(NEW YORK) — Millions of people in the High Plains will experience widespread wind gusts between 60 and 80 mph, from Montana to Kansas.
This wind, which will last all day and into the evening, could take down large trees, cause power outages, reduce visibility with blowing dust, and make travel dangerous for high-profile vehicles, which could be turned over.
On the eastern side of the strongest winds, blowing snow is also expected — either snow that has already fallen and is picked up from the ground, or new snow from the new storm.
A winter weather advisory is in place from North Dakota to Iowa for gusts between 40 and 50 mph, with snow accumulations up to one inch.
Light snow is forecast to fall across Wisconsin and Michigan, continuing into Michigan and Ohio on Friday afternoon.
In the evening, snow is forecast to fall from West Virginia and Ohio to western Pennsylvania and western New York. On Saturday, snow is possible across much of the Northeast.
The I-95 corridor may see snow Saturday morning and early afternoon, or a rain and snow mix, from Washington, D.C., to Maine.
A dusting is possible in Washington, D.C., around an inch is expected in Philadelphia and up to 2 inches are possible around New York City and Boston.
Farther inland, parts of upstate New York, western Connecticut and western Massachusetts, and parts of areas north of I-90, may see 3 to 6 inches of snow accumulation.
Snow will be out of the region by late afternoon Saturday.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) seal on the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Justice Department officials said in a letter submitted to two federal judges Thursday that they are making “substantial progress” reviewing items related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — but gave no indication when additional material would be released.
The letter said “over five hundred” federal prosecutors and staff members from the Southern District of New York and the Justice Department’s criminal division are reviewing and redacting millions of pages from the investigations into Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
The review has found “substantial” duplication in various files, so the estimated number of documents is “in flux,” the letter said.
“Due to the scope of this effort, platform operations require around-the-clock attention and technical assistance to resolve inevitable glitches due to the sheer volume of materials,” said the letter, which is signed by Jay Clayton, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Clayton said prosecutors are working with victims and attorneys for victims to redact identifying information, even if, in some cases, that information was previously public.
“Following a process of conferring with victims and victim counsel about this issue, the Department has confirmed that, to the extent any victim requests redaction of personally identifying information of a document in the DOJ Epstein Library, the Department will redact that victim identifying information even if the document is (or was) otherwise available on a public court docket,” the letter said.
The DOJ faced a Dec. 19 deadline for the release of all remaining Epstein files after Congress in November passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act following blowback the Trump administration received seeking the release of materials related to their probe of Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019.
Materials released to date include a trove of photographs and court records, including a complaint to the FBI about Epstein that was filed years before he was first investigated for child sex abuse, and documents containing previously unknown details about plans for Epstein’s 2019 arrest — but the files have yet to show evidence of wrongdoing on the part of famous, powerful men, against the expectations of many of those who pushed for the files’ release.
Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition figure and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, attends a press conference on December 11, 2025 in Oslo, Norway. (Rune Hellestad/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump met Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal. The president called it a “wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”
“María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. He also said that Machado was a “wonderful woman who has been through so much” and that it was a great honor to meet her.
Following the meeting, a White House official confirmed to ABC News that Trump did accept the medal.
Further details about the closed-door meeting were not immediately revealed by the White House. Asked about the meeting by ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Trump said it went “great.”
Machado told reporters as she was exiting the White House that she presented Trump with her prize and reflected on the history between the two countries.
“I told him this … Listen to this — 200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington’s face on it. Bolivar, since then, kept that medal for the rest of his life,” she told reporters.
“Actually, when you see his portraits, you can see the medal there. And it was given by General Lafayette as a sign of the brotherhood between the United States, people of United States, and the people of Venezuela in their fight for freedom against tyranny. And 200 years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington, a medal, in this case a medal of a Nobel Peace Prize, and a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom,” she added.
Simon Bolivar liberated Venezuela and several other Latin American countries from Spanish rule in the 1800s. The Marquis de Lafayette was a French national who volunteered to fight with American colonists during the Revolutionary War and eventually rose to be one of George Washington’s most trusted generals.
Machado didn’t offer any more details about her meeting with Trump.
She won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her work “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and her push to move the country from dictatorship to democracy.
Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced in October 2025.
She said last week that she would like to give or share the prize with Trump, who oversaw the successful U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Maduro faces drug trafficking charges in New York, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to, to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition.”
The Norwegian Nobel Institute issued a statement last week saying that once the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, it “can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time.”
When asked earlier this month whether Machado could become the next leader of Venezuela, Trump said it would be “very tough for her” because she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”
Trump said Wednesday he had a “great conversation” with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, their first since authoritarian Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was seized by the U.S. on Jan. 3.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during a bill signing in the Oval Office. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
The president said last week on his social media platform that he had “cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks” on Venezuela after the government released several political prisoners, but he added that “all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes.”
Trump has coveted and openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung slammed the Nobel Committee for its decision after Machado was announced as the most recent winner.
“[Trump] has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” Cheung said in an X post. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”
Jorgen Watne Frydens, the Nobel Committee chair, was asked about Trump’s “campaign” for the prize last year but denied it had any impact on the decision-making process.
“We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace,” Frydens said. “This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. We base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”
(SONOMA COUNTY, Calif.) — Foragers are being warned of what could be the largest toxic mushroom outbreak in California history, which state health officials say has caused three deaths and sickened more than 30 people who ingested the poisonous fungi.
Recent heavy rains have caused death cap mushrooms to flourish in the wild, including one of the deadliest fungi, the Western destroying angel mushroom, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
“Early rains and a mild fall have led to profusion of the toxic death cap mushroom in Northern California,” Dr. Michael Stacey, the interim health officer for Sonoma County, said in a statement after the most recent poison mushroom-linked death occurred.
A Sonoma County resident died on Jan. 4 after unwittingly consuming death cap mushrooms, health officials said.
“Eating wild mushrooms gathered without expert identification can be unsafe,” Stacey said. “Some harmful varieties closely resemble edible mushrooms, even to experienced foragers.”
The problem of state residents consuming poisonous mushrooms has persisted despite the CDPH issuing its first warning on Dec. 5 after the California Poison Control System identified 21 people who had sought medical attention since mid-November after consuming death cap mushrooms, also known by the scientific name Amanita phalloides.
Stacey said in his statement that between Nov. 18 and Jan. 4, 35 mushroom poisoning cases, including the three deaths, were reported to state officials. Three of those poisoned individuals, including a child, were sickened to the point they required liver transplants, officials said.
Fewer than five mushroom poisoning cases are reported statewide in an average year, according to California health officials.
The recent poisoning incidents have been reported in the Northern California counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma, according to the CDPH.
“This is probably the largest outbreak in California history; 35 total cases, including three fatalities and three liver transplants,” Rais Vohra, a medical director for the California Poison Control System, told ABC San Francisco television station KGO.
Vohra said the effects of mushroom poisoning aren’t evident until six to 24 hours after consumption.
Early symptoms of mushroom poisoning typically include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, according to the CDPH.
Laura Marcelino of Salinas told KGO that she and her husband, Carlos, recently became ill after cooking and eating wild mushrooms they gathered during a family hike in November. While she recovered, she said her husband needed a liver transplant, from which he’s now recovering.
State health officials are advising people to avoid foraging for wild mushrooms and to be cautious when buying them from street vendors and at farmers’ markets.
(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — Jurors on the trial of former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales listened to a firsthand account of the emergency response from a police sergeant who tried to enter Robb Elementary School with Gonzales.
Prosecutors allege Gonzales, who is charged with child endangerment, did not follow his training and endangered the 19 students who died and an additional 10 surviving students. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers argue he is being unfairly blamed for a broader law-enforcement failure that day. It took 77 minutes before law enforcement mounted a counterassault to end the rampage.
Former Uvalde Police Sgt. Daniel Coronado was called as a state witness, but he appeared to defend some of Gonzales’ actions during the May 24, 2022, mass shooting.
“He was yelling at them to be careful, because the shooter was on that side of the building from the information that we had, and I think he was concerned with officers approaching,” Coronado testified on Thursday about first seeing Gonzales. “He was trying to get around to see what was going on.”
Coronado said that he tried to enter Robb Elementary with three other officers — Gonzales, Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo and a third — once they realized the shooter had gone in the school. Jurors also saw body camera footage of their actions.
“As we are making our way through the hallway, it’s dark. There are no lights on. It’s extremely quiet, we don’t hear anything,” Coronado said, noting that the hallways smelled like gunpowder and the walls were “perforated” by bullets.
Coronado said they heard gunfire when they were in the hallway and saw another officer retreat after being hit on the back of his head.
“He yells out, ‘He’s in the classroom over here to my left,'” Coronado said.
Within seconds of the gunman firing from inside a classroom, Coronado said that Gonzales and Arredondo tried to use their radio to request support from SWAT.
“Would that be the opposite of confronting the shooter?” prosecutor Bill Turner asked.
“The opposite? No, I think we were trying to formulate a plan to confront the shooter, and that would be to call SWAT,” Coronado responded.
After they retreated from inside the school, Coronado said Gonzales was covering the east side of the building in case the gunman jumped out of the building.
On Wednesday, jurors heard testimony from Michael Witzgall, an instructor who taught Gonzales a class on active shooting response, SWAT tactics and hostage negotiations.
“We’ve got to stop the killing. There’s no other way I have to say that, folks. You can’t wait for backup,” Witzgall said, speaking to the jurors as if they were his students. “In my opinion, in the way I train people, you don’t have time to wait. You’ve got to make a move.”
During a lengthy cross examination, defense attorney Nico LaHood pressed Witzgall about whether a 40-hour training response fully prepared Gonzales for the real thing.
Dad Christopher Salinas also testified on Wednesday about the physical and mental impact the shooting took on his son, Samuel.
Samuel still has shrapnel embedded in his thigh and the wound has left him in constant pain, Salinas said.
Salinas testified that hearing popping sounds, arguments and slamming doors and seeing the color red triggers memories of the shooting for Samuel.
“Mr. Salinas, is the child that you picked up from the hospital on May 24 the same child that was taken to school that day?” District Attorney Christina Mitchell asked.
“No,” he answered.
Arredondo — the on-site commander on the day of the shooting — is also charged with multiple counts of endangerment and abandonment of a child and has pleaded not guilty. Arredondo’s case has been delayed indefinitely by an ongoing federal lawsuit filed after the U.S. Border Patrol refused repeated efforts by Uvalde prosecutors to interview Border Patrol agents who responded to the shooting, including two who were in the tactical unit responsible for killing the gunman at the school.
ABC News’ Juan Renteria contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday a judge had no jurisdiction to order Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released from immigration detention last summer, a decision that could lead to his re-arrest.
Khalil, a green card holder who is married to an American citizen, was released from ICE custody last June following his arrest by ICE agents in New York City in March.
U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz issued an order on June 20 granting Khalil ‘s release on bail after determining that he presented neither a danger nor a flight risk and that extraordinary circumstances justified his temporary release while his habeas case proceeded — a decision that was sharply criticized by the Trump administration.
On Thursday, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Judge Farbiarz to dismiss a petition Khalil had filed challenging his detention, on the grounds that Farbiarz lacked jurisdiction in the case.
“On consideration whereof, it is now ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the District Court’s orders entered on April 29, May 28, June 11, June 20, and July 17, 2025, are hereby VACATED and the case is REMANDED to the District Court with instructions to dismiss the petition for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction,” the opinion said.
Khalil was picked up at his Columbia University housing complex last March and jailed as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests. He spent about three months in a Louisiana detention center and missed the birth of his son.
Khalil was detained on the basis of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination that Khali’s speech would “compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.” Judge Farbiarz granted Khalil’s request for a preliminary injunction after concluding that he would continue to suffer irreparable harm if the government continued efforts to detain and deport him.
Prior to ordering his release, the judge also found that Khalil was likely to succeed on the merits of his constitutional challenge to his detention and attempted deportation on the “foreign policy ground.”
“Today’s ruling is deeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve,” Khalil said in a statement Thursday. “The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”
Khalil’s lawyers said they are now considering whether to pursue an appeal to the full circuit — an interim step before a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Today’s decision is deeply disappointing, and by not deciding or addressing the First Amendment violations at the core of this case, it undermines the role federal courts must play in preventing flagrant constitutional violations,” said Bobby Hodgson, deputy legal director at the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“The Trump administration violated the Constitution by targeting Mahmoud Khalil, detaining him thousands of miles from home, and retaliating against him for his speech,” Hodgson said. “Dissent is not grounds for detention or deportation, and we will continue to pursue all legal options to ensure Mahmoud’s rights are vindicated.”
A Pokemon store was robbed at gunpoint on Jan. 14, 2026, in New York. WABC
(NEW YORK) — Three men robbed a Pokémon store in Manhattan on Wednesday, stealing $1,000 in cash from a register, an unknown amount of merchandise and a cell phone, according to the New York Police Department.
The three entered the store on 412 West 13th Street at 6:45 p.m. before fleeing westbound on West 13th Street, the NYPD said.
No one was injured in the robbery, and no arrests have been made, according to police.
More than $100,000 worth of merchandise was stolen, workers at the store told ABC News, New York station WABC.
Surveillance video obtained by WABC showed the armed and masked suspects inside the store during Wednesday night’s robbery.
The three masked individuals reportedly held the entire store — with more than 40 people inside — at gunpoint. The robbery lasted about 3 minutes, according to WABC.
Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition figure and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, attends a press conference on December 11, 2025 in Oslo, Norway. Rune Hellestad/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is set to hold a lunch meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday, the White House said. The meeting, which is currently scheduled to be closed to press, will take place in the White House private dining room.
“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump said of Machado on Wednesday, according to Reuters. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”
Trump also said Wednesday he had a “great conversation” with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, their first since authoritarian Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was seized by the U.S. on Jan. 3.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during a bill signing in the Oval Office. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
The president said last week on his social media platform that he had “cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks” on Venezuela after the government released several political prisoners, but he added that “all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes.”
Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her work “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and her push to move the country from dictatorship to democracy.
“Machado is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize first and foremost for her efforts to advance democracy in Venezuela,” the Nobel Committee said at the time. “But democracy is also in retreat internationally. Democracy — understood as the right to freely express one’s opinion, to cast one’s vote and to be represented in elective government — is the foundation of peace both within countries and between countries.”
Machado said last week that she would like to give or share the prize with Trump, who oversaw the successful U.S. operation to capture Maduro. Maduro is now facing drug trafficking charges in New York, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to, to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition.”
When asked earlier in January whether Machado could become the next leader of Venezuela, Trump said it would be “very tough for her” because she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”
The Norwegian Nobel Institute issued a statement last week saying that once the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, it “can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time.”
Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced in October 2025.
“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause,” she said then.
Trump has coveted and openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung slammed the Nobel Committee for its decision after Machado was announced as the most recent winner.
“[Trump] has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” Cheung said in an X post. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”
Jorgen Watne Frydens, the Nobel Committee chair, was asked about Trump’s “campaign” for the prize last year but denied it had any impact on the decision-making process.
“We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace,” Frydens said. “This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. We base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”
Ellen Greenberg,(L) in a photo provided by family. Lamb McErlane PC
(PHILADELPHIA) — The family of Ellen Greenberg is celebrating the prospect of a federal investigation into the way various agencies in Philadelphia handled her death.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued subpoenas as part of an inquiry into whether Greenberg’s death was properly investigated.
The family of the 27-year-old teacher has long claimed the case was “embarrassingly botched” and warranted additional investigation.
“The prospects of the federal United States attorneys investigating any aspect of Ellen’s murder is a dream come true for [her parents] Sandee and Josh,” family attorney Joseph Podraza said in a statement to ABC News. “We have only wanted justice for Ellen and now have renewed hope this will occur. Sandee and Josh and their lawyers will continue to pursue and support all avenues to secure justice in this matter.”
The US Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania declined to comment. ABC News has reached out to various offices involved in Greenberg’s case, including the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, which have not immediately returned request for comment.
Greenberg was found by her fiancé in January 2011 in the kitchen of their home with a 10-inch knife in her chest and over a dozen stab wounds. The fiancé told police at the time the door was locked from the inside and investigators said there were no signs of forced entry or defensive wounds.
The Philadelphia medical examiner’s office initially ruled Greenberg’s death a homicide, then switched to suicide.
In October, the medical examiner affirmed she died by suicide after the medical examiner’s office agreed to reassess the case following lawsuits from her family that contested the initial finding. Dr. Marlon Osbourne, the pathologist who performed the original autopsy, stated in a sworn statement in 2024 that “Ellen’s manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide.”
The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office agreed to review the case again as part of a settlement with her family to determine whether her manner of death should be changed to “could not be determined” or “homicide.”
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lindsay Simon stated in the 32-page review that it was her opinion that Greenberg’s death is “best classified as ‘Suicide.'”
Simon determined Greenberg had 23 stab and incised wounds in her neck, head and front torso — up from the initial autopsy report’s finding of 20 wounds — many of which “would best be categorized as hesitation wounds.” Additionally, she determined there were another 20 bruises from the initial report, raising the number to 31. No defensive wounds were found on her body, and “the fact remains that Ellen would be capable of inflicting these injuries herself,” Simon stated.
The evidence did not indicate any foul play or that there was anyone else in the apartment at the time of her death, but that Greenberg was “suffering from anxiety at the time of her death” and that the “anxiety appeared mostly to be due to her work as a teacher,” according to the review.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide — free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988.
Minnesota State Troopers hold back a crowd after Federal law enforcement officers confronted residents following a shooting incident in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, early on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(MINNEAPOLIS) — The Department of Homeland Security said a federal law enforcement officer shot a person in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, saying the latter fled a traffic stop and then — along with two other people — began attacking the officer.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired defensive shots to defend his life,” DHS said in a statement on social media. “The initial subject was hit in the leg.”
Both the officer and the person who was shot were taken to the hospital, DHS said.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the person shot was an “adult male,” and that his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
DHS said federal law enforcement officers were conducting a “targeted traffic stop” Wednesday evening at 6:50 p.m. local time. The DHS statement identified the person being stopped as “an illegal alien from Venezuela.”
DHS said the person drove away in his car, crashed into a parked vehicle and then fled on foot.
When a pursuing officer caught up to the person, “the subject began to resist and violently assault the officer,” DHS said in the statement.
“While the subject and law enforcement were in a struggle on the ground, two subjects came out of a nearby apartment and also attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle,” the statement said.
The statement added, “As the officer was being ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, the original subject got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick.”
After the officer fired, the three people ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside, DHS claimed in the statement.
It’s unclear from the statement when and how an arrest was made, but DHS said both of the two people, who were not shot, it alleges attacked the officer were taken into custody.
A crowd later gathered at the scene of the second shooting. O’Hara said the crowd amounted to an “unlawful assembly” and accused some people of throwing fireworks and rocks at officers.
“People need to leave. This is already a very tense situation and we do not need this to escalate any further,” O’Hara told reporters at a news conference Wednesday night.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the situation was “not sustainable” and urged residents to protest peacefully.
“There’s still a lot that we don’t know at this time,” Frey said. “But what I can tell you for certain is that this is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is being put in.”
ICE and Border Patrol officers are “creating chaos,” in the city, Frey said, adding, “I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and is intolerable. If it were your city, it would be unacceptable there too.”
ICE officials have disputed those claims, saying federal officers are seeking only those who’ve broken the law. “If Frey truly cared about safety in his community, he would work with ICE to get the worst of the WORST out of Minnesota,” the agency said on Wednesday.
Customs and Border Patrol said on Monday that additional officers were “are on their way to restore order and we welcome cooperation from state and local law enforcement” in Minneapolis. The agency, which sits under the DHS, described Frey’s leadership as “weak,” accusing his administration of encouraging “lawlessness.”
“We are not going to let our officers be attacked in an aggressive manner and sit idly by,” Gregory K. Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official, said on Wednesday. “In addition to the most important mission of enforcing Title 8 Immigration laws, we will also arrest those who attack and assault our agents. You will go to jail.”
Frey said protesters should avoid confrontations with federal officers. “And for anyone that is taking the bait tonight — stop,” he said. “That is not helpful. Go home. We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos.”
Frey said there were 600 Minneapolis Police Department officers working to “keep our streets safe” as the protests continued. About 3,000 federal officers had been dispatched to Minnesota, he said.
In a rare primetime address, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Wednesday called on President Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to “end this occupation” in Minnesota,
“Donald Trump wants this chaos. He wants confusion, and yes, he wants more violence on our streets. We cannot give him what he wants,” Walz said. “We can, we must protest loudly, urgently, but also peacefully. Indeed, as hard as we will fight in the courts and at the ballot box, we cannot and will not let violence prevail.”
Noem had said on Tuesday that the ICE officers were on the scene for an operation that was “rapidly removing the criminal illegal aliens who have found sanctuary in Tim Walz’s Minnesota.”
“The men and women of DHS law enforcement are working day and night to arrest and deport sickos, dirtbags, and fraudsters from across the state,” she added.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, meanwhile, accused both Frey and Walz of inciting unrest.
“Minnesota insurrection is a direct result of a FAILED governor and a TERRIBLE mayor encouraging violence against law enforcement,” Blanche said on Wednesday on social media. “It’s disgusting.”
He added, “Walz and Frey — I’m focused on stopping YOU from your terrorism by whatever means necessary. This is not a threat. It’s a promise.”
