By PAT GRAHAM

Before Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and other World Cup ski racers chase gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics, they will star in a new docuseries that gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it’s like on the circuit.

Some of the biggest names in the sport are featured in ESPN’s five-episode series called “On the Edge: World Cup Ski Racing,” which starts Friday with three segments. Besides Shiffrin and Vonn, the docuseries features Swiss standout Marco Odermatt and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, the Norwegian-born racer who represents Brazil and definitely likes to entertain.

The last episode in the series, titled “The World’s Stage,” will air on April 10 and focus on Swiss racer Camille Rast as she reflects on the fatal fire in a bar in the ski resort Crans-Montana during a New Year’s celebration. That particular episode will also look back at the Olympics and how the 41-year-old Vonn, who returned to the circuit after a partial knee replacement, and others performed.

The Milan Cortina Games are Feb. 6-22.

The series kicks off with the spotlight on Shiffrin and her fiancé, Norwegian standout Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, as they support each other following their returns from severe injuries.

“This kind of storytelling is so important to the future of our sport,” Sophie Goldschmidt, the president & CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, said in a text to The Associated Press. “‘On the Edge’ gives ski racing an even bigger platform and broader reach — and that’s how you inspire participation.

“We hope this series encourages more kids to fall in love with ski racing and dream of becoming the next Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn or Ryan Cochran-Siegle. We have so many amazing stories to share about both our U.S. and international athletes.”

The project is directed by filmmaker Pat Dimon, who explores the journey of racers toward Olympic gold and the grind behind the World Cup season. It also features racers such as New Zealand’s Alice Robinson; Italy’s Sofia Goggia, Federica Brignone and Dominik Paris; and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen.

“Growing up a lifelong skier in Vermont, I learned that what matters most often happens away from the gates and finish line,” Dimon said of the series that premieres on the ESPN app and ESPN on Disney+. “’On the Edge’ is about seeing past the polished surface and dropping into the real line of World Cup racing — the grind of travel, the toll of injuries, the pressure, and the mindset it takes to be and stay at that level.”

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing and AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By GRAHAM LEE BREWER, SAVANNAH PETERS and STEWART HUNTINGTON

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flooded Minneapolis, Shane Mantz dug his Choctaw Nation citizenship card out of a box on his dresser and slid it into his wallet.

Some strangers mistake the pest-control company manager for Latino, he said, and he fears getting caught up in ICE raids.

Like Mantz, many Native Americans are carrying tribal documents proving their U.S. citizenship in case they are stopped or questioned by federal immigration agents. This is why dozens of the 575 federally recognized Native nations are making it easier to get tribal IDs. They’re waiving fees, lowering the age of eligibility — ranging from 5 to 18 nationwide — and printing the cards faster.

It’s the first time tribal IDs have been widely used as proof of U.S. citizenship and protection against federal law enforcement, said David Wilkins, an expert on Native politics and governance at the University of Richmond.

“I don’t think there’s anything historically comparable,” Wilkins said. “I find it terribly frustrating and disheartening.”

As Native Americans around the country rush to secure documents proving their right to live in the United States, many see a bitter irony.

“As the first people of this land, there’s no reason why Native Americans should have their citizenship questioned,” said Jaqueline De León, a senior staff attorney with the nonprofit Native American Rights Fund and member of Isleta Pueblo.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to more than four requests for comment over a week.

Native identity in a new age of fear

Since the mid- to late 1800s, the U.S. government has kept detailed genealogical records to estimate Native Americans’ fraction of “Indian blood” and determine their eligibility for health care, housing, education and other services owed under federal legal responsibilities. Those records were also used to aid federal assimilation efforts and chip away at tribal sovereignty, communal lands and identity.

Beginning in the late 1960s, many tribal nations began issuing their own forms of identification. In the last two decades, tribal photo ID cards have become commonplace and can be used to vote in tribal elections, to prove U.S. work eligibility and for domestic air travel.

About 70% of Native Americans today live in urban areas, including tens of thousands in the Twin Cities, one of the largest urban Native populations in the country.

There, in early January, a top ICE official announced the “largest immigration operation ever.”

Masked, heavily armed agents traveling in convoys of unmarked SUVs became commonplace in some neighborhoods. By this week, more than 3,400 people had been arrested, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At least 2,000 ICE officers and 1,000 Border Patrol officers were on the ground.

Representatives from at least 10 tribes traveled hundreds of miles to Minneapolis — the birthplace of the American Indian Movement — to accept ID applications from members there. Among them were the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe of Wisconsin, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of South Dakota and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa of North Dakota.

Turtle Mountain citizen Faron Houle renewed his tribal ID card and got his young adult son’s and his daughter’s first ones.

“You just get nervous,” Houle said. “I think (ICE agents are) more or less racial profiling people, including me.”

Events in downtown coffee shops, hotel ballrooms, and at the Minneapolis American Indian Center helped urban tribal citizens connect and share resources, said Christine Yellow Bird, who directs the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation’s satellite office in Fargo, North Dakota.

Yellow Bird made four trips to Minneapolis in recent weeks, putting nearly 2,000 miles on her 2017 Chevy Tahoe to help citizens in the Twin Cities who can’t make the long journey to their reservation.

Yellow Bird said she always keeps her tribal ID with her.

“I’m proud of who I am,” she said. “I never thought I would have to carry it for my own safety.”

Some Native Americans say ICE is harassing them

Last year, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said that several tribal citizens reported being stopped and detained by ICE officers in Arizona and New Mexico. He and other tribal leaders have advised citizens to carry tribal IDs with them at all times.

Last November, Elaine Miles, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon and an actress known for her roles in “Northern Exposure” and “The Last of Us,” said she was stopped by ICE officers in Washington state who told her that her tribal ID looked fake.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe this week banned ICE from its reservation in southwestern South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska, one of the largest in the country.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota said a member was detained in Minnesota last weekend. And Peter Yazzie, who is Navajo, said he was arrested and held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix for several hours last week.

Yazzie, a construction worker from nearby Chinle, Arizona, said he was sitting in his car at a gas station preparing for a day of work when he saw ICE officers arrest some Latino men. The officers soon turned their attention to Yazzie, pushed him to the ground, and searched his vehicle, he said.

He said he told them where to find his driver’s license, birth certificate, and a federal Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood. Yazzie said the car he was in is registered to his mother. Officers said the names didn’t match, he said, and he was arrested, taken to a nearby detention center and held for about four hours.

“It’s an ugly feeling. It makes you feel less human. To know that people see your features and think so little of you,” he said.

DHS did not respond to questions about the arrest.

Mantz, the Choctaw Nation citizen, said he runs pest-control operations in Minneapolis neighborhoods where ICE agents are active and he won’t leave home without his tribal identification documents.

Securing them for his children is now a priority.

“It gives me some peace of mind. But at the same time, why do we have to carry these documents?” Mantz said. “Who are you to ask us to prove who we are?”

Brewer reported from Oklahoma City and Peters from Edgewood, New Mexico.

A Waterford Township man is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly robbing two stores at knifepoint at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets on Tuesday, allegedly threatening police officers when they confronted him and then fleeing in his car.

Ryan David Kissel, 29, is charged with two counts of armed robbery, felonious assault, fleeing/eluding police-third degree, and two counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing police in connection with the Jan. 27 incident.

According to the Auburn Hills Police Department, officers responded to the mall, located at 4000 Baldwin Road, at around 7:30 p.m. on Jan, 27 after receiving 911 calls about a man armed with a knife who had robbed two stores. Kissel reportedly threatened officers who approached him the parking lot, then got into his car and drove away.

As stated in a news release from the police department, “Officers pursued the suspect until it was deemed too dangerous to continue, and the pursuit was terminated.” A “Be On the Lookout” alert was sent out to area police agencies as an investigation continued, police said.

No injuries were reported in the alleged robberies, police said.

At approximately 9:30 p.m., on Jan. 27, Kissel was taken into custody at his home in Waterford. Charges were issued the next day. At Kissel’s arraignment on Jan. 29 in 52-3 District Court, Magistrate Marie Soma set bond at $250,000 with no 10% provision. If he posts bond, and is released from the Oakland County Jail, Kissel is to be monitored by electronic tether and prohibited from returning to Great Lakes Crossing Outlets.

Kissel’s next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 12 for a probable cause conference followed by a preliminary exam a week later. Armed robbery is punishable by up to life in prison.

In the news release, the Auburn Hills Police Department acknowledged assistance from the mall’s security staff and the Waterford Police Department for “outstanding cooperation and professionalism.”

“Their timely communication, coordinated response and investigative assistance were instrumental in the safe identification and apprehension of the suspect. This incident highlights the importance of strong partnerships between private security and law enforcement agencies in protecting our community,” the news release stated..

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has additional information about it is asked to call the Auburn Hills Police Department at 248-370-9460.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Birmingham Groves dictated tempo from the start and raced to an 80-39 victory over Bloomfield Hills in a battle for first place in the Oakland Activities Association White Division.

Both teams came into the game unbeaten in league play. But it didn’t take long for Groves to assert control of the game. After the teams battled to an 8-8 start, the Falcons closed the first quarter on a 14-2 run and never looked back.

The Falcons full cast came to play. Groves came in waves, pressed all night, and generally filled the stat sheet every which way. The Falcons dressed 10 players and all of them scored, each had at least one rebound, and eight players had at least one steal as everyone got into the act.

“We wanted everyone to score, so that was the cool thing,” Falcons head coach Jessica Duleba said. “I think you got to see our style of play is pretty fun.”

Still, when the Falcons needed a bucket to get on track or stem a brief run by the Black Hawks, it was either Harlem Simpson or Jacey Roy that they turned to. Simpson, who recently hit 1,000 for her career, finished with a game-high 26 points, including 20 points in the first half. Roy added 17 points, and Mallory Killian added 13 points for the Falcons.

“I’m happy with our performance. The shooting was good tonight,” said Duleba, whose team has now equaled or exceeded 80 points in eight games during its current win streak that followed an 0-2 start to the year.

The Black Hawks played well in spurts. When they could break the press or get a defensive stop or two, Bloomfield Hills was very competitive. But as soon as they started to turn the ball over, Groves would score in transition, put on a quick spurt, and extend its lead.

“I felt that we threw the ball away three times in the first half, and they scored three threes,” Black Hawks head coach Renardo Brown said. “That’s what we’ve got to learn. We’ve got to learn to break it (the press), and then run something,” he added.

Photos of Birmingham Groves vs. Bloomfield Hills in OAA White girls hoops action

Raina James came off the bench to lead the Black Hawks with 12 points. Julianna Socha had a game-high nine rebounds for Bloomfield Hills, and though they also spread the scoring around, outside of James, no one else came close to double figures for the Black Hawks.

With the win, Groves (10-2 overall) improves to 5-0 in the OAA White and assumes full control of the league race. The Falcons begin their second trip through the league on Tuesday with a road game against Auburn Hills Avondale.

“We really wanted this one. We lost to them in districts last year, so we had this one on our list,” Duleba said. “We’re just happy to get this one. We split it last year (in the regular season) and lost in districts, so we keep that as our motivation. We have a lot of teams on our list this year, and we’re trying to prove that we belong and that we should be in the top teams around here, that we deserve some recognition, too.”

The Black Hawks (7-3, 3-1 OAA White) have a quick turnaround, hosting Walled Lake Central in a non-league contest on Friday.

The teams could meet two more times this year – once more in league play and possibly again in districts.

“I played four freshmen tonight,” Brown said. “We’re going through some growing stages right now. But I think give us three or four more games down the road, we work on what we need to work on, and we probably can put a better show out there. But we’ve got to meet them again, probably in the playoffs here, and that’s what it’s all about.”

A Walled Lake marijuana producer is under state investigation.

Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency filed a formal complaint against Prism Triangle at 850 Ladd Road in Walled Lake.

The complaint lists two counts of not employing a lab manager, one count of not using state-approved testing methods and one count of not meeting state standards for sampling and testing marijuana and marijuana products.

State officials who inspected the company in 2025 found evidence that the company did not meet standards for testing recreational marijuana for pesticides and did not have a lab manager with an advanced degree in medical or laboratory science.

In August, 2025, state officials were alerted to the fact that the company was not using approved testing methods to detect a mold called aspergillus, which may cause people to develop a fungal lung infection.

Investigators found that the company improperly recorded test results and used equipment that was not property calibrated.

The state has the right to impose fines or sanction a license by suspending, restricting, revoking or refusing to renew it. The company has 21 days to respond to the complaint and request a formal hearing.

Prism Triangle officials did not respond to requests for comment from The Oakland Press.

ROCHESTER HILLS — Stoney Creek relied on the free-throw shooting of junior forward Calista Ivezaj to pull out a 41-38 win over visiting West Bloomfield on Thursday.

She made 11 of 14 free-throw attempts overall and only missed one of her eight tries in the fourth quarter, leading all scorers with 21 points in the Cougars’ success.

“Going into it, we were just prepping a lot, taking practice very seriously,” said Calista, who was coming off a career-high 26 points in Stoney Creek’s last outing, a 59-16 win against Fenton. “We know these league games are gonna be tough. It’s a rivalry, everything there, but we were just focusing on what we do best and locking in on what we know we can execute.”

Stoney Creek, West Bloomfield and Clarkston have been the top-three teams in the OAA Red in some order going back to 2023-24, but the league title has eluded the Cougars. In the first of their four games against those two opponents, a victory over the Lakers is a first step toward claiming one this winter.

“One of our biggest goals has always been winning the OAA Red,” Calista said. “Coming out (of it), (Stoney Creek head coach Columbus Williams) just said, ‘This is the start. We’re sending the message we’re here to play, not play around.’ We’re be focused for the rest of the OAA (schedule).”

After a commanding 15-4 start by the hosts, West Bloomfield (9-4, 3-2) scored five unanswered early in the second quarter to make it a four-point contest, and from there little separated the two league contenders. The Lakers finished off the opening half on a 6-0 spurt that included a 3-pointer by star senior guard Sheridan Beal, and it was Stoney that led by one, 29-28, after three quarters of action.

“We were trying to control the tempo at that point with the lead that we had,” Williams said of the early action. “Their guards put a lot of pressure on us and our girls didn’t read the flow of the game the right way, then we threw a few turnovers in that second quarter that allowed them to get back into the game.”

Following a floater by freshman guard Bailey Finnie’s floater that had the Lakers within one early in the fourth, both teams went scoreless over the course of several trips until the Cougars rebounded a missed 3-pointer and senior Jadelynn Freeman sank a baseline jumper with 3:20 to go.

After two Calista Ivezaj free throws and a split pair by Malia Taylor, Izzy Ivezaj hit Calista underneath for a bucket that made 37-31, but Beal sliced the lead in half with 1:40 to go when she was fouled on a made 3-pointer, though she didn’t sink the free throw.

Photo gallery from Stoney Creek vs. West Bloomfield in an OAA Red girls hoops contest

Beal missed her next two shots, but teammate Tiara Hopkins-Butler deposited the second miss to keep the Lakers within two at 38-36 with 1:09 remaining, and after the Cougars committed a backcourt violation, Beal drove the lane and knocked down a pull-up jumper that tied the game as 50 seconds remained.

Despite that, West Bloomfield fouled afterward and sent Isabelle Sutton to the line, where she made one of two with 43 ticks left, and the last four shots by the Lakers, including a potential game tying 3-pointer after Calista Ivezaj's final two free throws, didn't fall, preserving Stoney's triumph.

The Ivezajs -- Calista, Izzy and Abby -- used their height and length to combine for at least a handful of blocks.

That helped take advantage of one of West Bloomfield's shortcomings. The Lakers are down a pair of key players from the beginning of the year, including forward Londyn Hall (ACL), the only other returning starter other than Beal from last year's team that reached the Division 1 semifinals.

"We're down two starters, and I don't have a floor general, someone who's going to get them where they're supposed to be," Lakers head coach Darrin McAllister said. "It's tough from where we started, what we expected to do. We had to pivot."

Beal, who saw a ton of attention from Freeman and the rest of the Cougars' line of forwards, finished with a team-high 19 points. She's yet to be held to single-digit scoring this season.

"Sheridan's doing a lot more things now," McAllister said. "Going back to losing your starting point guard, at the end of the game, we're putting the ball in her hands as opposed to her being the off-guard. London, she was a tremendous post player, and it's putting pressure on other post players. But hopefully, and I'm confident, we'll get it together and by the postseason we'll be better than we are now.

"If I had hair, I'd be pulling it out right now. But I'm not crying over spilt milk. I can't do that. We've been to the Breslin four times in four years and some people haven't gone in a 30 or 40-year career. So I'm putting it on me."

West Bloomfield and Stoney Creek will rematch in the final league game of the season for both teams on Feb. 24. Meanwhile, the Cougars play Lake Orion on Tuesday, then will face Clarkston, the Red Division's other 4-0 team, in back-to-back games, beginning with an away game against the Wolves on Feb. 6.

"With the snow day we had, looking at both our crazy calendars, that's how we put it," Williams said of the consecutive matchups upcoming with Clarkston. "Personally, I like it, because if we win (both), we've got the league settled within four days."

By Charles E. Ramirez, cramirez@detroitnews.com

Southeast and central Michigan continue to feel the freezer burn on Friday morning.

Dangerously frigid temperatures prompted the National Weather Service to issue a cold weather advisory, and dozens of schools canceled classes.

The advisory is in effect until 10 a.m. for areas north of Interstate 96, including Michigan’s Thumb and the Bay City-Midland-Saginaw area, the weather service said.

NWS warns temperatures across the region will start at between 5 and 20 degrees below zero. Detroit had reached 3 by about 8 a.m. Friday and was expected to reach a high of 14. The city’s normal high temperature in January is 32.3.

Wind chills are expected to drop to 20 below zero north of I-96 and 15 below zero near Flint and the M-59 corridor, according to the forecast.

NWS also said the coldest conditions are expected by mid-Friday morning.

Some areas of the region may also see some snow on Friday. The eastern part of Michigan’s Thumb could get 1 to 3 inches of snow from Friday night through Saturday morning, thanks to lake effect snow showers from Lake Huron.

Light snow and flurries are possible for the rest of the region, with a dusting to a tenth or two of an inch possible, the NWS said.

Meanwhile, among the districts closed amid the extreme cold is Dearborn Public Schools.

“All Dearborn Public Schools will be closed on Friday 1/30/26. Wind chill temps for Friday A.M. forecasted between -15 to -20 depending on conditions. District uses -20 as a threshold for closing. Temps expected to rise throughout the day but out of an abundance of caution for students in the A.M. schools will be closed,” officials said in a statement on the district’s website.

The Crestwood School District in Dearborn Heights followed suit.

“All Crestwood School District school buildings and offices will be closed on Friday, January 30, 2026 to address building needs due to the recent extreme cold conditions,” it said.

Detroit Public Schools Community District remained open on Friday. Earlier this week, district officials said the school system had used its sixth and final ‘forgiveness’ day for weather, but planned to petition the state for more.

The cold will stick around over the weekend. On Saturday, Detroit’s high should climb to 19, according to the weather service. The city is also looking at isolated snow showers between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.

NWS also predicts wind chills will range between 10 below zero and minus 15 for parts of southeast Michigan, the weather service said. Wind chill values in Detroit could fall as low as minus-5.

On Thursday, Detroit officials said they were keeping the city’s overnight stand-by shelters and respite locations open for an additional day due to the continued cold.

Shelters provided by the city with Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries at 13130 Woodward Ave., the Pope Francis Center at 2915 Hancock, and the Neighborhood Service Organization at 882 Oakman Blvd. will remain open until Monday. Earlier this week, officials announced the shelters would be extended through Sunday.

“Our priority is keeping every Detroiter safe and warm,” Mayor Mary Sheffield said in a statement. “During these bitterly cold conditions, the City of Detroit is making sure every resident has access to a safe and warm place.

“If you need shelter, call our Housing HelpLine at 866-313-2520, visit any police precinct, or go directly to a stand-by shelter. No one should have to face this extreme cold alone.”

NWS meteorologists predict that sunshine on Sunday will push temperatures into the lower 20s, and highs in the 20s will linger over the next week.

In Detroit, the mercury could reach 22 on Sunday. The city’s average high temperature in February, which begins Sunday, is 35.2.

As the deep freeze continues across the region, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office on Friday reminded the public to be careful when venturing out onto lakes, ponds, and rivers.

The office said fluctuating temperatures and underwater currents can create dangerous, unstable ice conditions often invisible from the surface. Officials also said there is no such thing as ice that’s 100% safe.

“We want everyone to enjoy the winter season, but safety must be the priority,” Sheriff Troy Goodnough said in a statement. “Ice conditions can change rapidly. Just because the ice was safe yesterday, or appears safe from the shore, does not mean it is safe today. We urge everyone to check the ice thickness prior to venturing onto it.”

Extended Detroit Forecast

Saturday: Partly sunny; high 19, low 5.

Sunday: Sunny; high 22, low 6.

Monday: Mostly cloudy; high 26, low 14.

Tuesday: Partly sunny; high 26, low 13.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy; high 25, low 12.

Thursday: Partly sunny; high 26.

Source: National Weather Service

©2026 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By MICHAEL BIESECKER, REBECCA SANTANA and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident killed Saturday by Border Patrol officers, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday.

“We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened,” Blanche said during a news conference.

Blanche did not explain why DOJ decided to open an investigation into Pretti’s killing, but has said a similar probe is not warranted in the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. He said only on Friday that the Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement shooting and that there have to be circumstances and facts that “warrant an investigation.”

“President Trump has said repeatedly, ‘Of course, this is something we’re going to investigate,’” Blanche said of the Pretti shooting.

Steve Schleicher, a Minneapolis-based attorney representing Pretti’s parents, said Friday that “the family’s focus is on a fair and impartial investigation that examines the facts around his murder.”

FBI to take over federal investigation

The Department of Homeland Security also said Friday that the FBI will lead the federal probe into Pretti’s death.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem first disclosed the shift in which agency was leading the investigation during a Fox News interview Thursday evening. Her department previously said Homeland Security Investigations, a departmental unit, would head the investigation.

“We will continue to follow the investigation that the FBI is leading and giving them all the information that they need to bring that to conclusion, and make sure that the American people know the truth of the situation and how we can go forward and continue to protect the American people,” Noem said, speaking to Fox host Sean Hannity.

Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Homeland Security Investigations will support the FBI in the investigation. Separately, Customs and Border Protection, which is part of DHS, is doing its own internal investigation into the shooting, during which two officers opened fire on Pretti.

DHS did not immediately respond to questions about when the change was made or why. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear whether the FBI would share information and evidence with Minnesota state investigators, who have thus far been frozen out of the federal investigation.

In the same interview, Noem appeared to distance herself from statements she made shortly after the shooting, claiming Pretti had brandished a handgun and aggressively approached officers.

Multiple videos that emerged of the shooting contradicted that claim, showing the intensive care nurse had only his mobile phone in his hand as officers tackled him to the ground, with one removing a handgun from the back of Pretti’s pants as another officer began firing shots into his back.

Pretti had a state permit to legally carry a concealed firearm. At no point did he appear to reach for it, the videos showed.

Videos emerge of previous altercation

The change in agency comes after two other videos emerged of an earlier altercation between Pretti and federal immigration officers 11 days before his death.

The Jan. 13 videos show Pretti yelling at federal vehicles and at one point appearing to spit before kicking out the taillight of one vehicle. A struggle ensues between Pretti and several officers, during which he is forced to the ground. Pretti’s winter coat comes off, and he either breaks free or the officers let him go and he scurries away.

When he turns his back to the camera, what appears to be a handgun is visible in his waistband. At no point do the videos show Pretti reaching for the gun, and it is not clear whether federal agents saw it.

Schleicher, the Pretti family attorney, said Wednesday the earlier altercation in no way justified the shooting more than a week later.

In a post on his Truth Social platform early Friday morning, President Donald Trump suggested that the videos of the earlier incident undercut the narrative that Pretti was a peaceful protester when he was shot.

“Agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist, Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces,” Trump’s post said. “It was quite a display of abuse and anger, for all to see, crazed and out of control. The ICE Officer was calm and cool, not an easy thing to be under those circumstances!”

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.

By Max Bryan, mbryan@detroitnews

Oakland County’s community mental health agency and a nonprofit that provides mental health services in the county are accusing each other of acting in bad faith as the county absorbed part of the nonprofit’s services Thursday.

Crisis care nonprofit Common Ground announced in a statement Thursday afternoon that it was ending its adult crisis services at its Pontiac location because the Oakland Community Health Network “failed to issue multiple monthly payments” to the nonprofit.

Adult services at Common Ground include a crisis helpline, walk-in assessments and a sober support unit for adults experiencing mental health crisis or substance abuse. Common Ground CEO Heather Rae said 8,000-9,000 people use the nonprofit’s adult crisis services annually.

In its own statement following Common Ground’s, OCHN announced it was immediately assuming responsibility for the services. OCHN is contracted through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to lead the county’s provider service network.

“That the attempts to cause panic among the Oakland County residents and the citizens of the county are very shocking and disappointing, because you’re talking about people whose lives have been put at risk when they believe help is no longer available for them at their most vulnerable,” said OCHN CEO Dana Lasenby.

Common Ground members have attended county meetings since November opposing OCHN absorbing its services.

“Transition meetings between the organizations were initially productive and focused on program continuity and collaboration. However, discussions ultimately stalled as Common Ground shifted its focus toward financial demands rather than operational coordination for the people served,” OCHN’s statement reads.

Rae contends OCHN hasn’t paid the nonprofit since November for its crisis residential unit or sober support unit and hasn’t paid for its main contract since December. In its statement, Common Ground claims OCHN told them Tuesday they didn’t plan to make these payments, citing “outstanding cost settlement reviews.”

Rae said the cost settlement — more than $1 million — is usually worked out in late spring or summer. OCHN claims those funds that Common Ground owes the network were an overpayment.

“It is premature for them to have a number because it is not as simple as that. We go through an audited process, an in-depth review of payments made, expenditures, and we arrive together at a number, and we work that for as long as it takes,” Rae told The Detroit News on Thursday. “Usually, it takes a month or two to arrive at what is the reality of who owes who and how much.”

Rae also claimed Common Ground’s amount would be much smaller if the amounts OCHN hasn’t paid them were factored in.

Lasenby called Rae’s claims about the $1 million and monthly payments “inaccurate.” She said they have tried to work out the overpayment amount with Common Ground “for quite a bit of time now.”

Lasenby also said the last payment they made to Common Ground was in December.

“January payment was not made because of a contractual breach of the provider,” Lasenby said.

In addition to the money claims, Rae said Common Ground issued 155 layoff notices in December for Feb. 13, when OCHN was originally supposed to absorb the services. OCHN claimed in its statement that it has transitioned more than 55 employees from Common Ground “to support the continuation of crisis services” and expects that number to grow as employees transition from the nonprofit.

By ERIC TUCKER, MICHAEL R. SISAK and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department said Friday that it was releasing many more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with rich and powerful people including Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department was releasing more than 3 million pages of documents in the latest Epstein disclosure, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, which were being posted to the department’s website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December.

The documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

“Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act,” Blanche said at a news conference announcing the disclosure.

The prospect of previously unseen records tying Epstein to famous figures has long animated online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and others who have clamored for a full accounting that even Blanche acknowledged might not be met by the latest document dump.

“There’s a hunger, or a thirst, for information that I don’t think will be satisfied by review of these documents,” he said.

He insisted that, “We did not protect President Trump. We didn’t protect — or not protect — anybody,” Blanche said.

After missing a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress to release all of the files, the Justice Department said it tasked hundreds of lawyers with reviewing the records to determine what needs to be redacted, or blacked out.

Among the materials being withheld from release Friday is information that could jeopardize any ongoing investigation or expose the identities of potential victims of sex abuse. All women other than Maxwell have been redacted from videos and images being released Friday, Blanche said.

The number of documents subject to review has ballooned to roughly six million, including duplicates, the department said.

The Justice Department released tens of thousands of pages of documents just before Christmas, including photographs, interview transcripts, call logs and court records. Many of them were either already public or heavily blacked out.

Those records included previously released flight logs showing that Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s, before they had a falling out, and several photographs of Clinton. Neither Trump, a Republican, nor Clinton, a Democrat, has been publicly accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and both have said they had no knowledge he was abusing underage girls.

Also released last month were transcripts of grand jury testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who said they were paid to perform sex acts for Epstein.

Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

In 2008 and 2009, Epstein served jail time in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. At the time, investigators had gathered evidence that Epstein had sexually abused underage girls at his home in Palm Beach, but the U.S. attorney’s office agreed not to prosecute him in exchange for his guilty plea to lesser state charges.

In 2021, a federal jury in New York convicted Maxwell, a British socialite, of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of his underage victims. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence at a prison camp in Texas, after being moved there from a federal prison in Florida. She denies any wrongdoing.

U.S. prosecutors never charged anyone else in connection with Epstein’s abuse of girls, but one of his victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, accused him in lawsuits of having arranged for her to have sexual encounters at age 17 and 18 with numerous politicians, business titans, noted academics and others, all of whom denied her allegations.

Among the people she accused was Britain’s Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after the scandal led to him being stripped of his royal titles. Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre but settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed sum.

Giuffre died by suicide at her farm in Western Australia last year at age 41.

Tucker and Richer reported from Washington.

Follow the AP’s coverage of Jeffrey Epstein at https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein.

By KAITLYN HUAMANI, Associated Press Technology Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Trump administration has not shied away from sharing AI-generated imagery online, embracing cartoonlike visuals and memes and promoting them on official White House channels.

But an edited — and realistic — image of civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong in tears after being arrested is raising new alarms about how the administration is blurring the lines between what is real and what is fake.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s account posted the original image from Levy Armstrong’s arrest before the official White House account posted an altered image that showed her crying. The doctored picture is part of a deluge of AI-edited imagery that has been shared across the political spectrum since the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by U.S. Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis

However, the White House’s use of artificial intelligence has troubled misinformation experts who fear the spreading of AI-generated or edited images erodes public perception of the truth and sows distrust.

In response to criticism of the edited image of Levy Armstrong, White House officials doubled down on the post, with deputy communications director Kaelan Dorr writing on X that the “memes will continue.” White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson also shared a post mocking the criticism.

David Rand, a professor of information science at Cornell University, says calling the altered image a meme “certainly seems like an attempt to cast it as a joke or humorous post, like their prior cartoons. This presumably aims to shield them from criticism for posting manipulated media.” He said the purpose of sharing the altered arrest image seems “much more ambiguous” than the cartoonish images the administration has shared in the past.

Memes have always carried layered messages that are funny or informative to people who understand them, but indecipherable to outsiders. AI-enhanced or edited imagery is just the latest tool the White House uses to engage the segment of Trump’s base that spends a lot of time online, said Zach Henry, a Republican communications consultant who founded Total Virality, an influencer marketing firm.

“People who are terminally online will see it and instantly recognize it as a meme,” he said. “Your grandparents may see it and not understand the meme, but because it looks real, it leads them to ask their kids or grandkids about it.”

All the better if it prompts a fierce reaction, which helps it go viral, said Henry, who generally praised the work of the White House’s social media team.

The creation and dissemination of altered images, especially when they are shared by credible sources, “crystallizes an idea of what’s happening, instead of showing what is actually happening,” said Michael A. Spikes, a professor at Northwestern University and news media literacy researcher.

“The government should be a place where you can trust the information, where you can say it’s accurate, because they have a responsibility to do so,” he said. “By sharing this kind of content, and creating this kind of content … it is eroding the trust — even though I’m always kind of skeptical of the term trust — but the trust we should have in our federal government to give us accurate, verified information. It’s a real loss, and it really worries me a lot.”

Spikes said he already sees the “institutional crises” around distrust in news organizations and higher education, and feels this behavior from official channels inflames those issues.

Ramesh Srinivasan, a professor at UCLA and the host of the Utopias podcast, said many people are now questioning where they can turn to for “trustable information.” “AI systems are only going to exacerbate, amplify and accelerate these problems of an absence of trust, an absence of even understanding what might be considered reality or truth or evidence,” he said.

Srinivasan said he feels the White House and other officials sharing AI-generated content not only invites everyday people to continue to post similar content but also grants permission to others who are in positions of credibility and power, like policymakers, to share unlabeled synthetic content. He added that given that social media platforms tend to “algorithmically privilege” extreme and conspiratorial content — which AI generation tools can create with ease — “we’ve got a big, big set of challenges on our hands.”

An influx of AI-generated videos related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement action, protests and interactions with citizens has already been proliferating on social media. After Renee Good was shot by an ICE officer while she was in her car, several AI-generated videos began circulating of women driving away from ICE officers who told them to stop. There are also many fabricated videos circulating of immigration raids and of people confronting ICE officers, often yelling at them or throwing food in their faces.

Jeremy Carrasco, a content creator who specializes in media literacy and debunking viral AI videos, said the bulk of these videos are likely coming from accounts that are “engagement farming,” or looking to capitalize on clicks by generating content with popular keywords and search terms like ICE. But he also said the videos are getting views from people who oppose ICE and DHS and could be watching them as “fan fiction,” or engaging in “wishful thinking,” hoping that they’re seeing real pushback against the organizations and their officers.

Still, Carrasco also believes that most viewers can’t tell if what they’re watching is fake, and questions whether they would know “what’s real or not when it actually matters, like when the stakes are a lot higher.”

Even when there are blatant signs of AI generation, like street signs with gibberish on them or other obvious errors, only in the “best-case scenario” would a viewer be savvy enough or be paying enough attention to register the use of AI.

This issue is, of course, not limited to news surrounding immigration enforcement and protests. Fabricated and misrepresented images following the capture of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro exploded online earlier this month. Experts, including Carrasco, think the spread of AI-generated political content will only become more commonplace.

Carrasco believes that the widespread implementation of a watermarking system that embeds information about the origin of a piece of media into its metadata layer could be a step toward a solution. The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity has developed such a system, but Carrasco doesn’t think that will become extensively adopted for at least another year.

“It’s going to be an issue forever now,” he said. I don’t think people understand how bad this is.”

Associated Press writers Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix and Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed to this report.

By STEVEN SLOAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bill Cassidy didn’t simply criticize the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Following the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti by a U.S. Border Patrol officer, the Louisiana Republican warned of broader implications for the federal government.

“The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake,” Cassidy wrote in a social media post, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. “There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”

Trust is one of a president’s most valuable currencies, especially in a time of crisis. During his second term, President Donald Trump has persistently undermined the trust and credibility of major universities, national law firms and media and taken punitive actions against them. His supporters largely either endorsed those actions or stayed mum.

Now the credibility question is aimed at his administration. While the criticism is not directly aimed at the president by his supporters, it is a sign that trust is eroding over some of his most important policies. Administration officials gave one account of the shooting in Minneapolis and contemporaneous video provided a decidedly different one.

In the hours after Pretti’s killing, top Trump officials including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were quick to cast Pretti as an instigator who “approached” officers with a gun and acted violently. But videos from the scene show Pretti being pushed by an officer before a half-dozen agents descend on him.

During the scuffle, he held a phone but is never seen brandishing the 9mm semiautomatic handgun police say he was licensed to carry. The administration has said investigations are ongoing, though information hasn’t yet emerged to support some of the provocative initial claims.

“We trust our national leaders to tell us accurately about the world that we don’t experience directly but about which they have knowledge,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “If someone is credible in that role, then their description of reality should match your perception of reality if you’re a dispassionate, fair individual.”

The White House seemed to try to ease the conflict Monday. Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke and both suggested their conversation was productive. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who has been at the center of the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement surge nationwide, is expected to soon leave Minneapolis.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, sought to distance Trump from some of the initial claims about Pretti — including allegations that he was a domestic terrorist — noting they didn’t come from the president himself.

Still, lawmakers from both parties — including many Republicans — called for independent investigations and, perhaps most importantly, trust.

In calling for a “transparent, independent investigation,” Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, wrote to constituents online that “you’ve trusted me, and maintaining that trust matters.”

“I disagree with Secretary Noem’s premature DHS response, which came before all the facts were known and weakened confidence,” he wrote.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is pushing an amendment to a DHS funding bill that would force independent probes of DHS, ICE and Customs and Border Patrol. She hasn’t yet won GOP support for the measure but said in a statement “this isn’t a red or blue issue.”

“It’s about truth and accountability,” she said.

Feeding social media platforms with content

Trump and his team have spent much of his second term studiously feeding content to social media platforms to engage their most loyal supporters in ways that independent fact checkers have found to be distorted or baseless. During its immigration crackdown, the administration’s accounts have posted unflattering images of people being taken into custody.

The extent of efforts to manipulate images became clear last week when the White House posted a picture on its X page of civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong crying with her hands behind her back as she was escorted by a blurred person wearing a badge. The photo was captioned in all caps: “Arrested far-left agitator Nekima Levy Armstrong for orchestrating church riots in Minnesota.”

A photo posted by Noem’s account showed the same image with Levy Armstrong wearing a neutral expression.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, fueled false claims online that Haitians in an Ohio community were abducting and eating pets. Pressed on the issue, Vance said he was amplifying the claims to draw attention to immigration policies advocated by Democrats.

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance said at the time, quickly clarifying that he “created the focus that allowed the media to talk about this story and the suffering caused by policies.”

Trump is hardly the first president to face questions about trust.

Presidents and credibility

President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration was undone by his handling of the Vietnam War, which ushered in an era of broad skepticism about Washington. Just 38% of Americans said last year that they trusted the federal government’s ability to handle domestic problems at least a fair amount, according to Gallup polling. That’s down from 70% in 1972.

Once they leave the White House, presidents are often candid about mistakes that eroded their credibility. In his memoir, President George W. Bush wrote about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which was a predicate for launching a deadly and costly war there.

“That was a massive blow to our credibility — my credibility,” he wrote. “No one was more shocked or angry than I was when we didn’t find the weapons. I had a sickening feeling every time I thought about it. I still do.”

President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan marked a turning point in his administration. And in her memoir of the 2024 campaign, his vice president, Kamala Harris, wrote of rejecting the Biden campaign’s talking points after his dismal debate performance.

“I was not about to tell the American people that their eyes had lied,” she wrote. “I would not jeopardize my own credibility.”

But none of that compares to the credibility challenge facing Trump, according to Barbara Perry, the co-director of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, who noted the sheer volume of lies and exaggerations that have emerged from his administration.

“Donald Trump is unique,” she said. “If you count up all of the times he has prevaricated, it would have to outweigh all other presidencies.”

By GARY FIELDS, JOSH FUNK and ED WHITE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An air traffic controller felt a “little overwhelmed” by numerous aircraft around Reagan airport just minutes before an American Airlines jet collided midair last year with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing 67 people, an investigator said Tuesday at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing to determine the biggest factors in the crash.

During the hearing’s early stages, some themes emerged: The jet’s pilot had no warning about the helicopter, and airspace was crowded the night of Jan. 29, 2025.

“It will not be an easy day,” NTSB board member Todd Inman said in his opening remarks. “There is no singular person to blame for this. These were systemic issues across multiple organizations.”

Everyone aboard the jet, flying from Wichita, Kansas, and the helicopter died when the two aircraft collided and plummeted into the icy Potomac River. It was the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil since 2001.

The Federal Aviation Administration made several changes after the crash to ensure helicopters and planes no longer share the same airspace around the nation’s capital, and last week made those changes permanent. The NTSB will recommend additional action, and families of the victims have said they hope that leads to meaningful change.

NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said she couldn’t believe the FAA didn’t realize the helicopter route in use during the crash didn’t provide adequate separation from planes landing on Reagan’s secondary runway.

“We know over time concerns were raised repeatedly, went unheard, squashed — however you want to put it — stuck in red tape and bureaucracy of a very large organization,” Homendy said. “Repeated recommendations over the years.”

NTSB investigator Katherine Wilson said an air traffic controller felt a “little overwhelmed” when traffic volume increased to 10 aircraft about 10 to 15 minutes before the collision, but then “felt the volume was manageable when one or two helicopters left the airspace.”

Yet about 90 seconds before the collision, Wilson said, “traffic volume increased to a maximum of 12 aircraft consisting of seven airplanes and five helicopters. Radio communication showed that the local controller was shifting its focus between airborne, ground and transiting aircraft.”

The workload “reduced his situational awareness,” Wilson said.

NTSB investigators showed a video animation to demonstrate how difficult it would have been for the pilots in both aircraft to spot the other amid the lights of Washington. The animation also showed how the windshields of both aircraft and the helicopter crew’s night vision goggles restricted views.

Some people were escorted from the room, including two in tears, as an animation of the flights began. Several entered the auditorium wearing black shirts bearing the names of crash victims.

“I hope that we see a clear path through the recommendations they offer to ensure that this never happens again,” Rachel Feres, who lost her cousin Peter Livingston and his wife and two young daughters in the crash, said ahead of the hearing. “That nobody else has to wake up to hear that an entire branch of their family tree is gone, or their wife is gone or the child is gone. That’s what I hope coming out of this. I hope we have clarity and urgency.”

Whether that happens depends on how Congress, the Army and the Trump administration respond after the hearing. Victims’ families say they will keep the pressure on officials to act.

Young Alydia and Everly Livingston were among 28 members of the figure skating community who died in the crash. Many of them had been in Wichita for a national skating competition and development camp.

The NTSB has already spelled out many key factors that contributed to the crash and detailed what happened that night. That includes a poorly designed helicopter route past Reagan airport, the fact that the Black Hawk was flying 78 feet (23.7 meters) higher than it should have been, the warnings that the FAA ignored in the years beforehand, and the Army’s move to turn off a key system that would have broadcast the helicopter’s location more clearly.

Several other high-profile crashes and close calls followed the D.C. collision, alarming the flying public. But NTSB statistics show that the total number of crashes last year was the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, with 1,405 nationwide.

Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and White reported from Detroit. AP Airlines writer Rio Yamat contributed from Las Vegas.

By Sarah Atwood, satwood@detroitnews.com

The University of Michigan will partly finance faculty research projects amid cuts to federal research funding, the university said.

The research funding program will begin this month and support projects across all three UM campuses — Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint, according to the announcement Friday in the University Record, a university-run faculty-staff news source. The program is meant to provide short-term support to help maintain research continuity, support research staff and remain competitive for future outside funding, UM said in the article.

A similar but separate program will be run through the university’s medical school.

“This program is not intended to replace federal funding or create a long-term safety net,” said Arthur Lupia, vice president for research and innovation in the article. “It is a targeted, one-time investment to help outstanding U-M researchers transition in a time of change and continue to do important work that serves the people of Michigan and the world.”

Researchers in charge of projects, known as principal investigators, can request up to one year of partial support under the program, the university said. Researchers can apply for up to 35% of the average annual direct cost that was originally requested in the researcher’s federal proposal, with a maximum of $150,000 per year. Central university support will cover up to half of the research cost, with the rest covered by the researcher’s school, college or unit.

All money must be spent at UM, the university said.

UM is among the nation’s top public universities in research spending. In 2024, UM’s annual research expenditures reached a record $2.04 billion — of that amount, federal funding accounted for $1.17 billion, for over half of the university’s total.

UM anticipates receiving $163 million less from the federal government through fiscal year 2026, budget projections approved by the Board of Regents in June show.

Michigan State University announced a similar funding program last April, called the Jenison Fund. The fund would provide strategic, targeted, time-limited assistance to graduate students who have lost funding and to faculty members experiencing disruptions in research funding, according to MSU.

Michigan State President Kevin Guskiewicz said a total of up to $5 million annually for the next three years would be allocated to the fund.

To date, the fund has awarded resources to 35 projects, MSU spokesperson Amber McCann said.

In October, Guskiewicz announced that 74 federally funded projects at MSU were ended by the federal government, with a multiyear impact estimated at $104 million. At the time, 86 projects were paused or affected by stop-work orders.

By AAMER MADHANI and STEVE KARNOWSKI

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump shifted toward a more conciliatory approach with Democratic leaders in Minnesota on Monday, a sudden change in tack following an outcry over the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the state this month during the administration’s nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

The about-face comes after Saturday’s shooting death of Alex Pretti by federal agents raised doubts — including from some Republicans — over how the Trump administration has gone about aggressively deporting migrants and confronting protesters opposed to the policy.

But it’s just the latest in a string of moments where Trump has first taken a maximalist position only to appear to later retreat.

Earlier this month, Trump repeatedly threatened Iran with military action if his administration found the Islamic Republic was using deadly force to squelch recent antigovernment protests. Human rights groups said thousands were killed, but Trump says he’s holding off on acting after he received assurances Tehran was suspending hundreds of planned executions.

Last week, Trump first announced plans to impose new tariffs on European allies that refused to go along with his calls for the U.S. to take control of the Arctic territory of Greenland — only to abruptly cancel the tariffs after saying he’d come to terms of the “framework” of an agreement. The White House offered scant details about the deal, which Trump announced the day after the stock market saw one of its worst days in months in response to his tariff threat.

Then on Monday, Trump’s administration changed up oversight of his immigration operation in Minnesota, and the typically bombastic Trump offered a warmer tone toward Gov. Tim Walz after speaking with the Democrat, saying he and Walz were now on a “similar wavelength.”

Some Republicans took issue with what happened in Minneapolis

It was a particularly jarring turnabout for Trump, who had promised to be uncompromising on carrying out mass deportations of undocumented migrants during his 2024 campaign — and because Trump has repeatedly scorched Walz and other Minnesota Democrats in personal terms for resisting his policies.

Trump said he had dispatched border czar Tom Homan to take charge. Meanwhile, senior Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino and some agents were expected to leave Minneapolis as early as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Trump declared on social media that Walz “was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I!” Later, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey confirmed that some agents would be leaving the city after he spoke with Trump — and suggested that the president seemed to be coming to the conclusion that the current state of federal operations was unsustainable. Homan and Frey were expected to meet Tuesday.

Trump’s change-up in Minnesota came after some Republicans questioned federal agents’ tactics in Saturday’s shooting as well as the White House’s response. Some high-ranking administration officials had branded Pretti a domestic terrorist even as videos of the encounter contradicted their narrative.

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel, a Minneapolis attorney, ended his GOP campaign in a surprise video announcement Monday, calling the recent immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities an “unmitigated disaster” and saying he no longer wanted to be a member of the party because of it.

Meanwhile, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been a strong supporter of Trump’s crackdown on immigration, offered measured criticism in an interview with conservative radio host Mark Davis, saying the White House needs to “recalibrate” what it was doing in Minnesota. Vermont’s Republican Gov. Phil Scott called on Trump to reset and de-escalate.

“At best, these federal immigration operations are a complete failure of coordination of acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices training, and leadership,” Scott said. “At worst, it’s a deliberate federal intimidation and incitement of American citizens that’s resulting in the murder of Americans.”

Trump had scorched Walz. Now, they’re on a ‘similar wavelength’

The president’s approach toward Walz, who served as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, amounted to a sharp U-turn.

Just a day earlier, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, had derided Walz on social media as trying to “incite attacks on” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The White House social media team in a series of posts called the governor “a truly disturbed, unstable individual” and an “unhinged lunatic” who “rants and raves and lies.”

Miller also referred to Pretti, a nurse who worked at a Veterans Affairs hospital, as a “would-be assassin” while Homeland Security Kristi Noem labeled the ICU nurse as committing an act of domestic terrorism.

The White House sidestepped whether Trump agreed with his senior aides’ rhetoric or whether the administration would apologize for it.

“This incident remains under investigation,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “And nobody here at the White House, including the president of the United States, wants to see Americans hurt or killed and losing their lives.”

His response has been muted compared to other recent deaths

Trump’s response to the deaths of the two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis has been much more muted than reactions to political violence that he’s portrayed as targeting his own political movement.

After conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September, the president spoke to the nation from the Oval Office and called Kirk’s death “a dark moment for America.”

In November, Trump gave a national address after two National Guard members were shot in Washington by an Afghan national, one fatally. The guard members had been deployed to the nation’s capital as part of a federal mission to assist with local policing, and the president called the shooting “an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror.”

But the president has yet to speak directly to the nation about the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good, another U.S. citizen who was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this month. Trump has so far largely chosen to keep the public informed in the wake of Pretti’s death with social media posts.

Even as his comments Monday appeared to be aimed at turning down the rhetoric, Trump’s chief spokesperson, Leavitt, continued to blame Walz and other Minnesota Democrats for encouraging “left-wing agitators to stop, record, confront and obstruct federal officers who are just trying to lawfully perform their duties.”

“This is precisely what unfolded in Minneapolis on Saturday morning,” Leavitt added.

AP writers Josh Boak and Joey Cappelletti in Washington, Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed reporting. Karnowski reported from Minneapolis.

By BILL BARROW and NICHOLAS RICCARDI, Associated Press

Prominent Republicans and gun rights advocates helped elicit a White House turnabout this week after bristling over the administration’s characterization of Alex Pretti, the second person killed this month by a federal officer in Minneapolis, as responsible for his own death because he lawfully possessed a weapon.

The death produced no clear shifts in U.S. gun politics or policies, even as President Donald Trump shuffles the lieutenants in charge of his militarized immigration crackdown. But important voices in Trump’s coalition have called for a thorough investigation of Pretti’s death while also criticizing inconsistencies in some Republicans’ Second Amendment stances.

If the dynamic persists, it could give Republicans problems as Trump heads into a midterm election year with voters already growing skeptical of his overall immigration approach. The concern is acute enough that Trump’s top spokeswoman sought Monday to reassert his brand as a staunch gun rights supporter.

“The president supports the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens, absolutely,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Leavitt qualified that “when you are bearing arms and confronted by law enforcement, you are raising … the risk of force being used against you.”

Videos contradict early statements from administration

That still marked a retreat from the administration’s previous messages about the shooting of Pretti. It came the same day the president dispatched border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, seemingly elevating him over Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, who had been in charge in Minneapolis.

Within hours of Pretti’s death on Saturday, Bovino suggested Pretti “wanted to … massacre law enforcement,” and Noem said Pretti was “brandishing” a weapon and acted “violently” toward officers.

“I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,” Noem said.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, an architect of Trump’s mass deportation effort, went further on X, declaring Pretti “an assassin.”

Bystander videos contradicted each claim, instead showing Pretti holding a cellphone and helping a woman who had been pepper sprayed by a federal officer. Within seconds, Pretti was sprayed, too, and taken to the ground by multiple officers. No video disclosed thus far has shown him unholstering his concealed weapon -– which he had a Minnesota permit to carry. It appeared that one officer took Pretti’s gun and walked away with it just before shots began.

As multiple videos went viral online and on television, Vice President JD Vance reposted Miller’s assessment, while Trump shared an alleged photo of “the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!).”

Swift reactions from gun rights advocates

The National Rifle Association, which has backed Trump three times, released a statement that began by casting blame on Minnesota Democrats it accused of stoking protests. But the group lashed out after a federal prosecutor in California said on X that, “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”

That analysis, the NRA said, is “dangerous and wrong.”

FBI Director Kash Patel magnified the blowback Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo.” No one, Patel said, can “bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple.”

Erich Pratt, vice president of Gun Owners of America, was incredulous.

“I have attended protest rallies while armed, and no one got injured,” he said on CNN.

Conservative officials around the country made the same connection between the First and Second amendments.

“Showing up at a protest is very American. Showing up with a weapon is very American,” state Rep. Jeremy Faison, who leads the GOP caucus in Tennessee, said on X.

Trump’s first-term vice president, Mike Pence, called for “full and transparent investigation of this officer involved shooting.”

A different response from the past

Liberals, conservatives and nonpartisan experts noted how the administration’s response differed from past conservative positions involving protests and weapons.

Multiple Trump supporters were found to have weapons during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump issued blanket pardons to all of them.

Republicans were critical in 2020 when Mark and Patricia McCloskey had to pay fines after pointing guns at protesters who marched through their St. Louis neighborhood after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. And then there’s Kyle Rittenhouse, a counter-protester acquitted after fatally shooting two men and injuring another in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during the post-Floyd protests.

“You remember Kyle Rittenhouse and how he was made a hero on the right,” Trey Gowdy, a Republican former congressman and attorney for Trump during one of his first-term impeachments. “Alex Pretti’s firearm was being lawfully carried. … He never brandished it.”

Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor who has studied the history of the gun debate, said the fallout “shows how tribal we’ve become.” Republicans spent years talking about the Second Amendment as a means to fight government tyranny, he said.

“The moment someone who’s thought to be from the left, they abandon that principled stance,” Winkler said.

Meanwhile, Democrats who have criticized open and concealed carry laws for years, Winkler added, are not amplifying that position after Pretti’s death.

Uncertain effects in an election year

The blowback against the administration from core Trump supporters comes as Republicans are trying to protect their threadbare majority in the U.S. House and face several competitive Senate races.

Perhaps reflecting the stakes, GOP staff and campaign aides were reticent Monday to talk about the issue at all.

The House Republican campaign chairman, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, is sponsoring the GOP’s most significant gun legislation of this congressional term, a proposal to make state concealed-carry permits reciprocal across all states.

The bill cleared the House Judiciary Committee last fall. Asked Monday whether Pretti’s death and the Minneapolis protests might affect debate, an aide to Speaker Mike Johnson did not offer any update on the bill’s prospects.

Gun rights advocates have notched many legislative victories in Republican-controlled statehouses in recent decades, from rolling back gun-free zones around schools and churches to expanding gun possession rights in schools, on university campuses and in other public spaces.

William Sack, legal director of the Second Amendment Foundation, said he was surprised and disappointed by the administration’s initial statements following the Pretti shooting. Trump’s vacillating, he said, is “very likely to cost them dearly with the core of a constituency they count on.”

Associated Press writer Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

Waterford Township’s Police Chief said it’s not known if alcohol or drug use was a factor when the driver of a Pontiac G6 crashed into a Rochester Community Schools bus carrying children on Saturday morning and then died.

Police Chief Scott Underwood declined to release the name of the driver, a 38-year-old White Lake Township man. He was killed when he crossed the center lane of Huron Road near Josephine Street in Waterford Township  — just west of Telegraph Road — and collided head-on with the school bus shortly before 8 a.m., Underwood said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

None of the children were seriously injured, but a teacher who was on the bus was transported to McLaren Oakland Hospital for treatment of injuries that weren’t life threatening, Underwood said.

The Oakland Press has reached out to Rochester Community Schools for more information but hasn’t heard back yet.

Killer’s wife tied to 2024 murder, robbery of Rochester Hills businessman; criminal charges filed

By MIKE CATALINI and STEVE KARNOWSKI, Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The chief federal judge in Minnesota says the Trump administration has failed to comply with orders to hold hearings for detained immigrants and ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear before him Friday to explain why he should not be held in contempt.

In an order dated Monday, Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz said Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, must appear personally in court. Schiltz took the administration to task over its handling of bond hearings for immigrants it has detained.

“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,” the judge wrote.

The order comes a day after President Donald Trump ordered border czar Tom Homan to take over his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota following the second death this month of a person at the hands of an immigration law enforcement officer.

Trump said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he had “great calls” with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday, mirroring comments he made immediately after the calls.

The White House had tried to blame Democratic leaders for the protests of federal officers conducting immigration raids. But after the killing of Alex Pretti on Saturday 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.

Immigration agents were active Tuesday across the Twin Cities region, and it was unclear if officials had changed tactics after the shift in tone from the White House.

The streets appeared largely quiet in many south Minneapolis neighborhoods where unmarked convoys of immigration agents have been sighted regularly in recent weeks, including the neighborhoods where the two deaths occurred. But Associated Press staff saw carloads of agents in northeast Minneapolis, as well as the northern suburb of Little Canada.

Schiltz’s order also follows a federal court hearing Monday on a request by the state and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul for a judge to order a halt to the immigration law enforcement surge. The judge 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.

“Respondents have continually assured the Court that they recognize their obligation to comply with Court orders, and that they have taken steps to ensure that those orders will be honored going forward,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, though, the violations continue.”

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

The order lists the petitioner by first name and last initials: Juan T.R. It says the court granted a petition on Jan. 14 to provide him with a bond hearing within seven days. On Jan. 23, his lawyers told the court the petitioner was still detained. Court documents show the petitioner is a citizen of Ecuador who came to the United States around 1999.

The order says Schiltz will cancel Lyons’ appearance if the petitioner is released from custody.

Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

By SEUNG MIN KIM and HANNAH FINGERHUT, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump is headed to Iowa on Tuesday as part of the White House’s midterm year pivot toward affordability, even as his administration remains mired in the fallout in Minneapolis over a second fatal shooting by federal immigration officers this month.

While in Iowa, the Republican president will make a stop at a local business and then deliver a speech on affordability, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The remarks will be at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, a suburb of Des Moines.

The trip will also highlight energy policy, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said last week. It’s part of the White House’s strategy to have Trump travel out of Washington once a week ahead of the midterm elections to focus on affordability issues facing everyday Americans — an effort that keeps getting diverted by crisis.

The latest comes as the Trump administration is grappling with the weekend shooting death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse killed by federal agents in the neighboring state of Minnesota. Pretti had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Even as some top administration officials moved quickly to malign Pretti, the White House said Monday that Trump was waiting until an investigation into the shooting was complete.

Trump was last in Iowa ahead of the July 4 holiday to kick off the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary, which morphed largely into a celebration of his major spending and tax cut package hours after Congress had approved it.

Republicans are hoping that Trump’s visit to the state on Tuesday draws focus back to that tax bill, which will be a key part of their pitch as they ask voters to keep them in power in November.

“I invited President Trump back to Iowa to highlight the real progress we’ve made: delivering tax relief for working families, securing the border, and growing our economy,” Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, said in a statement in advance of his trip. “Now we’ve got to keep that momentum going and pass my affordable housing bill, deliver for Iowa’s energy producers, and bring down costs for working families.”

Trump’s affordability tour has taken him to Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina as the White House tries to marshal the president’s political power to appeal to voters in key swing states.

But Trump’s penchant for going off-script has sometimes taken the focus off cost-of-living issues and his administration’s plans for how to combat it. In Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, Trump insisted that inflation was no longer a problem and that Democrats were using the term affordability as a “hoax” to hurt him. At that event, Trump also griped that immigrants arriving to the U.S. from “filthy” countries got more attention than his pledges to fight inflation.

Although it was a swing state just a little more than a decade ago, Iowa in recent years has been reliably Republican in national and statewide elections. Trump won Iowa by 13 percentage points in 2024 against Democrat Kamala Harris.

Still, two of Iowa’s four congressional districts have been among the most competitive in the country and are expected to be again in this year’s midterm elections. Trump already has endorsed Republican Reps. Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Democrats, who landed three of Iowa’s four House seats in the 2018 midterm elections during Trump’s first term, see a prime opportunity to unseat Iowa incumbents.

This election will be the first since 1968 with open seats for both governor and U.S. senator at the top of the ticket after Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst opted out of reelection bids. The political shake-ups have rippled throughout the state, with Republican Reps. Randy Feenstra and Ashley Hinson seeking new offices for governor and for U.S. senator, respectively.

Democrats hope Rob Sand, the lone Democrat in statewide office who is running for governor, will make the entire state more competitive with his appeal to moderate and conservative voters and his $13 million in cash on hand.

Kim reported from Washington.