By LEA SKENE, Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Despite a judge’s order calling for his return to the United States from El Salvador, a Venezuelan migrant was instead sent back to his home country in a prisoner exchange deal reached last week, an unexpected development that left his lawyers scrambling to locate him.

It marks the latest wrinkle in yet another messy court battle over the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, which has repeatedly challenged the power of federal courts.

Attorneys for the Venezuelan native — identified only as Cristian in court papers — said during a court hearing Tuesday that they don’t know where he is or how to get in touch with him.

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After he was deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison in March, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher ordered the government to facilitate the his return to the U.S. She cited the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to the same notorious prison.

Cristian is among a group of plaintiffs who entered the country as unaccompanied children seeking asylum. A 2019 settlement agreement said they couldn’t be deported until their asylum claims were adjudicated. Because his application is still pending, Gallagher said, the Trump administration violated that agreement in sending Cristian to a notorious prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, which was built to hold alleged gang members.

And now he’s back in Venezuela, the country he escaped years ago because he feared persecution, his attorneys argued during Tuesday’s hearing in federal court in Baltimore.

“They sent him back to the one country he’s actually seeking asylum from,” attorney Kevin DeJong told the court. “We were shocked to see that happen on Friday.”

Cristian was released from CECOT along with 251 other Venezuelan migrants who had been imprisoned in El Salvador since March. President Donald Trump paid El Salvador $6 million to house them there after he issued a proclamation calling for the arrest and removal of Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law.

As part of the deal on Friday, Venezuela released 10 jailed U.S. citizens and permanent residents in exchange for getting back the 252 deportees.

“Cristian was a pawn in this plan, I don’t know how else to say it,” DeJong said. “He was a pawn in this prisoner exchange deal.”

DeJong said Cristian’s legal team hasn’t been able to get in touch with him since.

Gallagher, who was nominated to the federal bench by Trump in 2019, told the government’s lawyers Tuesday to help provide contact information for Cristian. But Justice Department attorney Ruth Ann Mueller wasn’t able to confirm even where in Venezuela he ended up.

“This is a fast-evolving situation,” she said.

The judge said she’s seen no evidence showing the Trump administration tried to get Cristian sent directly to the U.S. upon his release from prison in El Salvador.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they plan to file a motion requesting sanctions against the government for failing to comply with the court’s orders.

Mueller, however, argued they were in compliance, saying she believes “what happened with El Salvador is moot now,” given Cristian’s release. She said facilitating his return looks “very different now that he’s in Venezuela.” The first step would be Cristian’s lawyers contacting him and confirming whether he indeed wants to return to the U.S.

Before his deportation, he was transferred into federal custody from a jail in Harris County, Texas, in January.

Immigration officials have already determined that Cristian isn’t entitled to asylum, according to earlier testimony from the government. But his lawyers argue he’s still entitled to a ruling on the merits of his asylum application by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Attorneys for the government wrote in court papers last week that Venezuelan leaders have pledged not to interfere with travel plans for anyone in Cristian’s position who has to attend legal proceedings in the U.S.

“With these assurances now having been obtained, and Cristian now having been released from El Salvador’s custody, the Department of State has pledged to assist the Department of Homeland Security in facilitating the return of Cristian should he wish to return,” the attorneys wrote.

Mellissa Harper, acting assistant director of enforcement and removal operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a written declaration to the court that State Department and embassy officials have assumed responsibility for high-level diplomatic discussions about the situation.

Gallagher ordered the government to file weekly status reports as the case proceeds.

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and PATRICK WHITTLE, Associated Press

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — The cause of a fire at a Massachusetts assisted-living facility that left 10 people dead remains undetermined for now as officials investigate whether smoking materials and an issue with a medical oxygen machine may have been factors, officials said Tuesday.

The state’s deadliest blaze in more than four decades has highlighted the lack of regulations governing assisted-living facilities that often care for low-income or disabled residents.

The state fire marshal, Jon Davine, said the presence of medical oxygen contributed to the spread of the July 13 fire at Gabriel House in Fall River. The blaze left some residents of hanging out windows of the three-story building screaming for help.

The fire in the blue-collar city in southern Massachusetts remains under investigation but authorities believe it happened unintentionally, Davine said at a news conference Tuesday.

“Please, there’s truly no safe way to smoke. But smoking is especially dangerous when home oxygen is in use,” he said.

Members of the local firefighter’s union have said a lack of emergency personnel staffing in the city made responding to the blaze more difficult, and made the fire itself deadlier.

Earlier Tuesday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said the state was releasing $1.2 million for Fall River to hire more emergency response personnel. She also said additional funds will be expedited for the state’s municipal public safety staffing program.

“We are here today to listen to make sure that we understand what this community needs now and moving forward in the wake of this tragedy,” Healey said.

Healey said last week that a state agency that ensures regulatory compliance at assisted-living residences will investigate all 273 such facilities in Massachusetts to make sure they are prepared to protect residents during emergencies. She said Tuesday that work has begun.

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The district attorney’s office identified the 10th victim as Halina Lawler, 70, on Monday. The victims of the fire ranged in age from 61 to 86.

A resident of Gabriel House filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the facility was not properly managed, staffed or maintained, that residency rules were not enforced “and emergency response procedures were not put in place.”

Trapped in his room during the fire, Steven Oldrid was in an “already compromised physical condition” when he suffered smoke inhalation and lost consciousness, according to the complaint filed in Bristol County Superior Court. As a result, Oldrid says he has increased mobility restrictions and has racked up medical bills for treatment.

George K. Regan Jr., a spokesperson for the facility owned by Dennis Etzkorn, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit. A phone message was also left with Oldrid’s attorney.

Public injury law firm Morgan & Morgan also said last week it was hired to investigate the fire by the family of one of the residents killed at Gabriel House.

Morgan & Morgan Communications Manager Emily Walsh said the law firm had already begun looking into whether the facility was adequately staffed and provided proper training to staff, as well as any potential code violations and possible failures of fire safety equipment.

Etzkorn has said he is cooperating with investigations into the fire. Gabriel House issued a statement Monday emphasizing the importance of finding out “exactly what caused this catastrophe, and if there were factors that made it worse.” The statement said the facility placed a premium on residents’ safety.

“Maintaining compliance with all safety and building codes has always been our priority, and there were quarterly inspections of the fire suppression system – the latest as recently as five days prior to the fire,” said the facility’s spokesperson.

Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writer Leah Willingham in Boston contributed.

By JEFF MARTIN, Associated Press

A video showing Florida deputies punching and dragging a Black man from his car during a traffic stop has sparked nationwide outrage, with civil rights lawyers accusing authorities of fabricating their arrest report.

William McNeil Jr., 22, was sitting in the driver’s seat, asking to speak to the Jacksonville deputies’ supervisor, when authorities broke his window, punched him in the face, pulled him from the vehicle, punched him again and threw him to the ground.

But Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters says there’s more to the story than the cellphone video that went viral on the Internet. He warned the public about “a rush to judgment” that could lead to faulty conclusions. McNeil’s lawyers say the video clearly depicts police brutality.

In this image made from cell phone video provided by the Law Office of Harry M. Daniels via TMX, William McNeil Jr. is seen sitting in his car after an officer broke his car window during a traffic stop on Feb. 19, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. (The Law Office of Harry M. Daniels/TMX via AP)

The footage from the Feb. 19 arrest shows that seconds before being dragged outside, McNeil had his hands up and did not appear to be resisting as he asked, “What is your reason?” He had pulled over and accused of not having his headlights on, even though it was daytime, his lawyers said.

“What happened to William McNeil Jr. is a disturbing reminder that even the most basic rights — like asking why you’ve been pulled over — can be met with violence for Black Americans,” lawyers Ben Crump and Harry Daniels said in a statement. Crump is a Black civil rights attorney who has gained national prominence representing victims of police brutality and vigilante violence.

“William was calm and compliant,” they said. “Yet instead of answers, he got his window smashed and was punched in the face, all over a questionable claim about headlights in broad daylight.”

The sheriff said the cellphone camera footage from inside the car “does not comprehensively capture the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

“Part of that stems from the distance and perspective of the recording cell phone camera,” the sheriff said in a statement, adding that the video did not capture events that occurred before officers decided to arrest McNeil.

Cameras “can only capture what can be seen and heard,” the sheriff added. “So much context and depth are absent from recorded footage because a camera simply cannot capture what is known to the people depicted in it.”

A key point of contention in the police report is a claim that McNeil was reaching toward an area where a knife was. Deputies later found the knife on the driver’s side floorboard of his car when they searched it after taking McNeil into custody.

“The suspect was reaching for the floorboard of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting,” Officer D. Bowers wrote in his report. “The suspect continued to attempt to pull away from officers and refused to place his hands behind his back.”

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Bowers does not mention any punches being thrown in his report, and describes the force this way: “Physical force was applied to the suspect and he was taken to the ground.”

Crump and Daniels called that report a “fabrication,” saying that “he never reaches for anything.”

“The only time he moves at all is when the officer knocks him over by punching him in his face,” they said. “Then this young man calmly sits back straight and holds his empty hands up.”

“He’s never combative, never raises his voice and he certainly never reaches for a knife,” they added. “He simply asks for a supervisor and then they break his window and beat him yet, somehow, the report failed to mention that.”

McNeil was charged with resisting a police officer without violence; driving with a suspended license and having less than 20 grams of marijuana, Waters said. He pleaded guilty to the charges of resisting an officer and driving with a suspended license, Waters said.

McNeil was warned seven times that he needed to open his car door and get out, or officers would be forced to break his car window, the sheriff said.

Waters said the sheriff’s office on Sunday became aware that the cellphone video was circulating on social media. Investigations then began, and the State Attorney’s Office determined that no officers violated any criminal laws, he said at a news briefing. An “administrative review” to determine whether officers violated any department policies is still ongoing, he said.

The chair of the Metropolitan Council will retire in early September, Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Penny Flanagan announced on Tuesday.

Charlie Zelle has served as chair for the past five years. The Met Council is the regional policy-making body, planning agency, and provider of essential services in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area.

Charlie Zelle, chair of the Metropolitan Council, speaks during a news conference to announce Metro Transit’s increased focus on the health and safety of its transit riders in St. Paul on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Zelle will retire on September 10. Plans for interim leadership of the council are forthcoming, said a press release from Walz and Flanagan’s office.

“Chair Zelle’s years of public service have made a lasting impact on not only the Met Council but public transportation and infrastructure across Minnesota,” Walz said. “His service has positioned the council and our state for continued success and innovation.”

Zelle, who was appointed chair in 2020, was the driving force behind accomplishments by the council such as approval of Imagine 2050, the Met Council’s deployment guide; funding and scheduling for the Green Line expansion; securing funding for regional park investments and securing the largest investment in transit infrastructure through legislative action, the press release said.

Before he was appointed to the council, Zelle was chair of Jefferson Lines and was president and CEO for more than 20 years. In 2012, he was appointed commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation where he oversaw a multimodal state transportation agency with an annual budget of more than $4 billion.

For his work in transportation policy, he received the George Rucker Award by the Community Transportation Association in 2009 and the Ray L. Lappegaard Distinguished Service Award by Center of Transportation Studies in 2012.

He was born and raised in St. Paul and received a bachelor of arts from Bates College and a master of business administration from the Yale School of Management.

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