By ADRIAN SAINZ, JONATHAN MATTISE and GRAHAM LEE BREWER

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — After three former Memphis police officers were acquitted Wednesday in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, community and civil rights leaders expressed outrage over another disappointment in the long push for police reform.

Nichols’ death at a traffic stop more than two years ago sparked nationwide protests and renewed calls for systemic change as the first post-George Floyd case that revealed the limits of an unprecedented reckoning over racial injustice in Black America.

Now, Wednesday’s acquittals again show the need for reforms at the federal level, civil rights leaders said.

“Tyre and his family deserve true justice — not only in the courtroom, but in Congress, by passing police reform legislation once and for all,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson posted on social media. “Traffic stops should never be a death sentence, and a badge should never— ever — be a shield to accountability.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke Wednesday to Nichols’ mother and stepfather, said they were outraged.

“Justice can still be delivered,” Sharpton added in a statement, referring to the officers’ upcoming sentencing in a federal civil rights case. “Tyre’s death was preventable, inexcusable, and tragic.”

Nichols, 29, was on his way home on Jan. 7, 2023, when he was stopped for an alleged traffic violation. He was pulled out of his car by officers, one of whom shot at him with a Taser. Nichols ran away, according to video footage that showed him brutally beaten by five officers. An autopsy found he died from blows to the head.

Three officers were acquitted Wednesday of all state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating. All five officers, the city of Memphis and the police chief are being sued by Nichols’ family for $550 million. A trial has been scheduled for next year.

“Let this be a rally and cry: We must confront the broken systems that empowered this injustice and demand the change our nation — and Tyre’s legacy — deserves,” said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family in the lawsuit.

FILE – This combination of images provided by the Memphis, Tenn., Police Department shows, from top row from left, Police Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, bottom row from left, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith. (Memphis Police Department via AP, File)

After Floyd’s 2020 murder by a former Minneapolis police officer, states adopted hundreds of police reform proposals, creating civilian oversight of police, more anti-bias training and stricter use-of-force limits, among other measures. But federal reforms in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act have been stuck in Congress without enough bipartisan support to get enacted during the Biden administration.

The Nichols case sparked a 17-month federal investigation into the Memphis Police Department, which found a host of civil rights violations, including using excessive force, making illegal traffic stops and disproportionately targeting Black people.

Last year, police traffic-stop reforms put in place in Memphis after Nichols’ death were repealed by GOP Gov. Bill Lee, despite pleas from civil rights advocates.

One of the ordinances had outlawed traffic stops for reasons unrelated to a motorist’s driving, such as a broken taillight and other minor violations. Lee echoed arguments from Republican lawmakers who said Nichols’ death needed to result in accountability for officers who abuse power, not new limits on traffic stops.

Speaking after Wednesday’s acquittal, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said: “Our office will continue to push for accountability for everybody who violates the law, including if not especially, those who are sworn to uphold it.”

“If we’re going to have any silver lining from this dark cloud of both the event itself and in my view today’s verdict, it has to be that we need to reaffirm our commitment to police reform,” he said.

Thaddeus Johnson, a former Memphis police commander and a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, said Nichols’ beating and Wednesday’s acquittal compound wounds from generations of policing problems in the majority-Black city.

“I do believe that reform is local, but I do believe this has kind of put a black eye on things,” Johnson told the AP. “People feel like police cannot be held accountable. Or they won’t be held accountable.”

Andre Johnson, a pastor at Gifts of Life Ministries in Memphis and a community activist, said he was disappointed but not surprised at the verdict.

“It is extremely difficult to convict officers even when they are on camera,” he said, calling the acquittal ”a loud and clarion acknowledgement that certain groups of people do not matter.”

“For a lot of people who have had engagement with police officers, the message is loud and clear: that even if we get you on camera, doing what you did to Tyre, that you cannot face justice.”

Brewer reported from Norman, Oklahoma. Mattise reported from Nashville. AP writer Travis Loller in Nashville contributed.

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to Medicaid, Rep. Juan Ciscomani is telling fellow Republicans he won’t support steep cuts that could hit thousands of residents in his Arizona district — “my neighbors, people my kids go to school with” — who depend on it.

Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the liberal-leaning “blue dot” of Omaha, Nebraska, is trying to protect several Biden-era green energy tax breaks. He’s warning colleagues that “you can’t pull the rug out from under” businesses that have already sunk millions of dollars into renewable developments in Nebraska and beyond.

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And for Republican Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, it’s simple: “No Salt. No Deal. For Real.” He wants to revive — and bump up — what’s known as the SALT deduction, which allows taxpayers to write off a portion of their state and local taxes. Capping the deduction at $10,000 hurt many of his Long Island constituents.

“Governing is a negotiation, right?” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, another Republican who is also involved in the talks. “I think everybody is going to have to give a little.”

As GOP leaders draft President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” of some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts by Memorial Day, dozens of Republicans from contested congressional districts have positioned themselves at the center of the negotiating table.

While it’s often the most conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus driving the legislative agenda — and they are demanding as much as $2 trillion in cuts — it’s the more centrist-leaning conservatives who could sink the bill. They have been hauled into meetings with Trump at the White House, some have journeyed to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and many are huddling almost daily with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

And they are not satisfied, yet.

“To get everybody politically and policy-wise on the same page is going to require more conversations,” said LaLota, who is among five Republicans pledging to withhold their support unless changes to the SALT deduction are included.

Republicans wrestle with what to put in — and what to leave out

Diving into the gritty details of the massive package, the GOP leaders are running into the stubborn reality that not all the ideas from their menu of potential tax breaks and spending cuts are popular with voters back home.

Moreover, their work of compiling the big package is not happening in a vacuum. It comes amid growing economic unease rippling across the country as Trump has fired thousands of federal workers, including some of their own constituents, and as his trade war sparks concerns of empty store shelves and higher prices.

Brendan Buck, a former adviser to an earlier House speaker, Paul Ryan, warned in an op-ed Wednesday that all the party’s energy is being poured into one bill, with questionable returns.

“Many Republicans are hoping that the tax bill can blunt the economic damage caused by the Trump tariffs,” Buck wrote in The New York Times, “but that is highly unlikely.”

Democrats are ready for the fight, warning that Trump and his fellow Republicans are ripping away health care and driving the economy into the ditch — all to retain tax breaks approved during Trump’s first term that are expiring at year’s end.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of N.Y., speaks during an event with House and Senate Democrats to mark 100 days of President Donald Trump’s term on the steps of the Senate on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“What we see from Donald Trump and the Republicans is they are actually crashing the economy in real time,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

“Why,” the Democratic leader asked, “are Republicans jumping through hoops” to try to reduce Medicaid and food stamps used by millions of Americans?

“It’s all in service of enacting massive tax breaks for their millionaire donors like Elon Musk,” he said.

GOP leaders search for consensus

Johnson has projected a calm confidence, insisting that House Republicans are on track to deliver on Trump’s agenda.

The speaker’s office has become a waystation with a revolving door of Republicans privately laboring to piece together the massive package.

So far, GOP leaders have signaled they are walking away from some, but not all, of the steep Medicaid cuts. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the proposals could result in millions of people losing their coverage.

Instead, what appears to still be on the table are tougher work requirements for those receiving Medicaid and food stamp assistance and more frequent eligibility tests for beneficiaries.

That’s not enough for the conservatives, who also number in the dozens and are insisting on deeper reductions.

Centrists drawing red lines

Ciscomani, in his second term, signed onto a letter with Bacon and others warning House Republican leadership he cannot support a bill that includes “any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.”

“Our point is that we understand the need for reform,” Ciscomani said. “But anything that goes beyond that and starts jeopardizing rural hospitals in my district and their existence overall, then we’re running into an area where it will be very difficult to move forward. I think it’s very important they know that.”

Bacon, Ciscomani and others joined on a separate letter raising concerns about eliminating clean-energy tax credits, including those passed under President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

“Go with a scalpel. Go pick out some things,” Bacon told The Associated Press. He and the others warned that companies are already investing millions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives to green energy.

“You just can’t do a wholesale throw it out,” Bacon said.

Democrats track the vote with an eye on next year’s midterms

Democrats are also applying political pressure in Ciscomani’s district and beyond.

As Republicans decline to hold town halls on the advice of their leaders, Democrats are stepping in to warn constituents about what could happen to programs they rely on for health coverage and to put food on the table.

Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Cory Booker of New Jersey visited Ciscomani’s Tucson-based district last month to offer harsh condemnations.

Kelly asked how many in the room were represented by Ciscomani, and then he warned about how scores of residents in the district could lose their health care coverage.

“And for what? It is so Donald Trump could give a big, giant tax cut to the wealthiest Americans. It is not fair,” Kelly said.

Booker, fresh off his 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, was even more pointed, saying just three House Republicans have to change their mind to upend the GOP’s effort in the House, with its narrow majority.

“I believe one of them has to be in this district right here,” Booker said. “Either he changes his mind or this district changes congresspeople. It’s as simple as that.”

Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.

By STEVE PEOPLES, AP National Politics Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Joe Biden says he’s responsible for Donald Trump’s victory last fall, but he attributed Kamala Harris’ loss, at least in part, to sexism and racism.

Biden, who left office in January, addressed the Democrats’ disastrous 2024 election, concerns about his age and Trump’s divisive leadership during a Thursday interview on ABC’s “The View.” The 82-year-old Democrat said he has intentionally avoided speaking out publicly until this week to give Trump more than 100 days in office without his interference, as is typically the tradition following a change in the White House.

Asked about the last election, Biden said he was surprised by the role that he gender and race played in the contest.

“They went the sexist route,” Biden said of criticism that “a woman couldn’t lead the country and a woman of mixed race.”

He added: “I was in charge and he won, so I take responsibility.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris delivers the keynote speech at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Biden has largely stepped away from national politics since leaving the White House.

He’s not expected to play a central role in Democratic affairs as the party turns to a new generation of leadership, although he acknowledged on Thursday that he has maintained regular contact with Harris and has offered his guidance on her political future.

“She’s got a difficult decision to make about what she’s going to do. I hope she stays engaged,” Biden said, declining to share his specific advice.

Biden rejected concerns about his cognitive decline prompted by a disastrous debate performance last June. He also declined to criticize the Democratic leaders who privately pressed him to abandon his campaign.

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“The only reason I got out of the race was because I didn’t want to have a divided Democratic Party,” he said, adding that the broader party didn’t buy into concerns about his age following the “terrible” debate performance, “but the Democratic leadership and some of the very significant contributors did.”

Thursday’s appearance also marked Biden’s first joint interview with former first lady Jill Biden since leaving Washington. She rejected those who believe she created a protective cocoon around her husband while in office to protect him from scrutiny about his age.

“It was very hurtful especially from some of our so-called friends,” she said of the criticism.

“I was with Joe day and night … and I did not create a cocoon around him,” she continued. “You saw him in the Oval Office. You saw him making speeches. He wasn’t hiding somewhere.”

Meanwhile, the former president did not hold back when the conversation turned to Trump’s job performance.

“He’s had the worst 100 days any president has ever had,” Biden said.

Lionel Messi will not be the first international soccer superstar to play in Minnesota, if and when the Argentine midfiNtsoelengoeelder takes the field for Inter Miami versus Minnesota United on Saturday in St. Paul.

Pele was that trailblazer when he and the New York Cosmos came to Bloomington in 1976.

The first-year Kicks were averaging 13,000 fans across their opening four matches at Metropolitan Stadium when Pele, a three-time World Cup winner, arrived for a ballyhooed North American Soccer League match.

The Kicks’ advertising slogan in their initial spring was: “In 1976, Minnesota joined the world” with its new soccer club, and that Wednesday night in the Minneapolis suburb, the Brazilian midfielder helped the Kicks’ set a NASL record for largest crowd.

The St. Paul Dispatch’s banner headline read: Pele pulls ’em in: 46,164.

“They turned out to see the maestro,” Kicks captain Alan Merrick recalled to the Pioneer Press in April. “… That game set the benchmark for the success of the Kicks on an ongoing basis. We had massive crowds. And that was one game, I think, that gave the Kicks credibility. It also brought people out to start to understand the game of soccer, because it was still ’76.”

The Kicks folded in 1981, and Minnesota didn’t have first-division soccer until the Loons joined MLS in 2017. Since Allianz Field opened in 2019, MNUFC has consistently sold out its soccer-specific stadium (19,600), and a standing-room-only crowd in excess of 20,000 is expected this weekend.

Unlike some other MLS teams, MNUFC declined to move its Messi-mania game to a bigger local venue — in their case, either U.S. Bank or Huntington Bank stadiums — to accommodate broader fan demand. The Loons said they wanted to honor its season-ticket holders.

The Loons also sought to keep the match on natural grass, which is all but a requirement for today’s top (and aging) players, such as the 37-year-old Messi and his band of former Barcelona teammates reunited in Miami — Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

But Pele and his fellow star, Italian forward Giorgio Chinaglia, played on a Met Stadium surface that had the Twins’ infield dirt exposed in front of one goal. The pitching mound was lopped off and covered with a Kicks logo.

Smooth talker

To hype up the event, a news conference was held the day before Pele played in Minnesota. He showed up in a blue silk leisure suit and catered to Minnesota’s press corps by talking about the weather.

As a heat wave reached 90 degrees on game day, Pele said: “We were led to believe we were coming to a cold land and yet when we arrive it is hotter here than in New York or even Brazil.”

Pele was among the first in what has became a decades-old tradition of pumping up perceived growth of the world’s game in the U.S. He guessed that within 10 to 15 years, the U.S. could rival what other countries had accomplished in the previous century. It’s still a waiting game.

“What’s happened in America in terms of general interest in the game has been fantastic since I’ve been here. Almost unbelievable,” said Pele, who had moved from Santos FC in Brazil to New York in 1974. “The reception wherever we’ve gone has been wonderful.”

Since Messi joined MLS in 2023, the Argentine rarely speaks to reporters in away stadiums after matches — despite being the catalyst in setting record crowds in so many places: 72,610 in Kansas City; 65,612 in New England; 62,358 in Chicago; and most recently 60,614 in Cleveland on April 19.

Those figures are more than double the average attendance at MLS matches (23,240) in 2024, according to league data.

‘Still a magnificent player’

At age 25, Merrick’s role as a Kicks’ center back was to try to slow down Pele, who at 36 still possessed dynamic skill and playmaking creativity from an attacking midfield spot.

“He was still a magnificent player,” said Merrick, now 74 and residing in Lakeville. “He was the real deal, without a doubt.”

Messi, meanwhile, can still be brilliant. He led Argentina to the World Cup in 2022 and last season, he scored 20 goals and added 11 assists while capturing the league’s MVP award and Miami won the Supporters Shield (best regular-season record).

Argentina’s Lionel Messi waves after receiving the Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament at the end of the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Lionel Messi says he is coming to Inter Miami and joining Major League Soccer. After months of speculation, Messi announced his decision Wednesday, June 7, 2023,to join a Miami franchise that has been led by another global soccer icon in David Beckham since its inception but has yet to make any real splashes on the field.(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Messi hasn’t been as strong this season, with only a handful of goals and assists while missing a few games.

Almost 40 years ago in Minnesota, Pele still displayed moments of quickness, deft passing and even tried to pull off an acrobatic overhead scissors kick. But it was Kicks star midfielder Patrick “Ace” Ntsoelengoe who gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the 68th minute.

Then in a controversial moment a few minutes later, Pele assisted on Chinaglia’s equalizing goal. Pele and Merrick each jumped to head a free kick in to the box; their bodies connected in the air, with Pele saying the ball grazed his head.

Both Kicks coach Fred Goodwin and Merrick insisted the goal shouldn’t have counted because they believed Pele fouled Merrick. YouTube footage of the game is grainy and inconclusive.

“It really was a foul,” a steadfast Merrick said in April. “I mean, I’ve seen it multiple times. Even though I’m biased, he definitely fouled me. … Those star players sometimes get some calls that go their way. That was certainly the case.”

In his 21-year pro career, Pele set a Guinness World Record with 1,279 career goals in 1,363 total games. But he didn’t score that day in Bloomington. A few of his shots went high over the crossbar and deep into Met Stadium’s packed stands.

It was Cosmos’ Tony Field who scored the game-winner in the 80th minute for a 2-1 result.

The non-foul call, however, wasn’t the match’s only drama. Pele was booed when he tried to kick the ball out of goalkeeper Geoff Barnett’s hands during one stoppage, and Pele was accused of taking a swing at a Kicks player during one of a few brouhahas.

“As long as he missed or it was glancing touch, there would be no repercussions of that,” Merrick insisted.

Years later, Merrick got to know Pele during his visit to the USA Cup youth soccer tournament in Blaine. Merrick has a cherished photo of the two of them from the 1976 match. On it, Pele — who passed away in 2022 — wrote “good luck” and signed it with a large, flowing letter P.

Brazil’s soccer legend Pelé greets the crowd ahead of a Spanish league soccer match, in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Jan. 16, 2005. Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died in Sao Paulo on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. He was 82. (AP Photo/Jasper Juinen)

“He was so kind and gentle and he exuded a presence there,” Merrick said. “He was a beacon, as it were. He just had an aura about him that was always impressive. Dressed immaculately, fit guy, kind, courteous, polite to everybody, and unassuming.”

Yet immediately after that 1976 game, Kicks players and coaches were more disappointed with the loss than throwing Pele bouquets of compliments. Barnett voiced his displeasure while holding a beer post-match, and Ntsoelengoe added a sobering opinion of his superstar opponent.

“He didn’t seem as fast as when I saw him play before,” Ntsoelengoe was quoted in the Minneapolis Star. “But it was a thrill to be out there against him.”