FBI Director Kash Patel joins Team USA hockey in locker room celebration after gold medal win
US Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel looks on prior to the Men’s Gold Medal match between Canada and the United States on day 16 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Elsa/Getty Images)
(MILAN) — FBI Director Kash Patel joined in on Team USA hockey’s locker room celebrations in Italy shortly after the team won the gold medal.
The team beat Canada 2-1 at the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina on Sunday, marking the first such victory for the U.S. since the so-called “Miracle on Ice” game in Lake Placid, New York, in 1980.
Patel, a hockey fan, was said to have had meetings in Italy prior to attending the game. Ben Williamson, an FBI spokesperson, said on social media that Patel’s trip had been previously scheduled. He added that “any other personal expenses would be reimbursed.”
Patel on Sunday evening posted on social media a statement, which he said was for “the very concerned media.”
“[Y]es, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys — Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth,” he said in the post.
A video obtained by ABC News showed Patel wearing a USA shirt in the locker room, where he’s seen singing along with members of the team. After he takes a swig, shakes his bottle and pounds the table, a member of the team places a gold medal around his neck.
“Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude – what it takes to be the best in the world. These men live and breathe it,” Patel wrote on social media, where he posted photos of himself celebrating with the team in the locker room.
Patel added, ” Now Team USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created.”
He included several emojis — a fist bump, American flag and a hockey stick — then said, “congrats boys.”
Steven Cheung, the White House’s communications director, appeared on Monday to publicly defend Patel and the video, telling MS Now reporter Carol Leonnig on X, “don’t be mad because America won.”
Cheung was responding to Leonnig, who posted a video of Patel on social media and said the FBI had said it was “strictly a business trip.” Cheung said Patel was also meeting with security teams in Italy.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
Firefighters respond to a fire at the Silver Lake Nursing Home in Bristol, Pa., Dec. 23, 2025. WPVI
(BUCKS COUNTY, Pa.) — A massive fire has erupted at a nursing home in eastern Pennsylvania following a possible gas explosion, officials said.
The Upper Makefield Township police described it as a “mass casualty incident” at the Silver Lake Nursing Home and asked people to avoid the area in Bristol, which is about 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
It’s believed some people are trapped inside, according to an official briefed on the matter. Responders are trying to get everyone out safely and are investigating the cause of the explosion, the official said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Savannah Guthrie and mother Nancy Guthrie on Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The urgent search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has entered its fifth day, as her children continue to plead for her safe return.
Nancy Guthrie is believed to have been abducted in her sleep from her Arizona home early Sunday, authorities said. No suspect or person of interest has been identified in the case, and authorities do not know where she is or whether she was targeted, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is set to hold a briefing on the case at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home in the Catalina Foothills area, north of Tucson, on Saturday night, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Her family reported her missing on Sunday around noon local time after she failed to show up to church, authorities said.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings made an emotional plea for their mother’s return in a video message posted to social media on Wednesday.
“Everyone is looking for you, Mommy, everywhere,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video message. “We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again.”
Nancy Guthrie is described as having some physical ailments and limited mobility, but does not have cognitive issues, according to the sheriff. She takes medication that if she doesn’t have in 24 hours, “it could be fatal,” Nanos said.
“Our mom is our heart and our home,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video. “She is 84 years old, her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer.”
The FBI is helping in the investigation. The agency is sending additional agents and experts to Pima County to help reinforce efforts on the ground and to aid local investigators, sources told ABC News on Wednesday.
The sheriff’s department said it is reviewing possible ransom notes as part of the investigation. ABC Tucson affiliate KGUN said it received one of the letters, which it forwarded to law enforcement. Officials say they are investigating if any of these letters are legitimate.
Addressing reports of a ransom letter, Savannah Guthrie said Wednesday, “As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.”
Anyone with information is urged to call 911 or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — The Justice Department said they are investigating am incident in which anti-ICE protesters disrupted a service on Sunday at a Minneapolis church where one of the pastors is an ICE official.
Video posted online by Black Lives Matter Minnesota shows protesters entering Cities Church in Minneapolis, where they said one of the pastors, David Easterwood, is the acting field director of the St. Paul ICE field office.
Easterwood was not at the church at the time of the protest, according to Black Lives Matter Minnesota. Jonathan Parnell is the church’s pastor and can be seen talking to the protestors in the video.
“Someone who claims to worship God, teaching people in this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents. Think about what we’ve experienced,” a protestor tells the congregation inside the church in the Black Lives Matter Minnesota video.
“I just spoke to the Pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted,” Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X Sunday. “Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.”
“If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails,” Bondi’s post continued.
Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon likewise said they are investigating the incident.
“This heinous act that occurred in Minnesota yesterday is receiving the highest level of attention from @TheJusticeDept,” Dhillon posted on X. “@AGPamBondi & I are working around the clock, because no right in our Constitution is more sacred than the freedom to assemble & pray to God.”
Dhillon also said that they were investigating the church protest as “potential violations of the federal FACE Act.” The Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 makes it a federal crime to intimidate or interfere with any person “seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship,” or attempting to obtain or provide reproductive health services. The legislation was prompted by violent crimes that were being committed against abortion providers and those seeking their services.
“At approximately 10:40 a.m. on Sun. Jan. 18, Saint Paul Police officers responded to Cities Church on the 1500 block of Summit Ave. following multiple calls reporting approximately 30 to 40 protesters who interrupted church services,” the St. Paul Police Department told ABC News in a statement.
“By the time officers arrived on scene, the group had moved outside the church and began to walk down the alley. Saint Paul Police continued to monitor the protest,” the statement concluded.
A St. Paul Police spokesperson later said in a statement that they are “actively investigating this incident as a disorderly conduct investigation” and had no additional public information at the time due to the investigation being open.
The Cities Church website lists Easterwood as one of their pastors. Easterwood also appeared with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during an Oct. 24 news conference in Minneapolis, where Noem identified him as an ICE acting field office director in the region who is with Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Easterwood also is one of several parties, including Noem, named in a class action lawsuit filed last week by the ACLU alleging “unlawful policies and practices” by ICE in Minnesota, including racial profiling and arrests without warrants or probable cause.
ICE blamed the disruption on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, saying on social media that they “are responsible for whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant.”
“The Governor has repeatedly and unequivocally urged protesters to do so peacefully,” a spokesperson for Walz told ABC News in response to a request for comment. “While people have a right to speak out, he in no way supports interrupting a place of worship.”
Frey had not publicly addressed the church protest as of early Monday afternoon. He did post a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on X, to mark Monday’s federal holiday commemorating the late civil rights leader.
“’Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ Dr. King said it best. On MLK Day, I’m thinking about his call to stand up for justice, love others, and speak out when power goes too far. As the federal gov moves the opposite way, we’ll keep standing with our neighbors,” Frey posted.
