By MATT BROWN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Black Caucus kicked off its annual legislative conference this week, which has been upended by President Donald Trump’s second term and by the presence of National Guard patrols near the conference’s venue.

The 62-member caucus, all of whom are Democrats, gathered with business leaders, activists, policy experts, local government officials, and other professionals from across the country to strategize how to build its new agenda and to counter Trump’s policies, which have disrupted federal government programs that address civil rights, education, healthcare, housing, immigration and labor policy, among other areas.

While this year’s conference has featured the usual panels, strategy sessions and cocktail parties, many attendees hoped to hear from the “conscience of the Congress” — a moniker bestowed on the CBC for its civil rights work — about what lessons can be learned from American history for the current political climate, and how lawmakers would govern should they win future elections.

Here are some comments from the CBC lawmakers who attended this year’s conference:

Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina

“This is probably going to be one of the most consequential weeks that you have ever spent in your lives,” said Clyburn, the former House Democratic leader, during an address at the outset of the conference. “Take it from me: we are on the precipice of losing this democracy. We are. And if you don’t think so, take a journey through the history of the country.”

“I would hope that I would not leave this Earth, and my children and grandchildren would not be sentenced to having to live the life that their grandparents and parents lived,” said the 85-year-old congressman.

FILE – Incoming Congressional Black Caucus chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., discusses caucus priorities for the 119th Congress and the Trump administration, Dec. 4, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York

“This is not a conventional time. This is the time that we make for ourselves our own destiny,” Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in an address to conference attendees.

“This is not a situation where we can necessarily say, well, look, those people in Congress have got it. Because the Congress is broken,” Clarke said. “We delivered democracy to the United States of America. Were it not for the abolitionists, were it not for the Civil Rights leaders, were it not for the foot soldiers on the ground, we’d still be living in apartheid. So let’s get it straight and let’s straighten up our backs.”

Clarke added: “I believe in us because were it not for the folks who came before me, I wouldn’t be standing here today as chairwoman of the largest Black Caucus in the history of the United States.”

FILE – State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Hanover, speaks at The Call for Action on Gun Safety, Jan. 13, 2023, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark, File)

Rep. Jennifer McClellan of Virginia

“It’s not that if (Democrats) get the gavel, we rebuild back to what we had. We are also taking this opportunity to see what we can start from scratch,” said McClellan.

“There are some Republicans in the committee rooms, or in delegations, who share our concerns on some issues, whether it’s the NIH funding cuts, whether it’s First Amendment issues, or whether it’s clean energy rollbacks. And they are taking their concerns behind the scenes to the administration. And in some cases, they’ve been successful and at least making the bad less bad.”

FILE – Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., joins elected officials and activists in a call to end the presence of National Guard troops in the District of Columbia on the order of President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland

“It’s going to be a new day, in part because they’ve changed the governing structure so much,” Ivey said of how Democrats are planning on governing in response to Trump’s changes to the federal government.

“Part of what we’re going to have to do is fire a big chunk of the bureaucracy that he’s putting in right now, just move them out and start over from scratch,” said Ivey, who represents the suburbs of Washington. “And we’ve got to make sure we understand that for a lot of the legislation we’ve done, we rely on particular government agencies to make it work. That’s not going to fly anymore. The Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division is an example of that.”

FILE – Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Sept. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California

“The reality is that some of the bad stuff is just going to happen,” said Kamlager-Dove. “There is no strategy to stop some of the bad stuff except to continue to educate folks about the hypocrisy and the duplicity that is happening.”

“Many of these special elections, many of these local elections that are happening ever since Donald Trump came into office and started implementing his Project 2025, Democrats have been winning,” she said. “The strategy is to engage community-based organizations. The strategy is to work more diligently with our legal community. The strategy is to take everything to the court. The strategy is to create some outrage. The strategy is to fight the battles at the local elections. The facts of strategy are to make sure that we are shored up so that when 2028 comes around, folks are ready.”

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Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts

“I think that the air feels a lot heavier than it does normally. That being said, after every session, after every engagement that I’ve had, I leave emboldened and more fortified,” said Pressley.

“It’s so important that we are leaning into community, but also that we are strategizing, that we are being intentional in our thought partnership and in our organizing, in the work of resistance and the work of reimagining,” she said. “So I would say, you know, in this moment right now, I feel very encouraged.”

The killing of Charlie Kirk has been followed by a string of arrests across the U.S. over alleged threats of violence in response to the assassination of the conservative activist.

A Texas man who authorities say expressed support for Kirk is facing federal charges after making alleged threats online this month to shoot up a Pride parade in the city of Abilene as an act of revenge for Kirk’s killing. And in El Paso, a woman is facing an arson charge after authorities say she tried to set a church on fire and left threatening messages where a vigil was going to be held to honor Kirk.

Law enforcement in Utah and Minnesota have made similar arrests.

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Social media lit up in the days after Kirk’s Sept. 10 death with people mourning his loss — some of whom said they disagreed with Kirk’s ideological stances but supported his right to voice them — as well as those celebrating it.

Alex del Carmen, a criminologist and professor at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, said the rise in threats in the aftermath of Kirk’s killing is “dangerous and self-defeating.”

“The First Amendment protects even harsh, unpopular speech, but it does not protect valid threats,” del Carmen said. “When people cross that line, accountability is essential, and so is empathy for those who are grieving.”

In Abilene, an FBI agent interviewed the man, who allegedly acknowledged making the posts and possessing a firearm but denied he was going to take any action or shoot participants, according to the affidavit. The parade was held without incident the day after the man’s arrest.

In a case in Minnesota, in the same county where the former speaker of the Minnesota House and her husband were assassinated this summer, a man has been charged with four counts of terroristic threats after authorities say he referred to Kirk as his “friend” and threatened violence against several people.

“These threats are chilling and extremely graphic,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, in Minnesota, said in a statement. “We will not tolerate threats of politically motivated violence and will do everything in our power to hold those who make these threats accountable.”

In Utah, a Pennsylvania man was arrested for threat of terrorism after authorities say he posted a threatening video aimed at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed.

A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer from Minnetonka admitted in federal court Friday to uploading child pornography to the Kik app in 2022.

Anthony John Crowley (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)

Anthony John Crowley, 52, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to one count of possession of child pornography and will remain jailed ahead of sentencing, which has not been scheduled. He was charged and arrested in June.

Crowley, who at the time was employed as a customs and border officer, used the messaging app to upload images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to federal prosecutors.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force tipped off the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that someone was using Kik to upload images of child pornography. The account was linked to Anthony John Crowley’s phone number and email address.

Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Crowley’s home and seized his electronic devices, which contained images of child pornography and what are known as “child erotica” stories, prosecutors said.

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“Anthony Crowley’s crimes against children are a disgrace,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson for Minnesota said in a Friday statement. “In the last few months, we have seen a rash of law enforcement officers, public officials, and others in positions of trust abusing children. I have zero tolerance for this betrayal.”

Three days before Crowley was charged, a special agent with Homeland Security, Timothy Ryan Gregg, 52, of Eagan, was charged in federal court with producing child sexual abuse material of a 17-year-old girl after authorities say images and videos of the two engaged in sexual activity were found on her cellphone on May 29. His case is ongoing.

A month earlier, Minnesota state trooper Jeremy Francis Plonski, 30, of Shakopee was charged federally with production of child pornography. Scott County prosecutors also charged him with first-degree criminal sexual conduct of an infant.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has ordered the declassification and public release of all government records about aviator Amelia Earhart, who vanished in 1937 during an attempt to fly around the world.

Trump said it’s an “interesting story” that has “captivated millions.” He said people have asked him whether he’d consider declassifying and making public everything the government has on her.

FILE – Amelia Earhart leaves Londonderry, Northern Ireland for London, File May 22, 1932. (AP Photo/Sidney Maledine, File)

“She was an Aviation Pioneer, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and achieved many other Aviation ‘firsts,’” he wrote on his social media site. “She disappeared in the South Pacific while trying to become the first woman to fly around the World.

“Amelia made it almost three quarters around the World before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again,” he continued. “Her disappearance, almost 90 years ago, has captivated millions. I am ordering my Administration to declassify and release all Government Records related to Amelia Earhart, her final trip, and everything else about her.”

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Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared while flying from New Guinea to Howland Island as part of her attempt to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the globe. She had radioed that she was running low on fuel.

The Navy searched but found no trace. The U.S. government’s official position has been that Earhart and Noonan went down with their plane.

Since then, theories have veered into the absurd, including abduction by aliens, or Earhart living in New Jersey under an alias. Others speculate she and Noonan were executed by the Japanese or died as castaways on an island.