Local veterans can learn more about benefits and healthcare options at a Veterans Resource Fair and Claims Clinic on Thursday.

The event, held by the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Ramsey County Veterans Service Offices, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at the Rondo Community Library, 461 Dale St. N., St. Paul.

Veterans can speak to representatives from the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, St. Paul Veterans Benefits Administration Regional Office and the Ramsey County Veterans Service.

In addition, veterans can work with Veterans Affairs claim processors on disability compensation claims and benefit questions.

Walk-ins are welcome but appointments can also be made online at va.gov/minneapolis-health-care/events. Veterans are asked to bring a copy of their DD214 and any recent VA claim correspondence they may have.

Officials say there are nearly 20,000 veterans in Ramsey County. Officials say that 11,000 of them are not using benefits or healthcare they are entitled to have.

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By JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Protests that sprang up in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement raids and prompted President Donald Trump to mobilize National Guard troops and Marines have begun to spread across the country, with more planned into the weekend.

From Seattle to Austin to Washington D.C., marchers have chanted slogans, carried signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and snarled traffic through downtown avenues and outside federal offices. While many were peaceful, some have resulted in clashes with law enforcement as officers made arrests used chemical irritants to disperse crowds.

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Activists plan more and even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with so-called “No Kings” events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington.

The Trump administration said it would continue its program of raids and deportations despite the protests. “ICE will continue to enforce the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted Tuesday on social media.

A look at protests sprouting up across the country:

AUSTIN

Four Austin police officers were injured and authorities used chemical irritants to disperse a crowd of several hundred demonstrators Monday night that moved between the state Capitol and a federal building that houses an ICE office. State officials had closed the Capitol to the public an hour early in anticipation of the protest.

Austin police used pepper spray balls and state police used tear gas when demonstrators began trying to deface the federal building with spray paint. The demonstrators then started throwing rocks, bottles and other objects at a police barricade, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said. Three officers were injured by “very large” rocks and another hurt a shoulder while making an arrest, she said.

AUSTIN, TEXAS – JUNE 09: People march through downtown during an “ICE Out of Austin” demonstration on June 09, 2025 in Austin, Texas. People gathered during an emergency protest against the ongoing ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids and deportations across Los Angeles. Nationwide demonstrations in solidarity with Los Angeles are scheduled to occur this upcoming week as President Donald Trump continues preparations to send additional law enforcement to assist ICE raids in California. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Austin police arrested eight people, and state police arrested several more. Davis said her department is prepared for Saturday’s planned protest downtown.

“We support peaceful protest,” Davis said. “When that protests turn violent, when it turns to throwing rocks and bottles …. That will not be tolerated. Arrests will be made.”

DALLAS

A protest that drew hundreds to a rally on a city bridge lasted for several hours Monday night before Dallas police declared it an “unlawful assembly” and warned people to leave or face possible arrest.

Dallas police initially posted on social media that officers would not interfere with a “lawful and peaceful assembly of individuals or groups expressing their First Amendment rights.” But officers later moved in and local media reported seeing some in the crowd throw objects as officers used pepper spray and smoke to clear the area. At least one person was arrested.

“Peaceful protesting is legal,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, posted on X. “But once you cross the line, you will be arrested.”

SEATTLE

About 50 people gathered outside the immigration court in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, chanting with drums and holding up signs that said “Free Them All Abolish ICE” and “No to Deportations.” The protest was initially peaceful but protesters began putting scooters in front of the entryways to the building before police arrived.

Mathieu Chabaud, with Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Washington, said they were there in solidarity with the protesters in Los Angeles, “and to show that we’re opposed to ICE in our community.”

Legal advocates who normally attend the immigration court hearings as observers and to provide support to immigrants were not allowed inside the building. Security guards also turned away the media. The hearings are normally open to the public.

SANTA ANA

In Santa Ana near Los Angeles, armored vehicles blocked the road Tuesday morning leading into the Civic Center, where federal immigration officers and numerous city and county agencies have their offices.

Workers swept up plastic bottles and broken glass from Monday’s protests. Tiny shards of red, black and purple glass littered the pavement. Nearby buildings and the sidewalk were tagged with profane graffiti slogans against ICE and Trump’s name crossed out.

A worker rolled paint over graffiti on a wall to block it out. National Guard officers wearing fatigues and carrying rifles prevented people from entering the area unless they worked there.

Associated Press writers Martha Bellisle in Seattle and Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California contributed.

By CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican national soccer team will change hotels in Los Angeles ahead of their Gold Cup match on Saturday because of safety concerns amid the protests against immigration raids in the city, a team spokesman said Tuesday.

Mexico will play its opening match in the regional tournament against the Dominican Republic at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

The team had a hotel reserved in downtown Los Angeles but governing body CONCACAF has allowed for a change to an undetermined hotel, Mexican team spokesman Fernando Schwartz told The Associated Press.

CONCACAF, which runs soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, has not made an official announcement.

The protests began Friday in downtown Los Angeles after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city. On Sunday, crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.

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On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 Marines to be sent to Los Angeles.

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre was reluctant to talk about the protests at a news conference on Monday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where the team is scheduled to play in a friendly match against Turkey on Tuesday.

“I’m not going to talk about Los Angeles, I told you no, we are talking about sports here.” Aguirre said. “I can’t express myself right now. We have a match against Turkey, and I don’t have any information. I know what we see on television. We’re thousands of miles away, and I can’t express myself.”

After the match against the Dominican Republic, Mexico will fly to Arlington, Texas, to play Suriname and then close out the first round of the tournament against Costa Rica in Las Vegas.

“Viva Mose!” shouted the crowd of dignitaries, state park rangers and community members gathered at Fort Mose Historic State Park near St. Augustine on a sunny Friday in early May. The chant — translated as “Long live Fort Mose!” — celebrated the ribbon cutting of a newly constructed replica of a 1738 fort that holds a special place in America’s Black history.

In 1738, the Spanish governor of Florida chartered the settlement of Fort Mose as a refuge for those fleeing slavery from English colonies in the Carolinas. Over several decades, an estimated 100 Africans made the first legally sanctioned free Black community in the pre-Constitution United States their home and safe haven from British rule.

“The reconstruction stands as a tribute to the courageous men and women who founded Fort Mose in 1738, ensuring their legacy lives on,” said Charles Ellis, the president of the Fort Mose Historical Society. “By bringing this fort back to life, we enhance our ability to tell the story through on-site events, group tours, lectures and virtual seminars. Because of this, no longer will our fourth and fifth-grade students ask, ‘Where is the fort?’”

The reconstruction was made possible due to extensive research of the site that began in the 1970s and 1980s with efforts spearheaded by Dr. Kathleen Deagan, a University of Florida professor of archaeology, anthropology and history, and Dr. Jane Landers, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University.

Financial support for the project came from public and private sources, including the Florida State Parks, St. Johns County, Florida Power and Light, Wells Fargo, the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation, the Florida State Parks Foundation and more, who all fundraised a total of $3.2 million to turn this dream into reality.

“The reconstruction of the Fort Mose has been a labor of love, dedication and unwavering commitment which began in 2012,” Ellis said. “When we broke ground on the reconstruction of Fort Mose, we didn’t just build walls. We created a tribute to the resiliency and determination of freedom seekers who made the first legally sanctioned free Black settlement in North America possible.”

In addition to exploring an indoor museum with a timeline of Fort Mose and St. Augustine history, visitors can now walk through a full-scale replica of the 39-foot-tall lookout tower that helped residents of the fort monitor for enemy attacks. Reenactors will help illuminate history and help visitors imagine what life was like in the 1730s during special events and tours complete with drills, pageantry and cannon firing.

Construction on the replica fort began in January 2024, 30 years after the site was designated as a national historic landmark. Chuck Hatcher, director of the Florida State Parks, said collaboration is what made this project come to fruition.

“Archaeologists, CSOs, volunteers, park staff, division staff, artists and public officials have all worked together to make this project come to fruition,” he said. “I would like to think if the people who were the original members of Fort Mose were here, they would be proud of what we’ve done and the representation of what they had.”

While there is no blueprint for how to build a replica 1738 fort, the design was put together with the goal of being as authentic as possible while staying mindful of Florida’s climate. The palisade walls and structural support beams that hold up the fort are made to look like wood but are constructed of concrete.

Now, state park officials and volunteers who helped this project come together are celebrating the story of courage, resilience and freedom that the fort helps tell.

“Nearly 300 years after Fort Mose stood as a beacon to freedom seekers, it will stand again and be a testament to the power of freedom, bravery and the human spirit,” said Kathleen Brennan, president of the Florida State Parks Foundation. “May this fort last 300 years and beyond to honor those who made their living here and to inspire visitors from all over the world, who will come here to experience what can only be found here at Fort Mose.”

Find me @PConnPie on Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. Stay up to date with our latest travel, arts and events coverage by subscribing to our newsletters at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

Fort Mose Historic State Park

If you go: Admission to park grounds is free. To enter the visitor center there is a $2 fee per adult. Children under 6 are admitted for free. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 365 days a year. Located at 15 Fort Mose Trail in St. Augustine; 904-823-2232; floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/fort-mose-historic-state-park