Latino leaders condemn ICE over incidents in Chicago, including driver’s fatal shooting

posted in: All news | 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Latino leaders expressed dismay Saturday over recent immigration enforcement operations in Chicago that resulted in a fatal shooting during a traffic stop, the arrest of an immigrant at a barbershop and a tense standoff between protesters and agents at an immigration processing facility.

Related Articles


New York Times, AP, Newsmax among news outlets who say they won’t sign new Pentagon rules


California governor signs controversial bill letting relatives care for kids if parents are deported


Venezuela says US navy raided a tuna boat in the Caribbean as tensions rise


North Carolina GOP announce plans to vote on new House map amid nationwide redistricting battle


Her husband was deported to Mexico. Unwilling to remain apart, she left the US to join him.

An Immigration, Customs and Enforcement officer fatally shot a man who tried to evade arrest Friday by driving his car at officers and dragging one of them, officials said. The man, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

On the same day, Willian Gimenez was pulled over while driving in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and detained by ICE agents. Kevin Herrera, Gimenez’s attorney, said he believes it was retaliation for his involvement in a lawsuit against Chicago leaders, Home Depot and an off-duty police officer for their actions toward immigrant workers.

Herrera said Gimenez has a work permit and is going through the process of pursuing an asylum claim.

In a statement Saturday, immigration authorities said Gimenez was arrested for being in the country illegally.

“No one is above the law. Gimenez Gonzalez is an illegal alien with charges for criminal trespassing and a history of not showing up to court, including when he failed to appear in immigration court in April of last year, after which an immigration judge ordered him removed from the country,” the statement said.

Law enforcement personnel investigate after the Department of Homeland Security said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man in the Franklin Park suburb of Chicago on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (Candace Dane Chambers/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

During a morning news conference outside an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Rep. Chuy Garcia, a Democrat, said the incidents are troubling.

“These incidents make us all ask, if ICE can kill one of our neighbors in broad daylight … if they can arrest someone for joining a lawsuit or simply for being Latino, what’s to stop them from getting any one of us?” Garcia said.

A planned 12-hour protest Friday outside the facility included several clashes between participants and officers wearing face coverings, helmets and later gas masks. The facility has seen regular demonstrations in response to increased immigration enforcement.

Rep. Delia Ramirez, also a Democrat, said she will demand a thorough investigation of the traffic stop that led to Villegas-Gonzalez’s fatal shooting and called for community unity.

Law enforcement personnel investigate after the Department of Homeland Security said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man in the Franklin Park suburb of Chicago on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (Candace Dane Chambers/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

The Department of Homeland Security’s campaign, labeled “ Operation Midway Blitz,” targets so-called sanctuary laws in the state.

“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” DHS said in a statement.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has been one of the most vocal opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Chicago.

The recent incidents have also raised fears in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods about celebrations for Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16.

New York Times, AP, Newsmax among news outlets who say they won’t sign new Pentagon rules

posted in: All news | 0

By DAVID BAUDER

News organizations including The New York Times, The Associated Press and the conservative Newsmax television network said Monday they will not sign a Defense Department document about its new press rules, making it likely the Trump administration will evict their reporters from the Pentagon.

Related Articles


California governor signs controversial bill letting relatives care for kids if parents are deported


Venezuela says US navy raided a tuna boat in the Caribbean as tensions rise


North Carolina GOP announce plans to vote on new House map amid nationwide redistricting battle


Her husband was deported to Mexico. Unwilling to remain apart, she left the US to join him.


1.4M lawfully present immigrants could lose subsidized health coverage

Those outlets say the policy threatens to punish them for routine news gathering protected by the First Amendment. The Washington Post and The Atlantic on Monday also publicly joined the group that says it will not be signing.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reacted by posting the Times’ statement on X and adding a hand-waving emoji. His team has said that reporters who don’t acknowledge the policy in writing by Tuesday must turn in badges admitting them to the Pentagon and clear out their workspaces the next day.

The new rules bar journalist access to large swaths of the Pentagon without an escort and say Hegseth can revoke press access to reporters who ask anyone in the Defense Department for information — classified or otherwise — that he has not approved for release.

Newsmax, whose on-air journalists are generally supportive of President Donald Trump’s administration, said that “we believe the requirements are unnecessary and onerous and hope that the Pentagon will review the matter further.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the rules establish “common sense media procedures.”

“The policy does not ask for them to agree, just to acknowledge that they understand what our policy is,” Parnell said. “This has caused reporters to have a full blown meltdown, crying victim online. We stand by our policy because it’s what’s best for our troops and the national security of this country.”

Hegseth also reposted a question from a follower who asked, “Is this because they can’t roam the Pentagon freely? Do they believe they deserve unrestricted access to a highly classified military installation under the First Amendment?”

Hegseth answered, “yes.” Reporters say neither of those assertions is true.

Pentagon reporters say signing the statement amounts to admitting that reporting any information that hasn’t been government-approved is harming national security. “That’s simply not true,” said David Schulz, director of Yale University’s Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic.

Journalists have said they’ve long worn badges and don’t access classified areas, nor do they report information that risks putting any Americans in harm’s way.

“The Pentagon certainly has the right to make its own policies, within the constraints of the law,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement on Monday. “There is no need or justification, however, for it to require reporters to affirm their understanding of vague, likely unconstitutional policies as a precondition to reporting from Pentagon facilities.”

Noting that taxpayers pay nearly $1 trillion annually to the U.S. military, Times Washington bureau chief Richard Stevenson said “the public has a right to know how the government and military are operating.”

Trump has applied pressure on news organizations in several ways, with ABC News and CBS News settling lawsuits related to their coverage. Trump has also filed lawsuits against The New York Times and Wall Street Journal and moved to choke off funding for government-run services like the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

David Bauder writes about the media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social

JPMorgan to invest up to $10 billion in US companies with crucial ties to national security

posted in: All news | 0

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN

JPMorgan Chase will directly invest up to $10 billion in U.S. companies with crucial ties to national security.

Related Articles


Chick-fil-A to open next year in Stillwater


OpenAI partners with Broadcom to design its own AI chips


What to do if you’re underwater on your car loan


Wall Street veers upward after Trump softens his criticism of China


Uncertainty over the economy and tariffs forces many retailers to be cautious on holiday hiring

The investment plan revealed Monday will focus on four areas: supply chain and advanced manufacturing in critical minerals, pharmaceutical precursors and robotics; defense and aerospace; energy independence, with investments in battery storage and grid resilience; and strategic technologies, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum computing.

The investment is part of the bank’s Security and Resiliency Initiative, a $1.5 trillion, 10-year plan to facilitate, finance and invest in industries critical to national security.

“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing – all of which are essential for our national security,” Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement. “Our security is predicated on the strength and resiliency of America’s economy. America needs more speed and investment.”

This summer, JPMorgan helped put together a deal under which the Defense Department agreed to invest $400 million in U.S. rare earth company MP Materials. The bank is also providing financing for MP Materials’ second magnet producing factory in the U.S.

The nation’s largest bank plans to finance approximately $1 trillion over the next decade in support of clients in these industries. JPMorgan Chase is looking to increase this amount by up to $500 billion, or a 50% increase, with additional resources and capital.

“America needs more speed and investment,” Dimon said. “It also needs to remove obstacles that stand in the way: excessive regulations, bureaucratic delay, partisan gridlock and an education system not aligned to the skills we need.”

JPMorgan says that it serves 34,000 mid-sized companies and more than 90% of the Fortune 500.

It plans to hire more bankers, investment professionals and other experts to help address its investment plan. It will also create an external advisory council that includes leaders from the public and private sectors to help guide the long-term strategy.

California engineer wins pumpkin contest with 2,346-pound gourd

posted in: All news | 0

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A California engineer and gardening enthusiast won the top prize at an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California after growing a giant jack-o’-lantern gourd weighing 2,346 pounds.

Related Articles


Ex-NFL QB Mark Sanchez released from custody a week after parking fight arrest and stabbing


Her husband was deported to Mexico. Unwilling to remain apart, she left the US to join him.


Suicide claims more Gen Z lives than previous generation


In the fire zones, an immigrant workforce warily carries out cleanups


Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation donating $50 million to historically Black Atlanta colleges

Brandon Dawson, of Santa Rosa, California, clinched the victory Monday at the 52nd World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

Dawson pumped his arms in the air and sat his two children on top of the giant pumpkin — roughly the same weight as a small sedan or a large bison — after being crowned this year’s winner.

“My mind is kind of racing because I was in this position last year when I lost by 6 pounds,” he said in an interview.

Dawson, a manufacturing engineer at electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive, said he has been growing massive pumpkins for five years. Precision skills acquired at his job helped him with the right watering and sunlight to help his gourd grow, he said.

He said he enjoys getting his children involved in the process.

“We like to spend time out in the patch and watch the thing grow,” Dawson said about his 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.

“My 4-year-old now can really pay attention to the growing process,” especially since the giant pumpkins can grow by 50 to 70 pounds a day, he added.

The pumpkin champ won a $20,000 prize for growing the biggest pumpkin.

Dawson’s pumpkin was the runner up in last year’s contest at Half Moon Bay when the winning gourd grown by Minnesota horticulture teacher Travis Gienger came in at 2,471 pounds.

Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, set a world record at the California contest in 2023 for the heaviest pumpkin when his giant jack-o’-lantern gourd weighed 2,749 pounds. Gienger’s pumpkin was damaged earlier this season and he couldn’t enter this year’s contest in California.

Two brothers in England earlier this month broke Gienger’s record with a gourd that weighed 2,819 pounds.