By PHILIP MARCELO

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday that it is exploring whether the federal government can take control of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City.

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The site in lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed by hijacked jetliners on Sept. 11, 2001, features two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets with the names of the dead, and an underground museum. Since opening to the public in 2014, the memorial plaza and museum have been run by a public charity, now chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic.

The White House confirmed the administration has had “preliminary exploratory discussions” about the idea, but declined to elaborate. The office noted the Republican pledged during his campaign last year to make the site a national monument, protected and maintained by the federal government.

But officials at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum say the federal government, under current laws, can’t unilaterally take over the site, which is located on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The U.S. government shouldering costs and management of the site also “makes no sense,” given Trump’s efforts to dramatically pare back the federal bureaucracy, said Beth Hillman, the organization’s president and CEO.

“We’re proud that our exhibitions tell stories of bravery and patriotism and are confident that our current operating model has served the public honorably and effectively,” she said, noting the organization has raised $750 million in private funds and welcomed some 90 million visitors since its opening.

Last year, the museum generated more than $93 million in revenue and spent roughly $84 million on operating costs, leaving a nearly $9 million surplus when depreciation is factored in, according to museum officials and its most recently available tax filings.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, voiced her own concerns about a federal takeover, citing the Trump administration’s recent efforts to influence how American history is told through its national monuments and museums, including the Smithsonian.

The takeover idea also comes just months after the Trump administration briefly cut, but then restored, staffing at a federal program that provides health benefits to people with illnesses that might be linked to toxic dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.

“The 9/11 Memorial belongs to New Yorkers — the families, survivors, and first responders who have carried this legacy for more than two decades and ensured we never forget,” Hochul said in a statement. “Before he meddles with this sacred site, the President should start by honoring survivors and supporting the families of victims.”

Anthoula Katsimatides, a museum board member who lost her brother, John, in the attack, said she didn’t see any reason to change ownership.

FILE – A woman holds up a photo of a New York City Police officer during the 9/11 Memorial ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, File)

“They do an incredible job telling the story of that day without sugarcoating it,” she said. “It’s being run so well, I don’t see why there has to be a change. I don’t see what benefit there would be.”

The memorial and museum, however, have also been the target of criticism over the years from some members of the large community of 9/11 victims’ families, some of whom have criticized ticket prices or called for changes in the makeup of the museum’s exhibits.

Trump spokespersons declined to respond to the comments.

In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in southwest Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 2,700 of those victims perished in the fiery collapse of the trade center’s twin towers.

Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

By MICHAEL HILL

CATO, N.Y. (AP) — Federal law enforcement officers forced open the doors of a snack bar manufacturer and took away dozens of workers in a surprise enforcement action that the plant’s owner on Friday called “terrifying.”

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“There’s got to be a better way to do it,” Lenny Schmidt said at Nutrition Bar Confectioners, a day after officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other agencies raided the family-owned business in Cato, New York, about 30 miles west of Syracuse.

The facility’s employees had all been vetted and had legal documentation, Schmidt said, adding that he would have cooperated with law enforcement if he’d been told beforehand.

“Coming in like they did, it’s frightening for everybody — the Latinos, Hispanics that work here, and everybody else that works here as well, even myself and my family. It’s terrifying,” he said.

Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck said his deputies were among those on scene Thursday morning after being asked a month ago to assist federal agencies, including U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, in executing a search warrant “relative to an ongoing criminal investigation.”

He did not detail the nature of the investigation, referring questions to HSI, which he said was leading it.

HSI did not respond to requests for information.

The explanation left state Sen. Rachel May, a Democrat who represents the district, with questions.

“It’s not clear to me if it’s a longstanding criminal investigation why the workers would have been rounded up,” May said by phone Friday. “I feel like there are things that don’t quite add up.”

Briefly detained worker describes surprise raid

Video and photos from the scene showed numerous law enforcement vehicles outside the plant and workers being escorted from the building to a Border Patrol van.

A 24-year-old worker who was briefly detained said Friday that immigration agents ordered everyone to a lunchroom where they asked for proof they were in the country legally.

The worker, who declined to be named for fear of retribution, said that after showing the agents he is a legal resident, they wrote down his information and photographed him.

“Some of the women started to cry because their kids were at school or at day care. It was very sad to see,” the worker, who arrived from Guatemala six years ago, said.

His partner, who lacks legal status, was among those taken away.

The two of them started working at the factory about two years ago. He was assigned to the snack bar-wrapping department and she to the packing area. He said he couldn’t talk to her before she was led away by agents. He still doesn’t know where she is being detained.

“I could tell she was sad,” the worker said. “What they are doing to us is not right. We’re here to work. We are not criminals.”

In this photo provided by Rural & Migrant Ministry, law enforcement officers gather outside during a raid on a snack bar manufacturer Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Cato, N.Y. (Ana Mendez-Vasquez/Rural & Migrant Ministry via AP)

Schmidt said he doesn’t believe his plant was specifically targeted and that immigrations enforcement agents are singling out any company with “some sort of Hispanic workforce, whether small or large.”

The raid came the same day that immigration authorities detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals, at a manufacturing site in Georgia where Korean automaker Hyundai makes electric vehicles.

Without his missing employees, Schmidt estimated production at the food manufacturer would drop by about half, making it a challenge to meet customer demand. The plant employs close to 230 people.

“We’ll just do what we need to do to move forward to give our customers the product that they need,” he said, “and then slowly recoup, rehire where we need.”

Dozens still held a day later

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was outraged by the raid and said those detained included parents of “at least a dozen children at risk of returning from school to an empty house.”

“I’ve made it clear: New York will work with the federal government to secure our borders and deport violent criminals, but we will never stand for masked ICE agents separating families and abandoning children,” she said in a statement.

The advocacy group Rural and Migrant Ministry said between 50 and 60 people, most of them from Guatemala, were still being held Friday. Among those released late Thursday, after about 11 hours, was a mother of a newborn child who urgently needed to nurse her baby, the group’s chief program officer, Wilmer Jimenez, said. He said she was told to report in later.

Jimenez said employees were in a panic during the hours law enforcement officers were on site.

“The way they went into the factory was very aggressive,” Jimenez said. “They used crowbars to open the doors in many directions and it was just something that people were not expecting.”

The worker who was briefly detained said he has been helping to support his parents and siblings who grow corn and beans in Guatemala. He became a legal resident two years ago after working with an immigration attorney.

He said he took Friday off but plans to get back to work on Monday.

“I have to go back because I can’t be without work,” he said.

Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y. contributed to this report.

A 15-year-old Fridley boy was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for fatally shooting a 28-year-old man near a St. Paul apartment in October.

Nehemiah D. Robinson Bowes waived certification to adult court in July and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the Oct. 12 killing of Riccardo Anthony Fleming, who was shot 11 times at Woodbridge Street and Wheelock Parkway on the city’s North End.

Riccardo Fleming (Courtesy of the family)

Fleming grew up in Robbinsdale and had been living in Nebraska. He was visiting his father’s side of the family in St. Paul when he was killed.

Police responded to multiple reports of shots fired about 9:50 p.m. and found Fleming lying in the street. He was pronounced dead at Regions Hospital.

Bowes told police in a Nov. 11 interview that he went to the apartment building to hang out with three others the day of the killing. He said he drank vodka and then snorted white powder, which caused him to feel mad and confused, the charges say.

Bowes said that he and Fleming walked to where they were going to commit a robbery, but no one was there. They then saw the two men they had been hanging out with at the apartment. After one of them gave him a look, Bowes said, he pulled out a 9 mm gun he had stolen from his father’s safe and shot Fleming.

The next day, Bowes took an Uber to his father’s house and hid the gun under some wooden stairs near a dog park. Police found the gun on Nov. 11 where he said he stashed it.

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Two St. Paul police officers have died — one unexpectedly and the other after battling cancer.

“The last 12 hours have not been kind to our St. Paul Police Department family,” Chief Axel Henry wrote in a Friday email to the department. “I’m sorry to be writing you with more devastating news.”

Officer Eric McArthur, 45, was at home early Friday when “it appears he suffered a heart attack,” Henry wrote.

On Thursday, Don Grundhauser passed away. He was a sergeant who had to retire early from the St. Paul Police Department due to his cancer diagnosis.

“Our hearts are shattered as we share that our Donny has passed away,” his wife, Kelly Grundhauser, wrote on his CaringBridge site Thursday.

“Donny fought the hardest battle of his life against stage 4 colon cancer. He faced it with courage, faith, and so much love for his family. Even as the cancer spread through his body he kept showing up for us with strength, resilience and humor. He never stopped trying to make memories. He never stopped loving us. He never gave up hope.”

Officer Eric McArthur

McArthur was previously a Bloomington Police Department dispatcher. He joined the St. Paul Police Department nearly 10 years ago and was with the K-9 unit since 2021, serving with his K-9 partner Finn.

St. Paul Police Officer Eric McArthur was assigned to the K-9 unit, partnered with K-9 Finn. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Police Department)

He served 20 years in the Army National Guard and deployed three times to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait. His nicknames were “Mac” because of his last name or “The General” as a nod to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, a five star Army general.

McArthur was a married father with two children.

He “was a decorated leader whose heroism cements his legacy of compassionate service,” Mayor Melvin Carter wrote in a Friday statement. “In 2020, Ofc. McArthur was one of four to earn a Life Saving Award for his extraordinary efforts to save the life of a young stabbing victim.”

McArthur “was also an exceptional K9 officer” and earned top honors with Finn at national trials this year, Carter wrote.

His “impact will forever be felt,” Carter wrote. “He represented the very best of our department — courage, skill, and heart.”

Retired Sgt. Don Grundhauser

Grundhauser, 55, became a St. Paul police officer in 1994, and started a family legacy: His two younger brothers, Mark and Keith, followed in his footsteps and one of his sons also joined the department. The three are still St. Paul officers.

St. Paul Police Sgt. Don Grundhauser, second from left, with wife, Kelly Grundhauser, and their sons Nicholas and Jacob Grundhauser in September 2023, when Nicholas Grundhauser became a St. Paul police officer. (Courtesy of the Grundhauser Family)

The saying Grundhauser always had for other officers was, “It doesn’t cost anything to be nice to someone.”

In July 2024, Grundhauser was diagnosed with cancer. He went through chemotherapy and other treatments.

“You have to have hope and you want to believe,” Grundhauser, known as “Grundy,” said in a February interview.

He grew up in St. Paul and attended St. Bernard’s School on St. Paul’s Rice Street. “He’s often referred to as a ‘Rice Street Legend,’” a family friend previously wrote on a GoFundMe.

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Don and Kelly Grundhauser were married at St. Bernard’s Church. They have twin sons.

“He was a neighbor, a friend, and someone I had the privilege to call a friend for many years,” Carter wrote Friday. “His backyard was always a favorite National Night Out stop as he’d grill steaks and pork chops, welcoming everyone with the same generosity he brought to his service.”

Kelly Grundhauser wrote that “Donny was more than his illness.”

“He was a proud St. Paul Police Sergeant who served the city he was born and raised in,” she said. “He was a husband who loved deeply for more than 31 years. He was a dad who adored his two boys and was so proud of the men they have become. He was a brother and a son and a friend who showed up for people in big and small ways.”