By DAVID FISCHER, Associated Press

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are set to ask that a man convicted of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in 2024 be sentenced to life in prison at a hearing on Wednesday.

Ryan Routh is scheduled to appear before U. S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Fort Pierce. Her courtroom erupted into chaos in September shortly after jurors found Routh guilty on all counts, including attempting to kill a presidential candidate and several firearm-related charges. Routh tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen, and officers quickly dragged him out.

FILE – In this image released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement officers arrest Ryan Wesley Routh, a man suspected in an apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)

Routh’s sentencing had initially been scheduled for December, but Cannon agreed to move the date back after Routh decided to use an attorney during the sentencing phase instead of representing himself as he did for most of the trial.

Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum filed last month that Routh has yet to accept any responsibility for his actions and that he should spend the rest of his life in prison, in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines.

“Routh remains unrepentant for his crimes, never apologized for the lives he put at risk, and his life demonstrates near-total disregard for law,” the memo said.

Routh’s new defense attorney, Martin L. Roth, is asking the judge for a variance from sentencing guidelines: 20 years in prison on top of a seven-year, mandatory sentence for one of the gun convictions.

“The defendant is two weeks short of being sixty years old,” Roth wrote in a filing. “A just punishment would provide a sentence long enough to impose sufficient but not excessive punishment, and to allow defendant to experience freedom again as opposed to dying in prison.”

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Prosecutors said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as the then-Republican presidential candidate played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club.

At Routh’s trial, a Secret Service agent helping protect Trump on the golf course testified that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and run away without firing a shot.

In the motion requesting an attorney, Routh offered to trade his life in a prisoner swap with people unjustly held in other countries and said an offer still stood for Trump to “take out his frustrations on my face.”

“Just a quarter of an inch further back and we all would not have to deal with all of this mess forwards, but I always fail at everything (par for the course),” Routh wrote.

In her decision granting Routh an attorney, Cannon chastised the “disrespectful charade” of Routh’s motion, saying it made a mockery of the proceedings. But the judge, nominated by Trump in 2020, said she wanted to err on the side of legal representation.

Cannon signed off last summer on Routh’s request to represent himself following two hearings. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that criminal defendants have the right to represent themselves in court proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney.

Routh’s former federal public defenders served as standby counsel and were present during the trial.

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and JULIA FRANKEL, Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes pounded Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 21 Palestinians, including two infants, and further rocking a fragile ceasefire deal, hospital officials said. Israel said it was responding to a militant attack on Israeli soldiers that seriously wounded one.

Deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly punctuated the truce since it came into effect on Oct. 10, and the escalating Palestinian toll has made many in Gaza say it feels like the war is continuing unabated. Among the Palestinians killed Wednesday were five children, seven women and an on-duty paramedic, according to hospital officials.

“The genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip continues,” said Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, in a Facebook post. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”

Israel strongly denies accusations that it is committing genocide in Gaza. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas terrorists poured into southern Israel after a surprise barrage of rockets, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Deadly strikes have continued despite ceasefire deal

The deal attempted to halt the more than 2-year-old war between Israel and Hamas. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, it has been marred by repeated flareups of violence.

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A total of 556 Palestinians have been killed by Israel and 1,500 wounded since the ceasefire went into effect, according to Gaza health officials, while Israel’s military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Israel’s military has said its continuing strikes are responses to Hamas violations or attacks on its soldiers, but dozens of civilians have died. Eight Arab and Muslim countries, including mediators Egypt and Qatar, recently condemned what they called Israel’s “repeated violations” of the deal.

An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with military policy, told The Associated Press that Israel’s latest attacks were in response to gunfire that badly wounded a reservist soldier Wednesday morning.

Early morning strike kills 11, including two children

Israeli troops fired on a building in the Tuffah neighborhood in north Gaza, killing at least 11 people, most from the same family, said Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included two parents, their 10-day-old girl, her 5-month-old cousin and the children’s grandmother.

Mourners gathered in the courtyard of Shifa hospital Wednesday morning for funeral prayers.

“What did this child do? …. Why are they killing the children?” asked a relative of the family, Mohammad Jaser.

“We don’t understand why this is happening to us. What do we do? Where do we go? This isn’t life,” he said.

Two young children were seen kneeling at the body of their father as a woman told them to bid him farewell. A young girl kissed her father’s cheeks.

Strikes on Gaza continue into Wednesday afternoon

Later, an Israeli strike on a family’s tent in the southern city of Khan Younis killed three people including a 12-year-old boy, said Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Tank shelling in Gaza City’s eastern neighborhood of Zaytoun killed another three Palestinians, according to Shifa Hospital.

A strike on a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis killed at least two people and wounded five others, according to a field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent in the area. The dead included Hussein Hassan Hussein al-Semieri, a paramedic who was on duty at the time, said the hospital.

Thirty-eight Palestinians were wounded in total by the strikes Wednesday, the Gaza health ministry said.

Passage through Rafah border is minimal

The Rafah border crossing’s opening Monday was hailed as a step forward for the fragile ceasefire. But since then, Palestinian passage through the crossing has been marred by delays, interrogations and uncertainty over who would be allowed to cross.

It took the entire day Tuesday for 40 Palestinians to enter Gaza. Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, they finally arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where their families welcomed them. By midday Wednesday, no one else had passed through the crossing.

Three women who crossed into Gaza on Monday told The Associated Press a day later that Israeli troops blindfolded and handcuffed them, then interrogated and threatened them, holding them for several hours before they were released.

Asked about the reports, the Israeli military said that “no incidents of inappropriate conduct, mistreatment, apprehensions, or confiscation of property by the Israeli security establishment are known.”

Ceasefire deal plods forward

While all fighting has not stopped, some parts of the ceasefire deal have moved forward.

Hamas has released all of the hostages it was holding, and in return Israel has released several thousand Palestinians and is beginning to reopen Rafah. Increased amounts of humanitarian aid have flowed into Gaza and a new technocratic committee has been appointed to administer the territory’s daily affairs.

But other key elements of the ceasefire appear to have stalled, including the deployment of an international security force, the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza. The U.S. has given no timeline on when these parts of the deal will wrap up.

Over 71,800 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Frankel from Jerusalem.

Julian Ocampo’s family opened their first Mexican-American restaurant in Minneapolis in 2003, following it up over the years with a chain of Los Ocampo restaurants and bars, or sister eateries, including Mr. Taco in Maplewood and Machete Cocina Mexicana in Woodbury.

With customers and workers alike fearful of being detained by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, all eight sites went on hiatus on Jan. 7, closing their doors due to plummeting sales and a lack of staffing.

A worker sets up the kitchen at the Los Ocampo restaurant in St. Paul on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Five of the family’s eateries will serve food again by the end of the week, though some will still offer take-out only and keep their doors locked to screen customers. The Los Ocampo on Arcade Street on St. Paul’s East Side, which is situated in an area heavily monitored by ICE, will remain shuttered.

“Right now we’re in survival mode,” said Ocampo on Monday, predicting smaller mom-and-pop Latin businesses will go bankrupt. “They’re hurting bad.”

As she visits with shop keepers at Hmong shopping centers, restaurant owners in the Latin and ethnic Karen communities, and immigrant grocers, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her hears the same story again and again. Even naturalized U.S. citizens are afraid to leave their homes, fearful that they won’t have the language skills to avoid detainment by federal agents.

As a result, many immigrant businesses have reported losing 60% or more of their sales. Some have already closed their doors, scared of being raided by federal agents, or keep their shops locked so they can screen every visitor at the door.

“Closing a business happens very quickly, but starting one up can take years, which means this is going to impact us,” Her said. “Even if (ICE) were out of here in another couple of months, this is going to have a lasting economic impact.”

Notes of support from community members decorate the windows of the Los Ocampo restaurant in St. Paul on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Shop Local, Stand Together campaign

With rents and utilities coming due but little income in sight, some restaurants, grocers, hair salons and other immigrant-owned businesses have turned to the online fundraising platform GoFundMe.com to appeal to the public for help.

Taqueria El Charrito, which closed its doors in early January, is “a beloved, family-owned restaurant on the West Side of St. Paul that has served as a gathering place for the local Latino community,” reads a GoFundMe solicitation created by a longtime customer. “It has provided not only food, but jobs, stability, and cultural connection.”

“For many of the workers at El Charrito, missing even one paycheck can mean falling behind on rent, losing access to food, or facing housing insecurity,” reads the posting, which is being shared on Facebook. “The financial strain is becoming overwhelming.”

With their workers and personal livelihoods in mind, more than 1,000 chefs and restaurant owners have signed an open letter to Congress pleading for an end to Operation Metro Surge and a reform of ICE operations. That letter was delivered to the Senate last Thursday by U.S. Sen. Tina Smith.

‘Shop Local’

Alarmed by plummeting sales at neighborhood shops and immigrant-owned businesses during Operation Metro Surge, the St. Paul mayor recently joined leaders of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic and Development and the Minneapolis Foundation to promote the governor’s “Shop Local, Stand Together” campaign.

Gov. Tim Walz has declared February “Shop Local” month in hopes of spurring customers who feel safe doing so to spend their dollars at locally-owned businesses, including ethnic grocers and restaurants that have lost customers nervous about leaving home.

“Supporting local, small, and immigrant-owned businesses is an act of community support and an investment in the dignity, stability, and vitality of our neighborhoods and local economies,” reads the gubernatorial proclamation, issued toward the end of January.

“Support doesn’t have to be complicated; it can start with where you shop and eat,” it goes on to say. “Simply showing up and making a purchase is significant, and people in Minnesota who feel safe doing so can play a meaningful role in strengthening their communities by prioritizing local businesses … and encouraging others to do the same.”

Economic Response Fund

Along a similar vein, the Minneapolis Foundation has launched an Economic Response Fund, readying an initial $4 million for grants to support impacted small businesses in St. Paul and Minneapolis with payroll, rent, staffing and inventory needs.

The fund, which may grow in time, is backed by 28 Minnesota companies, including Allianz, Allina Health, CHS, Ecolab, General Mills, Land O’ Lakes, Securian Financial, Target and Xcel Energy.

Grants will be distributed through community organizations, with further details soon to be announced. Business owners interested in learning more can visit the foundation website at minneapolisfoundation.org.

The foundation is asking companies and individuals to contribute to the fund at mplsfdn.org/erf.

Ethnic restaurants, markets

To promote both efforts, Her, DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek and Minneapolis Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer R.T. Rybak met with representatives of the Neighborhood Development Center and a series of ethnic restaurants and markets on Jan. 29 at the Los Ocampo site on Dale Street and University avenue.

Officials were joined by the founders of the Afro Deli restaurants, CentroMex grocery on St. Paul’s East Side, the Mexican restaurant Oro by Nixta in Minneapolis, World Street Kitchen in Minneapolis, La Michoacana desserts and The Perfect Coffee on St. Paul’s Rice Street.

The business owners noted that immigrants are, often by necessity, heavily driven entrepreneurs, leaning on family and ethnic networks to launch small businesses that become the lifeblood of neighborhood business corridors. Without them, entire neighborhoods may suffer.

It wasn’t lost on them that the economic crisis unfolding for ethnic entrepreneurs during Operation Metro Surge is like a localized earthquake that tears some businesses apart while leaving others standing, seemingly oblivious.

The pandemic, and to a lesser extent the racially-tinged riots of 2020, “affected the whole world,” Ocampo said. “It didn’t matter your skin color or your accent. Now, it’s based on skin color and accent.”

For some business owners, there are hints of normalcy on the horizon, at least here and there. On Tuesday, after being out of service for a month, the Los Ocampo near the University of St. Thomas on Marshall Avenue in St. Paul was scheduled to flip its lights back on, the latest in a series of gradual re-openings for the family-run chain.

Still, a hair salon in a property the Ocampo family owns on Lake Street in Minneapolis has yet to welcome back customers, or pay its January rent.

“Every small business on Lake Street that’s a mom-and-pop, those are the ones I think are going to hurt really bad,” Ocampo said.

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By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge is set to hear arguments Wednesday after an appeals court directed him to take a fresh look at President Donald Trump’s bid to erase his hush money conviction.

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The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November ordered U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to reconsider his decision to keep the case in state court instead of moving it to federal court, where Trump can seek to have it thrown out on presidential immunity grounds.

A three-judge panel ruled that Hellerstein erred by failing to consider “important issues relevant” to Trump’s request to move the New York case to federal court. They said they “express no view” on how he should rule.

Trump, a Republican, is not expected to attend Wednesday’s arguments in federal court in New York City, which were preceded by lengthy written submissions from Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case and wants it to remain in state court.

Hellerstein, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, has twice denied Trump’s requests to move the case.

The first was after Trump’s March 2023 indictment; the second followed Trump’s May 2024 conviction and a subsequent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that presidents and former presidents cannot be prosecuted for official acts.

In the later ruling, at issue in the 2nd Circuit decision, Hellerstein said Trump’s lawyers had failed to meet the high burden of proof for changing jurisdiction and that Trump’s conviction for falsifying business records involved his personal life, not official actions that the Supreme Court ruled are immune from prosecution.

The 2nd Circuit panel said Hellerstein’s ruling, which echoed his previous denial, “did not consider whether certain evidence admitted during the state court trial relates to immunized official acts or, if so, whether evidentiary immunity transformed” the hush money case into one that relates to official acts.

The three judges said Hellerstein should closely review evidence that Trump claims relate to official acts.

If Hellerstein finds the prosecution relied on evidence of official acts, the judges said, he should weigh whether Trump can argue those actions were taken as part of his White House duties, whether Trump “diligently sought” to have the case moved to federal court and whether the case can even be moved to federal court now that Trump has been convicted and sentenced in state court.

Trump was convicted in May 2024 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, whose allegations of an affair with Trump threatened to upend his 2016 presidential campaign. He was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction intact but sparing him any punishment.

Trump denies Daniels’ claim and said he did nothing wrong. He has asked a state appellate court to overturn the conviction.