The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is offering stipends for interns enrolled in a behavioral health bachelor or master’s program. MDHHS is allocating $1.25 million for the program.
MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel says the funding supports mental health care workers. The Behavioral Health Internship Stipend Program is in its fourth cohort, which supported 159 students last year. The program offers money to students for unpaid internship costs such as tuition, fees, and living expenses.
Students pursuing degrees in marriage or family therapy, behavioral analyst, social workers and counselors are eligible to apply for the one-time stipend ranging from $5 to $15,000 each.
January is Radon Action Month. Radon is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless radioactive gas that’s found in soil. It’s naturally created through the breakdown of uranium in soil around homes.
The gas can cause lung tissue damage through radiation, making it the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Detroit’s Al-Ikhlas Training Academy’s Director and Founder, Dr. Nadir Ahmad passed away on Jan. 22. His funeral was held on Saturday.
In 2020, the Dream Storytelling oral history project interviewed Ahmad. He told the archive he moved from Virginia to Detroit to study Islam at the Wayne County Community College as part of the Muslim World Studies Program in 1980. Ahmad taught at the Clara Muhammad School in Detroit, later serving as assistant principal and then principal. Ahmad founded the Islamic school Al-Ikhlas Training Academy in Detroit in 1991.
Community members and current and former students posted several comments on Facebook, sharing memories and commemorating the educational leader as someone who defined an era in Detroit. Ahmad was also a U.S. military veteran.
ProsperUs Detroit hosts training program
ProsperUs Detroit is hosting an Entrepreneur Training Program for the Spring of 2026. The 12-week program provides one-on-one support for businesses to learn how to register their business, create budgets and systems for bookkeeping. The group will also learn how to write a business plan.
Participants will also study business models, target markets, and finances. Applications are due by Feb. 1.
Outlier and Detroit-ography host trivia
The Outlier Collective is hosting a trivia event next month. Test your knowledge of Detroit with Outlier Media’s Civic Life Reporter Briana Rice and Detroit-ography’s Alex B. Hill.
Tickets are $5 a person. The event is being hosted by Outlier Media and Detroit-ography at the Brewery Faisan on Feb. 4 from 6:30-9 p.m. Register at outliermedia.org/our-events/.
Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
Support local journalism.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Detroit Lions tight end Brock Wright and his fiancée, Carley Johnston, are urging Michigan’s top lawmakers to approve legislation that would ban painful experiments on dogs at taxpayer-funded institutions, joining a growing push that has already drawn support from Wright’s teammate Sam LaPorta and several high-profile Michigan natives.
A jury found a man guilty of murdering a Cook County judge, following a seven-day trial during which prosecutors said the assailants watched the judge and his girlfriend for days before shooting and killing him in a robbery attempt.
Raymond Myles, 66, a longtime jurist at the county’s main courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue, died from his wounds after the shooting on April 10, 2017, outside his home on the Far South Side.
The slaying, believed to be the first of a judge in more than three decades, shocked his colleagues in the local court system and resulted in a sweeping police investigation.
The trial unfolded at a branch courthouse in south suburban Bridgeview before DuPage County Judge Jeffrey McKay, who was appointed due to the potential for conflicts of interest if Myles’ fellow judges in Cook County were to hear the case.
Family members of Myles gathered in the gallery each day. His son, Raymond Myles Jr., testified during the trial’s first day, describing how he called home for a routine check-in and then learned his father had been killed.
“(I) broke down and cried,” the younger Myles said.
Wilson’s attorneys denied that he was involved in the shooting, arguing that the motive for the attack centered around Smith’s family. Smith’s father was previously married to Myles’ girlfriend, and was not happy about the divorce or her new boyfriend, they said.
“Nothing about this case is what it seems,” said Assistant Public Defender Takenya Nixon.
Myles and his girlfriend rose before sunrise each morning to go to the gym before work, and were heading out that morning when they were confronted by a gunman who took Myles’ girlfriend’s gym bag.
Prosecutors said the shooters believed the girlfriend, Venita Parrish, carried money in the bag, but it had no cash in it that morning.
It was still dark when Parrish and Myles left the home that morning, Parrish testified during the trial. That’s when she saw — in her peripheral vision — someone lurking on the side of the brick house.
“Please, hurry,” Parrish said on the recording of the 911 call. “Oh, my Lord, please hurry.”
She ran, then fell and started screaming, she said.
“He said, ‘B—-, shut up,’” she testified.
Myles rushed outside and exchanged words with the attacker before he was shot and killed. According to prosecutors, he pleaded with the shooters, saying: “You don’t have to do this.”
After his killing, court employees remembered Myles as a hardworking and friendly judge. He was a Cubs fan and wore a team jacket to work during the team’s 2016 World Series run.
“Everyone here is devastated,” then-presiding judge of the Criminal Division LeRoy K. Martin Jr. said at the time. “People know when a judge is fair.”
Myles earned his law degree from the University of Illinois and worked as a prosecutor and a private practice defense attorney before taking the bench in 1999.
For years, Myles presided over what was then known as bond court, the notoriously chaotic place for first appearances for new arrestees.
Among high-profile cases he oversaw in that role, Myles ordered William Balfour to be held without bail in the 2008 killings of three relatives of singer Jennifer Hudson and refused to grant a controversial gag order in the infamous murder of seven people at a Brown’s Chicken in Palatine.
Earl Wilson listens to pretrial motions ahead of openings in his jury trial for the 2017 fatal shooting of Cook County Judge Raymond Myles and the shooting of his girlfriend, at the Cook County courthouse in Bridgeview, Jan. 13, 2026. Assistant Public Defender Takenya Nixon is at right. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Gun advocacy groups, including the National Rifle Association, pushed back on claims from the Trump administration that the man fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis on Saturday did not have a right to possess a firearm at the protests.
A Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti after multiple officers wrestled him to the ground when he was seen filming them clashing with protesters. The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was shot after he "approached" officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun but that claim differs from bystander videos of the incident in which Pretti is seen holding a phone.
Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. Videos of the incident show one of the officers removing what appears to be a gun from a holster near Pretti's waist just before gunshots are heard.
A top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, posted on social media that, "if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you."
The post from Bill Essayli drew quick criticism from the NRA, which stated on X that his comments were "dangerous and wrong" and urged officials to resist "making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens."
Gun Owners of America also responded to Essaylis comments, stating the Second Amendment protects Americans right to bear arms while protesting a right the federal government must not infringe upon."
FBI Director Kash Patel said in an interview with Fox News, "You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. Its that simple. You don't have a right to break the law."
"No one who wants to be peaceful shows up at a protest with a firearm that is loaded with two full magazines," Patel added.
To which the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus wrote on X in response to Patels comments: "This is completely incorrect on Minnesota law. There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota."
The general counsel for the advocacy group also condemned Patel's comments on X, calling him "categorically wrong."
"Minnesota law does not restrict the number of firearms you can carry, and by extension the number magazines you can carry. We have no magazine restrictions at all on carry. We have no prohibition on carrying at protests," wrote Rob Daur.
Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino told CNN in an interview on Sunday, "We respect that Second Amendment right, but those rights dont count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct and impede law enforcement officers and, most especially, when you mean to do that beforehand."
On Truth Social, President Trump posted an image of a handgun and said, "This is the gunman's gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go What is that all about?"
However, during Monday's press briefing at the White House, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "the president supports the Second Amendment of law-abiding American citizens."
"And any gun owner knows that when you are carrying a weapon, when you are bearing arms and you are confronted by law enforcement, you are raising the assumption of risk and the risk of force being used against you," Leavitt added.
The Trump administration has offered open-ended contracts to 13 private companies for help verifying where suspected undocumented immigrants live and work.
A Scripps News investigation found that some of the companies have no record of previously doing business with the government. Some also list post office boxes or residences as their main office addresses, raising questions about their qualifications to handle sensitive personal data and to conduct in-person surveillance of migrants.
Just before Christmas, Immigration and Customs Enforcement awarded contracts potentially worth a combined $1.2 billion for the companies to provide "skip tracing services nationwide" during the next two years, according to federal contracting records reviewed by the Scripps News investigative team. The records show that most of the companies have not yet received any payments.
The Department of Homeland Security published a document in October saying ICE had an immediate need for skip tracing, a process described as using government data, the web, and physical surveillance to confirm the location of targeted immigrants.
The companies would be expected to send ICE a collection of photos and documents confirming the person's residence and/or place of employment.
The contractors also may be asked to deliver official government documents to persons of interest, the document states. There is the possibility of monetary bonuses. The more undocumented immigrants they find, the more money the businesses can make.
The companies are essentially ICE bounty hunters, said Sharon Bradford Franklin, former chairwoman of the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
"It's the same kind of incentive situation," Bradford Franklin said.
Some of the awarded contractors are linked to large corporations, like a company run by the GEO Group, which operates private ICE detention centers for the government.
Other grant recipients are much smaller companies, still able to make millions of dollars from the contract.
A business named Fraud Inc. is run out of an apartment in Conroe, Texas. Reached by phone, the company's president said he runs the business from home. He said that his aim is to find as many undocumented immigrants as possible to take advantage of the bonuses offered by the government.
Fraud Inc. could earn more than $25 million, according to contracting records.
Gravitas Professional Services LLC is an Ohio company that lists a post office box as its main address.
YouTube videos show Gravitas had been focused on much smaller jobs, including tracking down a client's biological father and catching people allegedly committing workers' compensation fraud.
"Gravitas is mostly in the insurance world but we've been known to locate people through infidelity and corporate investigations," owner Adam Visnic says in one video posted to YouTube.
The business could earn over $32 million searching for immigrants.
A.I. Solutions 87 is an LLC with an address of a single-family home in Wisconsin. The LLC could make more than $48 million dollars through its contract.
ICE did not respond to Scripps News' questions about how the agency picked the entities that won contracts.
The companies are required to follow federal, state and local laws, but because the contracts themselves aren't public, there are no published details about rules to protect government data and civil rights.
"When the government outsources this type of surveillance, it increases the risk of abuse," Bradford Franklin said. "There is even less ability to have oversight. There are rules that simply don't apply."
The filing window for 2025 federal tax returns opened on Monday January 26, starting a day earlier than last year and extending through the deadline of April 15, 2026.
This year will see new deductions available, including for certain tips and overtime pay and up to $6,000 for seniors over 65 who paid taxes on Social Security payments. These deductions will be managed through a new form called Schedule 1-A.
These changes may result in higher tax refunds for certain filers.
For tax year 2025, the standard deduction has also been adjusted:
$31,500 for married couples filing jointly $15,750 for single filers and married individuals filing separately $23,625 for heads of household
Filing early in the tax window may see your refund delivered sooner but it may make sense to wait to file until later in tax season if you're expecting more specialized tax documents like a Schedule K-1 or Form 1099.
Most refunds sent digitally to a bank account will be processed within 21 days, the IRS says. Refunds can be tracked online within a few days of online filing.
Individuals who need an extension on their taxes can request a wider window, through October 15, to file their return. The IRS has a guide for different methods to request extension.
A police investigation continues into a Jan. 23 traffic crash on I-75 in Bloomfield Township that resulted in the death of one man and serious injuries to his son.
According to the Bloomfield Township Police Department, Paul Locklear, 45, of Davison died Friday at Trinity Health Oakland Hospital, where he had been transported with serious injuries from the single-vehicle rollover crash, which happened shortly before 10 a.m. near South Boulevard. The driver of the vehicle, the man’s 18-year-old son, was also transported to Trinity Health Oakland Hospital with serious injuries and is expected to survive.
The vehicle involved was a 1999 Ford F350, police said.
Bloomfield Township Police Sgt. Nick Soley said multiple witnesses have come forward as requested by police. While drugs and/or alcohol use don’t appear to be a contributing factor, toxicology is pending from a blood draw on the driver which was performed with his consent, Soley said.
A Troy man who police described as a squatter was in Oakland County Circuit Court via Zoom on Monday where he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge involving drugs.
Devin Bushue, 35, faces up to a year in jail for one count of using a controlled substance. Prosecutors dismissed a charge of possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine/ecstasy — which carries a stiffer penalty.
Bushue was arrested Jan. 4 after police reportedly found him and a Shelby Township woman, Miranda Laight, 37, asleep in the basement of an apartment building in the 100 block of South Lovington Drive in Troy. Officers discovered the two while responding to a trespassing complaint, and after waking them up spotted suspected methamphetamine and a used syringe near where they had been sleeping, police said.
Miranda Laight booking photo (Troy Police Dept.)
After Bushue and Laight were arrested, officers searched their belongings and allegedly found a small Ziploc baggie containing methamphetamine in Bushue’s bag and a syringe containing heroin in Laight’s bag.
Bushue is scheduled to be sentenced on March 2 by Judge David Cohen.
The case against Laight is still at the district court level. A preliminary exam is scheduled for Jan. 29.
Bushue and Laight are held in the Oakland County Jail with bond set at $7,500 for Bushue and $5,000 for Laight. The bonds have a 10% provision, meaning Bushue can be released from custody if he posts $750, and Laight can be released from custody if she posts $500.
The White House on Monday laid out conditions it says Minnesota and local leaders should comply with for federal officers to be withdrawn from the state, amid growing scrutiny of the administrations expanded immigration enforcement presence.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Customs and Border Protection officers would no longer be needed if state and local officials agree to a series of cooperation measures.
Leavitt said the administration is demanding that Minnesota and local leaders first turn over all undocumented immigrants with criminal convictions who are currently held in state prisons and jails, as well as undocumented immigrants with active warrants and known criminal histories, to federal authorities for deportation.
She said state and local law enforcement should also turn over all undocumented immigrants arrested by local police.
In addition, Leavitt said local police must assist federal law enforcement in locating, apprehending and detaining undocumented immigrants who are wanted for crimes, particularly violent offenses.
Walz previously addressed a similar request from Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying Minnesota is already doing much of what the federal government is requesting.
Her remarks marked a more tempered tone from earlier comments by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who on social media called Pretti a would-be assassin, and by Homeland Security officials, who portrayed Pretti as a violent threat.
A former GOP gubernatorial candidate who once tried to unseat Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is seeking the office again, joining a crowded field of Republicans running in the battleground state.
Oakland County businessman Perry Johnson announced his second bid for governor Monday. His entrance to the race comes as the Republican candidates compete for President Donald Trump’s endorsement ahead of the Aug. 4 primary.
In a video advertisement released Monday, Johnson described Michigan’s government as inefficient.
“We need to shake up the system,” he said.
Johnson, a management consultant, was part of a slate of Republicans to run against Whitmer in 2022. His nearly $8 million bid ended when the state’s election bureau ruled he did not submit enough valid signatures required for nominating petitions. He also made a long shot bid for president ahead of 2024.
In announcing his campaign, Johnson told the Detroit News he plans to spend $9 million of his own money in the next two months.
Whitmer is term-limited and cannot run again. Candidates from both parties and one campaigning as an independent have lined up to replace her.
On the Republican side, Johnson joins the field that includes U.S. Rep. John James, former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, state Senate Leader Aric Nesbitt and former Michigan House speaker Tom Leonard.
On the Democratic side, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson are competing for the nomination.
The longtime Democratic mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, is running for governor but as an independent.
Perry Johnson speaks during the second day of the Republican National Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Small businesses are often described as the backbone of the economy. But in moments of stress, they can also be an early warning system.
In metro Detroit, inflation has slowed — consumer prices in the Detroit area rose about two percent over the past year, but that has not translated into relief for many households or business owners. Spending remains cautious, and many small business owners say they are no longer planning for growth. Instead, they are focused on endurance.
One pressure point keeps coming up in conversations with owners: health care. Small-business health insurance plans in Michigan are set to rise again in 2026, while tens of thousands fewer Michiganders are enrolling in individual marketplace coverage this year as premiums increase and federal assistance shrinks.
The result is a heavy load for small businesses. They are helping families stay afloat, providing places for connection and routine in neighborhoods, and absorbing rising costs that often land directly on owners.
In this conversation, The Metro’s Robyn Vincent examines how small businesses have become survival engines, community anchors, and stress points all at once — and what that means for workers, customers, and neighborhoods across metro Detroit.
Our guest is Mark Lee, president of the LEE Group, a consulting firm that works with small businesses on strategy, marketing, and growth. Lee also teaches business at Michigan universities and regularly speaks with owners across southeast Michigan about the challenges they’re facing.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
VASTERAS, Sweden (AP) — Maryan Hashi remembers the thoughts running through her mind when she began hitting the ski slopes in northern Sweden. As a Black woman from Somalia, she felt like an “alien.”
“Am I wearing the correct clothing for this? Does it fit? Do I look weird? Am I snowboarding correctly? Do they think it’s weird I’m on the slope?” she said. “But I carried on — I felt if I didn’t, I was never going to commit to anything in my life.”
A few years later, snowboarding is the 30-year-old student’s big passion and it is helping her integrate into her adopted country’s society better than she could ever have imagined.
What she’d love now is to see other migrants experiencing the same joy.
Immigration from Africa and the Middle East has transformed the demographics of Europe in recent decades. And while the growing diversity is reflected in many sports such as soccer — Sweden’s men’s national team has several Black players including Liverpool striker Alexander Isak — it hasn’t made a dent in winter sports.
Maryan Hashi looks on at Vedbobacken in Vasteras, Sweden, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Steve Douglas)
At the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Sweden is sending a team made up almost exclusively of ethnically Swedish athletes, with NHL player Mika Zibanejad, whose father is from Iran, a rare exception. That hardly reflects the diversity of the Nordic country: About 2 million of its 10 million residents were born abroad, about half of them in Asia or Africa, according to national statistics agency SCB.
The lack of athletes of color at the Winter Olympics — and in winter sports in general — has been a recurring theme in the U.S., which is sending one of its most diverse teams to the Games. It hasn’t gotten the same attention in Europe.
The Olympic rosters of France, Germany, Switzerland and other European winter sports nations look a lot like Sweden’s: overwhelmingly white and lacking the immigrant representation seen in their soccer or basketball teams.
Researchers point to social, financial and geographical barriers, and believe a big cultural shift is needed for anything to change.
“It takes not years but decades,” said Josef Fahlen, professor of sport pedagogy at Umea University in Sweden.
Entering a ‘white’ sport
Hashi was 14 when she came to Sweden with her family in 2009. They settled in Skelleftea, a mining city around 770 kilometers (480 miles) north of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, where winters are long and temperatures can be extremely cold. She found it a culture shock and said it was “scary” to integrate with native Swedes because of language difficulties, so her friendship group consisted of fellow migrants from Somalia and other African countries.
Only in 2018 did she discover there was a ski slope five minutes from her home, after a co-worker suggested she try snowboarding as part of a pilot integration project run by the municipality.
“When you don’t have information or access or nobody around you does it — snowboarding is basically a white sport — and when you’re not correctly integrated into the community, you don’t know much about it,” Hashi said.
She initially felt out of place but grew to love her daily trips to the slope, even when numbers dwindled in the group. She even started to teach kids and her immigrant friends — those who’d been skeptical about Hashi doing an activity that’s “not our thing” — how to snowboard.
“I’ve made my mind up,” Hashi said, “that snowboarding is going to be a part of my family.”
The crucial role of parents
The single biggest influence on children getting into — and maintaining an interest in — a particular sport is their parents, according to Fahlen. That, he said, is the “simple” explanation for the lack of diversity in the ski slopes in Sweden and across Europe.
Pointing to Isak, whose parents are from Eritrea, or tennis players Mikael and Elias Ymer, whose parents migrated to Sweden from Ethiopia, he said the children of non-European immigrants are unlikely to be introduced to sports that their parents are not familiar with.
“Take the example of Isak finding his way into football — it makes total sense because football exists in Eritrea. Skiing doesn’t,” Fahlen said.
Fahlen regards the lack of diversity as not a “winter sports problem but a cultural issue” and said it’s important for kids to see winter sports athletes with a different skin tone.
“It’s a matter of horizon,” Fahlen said. “We need to show it’s possible to be a skier even if you might be from Tunisia or the West Bank.”
There are also financial and geographical factors at play. Immigrants in Sweden typically live in major urban areas, away from skiing hubs in the mountains, and are often in less-privileged economic positions. Participating in winter sports can be expensive because of the need to buy or rent equipment and clothing, and paying for travel and a ski pass.
Improving access for immigrants
Academics believe more needs to be done by winter sports to improve accessibility for immigrants and underserved communities.
“It’s a fact that the best integrative force in society is team sports and sports clubs, where kids can go to do useful things together with others,” said Stefan Jonsson, a professor in Ethnicity and Migration Studies at Linköping University. “There is so much research saying if we want social and ethnic integration, this would be the primary thing.”
Asked about its attempts to get more people from diverse backgrounds into skiing, Sweden’s ski federation said “we want to be better” and added that “inclusion is something we strive for.”
The federation is proud of its “Alla På Snö” (“Everyone On Snow”) program, which since 2008 has reached an estimated 30,000 children every year and offers students free equipment and access to slopes. Also boosting general accessibility is the growth of Sweden’s Leisure Bank project, where people can borrow sports equipment including skis and ski boots for free for 14 days. The founders equate the banks to public libraries.
Neither specifically targets immigrants, however. For Hashi, it’s a missed opportunity to widen the talent pool.
“Open the door for us,” Hashi said. “We’re going to take care of the next generation for you.”
The moment Amber Glenn stepped onto the ice at figure skating’s world championships, fans began to wave American flags, from the lowest rows inside TD Garden to the highest rafters, where the jerseys of Boston’s sporting greats hang in honor.
It seemed a fitting backdrop to her program: Glenn is the three-time reigning U.S. champion, one of the current faces of figure skating, and as the daughter of a police officer and a proud native Texan, patriotism flows through her as thick as oil.
Yet the stars-and-stripes weren’t the only flags flying high that night.
Scattered throughout the sellout crowd at the last worlds before the Milan Cortina Olympics were the equally conspicuous rainbow flags that for nearly 50 years have signified pride within the LGBTQ+ community. They started popping up at Glenn’s competitions a year earlier, when she carried one across her shoulders in celebration of her national championship.
“I saw them,” Glenn acknowledged later, long after her performance, “and I was proud to see both of those flags flying.”
Gold medalist Amber Glenn poses with a flag after the women’s free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Glenn, who identifies as pansexual, never sought to be an icon within the queer community.
In fact, she didn’t come to grips with her own sexuality until she had been through the wringer, including a stint in a mental health facility spent working through depression, anxiety and an eating disorder. Glenn didn’t come out publicly until letting it slip during an interview a half-dozen years ago, and then thought with horror, “I haven’t even told my Catholic grandma yet!”
Yet as the 26-year-old Glenn reflected on her journey in an interview with The Associated Press, she expressed a profound sense of gratitude for having experienced it within the tight-knit figure skating world. For decades, the sport has provided a progressive sort of safe space for those within the LGTBQ+ community, some of whom still may be trying to realize their authentic selves.
“I’m so, so grateful that I grew up in skating, because I grew up in Texas, and luckily it was Dallas, which was still a bit more forward,” Glenn said. “Plus, I was homeschooled. So I had to figure out a lot of things on my own, coming from that background.
“But as I ventured out to competitions, you know, outside of Texas,” Glenn continued, “I ended up seeing this community and these people around me, and they were some of the top coaches and really good skaters. I was like, ‘Oh, OK. This is OK.’ It made me realize, ‘OK, there are people who are fans of me that would probably feel even more connected if they saw someone like them.’”
The long and winding road
It hasn’t always been that way in figure skating, a sport where success and failure is quite literally a judgment call, and looks, attitude and mannerisms all matter in the scores. Throughout the 1900s, and even into the ‘80s and ’90s, women often were encouraged to be more effeminate, and male counterparts were told to embrace their masculinity.
It wasn’t until Rudy Galindo came out in a book released shortly before he was crowned U.S. champion in 1996 that walls began to crumble. Three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir, now a lead analyst for NBC’s coverage of the Olympics, said later that Galindo gave him the confidence to come out in 2011, and ultimately embrace who he was both on the ice and off.
Eventually, other prominent skaters came forward, some of whom had never publicly acknowledged their sexuality. Each had their reasons, whether personal, political or simply the desire to give back to the community.
As the U.S. team was preparing for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, former Olympic champion Brian Boitano was picked to be a part of the delegation. At the time, the Russian government was under fire for an anti-gay “propaganda” law passed in June 2013, and Boitano told the AP that he never considered coming out until he was chosen to represent his country again.
“They know how private a person I am,” Boitano said, “and that this was a big move for me.”
Success on big stages
While LGBTQ+ athletes compete in just about every sport, what might set figure skating apart — at least, presently — has been their success on the biggest stages, whether they be international competitions, the world championships or even the Olympics.
In 2018, former U.S. champion Adam Rippon not only became the first openly gay man to make the Olympic team but the first to capture a medal at the Winter Games, earning bronze as part of the team event. Four years later, Timothy LeDuc became the first non-binary Olympic athlete by teaming with Ashley Cain-Gribble in the pairs event at the Beijing Games.
“I grew up in a very conservative environment,” explained LeDuc, a two-time U.S. champion, who went into coaching after stepping away from competition. “Sometimes just seeing someone like you in that community is what you need to feel comfortable in yourself. That continued in my journey, where I saw a lot of queer people in my life.
“Even in high school, there was one or two queer people,” LeDuc said, “but it was always figure skating where I found my community.”
Amber Glenn skates during the “Making Team USA” performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Where things stand
Glenn had just won her first elite-level Grand Prix event in Angers, France, in November 2024, when Donald Trump won the presidential election in the U.S. She remembers watching the results scroll across the TV screen.
Glenn’s heart sank, thinking about what it would mean for the LGBTQ+ community.
Two months later Trump signed an executive order defining “sex” in federal policy as a binary, biological concept unchangeable from birth. It was the first move made by an administration that has been accused of targeting the rights and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community, such as rolling back protections in education, healthcare and housing. The administration pitched the changes as a way to protect women from “gender extremism.”
“Both of my grandpas were in the military. I was raised in Texas, a proud American,” Glenn told AP. “It was so disheartening. It made me feel even closer to the community around me, because we had to come together to try and protect ourselves.”
Those feelings continue among many in the LGBTQ+ community.
Jason Brown competes during the men’s free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Jason Brown competes during the men’s free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
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Jason Brown competes during the men’s free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
One of the reasons that fan-favorite Jason Brown, a two-time Olympian, came out in an Instagram post five years ago was to provide support to those who may feel uncomfortable — skaters, of course, but also coaches, choreographers and even fans.
“I hope I can leave the sport a little better for the next athlete, or make someone more comfortable to step up and be who they are,” Brown said. “There are so many people out there that love and support that community, and they want them to feel safe and seen and accepted. I think that my biggest message is, ‘Know how supported you are.’”
Amber Glenn skates during the “Making Team USA” performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
MILAN (AP) — When Lucas Pinheiro Braathen tells people in Brazil that he represents the country in Alpine skiing, he says they don’t believe him.
They just might if he wins Brazil’s first Winter Olympics medal next month.
“When I meet someone new (in Brazil) … it’s always this mindblowing moment and it always sparks a very interesting conversation,” Pinheiro Braathen said with a smile in a recent interview with The Associated Press in Milan. “And funny enough, I actually think it’s those interactions that maybe prove the most how fulfilling it is for me to represent Brazil in something like skiing because it just shows me how foreign it is. So that’s really fun.”
If Pinheiro Braathen does finish on the podium, it would also be a first Winter Olympics medal for any South American country, something he wasn’t aware of.
“I mean thanks you just added a whole other layer of pressure so I’ll happily bring that along,” he laughed. “The greater the challenge, the greater the difference that I can bring and I believe it is the more pressure you feel, the bigger the difference that you can create.”
The 2023 World Cup slalom champion has already racked up a series of firsts under his new flag, becoming the first Brazilian skier to finish on a World Cup podium last year before claiming the country’s first victory this season to add to his five for Norway.
“I simply try to capitalize off of that pressure and channel it into my performance because, yes, it makes the days leading into the competition extremely challenging because you know you have something greater to live up to rather than just the possibility of a great result,” Pinheiro Braathen said.
“But it is exactly that that enables you to become the version of yourself where you can beat every single other athlete at that start gate and so, as I said, pressure is privilege. It is my most important currency.”
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen feeds a deer on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men’s World Cup slalom, in Levi, Finland, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men’s World Cup slalom event, in Val d’Isere, France, Sunday Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen stands on the podium winning an alpine ski, men’s World Cup slalom, in Levi, Finland, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen celebrates winning an alpine ski, men’s World Cup slalom, in Levi, Finland, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men’s World Cup slalom event, in Val d’Isere, France, Sunday Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
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Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen feeds a deer on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men’s World Cup slalom, in Levi, Finland, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Pinheiro Braathen likes to entertain. When he got his first podium result for Brazil, he celebrated with a samba dance. His reaction after claiming his first win was more visceral, as he fell to his knees and screamed “yeah!” with both arms in the air.
The 25-year-old admits he has no clue what he would do if he was to succeed in Bormio, where the men’s Alpine ski racing will take place at the Olympics.
“If you achieve immense success in something that you’ve dedicated your life to, at least for me, it is impossible to curate what those moments look like,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “It is truly whatever you feel that sees the light of day and that’s what I think is so beautiful about those moments and it is simply what I chase every single day waking up. Yet another day getting to experience that feeling.”
Pinheiro Braathen is one of skiing’s most vibrant personalities, known for painting his fingernails and having a taste for fashion. He brings to the slopes the energy of Brazil and the discipline of Norway, having spent much of his childhood in both countries.
“I’m a person of cultural duality,” he said. “Two perspectives always presented from birth and so for me I always find that I’ve never been living a life where I’m only presented to one reality, one culture or one way of living. It’s always been these polar opposites and so I think that has shaped me to become who I am today and how I want to live my life.
A father’s love
Pinheiro Braathen has a close relationship with his father, Björn Braathen. So much so that he named the reindeer he won as part of the traditional winner’s prize at the World Cup in Levi after him.
It was his father who introduced him to skiing, when he was 4 or 5, though Pinheiro Braathen didn’t take to it initially.
“I bought everything for him, like shoes, like boots and skis and everything, and we went out and he would complain the whole time,” Braathen said. “Like “I’m cold, I’m not cut out for this, I’m freezing,” and, “I’m Brazilian and this is not for me.”
A love for the sport eventually arrived. Braathen, who also serves as his son’s team manager, doesn’t mind that his son switched allegiances.
“As a Norwegian, people expect me to feel very bad about that, but I don’t,” he said. “It’s my son and I just want him to be happy.”
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men’s World Cup slalom event, in Val d’Isere, France, Sunday Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Jack Eichel in the fall of 2021 still did not believe he and the rest of the world’s best hockey players would be going to the Olympics in Beijing a few months later, even after the NHL reached an agreement to do so.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Eichel said at the time.
His skepticism proved to be prescient, as pandemic scheduling issues led the league to withdraw.
Eichel is part of a generation of NHL stars who have never gotten the chance to play in the Olympics. Unlike players of the past — before the league allowed its stars to take part — Eichel, fellow American Auston Matthews, Canadians Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon and many others of their vintage grew up expecting to go to the Games. The NHL, after all, played in five consecutive Olympics from 1998 2014.
Owners opted against sending players in 2018, and missing out in 2022 became a sad result of circumstances largely out of stakeholders’ control. The 12-team tournament in Milan is a moment many have been waiting their entire careers for.
“It’s awesome,” Eichel said before this season, perhaps willing to exhale. “It’s something that we’ve wanted for a while.”
Construction delays bring more questions
Not so fast, Jack.
Out of his control are construction delays at the main hockey arena, a longstanding worry. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman began raising concerns all the way back in 2023, before the deal was reached to send players in 2026 and ’30.
“We have been given assurances that the building will be ready,” Bettman said in February 2024. “We’re relying on those assurances. There’s a lot of construction that remains to be done on that building. I think they only recently started. But we’re being told by everybody not to worry. But I like to worry, so we’ll see.”
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) moves the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Marton)
Those worries have persisted, and work continues on locker rooms and other facilities at Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, which is set to host the majority of the men’s games beginning Feb. 11. The women’s tournament begins there Feb. 5.
Test games in January left league and players’ union officials pleased about the condition of the ice, though even that has been a matter of consternation after rinks were made more than 3 feet shorter than NHL players are used to. That will change aspects of play but won’t keep the NHL out of the Olympics as long as everyone involved agrees the surface is safe.
What players missed out on
Connor Bedard, the 2023 No. 1 pick who just missed out on making Canada’s roster for Milan, is so young at 20 that he does not even have a favorite Olympic memory. He was 4 when idol and fellow countryman Sidney Crosby scored the “golden goal” to win on home ice in Vancouver in 2010 and 9 when T.J. Oshie gave the U.S. a shootout victory over host Russia in Sochi in 2014.
Canada’s Macklin Celebrini, drafted first in 2024 and at 19 the second-youngest men’s hockey player at the Olympics, has only gotten to dream about the possibility of representing his country on this stage.
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon celebrates as he skates back to the team box after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“That’s the pinnacle, just the best on best, all the special moments that have happened at the Olympics, the history,” Celebrini said. “There’s just a little bit more energy around it. It’s bigger than yourself.”
In all, 12 NHL players are back at the Olympics after participating in the 2014 Games, the last time the league went and it was a true best-vs.-best tournament. The group includes Crosby and Drew Doughty for Canada; Gabriel Landeskog, Erik Karlsson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson for Sweden; Mikael Granlund and Olli Maatta for Finland; Radko Gudas and Ondrej Palat for Czechia. There are no Americans on that list.
“It’s a cherry on top of athletic life,” Gudas said. “Twelve years ago when we went to Sochi was such a great experience that I wish I can do that again. I was that much more sad that we couldn’t go the last two times, so for me I think it’s a great feeling to be able to do that.”
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews celebrates after scoring a goal against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
American defenseman Zach Werenski at 28 is old enough to remember Crosby’s goal in 2010, and four years later he was watching Oshie’s heroics with other members of the U.S. National Team Development Program. Four of his teammates from back then are also set to go to Milan — Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, Charlie McAvoy and Noah Hanifin — to finally have their Olympic moment.
“The significance of that, the build-up, we’ve waited a long time for this,” McAvoy said, “so it’s going to be incredible.”
FILE – United States’ Jack Eichel skates in to celebrate the empty net goal over Canada by teammate Jake Guentzel (59) during the third period of a 4 Nations Face-Off hockey game in Montreal on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP, file)
Big Sonic Heaven braved the winter storm and kept our ears warm with some sonic delight! In the new music department, we heard a Twin Peaks-esque track from Violet Grohl, Club 8, Ladytron, a stellar Shoegaze track from The Giraffe Told Me In My Dream, and we took the new Deary single for another spin.
Check out the playlist below and listen to the show on demand for up to two weeks.
“The Sadman” – Slowdive
“I Wanted You To Feel The Same” – The Radio Dept
“Setting Yourself Up For Love” – Ashes And Diamonds
“History” – The Verve
“Before” – The Giraffe Told Me in My Dream
“Sugar Hiccup” – Cocteau Twins
“I Tried” – Shoestrings
“Love (LP Version)” – The Sundays
“Burrow” – AtticOmatic
“Lost In the Weight” – Deserta
“Marlene Dietrich’s Favourite Poem” – Peter Murphy
“23” – Blonde Redhead
“Echoes Of Our Time” – Club 8
“Percolator” – Stereolab
“Lloyd I’m ready to Be Heart Broken” – Camera Obscura
“Seabird” – Deary
“Run” – New Order
“Vanity (feat. Rachel Goswell)” – Drab Majesty
“Like Cockatoos” – The Cure
“The Garden Ends” – The Autumns
“Caught in the Blink of an Eye” – Ladytron
“I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From (Royksopp Remix)” – Kings of Convenience
“Shake the Disease” – Depeche Mode
“Like a Daydream” – Trentemøller
“What’s Heaven Without You” – Violet Grohl
“De” – Lush
“Under Two Blue Stars” – Robin Guthrie
“You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart” – Sinéad O’Connor
“143” – The Know
“Atmosphere” – Joy Division
“Madder Lake Deep” – Andy Bell
“Little Star” – Stina Nordenstam
“Burst” – Shelleyan Orphan
Support the shows you love.
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DETROIT — Change your perspective heading into the new year with a visit to Detroit’s new Museum of Illusions.
The attraction debuted on Woodward in the Himelhoch building near Grand Circus Park in early December. It’s the 67th Museum of Illusions that has opened around the world. Each location features exhibits and artwork specific to the city.
In Detroit, there’s a vibrant mural of what looks like a Motown singer with eyes that are always locked on you, and a “reversed room” inspired by the auto industry. Look for the illusion that makes you look like you’re sitting on — or hanging from — the marquee of the historic art deco Majestic Theatre a few blocks up Woodward.
“We have received the warmest welcome from the Motor City,” said Museum of Illusions CEO Kim Schaefer at a museum preview in December. “We feel like we are truly family here.”
“We’ve been around for a decade now and this is number 67 and we are proud of being all over the globe,” she said, adding that the museum is filled with “nods to the beautiful, vibrant, historic nature of what makes Detroit so special. We’re excited to be here.”
A light-up optical illusions sculpture at the Museum of Illusions in Detroit. (Melody Baetens/The Detroit News/TNS)
Some attractions at the Museum of Illusions are specific to Detroit, like the auto-themed reversed room. (Melody Baetens/The Detroit News/TNS)
The Museum of Illusions debuted at 1545 Woodward in Detroit in early December. (Melody Baetens/The Detroit News/TNS)
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A light-up optical illusions sculpture at the Museum of Illusions in Detroit. (Melody Baetens/The Detroit News/TNS)
The first Museum of Illusions opened in Zagreb, Croatia, a decade ago, and it has become the largest and fastest-growing chain of privately held museums in the world.
The wheelchair-accessible, hands-on museum is set up like a path, with guests taking about an hour to get through and experience everything, depending on how crowded it is. Visitors are invited to touch, climb and take plenty of photos.
Your camera is as essential to your visit as your eyeballs, because some of the illusions aren’t fully effective until you see your photo. This includes the Beuchet Chair, which places two people in a room for a forced-perspective trick that works best once a third person takes a photo. The museum walls give tips on taking the best photographs.
Others don’t require a camera, like the giant pinscreen, a full-body-size version of the famous desk toy; strike a pose, press yourself into it and then view your impression on the other side. Gaze at the grid illusion and see dancing black spots that aren’t really there. Like many of the installations, the museum offers text that explains the science behind it.
Hold on tight in the vortex tunnel, which is a stationary platform with a revolving tunnel around it that makes you feel like you’re spinning into oblivion. (Just close your eyes to recenter yourself.)
Like any museum, there’s a gift shop, which is a whole Woodward-facing storefront. They sell Museum of Illusions apparel and giftable toys that challenge the mind. The museum is rentable for weddings, birthdays, corporate team building and field trips.
NEW YORK (AP) — Beth Brown was assigned to a major project at work when hardship struck. First, her 6-month-old daughter fell ill with COVID-19. A few days later, her mother passed away.
Brown, director of health and well-being at a company that provides employee mental health programs and absence management services, sent a note to the senior ComPsych director who was her partner on the project, explaining she would have to miss work to care for her daughter and to make funeral arrangements. “The guilt that I felt for knowing I was going to leave her dry on my end,” she recalled.
Instead of calling to go over remaining tasks, the director reached out to ask whether Brown was OK and to tell her not to worry about the project. “In the grand scheme of things, this is not important,” Brown recalled her colleague saying. “It’ll be here when you get back. I’ll be there when you’re back.” Hearing the kind words, Brown “felt like there was a brick taken off my chest.”
The importance of treating others with kindness is one of the first lessons most parents and guardians try to teach children. But the skill sometimes falls by the wayside in work settings that encourage competition and where adults face deadlines and pressure. Financial worries and fears of layoffs also can stifle generous impulses.
Perhaps that’s why acts of kindness on the job often are so memorable for those on the receiving end. Molly MacDermot, director of special initiatives at Girls Write Now, a nonprofit mentorship and writing program, feels lucky to have a boss who was kind to her when MacDermot’s father died eight years ago and her mother passed away six months ago.
As technology accelerates the pace of many types of work, “it’s really important to feel human, to be allowed to be human, which is getting the grace to just deal with the bumps in life,” MacDermot said.
Kindness can also mean sharing hard truths in a productive way, going out of the way to welcome a new coworker or bending the rules for the sake of love.
Here are some examples of kindness in action and ideas for spreading goodwill at work.
Create safe spaces
Treating others with warmth and consideration may be especially meaningful at a time of heightened political divisions that has many people feeling like they have to choose sides, said Anna Malaika Tubbs, a sociologist and author of “The Three Mothers” and “Erased.”
“Especially in a workplace, where you can level the playing field and really make sure people know, ‘Hey, you’re welcome here and you’re seen here,’ that can really make a difference at a time when on a national level people feel really divided from each other,” Tubbs added.
One way to encourage empathy at work is to create an environment where people get to know each other, Tubbs said. Organizing staff retreats where family members are welcome, bringing in guest speakers, starting book clubs and scheduling fun offsite activities like going to an escape room are ways to generate shared experiences and facilitate healthy dialogues, she said.
The goal isn’t “to erase political difference or erase being able to disagree with each other” but to promote a cultural shift by encouraging behavior and actions different from the ones that often get rewarded at work, Tubbs said.
“Let’s not show up to meetings thinking that we have to compete and show who’s going to be the loudest and who’s going to be the most dominant,” she said. “What would look differently if we were collaborating with each other? If we were more focused on community?”
Creating a supportive culture within an organization requires daily attention, said Maya Nussbaum, the founder of Girls Write Now and MacDermot’s boss. She starts meetings with “heart warmers,” a time for staff members to share their thoughts on topics as simple as a favorite candle. She also encourages actively listening to different perspectives.
“Productivity is better when people feel that they’re valued and they’re listened to and they matter,” Nussbaum said. “They’re going to work harder and they are going to care, and they’re going to channel their passion as opposed to feeling dismissed.”
Provide real feedback
Compassion can mean sharing hard truths in a tactful way. For example, it’s challenging to let people know they aren’t meeting performance expectations, but “sometimes kindness is getting out of your comfort zone and telling someone the truth so they can shine,” said Chantel Cohen, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based CWC Coaching and Therapy, a counseling and life coaching practice in Atlanta.
When providing feedback as a manager, give specific examples to illustrate the behaviors that need improvement, she said. “Kindness isn’t a conflict-free workplace. Kindness is a workplace where repair is possible or improvement is possible,” Cohen said.
A manager at the retirement community in Florida where Cen works now brought her a potted plant on her first day after driving four hours to meet her. Another manager provides encouraging feedback daily.
“Having her pass by and say, ‘You did that really well today,’ it just really uplifts the mood of the whole department and makes us ready to come in for the next challenges,” Cen said.
Give back time
Before scheduling a meeting, consider whether the goals can be accomplished another way. For example, a manager can tell a working group, here’s what’s on the agenda, take time to think about it and send your ideas in writing, Cohen suggested.
“Sometimes, the gift of time is such a kindness,” she said. “Maybe you can’t give your team time off right now, but what you could do a couple times a quarter is just say, ‘Hey we’re going to skip tomorrow’s meeting and here are the things I want you all to think about. Submit this in writing so that you can have the time for yourselves.’”
Keeping meetings structured and focused also frees up time, Nussbaum said.
Reconsider rules
Meher Murshed began dating a colleague, Anupa Kurian-Murshed, more than two decades ago when they both worked at Gulf News in Dubai. The couple wanted to marry, but the newspaper prohibited spouses from working in the same department. They feared one of them would have to quit if they wed.
So they appealed to their editor-in-chief, who raised the issue with the managing director. The top managers decided the couple could keep their jobs and get married as long as one of them didn’t report to the other.
“It changed our lives. Life could have been very different,” Meher Murshed said.
Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed Monday that the agency was reviewing officer body camera footage related to the death of Alex Pretti, who was shot while being apprehended by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis over the weekend.
There is body camera footage from multiple angles which investigators are currently reviewing," a DHS official said in a statement to Scripps News.
When asked Monday if the body camera footage would be made public, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said "that's not something I've heard the president commit to." According to court filings, DHS is leading the investigation into Pretti's death, with assistance from the FBI and other federal agencies.
Up to this point, multiple videos circulating online have shown various different angles of the shooting, which occurred as demonstrators were protesting the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities. Pretti, 37, was on hand apparently filming law enforcement activity, nearly one mile away from where Renee Good was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement agent earlier this month.
Video footage from one bystander showed Pretti standing in the street recording federal officers with a cell phone. One agent can then be seen approaching another person and pushing them down onto the ground. At that point, Pretti jumps between the agent and the protester and is pepper sprayed in the face. Seconds later, several other officers jump in and attempt to apprehend Pretti and a scuffle ensues. Officers are then seen backing away from him after at least one shot was fired.
WARNING | GRAPHIC CONTENT
Bystander video of fatal shooting during federal immigration enforcement protest
Separate video captured by another bystander showed the same struggle ensue before four consecutive shots are heard.
Bystander video captures fatal shooting during immigration enforcement protest
The Department of Homeland Security said that Pretti approached agents with a firearm with two magazines and "violently resisted" when officers attempted to disarm him. Pretti's family has said he owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed firearm. However, the footage only shows Pretti holding what appears to be a cell phone in his hand.
In a sworn declaration filed in federal court, a civilian witness described what they said they observed moments before a federal agent shot and killed Pretti. The witness said they never saw him reach for any weapon.
"I didn't see him with a gun," the witness stated. "They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times."
Relatives of Pretti described him as a dedicated intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration, who was compassionate for others and deeply upset over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in his city.
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