responsible for fewer emissions than their store-bought counterparts
    • Gardening promotes physical health because it requires a lot of movement

    At this time of year, many backyards across the country are still covered in snow. But it’s the perfect time to start planning for a garden because you’ll want to have supplies ready to start planting just after the last frost date in your area.

    Below are some tips on how to plan a backyard garden and reasons why you should do it.

    Homegrown vegetables have fewer emissions

    Vegetable gardens benefit the surrounding ecosystem by adding diverse plant life, especially where they replace grass or cover a deck or patio. They also can provide flowering plants for pollinators.

    The plants capture and store carbon in the soil, promote healthy soil by preventing compaction and can make the air cooler on rooftops and patios, according to Ellen Comeau, who chairs the advisory council for the Cuyahoga County Master Gardener Volunteers with the Ohio State University Extension program.

    Homegrown vegetables and fruits are responsible for fewer emissions than their store-bought counterparts because grocery store produce typically travels long distances on trucks.

    “There’s this whole idea of a zero-kilometer meal, that I don’t have to travel anywhere, except my backyard, to make food. That certainly helps the climate,” said Carol Connare, editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

    Gardening has health benefits

    The health benefits from gardening are multifaceted, “social, emotional, nutritional, physical,” said Katherine Alaimo, an associate professor of food science and human nutrition at Michigan State University.

    Gardening promotes physical health because it requires a lot of movement. The food is typically picked at the height of ripeness and eaten fresh so it tends to have more nutrients than grocery store produce.

    Alaimo said most gardeners don’t use pesticides and grow their food organically. And of course, when you grow more produce, you eat more produce.

    “That’s going to reinforce people eating more fruits and vegetables even in the off season when they’re not growing food. So they try new foods, they potentially increase creativity and their cooking skills,” she said.

    Alaimo said gardening also connects people with nature, provides a sense of responsibility and accomplishment and encourages sharing harvests with friends. All of that can contribute to reduced stress, lower blood pressure and higher energy, she said.

    Picking the right spot and budgeting

    Sunlight is the biggest factor in choosing where to put your garden. Most produce wants at least six hours of sunlight per day. If sunny spots are few, save them for fruiting plants because leafy greens can tolerate more shade.

    It also helps to have a nearby water source because you’ll get more food for less effort if you’re not lugging buckets of water a long way.

    If you’re growing in the ground, Comeau said to start with a soil test to determine its acidity and nutrient makeup. Soil samples, once bagged or boxed, can typically be sent to a cooperative extension office at a university. The Old Farmer’s Almanac offers a list of extension offices by state. The results will give you an idea of what to grow and whether you need fertilizer or other amendments.

    If you have barren soil or a concrete patio, you can buy or build raised beds with purchased soil. Connare said raised beds have advantages such as controlling the soil, but the disadvantages include the cost and the likelihood of compacting soil and eventually needing to replace it.

    After finding the right spot, Comeau said the next step is figuring out how much you have to spend. That determines how big the garden is, whether you sow seeds or buy baby plants known as starts and how many supplies you can afford.

    Another major investment: fencing for pests. That means digging fences into the soil to stop burrowing animals like groundhogs, making them tall to deter deer or installing netting for climbing critters.

    Choosing what to grow and when to start

    What you can grow depends on what falls into your region’s plant hardiness zone. Californians can grow olives more easily than Ohioans, for example.

    Connare recommends finding out what plants are working for your neighbors.

    “They might be able to tell you, ‘I can’t grow a Cherokee tomato here to save my life, but these tie-dye ones do great,’” she said.

    Once you’ve narrowed down what can grow, pick what appeals to you. Kevin Espiritu, founder of Epic Gardening, said he used to advise people to focus on what grows the fastest and easiest, but now he also emphasizes choosing what you like to eat.

    Connare also recommends adding flowers to attract pollinators. Local garden centers are good sources of knowledge about what native plants will attract beneficial insects.

    Espiritu said to figure out the last frost date in your area and plan around that. Many fruits and vegetables are best planted after the frost threat has passed, but some can go in earlier. Cool-season crops like leafy vegetables can tolerate slightly colder temperatures. Seeds can get started indoors weeks before the last frost date.

    Comeau said seed packet labels often provide instructions.

    “The label will tell you when you can start it and when it can go into the ground. Some obviously go right into the ground and some can be started ahead of time,” she said.

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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  • Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, predicting 6 more weeks of winter

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    PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of wintry weather Monday, a forecast sure to disappoint many after what’s already been a long, cold season across large parts of the United States.

    His annual prediction and announcement that he had seen his shadow was translated by his handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club at Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania.

    What You Need To Know

    • Punxsutawney Phil’s handlers say he’s seen his shadow and is therefore predicting six more weeks of winter weather

    • Phil’s annual prediction occurred shortly after dawn Monday outside his tree stump in Gobbler’s Knob

    • Groundhog Day on Feb. 2 comes at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox

    The news was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos from the tens of thousands who braved temperatures in the single-digits Fahrenheit to await the annual prognostication. The extreme cold kept the crowd bundled up and helped keep people on the main stage dancing.

    Usually guests can come up on stage and take pictures of Phil after his prediction, but this year the announcer said it was too cold for that and his handlers were afraid to keep him out too long. Instead, the audience was asked to come to the stage, turn around and “do a selfie.”

    The club says that when Phil is deemed to have not seen his shadow, that means there will be an early spring. When he does see it, it’s six more weeks of winter. Phil tends to predict a longer winter far more often than an early spring.

    The annual ritual goes back more than a century, with ties to ancient farming traditions in Europe. Punxsutawney’s festivities have grown considerably since the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray.

    Lisa Gibson was at her 10th Groundhog Day, wearing a lighted hat that resembled the tree stump from which Phil emerges shortly after daybreak.

    “Oh man, it just breaks up the doldrums of winter,” said Gibson, accompanied by her husband — dressed up as Elvis Presley — and teenage daughter. “It’s like Halloween and New Year’s Eve all wrapped up into one holiday.”

    Gibson, a resident of Pittsburgh, had been rooting for Phil to not see his shadow.

    Rick Siger, Pennsylvania’s secretary of community and economic development, said the outdoor thermometer in his vehicle read 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) on his way to Gobbler’s Knob.

    “I think it’s just fun — folks having a good time,” said Siger, attending his fourth straight Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney. “It brings people together at a challenging time. It is a unifying force that showcases the best of Pennsylvania, the best of Punxsutawney, this area.”

    Last year’s announcement was six more weeks of winter, by far Phil’s more common assessment and not much of a surprise during the first week of February. His top-hatted handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club insist Phil’s “groundhogese” of winks, purrs, chatters and nods are being interpreted when they relate the meteorological marmot’s muses about the days ahead.

    AccuWeather’s chief long-range weather expert, meteorologist Paul Pastelok, said early Monday some clouds moved into Punxsutawney overnight, bringing flurries he called “microflakes.”

    Pastelok said the coming week will remain cold, with below-average temperatures in the eastern United States.

    Phil isn’t the only animal being consulted for long-term weather forecasts Monday. There are formal and informal Groundhog Day events in many places in the U.S., Canada and beyond.

    Groundhog Day falls on Feb. 2, the midpoint between the shortest, darkest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s a time of year that also figures in the Celtic calendar and the Christian holiday of Candlemas.

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    Associated Press

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  • Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, predicting 6 more weeks of winter

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    PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of wintry weather Monday, a forecast sure to disappoint many after what’s already been a long, cold season across large parts of the United States.

    His annual prediction and announcement that he had seen his shadow was translated by his handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club at Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania.

    What You Need To Know

    • Punxsutawney Phil’s handlers say he’s seen his shadow and is therefore predicting six more weeks of winter weather

    • Phil’s annual prediction occurred shortly after dawn Monday outside his tree stump in Gobbler’s Knob

    • Groundhog Day on Feb. 2 comes at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox

    The news was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos from the tens of thousands who braved temperatures in the single-digits Fahrenheit to await the annual prognostication. The extreme cold kept the crowd bundled up and helped keep people on the main stage dancing.

    Usually guests can come up on stage and take pictures of Phil after his prediction, but this year the announcer said it was too cold for that and his handlers were afraid to keep him out too long. Instead, the audience was asked to come to the stage, turn around and “do a selfie.”

    The club says that when Phil is deemed to have not seen his shadow, that means there will be an early spring. When he does see it, it’s six more weeks of winter. Phil tends to predict a longer winter far more often than an early spring.

    The annual ritual goes back more than a century, with ties to ancient farming traditions in Europe. Punxsutawney’s festivities have grown considerably since the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray.

    Lisa Gibson was at her 10th Groundhog Day, wearing a lighted hat that resembled the tree stump from which Phil emerges shortly after daybreak.

    “Oh man, it just breaks up the doldrums of winter,” said Gibson, accompanied by her husband — dressed up as Elvis Presley — and teenage daughter. “It’s like Halloween and New Year’s Eve all wrapped up into one holiday.”

    Gibson, a resident of Pittsburgh, had been rooting for Phil to not see his shadow.

    Rick Siger, Pennsylvania’s secretary of community and economic development, said the outdoor thermometer in his vehicle read 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) on his way to Gobbler’s Knob.

    “I think it’s just fun — folks having a good time,” said Siger, attending his fourth straight Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney. “It brings people together at a challenging time. It is a unifying force that showcases the best of Pennsylvania, the best of Punxsutawney, this area.”

    Last year’s announcement was six more weeks of winter, by far Phil’s more common assessment and not much of a surprise during the first week of February. His top-hatted handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club insist Phil’s “groundhogese” of winks, purrs, chatters and nods are being interpreted when they relate the meteorological marmot’s muses about the days ahead.

    AccuWeather’s chief long-range weather expert, meteorologist Paul Pastelok, said early Monday some clouds moved into Punxsutawney overnight, bringing flurries he called “microflakes.”

    Pastelok said the coming week will remain cold, with below-average temperatures in the eastern United States.

    Phil isn’t the only animal being consulted for long-term weather forecasts Monday. There are formal and informal Groundhog Day events in many places in the U.S., Canada and beyond.

    Groundhog Day falls on Feb. 2, the midpoint between the shortest, darkest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s a time of year that also figures in the Celtic calendar and the Christian holiday of Candlemas.

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    Associated Press

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  • 2 officers fired shots during encounter that killed Alex Pretti, DHS says

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    WASHINGTON — Two federal officers fired shots during the encounter that killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti over the weekend in Minneapolis, a Customs and Border Protection official told Congress in a notice sent Tuesday, while Ecuador’s minister of foreign affairs filed an objection saying immigration agents tried to enter the country’s consulate in the city without permission.

    What You Need To Know

    • A Customs and Border Protection official told Congress in a notice that two federal officers fired shots during an encounter that killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis

    • Tuesday’s notification obtained by The Associated Press said officers tried to take Pretti into custody and he resisted, leading to a struggle

    • The official said that during the struggle, a Border Patrol agent yelled, “He’s got a gun!” multiple times

    • Investigators from CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility conducted the analysis based on a review of body-worn camera footage and agency documentation
    • Also Tuesday, federal immigration authorities released an Ecuadorian man whose detention led the chief federal judge in Minnesota to order the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear in his courtroom, the man’s attorney said

    Officers tried to take Pretti into custody and he resisted, leading to a struggle, according to a notification to Congress obtained by The Associated Press. During the struggle, a Border Patrol agent yelled, “He’s got a gun!” multiple times, the official said.

    A Border Patrol officer and a CBP officer each fired Glock pistols, the notice said.

    Investigators from CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility conducted the analysis based on a review of body-worn camera footage and agency documentation, the notice said. The law requires the agency to inform relevant congressional committees about deaths in CBP custody within 72 hours.

    Separately, a man was arrested after he sprayed an unknown liquid at U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar while she was speaking at a town hall meeting in Minneapolis. The Democrat had just called for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign when she was sprayed.

    Trump says ‘we’re going to de-escalate a little bit’

    The developments came a day after President Donald Trump ordered border czar Tom Homan to take over his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota in the wake of Pretti’s death, which was the second fatal shooting this month of a person at the hands of immigration law enforcement.

    By sending Homan to Minnesota, “we’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ “Will Cain Show.” That’s significant since White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when questioned repeatedly Monday about Homan’s being dispatched to Minnesota, refused to say that doing so was an effort to calm the situation.

    The president added of Homan, “Tom, as tough as he is, gets along” with governors and mayors, even in Democratic areas.

    As he left the White House on Tuesday, the president was asked whether Pretti’s killing was justified. He responded by saying that a “big investigation” was underway. In the hours after Pretti’s death, some administration officials sought to blame the shooting on the 37-year-old intensive care nurse.

    Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff who had initially called Pretti “an assassin,” issued a statement suggesting CBP officers in Minneapolis “may not have been following” protocol. He said the Homeland Security Department’s initial statements about what transpired on Saturday was “based on reports from CBP on the ground.”

    Ecuador files a protest with the U.S. Embassy

    A video of the Ecuadorian consulate entry attempt posted on social media shows a staffer running to the door to turn the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents away, telling them, “This is the Ecuadorian consulate. You’re not allowed to enter.” One ICE officer can be heard responding by threatening to “grab” the staffer if he touched the agent before agreeing to leave.

    International law generally prohibits law enforcement authorities from entering foreign consulates or embassies without permission, though sometimes permission may be assumed granted for life-threatening emergencies, like fires.

    “Consulate officials immediately prevented the ICE officer from entering the consular building, thus ensuring the protection of the Ecuadorians who were present at the time and activating the emergency protocols issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility,” the ministry wrote on X.

    A “note of protest” was filed with the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador so that similar attempts aren’t made at other consulates, the ministry said. The State Department, Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Trump says of sending Bovino to Minneapolis: ‘Maybe it wasn’t good here’

    Immigration enforcement activity witnessed by journalists in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs on Tuesday appeared comparable with recent weeks. As before, most didn’t result in major confrontations with agents. Activists say they continue to monitor enforcement operations through social media and chats on messaging apps.

    The White House had tried to blame Democratic leaders for the protests of immigration raids. But after Pretti’s killing and videos suggesting he was not an active threat, the administration tapped Homan to take charge of the Minnesota operation from Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino.

    Trump said Bovino, the go-to architect for the president’s large-scale city-by-city immigration crackdowns, was “very good” but added “he’s a pretty out-there kind of a guy” and “maybe it wasn’t good here.”

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, along with the city’s police chief, met with Homan on Tuesday and agreed to keep talking. Homan posted on social media that the discussions “were a productive starting point.”

    Courts weigh in on detained immigrants

    In Texas, a federal judge issued a temporary order prohibiting the removal of a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father who were detained last week in Minnesota in an incident that further inflamed divisions on immigration. U.S. Judge Fred Biery ruled Monday that any removal or transfer of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, is on hold while a court case proceeds.

    Also in Texas, federal immigration authorities released an Ecuadorian man whose detention led the chief federal judge in Minnesota to order the head of ICE to appear in his courtroom, the man’s attorney said.

    Attorney Graham Ojala-Barbour said the man was released in Texas. The lawyer said in an email to The Associated Press that he was notified in an email from the U.S. attorneys office in Minneapolis that his client had been freed.

    In an order dated Monday, Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz expressed frustration with the Trump administration’s handling of immigration cases. He took the extraordinary step of ordering Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, to personally appear in his courtroom Friday.

    Schiltz had said in his order that he would cancel Lyons’ appearance if the man was released from custody.

    “This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result,” he wrote.

    Schiltz’s order followed a federal court hearing Monday on a request by the state and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul for a judge to halt the immigration enforcement surge. The judge in that case said she would prioritize the ruling but did not give a timeline for a decision.

    Schiltz wrote that he recognizes ordering the head of a federal agency to appear personally is extraordinary. “But the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed,” he said.

    The Associated Press left messages Tuesday with ICE and a DHS spokesperson seeking a response.

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    Associated Press

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  • TikTok settles as social media giants face landmark youth addiction trial

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    LOS ANGELES — TikTok agreed to settle a landmark social media addiction lawsuit just before the trial kicked off, the plaintiff’s attorneys confirmed.

    What You Need To Know

    • TikTok has agreed to settle in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit just before the trial kicked off, the plaintiff’s attorneys confirmed

    • The social video platform was one of three companies facing claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children, along with Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube

    • Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum

    • Additional details of the settlement with TikTok were not disclosed

    The social video platform was one of three companies — along with Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube — facing claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum.

    Details of the settlement with TikTok were not disclosed, and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    At the core of the case is a 19-year-old identified only by the initials “KGM,” whose case could determine how thousands of other, similar lawsuits against social media companies will play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury and what damages, if any, may be awarded, said Clay Calvert, a nonresident senior fellow of technology policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

    A lawyer for the plaintiff said in a statement Tuesday that TikTok remains a defendant in the other personal injury cases, and that the trial will proceed as scheduled against Meta and YouTube.

    Jury selection starts this week in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. It’s the first time the companies will argue their case before a jury, and the outcome could have profound effects on their businesses and how they will handle children using their platforms. The selection process is expected to take at least a few days, with 75 potential jurors questioned each day through at least Thursday. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum.

    KGM claims that her use of social media from an early age addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Importantly, the lawsuit claims that this was done through deliberate design choices made by companies that sought to make their platforms more addictive to children to boost profits. This argument, if successful, could sidestep the companies’ First Amendment shield and Section 230, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms.

    “Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,” the lawsuit says.

    Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify at the trial, which will last six to eight weeks. Experts have drawn similarities to the Big Tobacco trials that led to a 1998 settlement requiring cigarette companies to pay billions in health care costs and restrict marketing targeting minors.

    “Plaintiffs are not merely the collateral damage of Defendants’ products,” the lawsuit says. “They are the direct victims of the intentional product design choices made by each Defendant. They are the intended targets of the harmful features that pushed them into self-destructive feedback loops.”

    The tech companies dispute the claims that their products deliberately harm children, citing a bevy of safeguards they have added over the years and arguing that they are not liable for content posted on their sites by third parties.

    “Recently, a number of lawsuits have attempted to place the blame for teen mental health struggles squarely on social media companies,” Meta said in a recent blog post. “But this oversimplifies a serious issue. Clinicians and researchers find that mental health is a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, and trends regarding teens’ well-being aren’t clear-cut or universal. Narrowing the challenges faced by teens to a single factor ignores the scientific research and the many stressors impacting young people today, like academic pressure, school safety, socio-economic challenges and substance abuse.”

    A Meta spokesperson said in a statement Monday the company strongly disagrees with the allegations outlined in the lawsuit and that it’s “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”

    José Castañeda, a Google Spokesperson, said Monday that the allegations against YouTube are “simply not true.” In a statement, he said “Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work.”

    TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

    The case will be the first in a slew of cases beginning this year that seek to hold social media companies responsible for harming children’s mental well-being. A federal bellwether trial beginning in June in Oakland, California, will be the first to represent school districts that have sued social media platforms over harms to children.

    In addition, more than 40 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against Meta, claiming it is harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. The majority of cases filed their lawsuits in federal court, but some sued in their respective states.

    TikTok also faces similar lawsuits in more than a dozen states.

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    Associated Press

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  • Winter storm deaths reach 35 as officials say 3 Texas boys drowned in icy pond

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    When a massive winter storm descended on the Northeast and parts of the South over the weekend, Lisa Patterson planned to stick it out at her family’s home in Nashville.

    But after she and her husband lost power, trees fell onto their driveway and their wood stove proved no match for the frigid temperatures. Along with their dog, the couple had to be rescued and taken to a warming shelter.

    What You Need To Know

    • A new influx of arctic air is expected to spur freezing temperatures in parts of the South already covered in snow and ice

    • Many people have fled to warming shelters, and crews worked Tuesday to restore power knocked out by a massive weekend winter storm

    • At least 35 deaths have been reported in states afflicted with severe cold

    “I’ve been snowed in up there for almost three weeks without being able to get up and down my driveway because of the snow. I’m prepared for that. But this was unprecedented,” Patterson said.

    The family was among many across Tennessee and other parts of the South that have fled to warming shelters as crews worked to restore power to hundreds of thousands of households in the face of a new influx of arctic air expected to spur freezing temperatures Tuesday in places already covered in snow and ice.

    At least 35 deaths have been reported in states afflicted with severe cold. Three brothers ages 6, 8 and 9 died Monday after falling through ice on a private pond near Bonham, Texas, said County Sheriff Cody Shook in a news release Tuesday. The two older boys were pulled from the water by first responders and a neighbor then taken to a hospital, while the youngest was recovered after an extensive search of the pond. Bonham Independent School District said it was devastated by the loss.

    Other deaths included two people run over by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, fatal sledding accidents that killed teenagers in Arkansas and Texas, and a woman whose body was found covered in snow in Kansas. In New York City, officials said eight people were found dead outdoors over the frigid weekend.

    The National Weather Service had warnings for extreme, dangerous cold in effect Tuesday morning from Texas to Pennsylvania, where some areas were forecast to see wind chills as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 29 degrees Celsius. Much of the U.S. wasn’t forecast to get above freezing all day Tuesday, with temperatures plunging again overnight. Thermometers in northern Florida were forecast to sink to 25 F, or minus 3.9 C late Tuesday into early Wednesday.

    The brutal cold lingered after storms over the weekend and Monday dumped deep snow across more than 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) from Arkansas to New England and left parts of the South coated in treacherous ice.

    In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear warned that the temperatures could become so frigid that as little as 10 minutes outside “could result in frostbite or hypothermia.”

    And forecasters said it’s possible another winter storm could hit parts of the East Coast this weekend.

    There were still 550,000 power outages in the nation Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.com. Most of them were in the South, where weekend blasts of freezing rain caused tree limbs and power lines to snap, inflicting crippling outages on northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee. Officials warned that it could take days for power to be restored.

    In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday at least 14 homes and 20 public roads had major damage in the aftermath of the state’s worst ice storm since 1994. The University of Mississippi canceled classes for the entire week as its Oxford campus remained coated in treacherous ice.

    New York City saw its snowiest day in years, with neighborhoods recording 8 to 15 inches of snow, forcing the nation’s largest public school system to shut down.

    In Nashville, Nathan Hoffner sent his 4-year-old son to stay with his son’s mother after his rental house in lost power midday Sunday. He and his roommate layered up with clothes and several blankets overnight and by the next morning the temperature inside the home had dropped dramatically.

    “I saw my breath in the house,” Hoffner said.

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  • Israel recovers remains of final Gaza hostage, key for ceasefire’s next phase

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    JERUSALEM — The remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, Israel’s military said Monday, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that paused the Israel-Hamas war.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israel says the remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that stopped the Israel-Hamas war

    • Monday’s announcement came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate the remains of Ran Gvili

    • The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, has been a key part of the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase, and Gvili’s family had urged Israel’s government not to enter the second phase until his remains were recovered and returned

    The announcement that the remains of Ran Gvili had been found and identified came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate them.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “an incredible achievement” for Israel and its soldiers, telling Israeli media that “I promised we would bring everyone home and we have brought everyone home.” He said Gvili, who was killed during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war, was among the first to be taken into Gaza.

    The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, has been a key part of the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase, and Gvili’s family had urged Israel’s government not to enter the second phase until his remains were recovered and returned.

    Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that Israel would open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Palestinians see as their lifeline to the world, once the search for Gvili was finished. It has been largely shut since May 2024, except for a small period in early 2025.

    Israel and Hamas had been under pressure from ceasefire mediators including Washington to move into the second phase of the U.S.-brokered truce, which took effect on Oct. 10.

    Israel had repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in the recovery of the final hostage. Hamas said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.

    Israel’s military had said the large-scale operation to locate Gvili’s remains was “in the area of the Yellow Line” that divides the territory.

    The Oct. 7, 2023 attack killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer known affectionately as “Rani,” was killed while fighting Hamas militants.

    Before Gvili’s remains were recovered, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others had been returned to Israel since the ceasefire, most recently in early December. Israel in exchange has released the bodies of hundreds Palestinians to Gaza.

    The next phase of the 20-point ceasefire plan has called for creating an international stabilization force, forming a technocratic Palestinian government and disarming Hamas.

    Palestinians killed in Gaza

    Israeli forces on Monday fatally shot a man in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the body. The man was close to an area where the military has launched the search operation for Gvili, the hospital said.

    Another man was killed in the eastern side of Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, which received his body. The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.

    More than 480 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire since Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

    Israel’s top court considers petition to open Gaza for international journalists

    The Foreign Press Association on Monday asked Israel’s Supreme Court to allow journalists to enter Gaza freely and independently.

    The FPA, which represents dozens of global news organizations, has been fighting for more than two years for independent media access to Gaza. Israel has barred reporters from entering Gaza independently since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas, which triggered the war, saying entry could put both journalists and soldiers at risk.

    The army has offered journalists brief, occasional visits under strict military supervision.

    FPA lawyers told the three judge panel that the restrictions are not justified and that with aid workers moving in and out of Gaza, journalists should be allowed in as well. They also said the tightly controlled embeds with the military are no substitute for independent access. The judges are expected to rule in the coming days.

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  • Videos of deadly Minneapolis shooting contradict government statements

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    Videos quickly emerged showing the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a Border Patrol agent that has been widely denounced as a case of excessive force carried out by untrained federal officers. The Trump administration says it was a case of an armed man provoking violence.

    What You Need To Know

    • Videos quickly emerged showing the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a Border Patrol agent that has been widely denounced as a case of excessive force carried out by untrained federal officers

    • The administration says it was a case of an armed man provoking violence

    • The Associated Press reviewed multiple bystander videos that show a Border Patrol agent shooting and killing 37-year-old Alex Pretti after a roughly 30-second scuffle on Saturday morning

    • The videos appear to contradict statements by the Trump administration, which said the shots were fired “defensively” against Pretti as he “approached” them with a gun
    • In the videos, Pretti is seen with only a phone in his hand

    The Associated Press reviewed multiple bystander videos that show a Border Patrol agent shooting and killing 37-year-old Alex Pretti after a roughly 30-second scuffle around 9 a.m. Saturday. The videos appear to contradict statements by the Trump administration, which said the shots were fired “defensively” against Pretti as he “approached” them with a gun.

    In the videos, Pretti is seen with only a phone in his hand. During the scuffle, “gun, gun” is heard, and an officer appears to pull a handgun from Pretti’s waist area and begins moving away. As that happens, a first shot is fired by a Border Patrol officer. There’s a slight pause, and then the same officer fires several more times into Pretti’s back.

    Afterward, authorities said Pretti had a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. He was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said he watched one of the videos, said he saw “more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents, shooting him to death.” Frey has said Minneapolis and St. Paul are being “invaded” by the administration’s largest immigration crackdown, dubbed Operation Metro Surge.

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti attacked officers, and Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said Pretti wanted to do “maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” In posts on X, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, called Pretti “a would-be assassin.”

    It was the second fatal shooting in Minneapolis by federal immigration authorities this month. The first, on Jan. 7, involved Renee Good. It also was captured on videos and produced a similar schism among political leaders.

    The shooting occurred when officers were pursuing a man in the country illegally who was wanted for domestic assault, Bovino said. Protesters routinely try to disrupt such operations, and they sounded high-pitched whistles, honked horns and yelled at officers.

    Among them was Pretti. At one point, in a video obtained by AP, Pretti is standing in the street and holding up his phone. He is face-to-face with an officer in a tactical vest, who places his hand on Pretti and pushes him toward the sidewalk.

    Pretti is talking to the officer, though it is not clear what he is saying.

    The video shows protesters wandering in and out of the street as officers persist in trying to keep them at bay. One protester is put in handcuffs. Some officers are carrying pepper spray canisters.

    Pretti comes in again when the video shows an officer wearing tactical gear shoving a protester. The protester, who is wearing a skirt over black tights and holding a water bottle, reaches out for Pretti.

    The same officer shoves Pretti in his chest, leading Pretti and the other protester to stumble backward.

    A different video then shows Pretti moving toward another protester, who falls over after being shoved by the same officer. Pretti moves between the protester and the officer, reaching his arms out toward the officer.

    The officer deploys pepper spray, and Pretti raises his hand and turns his face. The officer grabs Pretti’s hand to bring it behind his back, deploys the pepper spray canister again and then pushes Pretti away.

    Seconds later, at least a half-dozen federal officers surround Pretti, who is wrestled to the ground and hit several times. Several agents try to bring Pretti’s arms behind his back, and he struggles.

    Videos show an officer, who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back, backing away from the group with what appears to be a gun in his right hand just before the first shot.

    Someone shouts “gun, gun.” It is not clear if that’s a reference to the weapon authorities say Pretti had.

    Then the first shot is heard.

    Pretti slumps to the ground. Videos show the officers backing away, some with guns drawn. More shots are fired.

    The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a gun. Officials did not say if Pretti brandished the weapon or kept it hidden.

    An agency statement said officers fired “defensive shots” after Pretti “violently resisted” officers tried to disarm him.

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz expressed dismay at the characterization.

    “I’ve seen the videos, from several angles, and it’s sickening,” he said.

    Trump weighed in on social media by lashing out Walz and Frey. Trump shared images of the gun that immigration officials said was recovered from Pretti and said “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”

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  • Man shot and killed during Minneapolis immigration crackdown

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    A man fatally shot by a federal officer in Minnesota worked as an ICU nurse, his parents say

    By The Associated Press undefined

    A federal officer fatally shot a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, according to a hospital record obtained by The Associated Press. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said in a social media post that he had been in contact with the White House after the shooting. He called on President Donald Trump to end the crackdown in his state. The Minnesota National Guard, which had been activated earlier by Walz, was assisting local police amid growing protests.

     

    A federal immigration officer fatally shot a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigidly cold streets in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a 37-year-old man was killed but declined to identify him. He added that information about what led up to the shooting was limited. The man was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse. The officer who shot Pretti is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.

    The Minnesota National Guard has been activated by Gov. Tim Walz and is assisting local police amid growing protests. Guard troops are going to both to the shooting site and to a federal building where officials have squared off with protesters daily.

    There have been daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fired into her vehicle. Pretti was killed just over a mile away from where Good was shot.

    The Latest:

    Family: ‘heartbroken but also very angry’

    Pretti’s family released a statement Saturday evening saying they are “heartbroken but also very angry” and calling him a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.

    “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” the statement said.

    “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”

    Gun rights group ‘deeply concerned’ about shooting

    While noting that “many critical facts remain unknown,” the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement that “there has been no evidence produced indicating an intent to harm the officers” and called for an investigation by both state and federal authorities.

    “Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights,” the group said. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”

    Federal officials have said Pretti was armed and officers fired defensively after he approached them during an operation and resisted attempts to disarm him. However bystander videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a weapon.

    The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.

    Another evening rally at a park near the scene of Saturday’s shooting

    People chanted “say his name” in memory of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot earlier in the day by a federal agent.

    One speaker called for sit-ins at congressional offices to urge a halt to funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Another participant said he believes the tide of public opinion is turning in the protesters’ favor.

    Some carried lit candles, and all were bundled up against the frigid nighttime cold.

    After about an hour they went to the scene of the shooting. There were chants of “Resisting ICE is not a crime” and “Observing ICE is not a crime.”

    There were also chants honoring Renee Good, another person who was fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis this month.

    Republican chair of House Homeland Security Committee requests ICE, CBP, USCIS appear before Congress

    Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican who chairs the committee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, sent a letter to the department requesting three top officials appear for questioning before the committee.

    “As chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, my top priority remains keeping Americans safe and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security can accomplish its core mission,” Garbarino said in a statement. “Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect.”

    Garbarino requested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement senior official Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow appear.

    The public hearing would take place sometime in the next two months. Garbarino previously requested that senior DHS officials appear before the committee in a Jan. 15 letter.

    Schumer: Democrats will block spending bill if it includes Homeland Security funding

    Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Democrats will not vote for a spending package that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security.

    Schumer’s statement increases the possibility that the government could partially shut down Jan. 30 when funding runs out. Several Democrats said Saturday that they will not vote for the bipartisan package of bills, which will need some Democratic votes to pass.

    Democrats say the legislation, which includes money for a broad swath of government agencies, does not include enough restrictions on ICE.

    Schumer said what is happening in Minnesota is “appalling.”

    “Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,” Schumer said. “I will vote no.”

    Justice Department official says Minnesota leaders ‘created this escalation’

    Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the shooting an “avoidable tragedy” that is the “result of the total failure of Minnesota’s city and state officials who have resisted federal law enforcement and created this escalation.”

    Blanche said in a statement that the Justice Department will “continue to hold those breaking federal law accountable, including those who harass and violently attack law enforcement in the name of protest.”

    The Department of Homeland Security is leading the investigation into the shooting with assistance from the FBI. The DOJ has not yet indicated whether it would open a civil rights investigation but declined to do so after the earlier shooting, of Renee Good.

    That was a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.

    Dozens of people pay their respects to protester killed by federal agent

    They lit candles, placed flowers and stood in silence at the vigil Saturday evening. As dark fell, hundreds of people gathered somberly and quietly by the growing memorial at the shooting scene.

    Caleb Spike came from a nearby suburb to show his support and his frustration. “It feels like every day something crazier happens,” he said. “What’s happening in our community is wrong, it’s sickening, it’s disgusting.”

    A nearby doughnut shop and clothing store stayed open to offer a place for people to warm up, as well as water, coffee and snacks.

    Democratic senators come out against funding DHS, raising risk of another shutdown

    Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said Saturday that she too would not vote for legislation in the Senate that would fund the Department of Homeland Security.

    In doing so, Cortez Masto joined fellow Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen. The two moderates broke with their party last year on a vote over the last government shutdown.

    Others like Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii have said in the wake of the shooting that they would oppose a DHS funding bill that is part of a spending package in the Senate that aims to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

    Minnesota-born Defense Secretary Hegseth says ICE is greater than Minnesota

    Pete Hegseth posted on the social platform X to thank God for the “patriots” who work for ICE and said, “we have your back 100%.”

    The Pentagon chief added: “Shame on the leadership of Minnesota — and the lunatics in the street. ICE MN.”

    Hegseth was born and raised in Minnesota.

    Nevada Sen. Rosen says she will vote against any government funding package that funds ICE

    Sen. Jacky Rosen, a moderate Democrat from a political swing state, made the announcement Saturday after the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. Rosen was one of eight Democratic senators last year to break ranks with her party and vote with Republicans to move to reopen the government.

    “The abuses of power we are seeing from ICE in Minneapolis and across the country are un-American and cannot be normalized,” Rosen said via the social platform X.

    “Enough is enough. We need to rein in ICE’s out of control conduct,” Rosen said.

    A bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security is part of a package of spending bills that is moving through the Senate to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

    Top Democrat on House Homeland Security Committee calls for Noem impeachment

    Congressman Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached and denounced statements from the administration about the man DHS agents killed.

    “Apparently, the Trump administration and its secret police only support the First and Second Amendments when it’s convenient to them,” Thompson said in a statement.

    Thompson called on Democrats in the U.S. Senate to vote against a funding bill for DHS that passed the lower chamber last week. “This is un-American and has to stop,” Thompson said. “The House must immediately take steps to impeach Kristi Noem.”

    Walz excoriates immigration operations in Minnesota

    Walz issued a statement Saturday calling immigration enforcement “organized brutality.”

    “The federal occupation of Minnesota long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. It is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state. And today, that campaign claimed yet another life,” Walz said.

    He said the state, and not the federal government, will lead the investigation into the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.

    Pretti was shot and killed by federal officers amid an immigration operation.

    “Minnesotans and our local law enforcement have done everything we can to deescalate. The federal government must deescalate. I once again call on the President to remove the 3,000 agents from Minnesota who are sowing chaos and violence.”

    Congressional Democrats sharply criticize DHS chief Kristi Noem

    Congressional Democrats responded with immediate outrage to the killing of another person by federal agents in Minneapolis.

    Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called for ICE to be “abolished” and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached.

    “Trump has created a militarized police force accountable only to him and ready to murder people in our streets. These agents need to leave our cities NOW,” the California Democrat wrote on social media.

    Congressman Brad Schneider, chair of the moderate New Democratic Coalition in the U.S. House, called for an investigation into the shooting and for federal agents to leave Minnesota.

    “Every agent involved in this shooting must be suspended pending a full and independent investigation and ultimately held to account for their actions today,” Schneider said in a statement. “And, Kristi Noem has got to go. She needs to resign or be fired. If not, Congress must act,” the Illinois Democrat continued.

    Man identified who was shot and killed amid Minneapolis immigration operation

    The man who was shot and killed by a federal officer during an immigration operation has been identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti. His parents told The Associated Press that Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse.

    Vance criticizes local authorities for refusing to cooperate with ICE agents

    Vice President JD Vance responded to the shooting in a post on X and said that when he visited Minneapolis this week, “what the ICE agents wanted more than anything was to work with local law enforcement so that situations on the ground didn’t get out of hand.”

    He accused local officials in Minnesota of ignoring requests from ICE agents to work with them.

    Notably, federal officials refused to cooperate with local officials on an investigation into the shooting death of Renee Good on Jan. 7.

    Store owner opens to help protesters amid freezing temperatures

    Allison Bross opened her fashion store, b. Resale, next to the shooting scene for the protesters to grab food, water, use the restroom, receive medical attention and get a warm break from the frigid temperatures outside.

    “We’re a community-based business, we don’t exist without the community,” she said. “So if we hear someone in our neighborhood is getting hurt, I’m going to be here immediately.”

    Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial at a bus stop next to the site of the shooting was taking shape. People left flowers and lit candles.

    Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office asks for National Guard help

    Sheriff Dawanna Witt has requested assistance from the Minnesota National Guard to support deputies at the Whipple Federal Building so that deputies can be assigned to other areas.

    The Minnesota National Guard’s role is to work in support of local law enforcement and emergency responders, providing additional resources, the sheriff’s office said.

    Their presence is meant to help create a secure environment where all Minnesotans can exercise their rights safely, including the right to peacefully protest.

    “We know this moment is challenging for our community. Remember that our local teams are also part of this community. We respect and protect everyone’s rights to voice concerns and stand up for what they believe in, but we urge all actions to remain peaceful and lawful. Our collective priority remains protecting our neighborhoods and keeping people safe,” a statement said.

    Trump weighs in on the shooting in Minneapolis

    Trump posted to his Truth Social account after a man was killed by federal officers during an immigration enforcement action in Minneapolis. Trump’s statement said:

    “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go — What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do! Why does Ilhan Omar have $34 Million Dollars in her account? And where are the Tens of Billions of Dollars that have been stolen from the once Great State of Minnesota? We are there because of massive Monetary Fraud, with Billions of Dollars missing, and Illegal Criminals that were allowed to infiltrate the State through the Democrats’ Open Border Policy. We want the money back, and we want it back, NOW. Those Fraudsters who stole the money are going to jail, where they belong! This is no different than a really big Bank Robbery. Much of what you’re witnessing is a COVER UP for this Theft and Fraud.

    “The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric! Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America. LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB! 12,000 Illegal Alien Criminals, many of them violent, have been arrested and taken out of Minnesota. If they were still there, you would see something far worse than you are witnessing today!”

    DHS says officers fired ‘defensive shots’

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

    She said officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

    Police chief says man shot and killed was a ‘lawful gun owner’

    O’Hara said the man’s only previous interaction with law enforcement as far as he knew was for traffic tickets.

    “And we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” he said.

    Police chief asks public, law enforcement to remain calm

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara appealed for calm, both from the public and from federal law enforcement, following the shooting of a man.

    “Our demand today is for those federal agencies that are operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement in this country demands,” the chief said.

    “We urge everyone to remain peaceful. We recognize that there is a lot of anger and a lot of questions around what has happened, but we need people to remain peaceful in the area.”

    Police also clarified that the age of the man shot is 37.

    Angry crowd gathers after shooting of man in Minneapolis

    An angry crowd gathered after the shooting and screamed profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home.

    One officer responded mockingly as he walked away, telling them: “Boo hoo.” Agents elsewhere shoved a yelling protester into a car.

    The intersection where the shooting has been blocked off, and Border Patrol agents are on the scene wielding batons.

    The shooting happened a day after thousands of demonstrators protesting the crackdown on immigrants crowded the city’s streets in frigid weather, calling for federal law enforcement to leave.

    Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar expresses outrage at shooting

    Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has expressed outrage at the shooting of a man during an immigration operation.

    “Donald Trump and all your lieutenants who ordered this ICE surge: watch the horrific video of the killing today. The world is watching. Thousands of citizens stopped and harassed. Local police no longer able to do their work. Kids hiding. Schools closed. Get ICE out of Minnesota,” Klobuchar said in a message posted on X.

    Minnesota Democrats react to the shooting

    Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith issued a statement after the shooting of a man during an ICE operation. She said, “We are gathering more information, but ICE must leave now so MPD can secure the scene and do their jobs.”

    Rep. Angie Craig said in a statement that she has seen “my own eyes the video of another horrific killing by ICE agents this morning in Minneapolis. This is sickening.

    “The agency is beyond out of control. How much more evidence do my Republican colleagues in Minnesota need to speak out?”

    Minneapolis police chief calls for calm

    Police Chief Brian O’Hara called for protesters who amassed at the scene of a shooting to stay calm and leave the area. “Please do not destroy our own city,” he said at a news conference.

    Rep. Omar releases statement after Minnesota shooting

    Rep. Ilhan Omar issued a statement after the shooting of a man by federal officers in Minnesota.

    “I am absolutely heartbroken, horrified, and appalled that federal agents murdered another member of our community. It is beyond shameful these federal agents are targeting our residents instead of protecting them,” she said in a statement.

    “This isn’t isolated or accidental. The Trump administration is trying to beat us into submission rather than protect us. … This administration cannot continue violating constitutional rights under the guise of immigration enforcement.”

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  • Trump extends FEMA Review Council charter

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    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order extending the FEMA Review Council’s charter 60 days, the White House announced Friday night.

    Saturday marks one year since Trump signed a different executive order creating the council to advise him on what to do with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including whether to eliminate it.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump has signed an executive order extending the FEMA Review Council’s charter 60 days, the White House announced Friday night
    • Saturday marks one year since President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a council to advise him on what to do with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including whether to eliminate it

    • The council’s charter called for the FEMA Review Council to end its operations after one year unless the president extended the deadline

    • That deadline had been Saturday — but the council’s report, containing its findings and recommendations, has not been publicly released

    • Trump said last year, “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away, and we pay directly, we pay a percentage to the state, and the state should fix it”

    The council’s charter called for the FEMA Review Council to end its operations after one year. That deadline had been Saturday. The council’s report, containing its findings and recommendations, has not been publicly released.

    A spokesperson for Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who serves on the council, told Spectrum News council members previously reviewed and unanimously supported their report.

    But the council’s scheduled meeting in December, when the report was expected to be released, was canceled.

    At the time a White House official told Spectrum News the meeting was canceled because “White House officials had not been fully briefed on the latest draft of the report, despite some officials at (the Department of Homeland Security) thinking they had been.”

    More than a month later, it’s unclear when or if the report will be issued.

    A spokesperson for Castor told Spectrum News the mayor hadn’t heard anything as of Friday regarding the council since the canceled meeting.

    The council’s charter states, “The Council shall terminate on January 24, 2026, unless extended by the President.”

    Trump created the council after ripping the agency during a trip to western North Carolina shortly after his inauguration last January. He traveled to the state to meet with officials as the area recovered from Tropical Storm Helene the previous September.

    “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away, and we pay directly, we pay a percentage to the state, and the state should fix it,” he said.

    The council is chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Members of the council include Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, former Gov. Glen Youngkin of Virginia and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley.

    Editor’s Note: This article was updated after the White House announced the council’s termination date was extended. (Jan. 24, 2026)

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    Reuben Jones

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  • Family: Man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis was ICU nurse

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    MINNEAPOLIS — Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

    What You Need To Know

    • Family members say the man who was killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis was an intensive care nurse at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city

    • Thirty-seven-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti was an avid outdoorsman who loved getting in adventures with his dog

    • He had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month

    • Court records showed he had no criminal record

    Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer .

    “He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”

    Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets.

    In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in Colorado, told him to be careful when protesting.

    “We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”

    The Department of Homeland Security said that the man was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not specify if Pretti brandished the gun. In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.

    Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to carry it.

    Alex Pretti’s family struggles for information about what happened

    The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an Associated Press reporter. They watched the video and said the man killed appeared to be their son. They then tried reaching out to officials in Minnesota.

    “I can’t get any information from anybody,” Michael Pretti said Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions.”

    Eventually, the family called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who they said confirmed had a body matching the name and description of their son.

    As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.

    Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.

    After graduation, he went to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment, according to the family. He worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.

    Alex Pretti had protested before

    Pretti’s ex-wife, Rachel N. Canoun, said she was not surprised he would have been involved in protesting Trump’s immigration crackdown. She said she had not spoken to him since they divorced more than two years ago and she moved to another state.

    She said he was a Democratic voter and that he had participated in the wave of street protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, not far from the couple’s neighborhood. She described him a someone who might shout at law enforcement officers at a protest, but she had never known him to be physically confrontational.

    “These kinds of things, you know, he felt the injustice to it,” Canoun said. “So it doesn’t surprise me that he would be involved.”

    Canoun said Pretti got a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and that he owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.

    “He didn’t carry it around me, because it made me uncomfortable,” she said.

    Pretti had ‘a great heart,’ neighbor says

    Pretti lived in a four-unit condominium building about 2 miles from where he was shot. Neighbors described him as quiet and warmhearted.

    “He’s a wonderful person,” said Sue Gitar, who lived downstairs from Pretti and said he moved into the building about three years ago. “He has a great heart.”

    If there was something suspicious going on in the neighborhood, or when they worried the building might have a gas leak, he would jump in to help.

    Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but he was not a loner, his neighbors said, and would sometimes have friends over.

    His neighbors knew he had guns — he’d occasionally take a rifle to shoot at a gun range — but were surprised at the idea that he might carry a pistol on the streets.

    “I never thought of him as a person who carried a gun,” said Gitar.

    Pretti was also passionate about the outdoors

    A competitive bicycle racer who lavished care on his new Audi, Pretti had also been deeply attached to his dog, who died about a year ago.

    His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said with all that was happening in Minneapolis he gave the man a $100 tip.

    Pretti’s mother said her son cared immensely about the direction the county was headed, especially the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.

    “He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land,” Susan Pretti said. “He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”

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    Associated Press

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  • White House shares altered image showing arrest in Minnesota

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    The Trump administration on Thursday misrepresented the arrest of a prominent civil rights attorney for her role in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Trump administration is misrepresenting the arrest of civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong for her role in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church

    • The White House on Thursday shared an image that made it appear like she was crying

    • The original image, posted on X by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, shows Levy Armstrong with a neutral expression

    • An attorney for Levy Armstrong said any videos or photos that show her crying were manipulated

    On its official X page, the White House shared an image of Nekima Levy Armstrong that showed her in tears with, her arms behind her back, standing in front of someone wearing a badge around their neck.

    The problem? Levy Armstrong wasn’t actually crying. The image was manipulated to make the moment more dramatic than it actually was.

    Here’s a closer look at the facts.

    CLAIM: An image shows civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong crying while being arrested in Minnesota.

    THE FACTS: This is false. The original image, which shows Levy Armstrong with a neutral expression, was altered to make her appear emotional.

    Jordan Kushner, an attorney for Levy Armstrong, said he was present at his client’s arrest and said any videos and photos put out by the administration showing her crying were manipulated images.

    “It is just so outrageous that the White House would make up stories about someone to try and discredit them,” Kushner said. “She was completely calm and composed and rational. There was no one crying. So this is just outrageous defamation.”

    He added that video Levy Armstrong’s husband shot “dismantles what they claim” and that the video would be released soon.

    Amid growing questions about the image, White House Deputy Communications Director Kaelan Dorr wrote on X Thursday afternoon: “YET AGAIN to the people who feel the need to reflexively defend perpetrators of heinous crimes in our country I share with you this message: Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

    Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Levy Armstrong’s arrest in an X post at 9:28 a.m. EST. Less than an hour later, at 10:21 a.m. EST, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted the original photo of Levy Armstrong, also on X. The White House then shared the manipulated image at 10:54 a.m. EST.

    Certain details in both images are the same, indicating they are not simply photos taken at different times. For example, the badge worn by the person behind Levy Armstrong is in the same position, as are the lights shining through the curtain to the left of Levy Armstrong’s head.

    Neither the White House nor Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for additional comment.

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    Associated Press

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  • College Football Playoff to remain at 12 teams

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    IRVING, Texas — The College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams after the commissioners of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten couldn’t come up with a compromise for expansion.

    What You Need To Know

    • The College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams after the commissioners of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten couldn’t come up with a compromise for expansion

    • The CFP Management Committee announced Friday the 12-team format would stay the same for the 2026-27 season

    • The decision provides additional time for evaluation and discussion on the current format and potential changes in the future

    • The CFP went from four teams to 12 teams for the 2024 season, and the two most powerful conferences favored further expansion but could not agree on a number

    The CFP Management Committee announced Friday the 12-team format would stay the same for the 2026-27 season. The decision provides additional time for evaluation and discussion on the current format and potential changes in the future.

    The CFP went from four teams to 12 teams for the 2024 season, and the two most powerful conferences favored further expansion but could not agree on a number.

    The SEC pushed for 16 teams, with an emphasis on at-large bids — a format favored by the Power Four leagues other than the Big Ten and most of the smaller conferences that are hoping for access into whatever comes next.

    The Big Ten has pushed for a bracket of up to 24 teams with multiple automatic qualifiers from each conference. It could do away with the need for conference title games and replace them with seeding games to determine, say, two or three of the automatic spots.

    “After ongoing discussion about the 12-team playoff format, the decision was made to continue with the current structure,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said. “This will give the Management Committee additional time to review the 12-team format, so they can better assess the need for potential change. While they all agree the current format has brought more excitement to college football and has given more schools a real shot in the postseason, another year of evaluation will be helpful.”

    The 2026-27 season’s format will feature 12 teams based on conference champions and final ranking by the CFP selection committee. First-round games will be played on campus sites, followed by quarterfinals and semifinals hosted by the CFP bowls, and the national championship game, which will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 25, 2027.

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    Associated Press

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  • DOJ investigating if Walz, Frey impeded immigration enforcement

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    MINNEAPOLIS — The Justice Department is investigating whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have impeded federal immigration enforcement through public statements they have made, two people familiar with the matter said Friday.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Justice Department is investigating whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have impeded federal immigration enforcement through public statements they have made, according to two people familiar with the matter

    • The investigation focused on potential violation of a conspiracy statute, the people said

    • In response to reports of the investigation, Walz said in a statement: “Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic”
    • The investigation comes during a weekslong immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul that the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest recent immigration enforcement operation

    The investigation, which both Walz and Frey said was a bullying tactic meant to threaten political opposition, focused on potential violation of a conspiracy statute, the people said.

    The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a pending investigation by name.

    CBS News first reported the investigation.

    The investigation comes during a weekslong immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul that the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest recent immigration enforcement operation, resulting in more than 2,500 arrests.

    The operation has become more confrontational since the fatal shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7, with agents pulling people from cars and homes and frequently being confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave. State and local officials have repeatedly told protesters to remain peaceful.

    In response to reports of the investigation, Walz said in a statement: “Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic.”

    U.S. senators Kelly, from Arizona, and Slotkin, from Michigan, are under investigation from the President Donald Trump administration after appearing with other Democratic lawmakers in a video urging members of the military to resist “illegal orders.” The administration has also launched a criminal investigation of Powell, a first for a sitting federal reserve chair.

    Walz’s office said it has not received any notice of an investigation.

    Frey described the investigation as an attempt to intimidate him for “standing up for Minneapolis, our local law enforcement, and our residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our streets.”

    The U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis did not immediately comment.

    In a post on the social media platform X following reports of the investigation, Attorney General Pam Bondi said: “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.” She did not specifically mention the investigation.

    State calls for peaceful protests

    With more protests expected in the Twin Cities this weekend, state authorities urged demonstrators to avoid confrontation.

    “While peaceful expression is protected, any actions that harm people, destroy property or jeopardize public safety will not be tolerated,” said Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

    His comments came after Trump backed off a bit from his threat a day earlier to invoke an 1807 law, the Insurrection Act, to send troops to suppress demonstrations.

    “I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

    A U.S. judge in Minnesota ruled on Friday that the federal officers working in the Minneapolis-area enforcement operation can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren’t obstructing authorities, including when they’re observing agents.

    The case was filed before Good’s shooting on behalf of six Minnesota activists represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.

    Government attorneys had argued that the officers have been acting within their legal authority to enforce immigration laws and protect themselves. But the ACLU has said government officers are violating the constitutional rights of Twin Cities residents.

    Detention whiplash

    A Liberian man who has been shuttled in and out of custody since immigration agents broke down his door with a battering ram was released again Friday, hours after a routine check-in with authorities led to his second arrest.

    The initial arrest of Garrison Gibson last weekend was captured on video. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan ruled the arrest unlawful Thursday and freed him, but Gibson was detained again Friday when he appeared at an immigration office.

    A few hours later, Gibson was free again, attorney Marc Prokosch said.

    Gibson, 37, who fled the civil war in his West African home country as a child, had been ordered removed from the U.S., apparently because of a 2008 drug conviction that was later dismissed. He has remained in the country legally under what’s known as an order of supervision, Prokosch said, and complied with the requirement that he meet regularly with immigration authorities.

    In his Thursday order, the judge agreed that officials violated regulations by not giving Gibson enough notice that his supervision status had been revoked. Prokosch said he was told by ICE that they are “now going through their proper channels” to revoke the order.

    911 caller: Good was shot ‘point blank’

    Minneapolis authorities released police and fire dispatch logs and transcripts of 911 calls related to the fatal shooting of Good. Firefighters found what appeared to be two gunshot wounds in her right chest, one in her left forearm and a possible gunshot wound on the left side of her head, records show.

    “They shot her, like, cause she wouldn’t open her car door,” a caller said. “Point blank range in her car.”

    Good, 37, was at the wheel of her Honda Pilot, which was partially blocking a street. Video showed an officer approached the SUV, demanded that she open the door and grabbed the handle.

    Good began to pull forward and turned the vehicle’s wheel to the right. Another ICE officer, Jonathan Ross, pulled his gun and fired at close range, jumping back as the SUV moved past him. DHS claims the agent shot Good in self-defense.

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    Associated Press

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  • Trump says he may put tariffs on countries opposed to U.S. controlling Greenland

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    COPENHAGEN, Denmark — President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. controlling Greenland

    • Trump didn’t provide details Friday

    • Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable”

    • But the Republican president had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue

    • Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio

    Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”

    During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

    “I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump said. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said.

    He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.

    Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

    That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences, but did produce an agreement to set up a working group — on whose purpose Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public views.

    European leaders have insisted that is only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.

    President Donald Trump speaks during an event to promote investment in rural health care in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    A relationship that ‘we need to nurture’

    In Copenhagen, a group of senators and members of the House of Representatives met Friday with Danish and Greenlandic lawmakers, and with leaders including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

    Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, thanked the group’s hosts for “225 years of being a good and trusted ally and partner” and said that “we had a strong and robust dialog about how we extend that into the future.”

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said after meeting lawmakers that the visit reflected a strong relationship over decades and “it is one that we need to nurture.” She told reporters that “Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset, and I think that’s what you’re hearing with this delegation.”

    The tone contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals. The White House hasn’t ruled out taking the territory by force.

    “We have heard so many lies, to be honest and so much exaggeration on the threats towards Greenland,” said Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of the Danish parliament who took part in Friday’s meetings. “And mostly, I would say the threats that we’re seeing right now is from the U.S. side.”

    Murkowski emphasized the role of Congress in spending and in conveying messages from constituents.

    “I think it is important to underscore that when you ask the American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, the vast majority, some 75%, will say, we do not think that that is a good idea,” she said.

    Along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, Murkowski has introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of U.S. Defense or State department funds to annex or take control of Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.

    Inuit council criticizes White House statements

    The dispute is looming large in the lives of Greenlanders. Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said on Tuesday that “if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.””

    The chair of the Nuuk, Greenland-based Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents around 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia’s Chukotka region on international issues, said persistent statements from the White House that the U.S. must own Greenland offer “a clear picture of how the US administration views the people of Greenland, how the U.S. administration views Indigenous peoples, and peoples that are few in numbers.”

    Sara Olsvig told The Associated Press in Nuuk that the issue is “how one of the biggest powers in the world views other peoples that are less powerful than them. And that really is concerning.”

    Indigenous Inuit in Greenland do not want to be colonized again, she said.

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    Associated Press

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  • Protests planned across U.S. after shootings in Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon

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    MINNEAPOLIS — Protesters against immigration enforcement took to the streets in cities and towns across the country on Saturday after one federal officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis and another shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon.

    What You Need To Know

    • Protesters against immigration enforcement are taking to the streets across the country after federal officers shot three people in Minneapolis and Portland

    • Saturday’s demonstrations come as the Department of Homeland Security pushes forward in the Twin Cities with what it calls its biggest-ever immigration enforcement operation

    • President Donald Trump’s administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers

    • ndivisible, a social movement group, has organized protests in several states, including Texas and Florida, and in Minneapolis, a rally was set to honor Renee Good, who was shot on Wednesday

    The demonstrations come as the Department of Homeland Security pushes forward in the Twin Cities with what it calls its biggest-ever immigration enforcement operation. President Donald Trump’s administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.

    A woman holds a sign for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier in the week, as people gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

    Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to get out of his comfort zone and attend a Saturday protest in Durham, North Carolina, because of what he called the “horrifying” killing in Minneapolis.

    “We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”

    Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states. Many were dubbed “ICE Out for Good” using the acronym for the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Indivisible and its local chapters organized protests in all 50 states last year.

    In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups called for a demonstration at Powderhorn Park, a large green space about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot on Wednesday. They said the rally and march would celebrate Good’s life and call for an “end to deadly terror on our streets.”

    Protests held in the neighborhood so far have been peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and agents guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.

    Minneapolis police said at least 30 people were cited and released during protests Friday night that drew hundreds of people. Police said protesters threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, police vehicles and other vehicles, but no serious injuries were reported.

    The Trump administration has been surging thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers were taking part.

    Some officers moved in after abruptly pulling out of Louisiana, where they were part of another operation that started last month and was expected to last until February.

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  • Authorities intensify crackdown on Iran demonstrators

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Protests sweeping across Iran neared the two-week mark Saturday, with the country’s government acknowledging the ongoing demonstrations despite an intensifying crackdown and as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world.

    What You Need To Know

    • Protests in Iran have continued for nearly two weeks, with the government acknowledging the unrest despite a harsh crackdown

    • The internet and phone lines were down, making it hard to gauge the situation from abroad

    • The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported at least 72 people have been killed and over 2,300 detained

    • Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signaled a clampdown, and Tehran warned protesters could face death-penalty charges

    With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown to at least 72 people killed and over 2,300 others detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Iranian state TV is reporting on security force casualties while portraying control over the nation.

    Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with the Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge. The statement carried by Iranian state television said even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge.

    “Prosecutors must carefully and without delay, by issuing indictments, prepare the grounds for the trial and decisive confrontation with those who, by betraying the nation and creating insecurity, seek foreign domination over the country,” the statement read. “Proceedings must be conducted without leniency, compassion or indulgence.”

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered support for the protesters.

    “The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” Rubio wrote Saturday on the social platform X. The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”

    State TV split-screen highlights Iran’s challenge

    Saturday marks the start of the work week in Iran, but many schools and universities reportedly held online classes, Iranian state TV reported. Internal Iranian government websites are believed to be functioning.

    State TV repeatedly played a driving, martial orchestral arrangement from the “Epic of Khorramshahr” by Iranian composer Majid Entezami, while showing pro-government demonstrations. The song, aired repeatedly during the 12-day war launched by Israel, honors Iran’s 1982 liberation of the city of Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq war. It has been used in videos of protesting women cutting away their hair to protest the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini as well.

    “Field reports indicate that peace prevailed in most cities of the country at night,” a state TV anchor reported. “After a number of armed terrorists attacked public places and set fire to people’s private property last night, there was no news of any gathering or chaos in Tehran and most provinces last night.”

    That was directly contradicted by an online video verified by The Associated Press that showed demonstrations in northern Tehran’s Saadat Abad area, with what appeared to be thousands on the street.

    “Death to Khamenei!” a man chanted.

    The semiofficial Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and one of the few media outlets able to publish to the outside world, released surveillance camera footage of what it said came from demonstrations in Isfahan. In it, a protester appeared to fire a long gun, while others set fires and threw gasoline bombs at what appeared to be a government compound.

    The Young Journalists’ Club, associated with state TV, reported that protesters killed three members of the Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force in the city of Gachsaran. It also reported a security official was stabbed to death in Hamadan province, a police officer killed in the port city of Bandar Abbas and another in Gilan, as well as one person slain in Mashhad.

    The semiofficial Tasnim news agency, also close to the Guard, claimed authorities detained nearly 200 people belonging to what it described as “operational terrorist teams.” It alleged those arrested had weapons including firearms, grenades and gasoline bombs.

    State television also aired footage of a funeral service attended by hundreds in Qom, a Shiite seminary city just south of Tehran.

    More weekend demonstrations planned

    Iran’s theocracy cut off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls on Thursday, though it allowed some state-owned and semiofficial media to publish. Qatar’s state-funded Al Jazeera news network reported live from Iran, but they appeared to be the only major foreign outlet able to work.

    Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday and Friday, asked in his latest message for demonstrators to take to the streets Saturday and Sunday. He urged protesters to carry Iran’s old lion-and-sun flag and other national symbols used during the time of the shah to “claim public spaces as your own.”

    Pahlavi’s support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some protests, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

    Airlines have cancelled some flights into Iran over the demonstrations. Austrian Airlines said Saturday it had decided to suspend its flights to Iran “as a precautionary measure” through Monday. Turkish Airlines earlier announced the cancellation of 17 flights to three cities in Iran.

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    Associated Press

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  • Some flu measures decline, but it’s not clear this severe season has peaked

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    NEW YORK — U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.

    What You Need To Know

    • U.S. flu infections are showing signs of a slight decline, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked

    • New government data posted Friday covered flu activity through last week

    • It showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity, but flu deaths and hospitalizations rose

    • x–– was one of the harshest in recent history –– and experts believe there is more suffering ahead

    New government data posted Friday — for flu activity through last week — showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity.

    However, some measures show this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. And experts believe there is more suffering ahead.

    “This is going to be a long, hard flu season,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, in a statement Friday.

    One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that is the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 91% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.

    The last flu season saw the highest overall flu hospitalization rate since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. And child flu deaths reached 289, the worst recorded for any U.S. flu season this century — including that H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic of 2009-2010.

    So far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. It also estimates there have been 7,400 deaths, including the deaths of at least 17 children.

    Last week, 44 states reported high flu activity, down slightly from the week before. However, flu deaths and hospitalizations rose.

    Determining exactly how flu season is going can be particularly tricky around the holidays. Schools are closed, and many people are traveling. Some people may be less likely to see a doctor, deciding to just suffer at home. Others may be more likely to go.

    Also, some seasons see a surge in cases, then a decline, and then a second surge.

    For years, federal health officials joined doctors’ groups in recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The shots may not prevent all symptoms but can prevent many infections from becoming severe, experts say.

    But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it is a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.

    “I can’t begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu — a vaccine preventable disease,” said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.

    “Now, with added confusion for parents and health care providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable,” she said in a statement.

    Flu is just one of a group of viruses that tend to strike more often in the winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, also have been rising in recent weeks — though were not diagnosed nearly as often as flu infections, according to other federal data.

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  • County prosecutor calls on public to share Minneapolis shooting evidence

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    MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota prosecutor on Friday called on the public to share with investigators any recordings and evidence connected to the fatal shooting of Renee Good as a new video emerged showing the final moments of her encounter with an immigration officer.

    What You Need To Know

    • A Minnesota prosecutor is calling on the public to share with investigators any recordings and evidence connected to the fatal shooting of Renee Good as new video emerged showing the final moments of her encounter with an immigration officer

    • The Minneapolis fatal shooting and a separate shooting in Portland, Oregon, a day later by the Border Patrol have set off protests in multiple cities.

    • The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents

    The Minneapolis fatal shooting and a separate shooting in Portland, Oregon, a day later by the Border Patrol have set off protests in multiple cities and denunciations of immigration enforcement tactics by the U.S. government. The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents.

    The reaction to the shooting has largely been focused on witness cellphone video of the encounter. A new, 47-second video that was published online by a Minnesota-based conservative news site, Alpha News, and later reposted on social media by the Department of Homeland Security shows the shooting from the perspective of ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who fired the shots.

    Sirens blaring in the background, he approaches and circles Good’s vehicle in the middle of the road while apparently filming on his cellphone. At the same time, Good’s wife also was recording the encounter and can be seen walking around the vehicle and approaching the officer. A series of exchanges occurred:

    “That’s fine, I’m not mad at you,” Good says as the officer passes by her door. She has one hand on the steering wheel and the other outside the open driver side window.

    “U.S. citizen, former f—ing veteran,” says her wife, standing outside the passenger side of the SUV holding up her phone. “You wanna come at us, you wanna come at us, I say go get yourself some lunch big boy.”

    Other officers are approaching the driver’s side of the car at about the same time and one says: “Get out of the car, get out of the f—ing car.” Ross is now at the front driver side of the vehicle. Good reverses briefly, then turns the steering wheel toward the passenger side as she drives ahead and Ross opens fire.

    The camera becomes unsteady and points toward the sky and then returns to the street view showing Good’s SUV careening away.

    “F—ing b—,” someone at the scene says.

    A crashing sound is heard as Good’s vehicle smashes into others parked on the street.

    Federal agencies have encouraged officers to document encounters in which people may attempt to interfere with enforcement actions, but policing experts have cautioned that recording on a handheld device can complicate already volatile situations by occupying an officer’s hands and narrowing focus at moments when rapid decision-making is required.

    Under an ICE policy directive, officers and agents are expected to activate body-worn cameras at the start of enforcement activities and to record throughout interactions, and footage must be kept for review in serious incidents such as deaths or use-of-force cases. The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to questions about whether the officer who opened fire or any of the others who were on the scene were wearing body cameras.

    This image from video made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross via Alpha News shows Renee Good in her vehicle in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo)

    Homeland Security says video shows self-defense

    Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in posts on X that the new video backs their contention that the officer fired in self-defense.

    “Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman,” Vance said. “The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense.”

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said any self-defense argument is “garbage.”

    Policing experts said the video didn’t change their thoughts on the use-of-force but did raise additional questions about the officer’s training.

    “Now that we can see he’s holding a gun in one hand and a cellphone in the other filming, I want to see the officer training that permits that,” said Geoff Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina.

    The video demonstrates that the officers didn’t perceive Good to be a threat, said John P. Gross, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School who has written extensively about officers shooting at moving vehicles.

    “If you are an officer who views this woman as a threat, you don’t have one hand on a cellphone. You don’t walk around this supposed weapon, casually filming,” Gross said.

    Ross, 43, is an Iraq War veteran who has served in the Border Patrol and ICE for nearly two decades. He was injured last year when he was dragged by a driver fleeing an immigration arrest.

    Attempts to reach Ross at phone numbers and email addresses associated with him were not successful.

    Protesters confront law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

    Protesters confront law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

    Prosecutor asks for video and evidence

    Meanwhile, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said that although her office has collaborated effectively with the FBI in past cases, she is concerned by the Trump administration’s decision to bar state and local agencies from playing any role in the investigation into Good’s killing.

    She also said the officer who shot Good in the head does not have complete legal immunity, as Vance declared.

    “We do have jurisdiction to make this decision with what happened in this case,” Moriarty said at a news conference. “It does not matter that it was a federal law enforcement agent.”

    Moriarty said her office would post a link for the public to submit footage of the shooting, even though she acknowledged that she wasn’t sure what legal outcome submissions might produce.

    Good’s wife, Becca Good, released a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday saying, “kindness radiated out of her.”

    “On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns,” Becca Good said.

    “I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him,” she wrote.

    The reaction to Good’s shooting was immediate in the city where police killed George Floyd in 2020, with hundreds of protesters converging on the shooting scene and the school district canceling classes for the rest of the week as a precaution and offering an online option through Feb. 12.

    On Friday, protesters were outside a federal facility serving as a hub for the immigration crackdown that began Tuesday in Minneapolis and St. Paul. That evening, hundreds protested and marched outside two hotels in downtown Minneapolis where immigration enforcement agents were supposed to be staying. Some people were seen breaking or spray painting windows and state law enforcement officers wearing helmets and holding batons ordered the remaining group of fewer than 100 people to leave late Friday.

    Minneapolis Public Schools families, educators and students hold signs during a news conference at Lake Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis, on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement be kept out of schools and Minnesota following the killing of 37-year-old mother Renee Good by federal agents earlier on Wednesday. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

    Minneapolis Public Schools families, educators and students hold signs during a news conference at Lake Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis, on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement be kept out of schools and Minnesota following the killing of 37-year-old mother Renee Good by federal agents earlier on Wednesday. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

    Shooting in Portland

    The Portland shooting happened outside a hospital Thursday. A federal border officer shot and wounded a man and woman in a vehicle, identified by the Department of Homeland Security as Venezuela nationals Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras. Police said they were in stable condition Friday after surgery, with DHS saying Nico Moncada was taken into FBI custody

    DHS defended the actions of its officers in Portland, saying the shooting occurred after the driver with alleged gang ties tried to “weaponize” his vehicle to hit them. It said no officers were injured.

    Portland Police Chief Bob Day confirmed that the two people shot had “some nexus” to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. Day said they came to the attention of police during an investigation of a July shooting believed to have been carried out by gang members, but they were not identified as suspects.

    The chief said any gang affiliation did not necessarily justify the shooting by U.S. Border Patrol. The Oregon Department of Justice said it would investigate.

    On Friday evening, hundreds of protesters marched to the ICE building in Portland.

    A protester yells at a Portland police officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

    A protester yells at a Portland police officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

    The biggest crackdown yet

    The Minneapolis shooting happened on the second day of the immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, which Homeland Security said is the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever. More than 2,000 officers are taking part and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they have made more than 1,500 arrests.

    The government is also shifting immigration officers to Minneapolis from sweeps in Louisiana, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. This represents a pivot, as the Louisiana crackdown that began in December had been expected to last into February.

    Good’s death — at least the fifth tied to immigration sweeps since President Donald Trump took office — has resonated far beyond Minneapolis. More protests are planned for this weekend, according to Indivisible, a group formed to resist the Trump administration.

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    Associated Press

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