By JOSH FUNK, AP Transportation Writer

Two Black men who were fired by President Donald Trump from the National Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Surface Transportation Board accused the administration on Thursday of discriminating against them as part of a pattern of dismissing Black leaders across the government.

Robert Primus on the STB and Alvin Brown on the NTSB were the only Black board members overseeing their officially independent agencies when they were fired this year, in August and in May. Both had already filed lawsuits challenging their dismissals, saying the White House didn’t have good cause, as the law requires. Democracy Forward filed the new discrimination claims on behalf both men.

“When you look at who has been removed without cause, and who has been left in place, the pattern is impossible to ignore: Black commissioners across the federal government have been summarily fired,” said Brown, who was Vice Chairman of the NTSB. “My abrupt removal was unlawful, and it was discriminatory.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to the new legal filing, but has said Trump was well within his legal rights to fire Primus and Brown. The administration hasn’t filed a formal response to Primus’ lawsuit yet, but the Trump administration asked a judge to dismiss Brown’s lawsuit, arguing that the statutory protection saying board members can only be fired for cause is unconstitutional, and that the president should be able to pick his team at every executive agency.

When Brown was fired, experts said they couldn’t remember anyone ever being fired from the NTSB, which is tasked with investigating disasters across all modes of transportation to determine what caused them and make recommendations to prevent similar tragedies from ever happening again. The NTSB is currently investigating nearly 1,250 cases including the collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people in January.

Primus was pushed off the STB shortly after Union Pacific proposed its $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern railroad, a massive deal the five-member board will consider approving over the next year or two. He was the only member of the STB to oppose Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad in 2023 because he was concerned about the impact on competition. Trump has said he thinks the Union Pacific deal sounds good.

By law, no more than three of the five members of each board can be from one party. Primus and Brown are Democrats. Primus was nominated for his position by Trump during his first term, named board chairman by President Joe Biden and led the board until Trump began his second term and elevated Board member Patrick Fuchs to chairman. Primus’ lawyers pointed out that the other Democratic member of the STB was allowed to continue serving.

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On the NTSB, another of the Democratic members, who is white, has continued serving beyond the expiration of his term the end of 2023, as is customary to do until a replacement is confirmed. But Brown was the one dismissed, even though he was scheduled to serve through the end of 2026. Trump nominated a white man to replace him.

The lawsuits argue that these firings reflect Trump’s broadening antipathy to seeing people of color in government positions: “This trend fits with President Trump’s consistent messaging criticizing diversity and inclusion and his clear and demonstrable emphasis on hiring white people.”

Trump has fired a string of board members at various agencies that are supposed to be independent including the Federal Reserve, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Senate Commerce Committee will consider advancing the nominations of both men’s replacements to a vote next week.

For 46 years, Twin Cities musician Curt Almsted, also known as Curtiss A, has kept the memory and message of John Lennon alive through his annual John Lennon tribute show. This year, the concert moves from its longtime home of First Avenue to the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, a first in the concert’s history.

Minnesota musicians and fans will gather at the Fitz on Dec. 8 to remember the legacy of the British musician and activist nearly five decades after his assassination. With a lead performance from Almsted, who has played every tribute show since its genesis, the night invites both longtimers and newcomers to celebrate peace and love in the Lennon way.

“Curtis has stressed that in his stage dialogue over the years,” said tribute musician and manager Gini Dodds. “The country may be going through confrontational times, but this is a night where everyone can just get together and really love the music and hang out with each other in a peaceful way.”

Born January 31, 1951, in the season of Aquarius, Almsted was named for the Curtis Hotel, an iconic historical landmark for any Minneapolis resident. While moving multiple times in his youth to different cities in the Midwest, including a small residence in Milwaukee as a teenager, the Twin Cities remained home to him.

As a long-standing figure in the local music scene, Almsted was one of the original artists at Twin/Tone Records, an independent label that operated from 1977 to into the ’90s. He also formed the band Wire in 1969 and played with countless musicians throughout his career.

In 1981, Almsted opened for Prince’s first-ever performance at First Avenue, then called Uncle Sam’s. He described the Purple One as “one of the biggest artists to ever live.

“Now, I’m mostly known for this Lennon tribute, which has been nonstop since the night he was killed,” Almsted said. “It takes up all of my Sundays in November, rehearsing.”

A St. Paul native and fellow musician, Dodds is the lead singer of Gini Dodds and the Dahlias and was a longtime fan of Almsted before meeting him at a show more than 24 years ago.

“He came up to me and said, ‘You look like one of my old drummers,’ ” Dodds said with a laugh. “And that’s how I met him.”

The pair have lived together for 24 years in St. Paul. Their basement has been completely dedicated to Almsted’s extensive action figure and comic book collection.

The nearly 10,000 action figures have all been arranged to Almsted’s particular taste, according to an interview with MSP-St. Paul Magazine earlier this year, forming a montage of classic comic book characters and other favorites of his.

“He’s very eccentric,” Dodds said. “He is interested in a lot of topics, UFOs, paranormal stuff. He knows a lot about modern music; he’s really a walking music dictionary.”

Equally inspiring as the Beatles in his musical journey, Almsted was greatly influenced by an extraterrestrial encounter he said took place when he was returning from a performance with his band in Michigan in the summer of 1969.

“I just remember the flying saucer coming over the car,” Almsted said. “This was a month after the moon landing in ‘69 … and space was on everybody’s mind. But this was not the power of suggestion.”

Almsted described seeing a UFO take off at a 45-degree angle toward the sun and exit the Earth’s atmosphere while driving from a gig to another in Neillsville, Wis.

“It changes you, you know,” Almsted said. “After that happened, I feel like I became more expressive.”

Growing up with the Beatles

Almsted recalls being a young boy when he first heard the Beatles, and even younger when he heard Elvis Presley, another influential artist in his life.

“I remember my mom hearing Elvis Presley for the first time while she was ironing,” Almsted said. “She said to me, as I was sitting down at her feet, playing with blocks or something, ‘Mark my words, that boy is going to be big.’ ”

The same could be said when Almsted, then a teenager in the early ’60s, first heard the Beatles when they were gaining traction in the United States. Almsted described the band as filling a hole left in the absence of other great musicians.

“All there was was Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and then there was nothing until Elvis, and then he went to the Army, and there was nothing till the Beatles,” he said. “And then the Beatles, they really grabbed hold. There was no way to stop it.

“If you’re a fan of the Beatles, then you know that they have a lot of puzzle pieces that made them up,” Almsted said. “Rock and roll is a funny thing, because mostly, it was about rebellion and fun. And I think that was very important to the Beatles too, to each one of them in different degrees.”

The Beatles rose in popularity in 1962 and continued to produce music throughout the decade before splitting up in 1970.

After the split, guitarist and lead singer Lennon pursued a solo career, focused on both personal experience and world politics at large, before his assassination on Dec. 8, 1980.

This was a turning point for Almsted, who had long been influenced by Lennon.

Remembering Lennon

Known as the grandfather of Twin Cities Rock and Roll, Curt Almsted will be leading the 46th Annual John Lennon Tribute concert this Monday. Almsted, also known as Curtiss A, is a longtime performer in the Twin Cities area. (Photo courtesy of Paul Lundgren)

The Beatles’ continued outspokenness on social issues had greatly inspired Almsted as a young man, like Lennon’s strong opposition to the Vietnam War in 1969, with his songs “Give Peace a Chance” and “Imagine” becoming prolific in the peace movements of the ‘70s.

“You know, it’s always been that way. You have people in power and people that wish they had more power and and are upset because of many inequalities,” Almsted said.

The power of music in politics has long been of importance to the musician, who said it’s his role as an entertainer to draw attention to what’s important.

“You gotta make things attractive,” Almsted laughed.

After Lennon’s death, Almsted was asked to join the first tribute at First Avenue, which was organized soon after the singer’s death. And every year since, he has performed, no matter the venue or crowd.

“It’s fun,” Almsted said. “It’s the most fun I have each year. And yes, there is sadness, because he’s dead, but the beautiful part is people show up to celebrate his life and his message.”

This is the message that has been celebrated for almost five decades, and hopefully many more with Almsted at the center stage.

“This is a band of stellar musicians with both a string section and a horn section playing live with the main band,” Dodds said. “I’ve always thought that this tribute band sounds better than the Beatles themselves, because they didn’t play live that much. And when they did, you know, it was a million girls screaming over the sound.”

John Lennon Tribute ft. Curtiss A

When: 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 8.

Where: Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E Exchange St., St. Paul

Tickets: $45.98 to $33.40 via first-avenue.com

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With the Gophers’ high school recruiting class solidified Wednesday, more attention will turn to the NCAA’s transfer portal. Minnesota already has seen a handful of players announce their intentions to leave the program.

Over the last two years, the Gophers have had one of the highest retention levels in the country, losing only a few key players each season via the portal. The amount of this winter will come into focus over the next few weeks, but this is a clean time for players to move on given that the U’s first bowl practice is Thursday.

There is only one transfer portal window this offseason, down from two a year ago; it opens Jan. 2 and closes Jan. 16. Here’s who is on their way out:

Reserve receiver Kenric Lanier confirmed Wednesday he is planning to leave the U; the redshirt sophomore from Decatur, Ga., played in 20 total games and caught three passes for 79 yards over 10 games in 2025.

On Tuesday, backup receiver and returner Quintin Redding said he will depart with one year of eligibility remaining; the senior Menomonee Falls., Wis., played in 34 games at Minnesota. Redding had 36 kick returns for 758 yards (21.1-yard average) and 22 punt returns for 166 yards (7.5-yard average) since 2022, but his opportunities dried up with the arrival of Koi Perich.

Also, backup offensive lineman Reese Tripp announced he will leave with three years of eligibility remaining; the redshirt sophomore from Mantorville, Minn., played in only three games at the U and did not see the field in 2025.

And punter Caleb McGrath said he will look for another place to play in his final two years of eligibility; the Apple Valley native and Eastview High School graduate did not play in a game for the Gophers. Current punter Tom Weston has two years of eligibility remaining.

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