'The data in this year’s report shows that homicides in Los Angeles are down, both in total number and as a percentage compared to last year. In 2025, there were 230 homicides, a reduction of 19% from the year before, when the city experienced 284 homicides. This is the lowest number of homicides since 1966,' Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said.

McDonnell, speaking about the citys 2025 crime statistics at a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 29, attributed the reduction to data and intelligence-driven policing, violence reduction strategies, collaboration with other law enforcement and public safety agencies and dedicated robbery-homicide detectives.

Of last year’s homicides, 156 of them, or 68%, were cleared by police. An additional 76 homicide cases from previous years were closed in 2025.

'Context matters. Los Angeles is a complex city. Crime trends are influenced by many factors beyond policing, including economic condition, population changes, substance abuse, homelessness, legislative decisions, and access to services. Policing plays a critical role in public safety, but it is one of a much larger system,' McDonnell said.

The report showed that shooting victim numbers also declined; 899 in 2025 compared to 981 in 2024, which McDonnell connected to an increase in gun seizures, with the agency seizing 8,650 firearms in 2025, an increase of more than 1,000 weapons compared to the year before.

'Other violent crime categories show mixed results, and property crime and quality of life issues remain real concerns for many Angelenos. We’re not minimizing those challenges, and we’re certainly not ignoring them,' he said.

He addressed burglaries in the city, noting that pattern detection, proactive policing and 'precision policing'– the practice of 'using crime data, trend analysis, and real-time intelligence to deploy resources where they have the greatest impact,' are important for the department’s work against property crimes.

'Through Metropolitan Division’s efforts, 109 total burglary arrests were made with 26 burglary crews identified and 22 firearms recovered in the process,' he said.

The departments 2026 initiatives are tech-forward, with a real-time crime center and expansion of the drone first responder program being priorities.

Though there is no one reason for a drop in homicides, McDonnell said he has seen the department and other agencies across the nation re-engage with the public and a resurgence of proactive policing.

'There’s no definitive answer, just my own experience. Post 2020, there was a movement where police were not supported throughout the nation, and we saw people step away from the profession. We saw people hesitant to interact. The level of proactive policing became much more reactive, and when that happens, you see crime go up, generally speaking. We have seen our officers here re-engage and be able to get back in,' he said.

While the LAPD does not engage in immigration enforcement, there were fears that widespread immigration enforcement operations by other agencies in Los Angeles could affect crime reporting, but that has not been the case, at least on a large scale, according to McDonnell.

'Our fear when we saw what happened this summer was that that would change. We’ve tried as best we can to monitor the numbers and we don’t believe that there’s been a substantial impact,' McDonnell said. 'We’re still getting reports, particularly domestic violence cases that we were most fearful of and other cases. So while there may have been some lack of reporting, I think we’re on track going in the right direction and trying to regain support in communities that might have waned or been lost.'

Testifying Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security Committees permanent subcommittee on investigations, two veteran fire officials said the blaze was the predictable result of leaving an earlier fire unmanaged, failing to predeploy resources ahead of forecasted life-threatening winds, and operating without unified command or consistent oversight.

Patrick Butler, chief of the Redondo Beach Fire Department, told senators that the Palisades fire could have been prevented had leaders acted more decisively on the days leading up to the wind-driven blaze. Butler said a previous fire in the area, known as the Lachman fire, was never fully extinguished and later reignited under extreme conditions,

'What I observed was not simply a difficult fire under extreme conditions,' Butler said. 'It was the predictable outcome of a breakdown in leadership, preparedness and command discipline. Firefighters were forced to improvise without adequate resources, unified command or consistent safety oversight. This was not a failure of effort by firefighters. It was a failure of leadership above them.'

Butler also criticized local officials for what he described as missed decision-making windows and altered after-action report findings.

Rick Crawford, a retired Los Angeles Fire Department battalion chief, echoed those concerns, describing the fire as a case study in how known risks can escalate into catastrophe when governance and coordination break down.

Crawford said predictive tools, interagency planning and preparedness measures existed but were not effectively deployed.

'What failed was not the tactics, strategy, courage or professionalism of firefighters and first responders,' he said. 'What failed was the leadership and the systems ability to convert known risk into decisive, coordinated action early enough to change outcomes.'

The Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, was part of a broader firestorm that swept through Los Angeles County in January 2025. Another major blaze, the Eaton fire in the Altadena area, left 19 people dead and destroyed thousands of structures as powerful winds pushed flames into foothill communities. The twin fires forced tens of thousands of residents to flee and have left many neighborhoods still grappling with cleanup and rebuilding months later.

Wednesdays hearing followed recent disclosures by Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore that an internal after-action report on the Palisades fire had been revised in ways that reduced criticism of department leadership.

The hearing was led by Republican Sens. Ron Johnson and Rick Scott, who announced last year that they were launching a federal investigation into the Palisades fire.

Republican senators used the hearing to argue that California and Los Angeles officials bear responsibility for the fires destruction, with Subcommittee Chair Ron Johnson calling the fire 'a failure of leadership.'

Democrats pushed back, saying the hearing risked politicizing recovery efforts as rebuilding continues. They noted that California is still waiting for approval of a $34 billion disaster relief request submitted by Gov. Gavin Newsom nearly 11 months ago.

'I share your concern, Senator Johnson, about the victims of that wildfire,' said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. 'I invite you to join me in asking the Trump administration to release that additional federal aid.'

In an emailed statement on Thursday, Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom, dismissed the hearing as 'not sincere,' accusing Republican senators of promoting 'debunked misinformation' while ignoring stalled federal disaster aid.

'This hearing was not sincere, and simply another opportunity for MAGA Republicans to try to spin a false narrative about these disasters and use the pain of our communities and survivors to give themselves clout and headlines,' Gallegos said.

The governors office said Republicans have mischaracterized Californias recovery efforts and wildfire preparedness to promote their Make America Great Again agenda, pointing to thousands of rebuilding permits issued by local governments since the fires and the states expanded wildfire prevention and firefighting capacity in recent years.

The governors office also argued that rebuilding has been slowed in part by the Trump administrations failure to transmit additional federal disaster funding requested nearly a year ago.

A spokesperson for Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., criticized Republican lawmakers for blocking disaster aid following the fires.

“It remains deeply disappointing that even now, and even at this hearing, some Republican Senators continue to stonewall our request for disaster assistance,” the spokesperson said in a statement Thursday evening. “Senator Schiff will continue to fight for those impacted by these horrific fires, and urge the President and Republicans in Congress to do their part in supporting Californias recovery and deliver the aid so desperately needed.'

The hearing came a day after President Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to develop regulations that could preempt state and local permitting requirements for disaster recovery ' a move California officials and Democrats have criticized as a political stunt that could complicate rebuilding.

Mayor Karen Bass previously criticized the executive order, arguing that the federal government lacks authority over local permitting and should instead focus on releasing disaster aid and speeding up Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements.

'The President has no authority over the local permitting process, but where he could actually be helpful is by providing the critical FEMA funding we have been asking for, by speeding up FEMA reimbursements, and by regulating the industries that he alone can impact,' Bass said in a written statement earlier this week.

Her office did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment on the Senate hearing.

As Los Angeles’ Central Library celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday, the contents of a recently unearthed, 100-year-old time capsule were revealed, offering a glimpse of a fast-growing city and a local government that churned out nearly as much bureaucratic paperwork then as it does now.

The copper time capsule was buried in the library’s cornerstone during construction in 1925.

For those who enjoy historic documents, the cache is a civic treasure trove, including photos, pamphlets, resolutions and booklets from local community organizations; annual reports; a copy of the city charter; engineering and fire department reports; coins; and copies of newspapers from 1925.

The library’s time capsule also contained an earlier capsule from 44 years previously.

The smaller box was originally placed in the cornerstone of the State Normal School ' precursor to UCLA ' which previously occupied the same site and was dedicated in December 1881 before opening the following year.

The school cache included mementos from the funeral of President James Garfield, who had recently been assassinated; holiday greeting cards; coins; newspapers; and various documents and booklets.

Thursday’s launch of a year of events tied to Central Library’s centennial took in multiple new exhibits, the unveiling of a new special edition library  card ' available at branches throughout the city as long as they last ' and, of course, a birthday cake.

It’s a history worthy of a book ' or maybe 2.8 million of them.

As City Librarian John Szabo puts it, the Los Angeles Public Library serves one of the largest populations of any library system in the nation, almost 4 million people, through the Central Library and 72 branches. The district also serves a large percentage of nonnative English speakers, as well as some of the United States’ wealthiest and poorest residents.

“The library is for all of Los Angeles,” Szabo said. “And our collections are a resource for the city, the nation and the world. We are always asking ourselves how we can more effectively serve the population, including the most vulnerable people and the migrant community, both documented and undocumented.

“The books that are on the shelves belong to the people of the city.”

Public libraries are largely funded by local government through property taxes, municipal budgets or county levies, typically covering core operations like staffing, collections and facilities. State governments supplement this with direct aid or targeted grants, often administered by state library agencies.

The flagship Central Library ' known for its tiled rooftop pyramid and vast, mural-lined rotunda ' is the system’s headquarters.

The third-largest central library in the nation, its subject departments contain more than 2.8 million books, 5,000 magazine subscriptions, more than 3 million photographs, 10 million digital access U.S. patents, and language learning and multimedia materials.

A variety of reference services is also available over the counter, by telephone, mail, e-mail or IM chat. Materials can be ordered by borrowers throughout the city and shipped to their local branch.

“The public library is very much the people’s university ' and I worry about so many areas,” Szabo said.

“Book bans are taking place around the country at a level not seen since the McCarthy era. It’s happening in school districts, in public libraries. … It’s not a major threat in the city of Los Angeles, but it has certainly happened in Southern California. It’s an issue that we should all pay attention to … and stand up for intellectual freedom.”

Chief Jim McDonnell, when asked at a news conference about mask bans, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in September and which separately won approval by Los Angeles County supervisors, said he disagreed with the policies, citing the possibility of conflict between police and other agencies if they were to be enforced.

'The reality of one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict over something that would be a misdemeanor at best or an infraction, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not a good public policy decision and it wasn’t well thought out in my opinion,' McDonnell said.

'You look across the country, you see the things that are happening. We are in line with our federal partners on everything except immigration enforcement. What we’ve seen since June here in Los Angeles and seen across the country, we’re as frustrated as everybody else about the way that’s being done,' he said.

McDonnell expressed hope for 'some reconciliation as far as reapproaching strategy and tactics that are being deployed to get a better outcome overall.'

'We look at 50 years of developing relationships with our immigrant communities. That is critically important to us and to have that threatened in any way is something that’s sad to see and we certainly will work hard to rebuild those relationships,' McDonnell said.

The sweeping ban on face coverings for most law enforcement officials was signed into law by Newsom in September. Senate Bill 627, known as the No Secret Police Act, was introduced following waves of immigration raids across California. The law makes exceptions for SWAT teams, undercover operations and medically or situationally necessary face coverings.

The law went into effect on Jan. 1, but is not being enforced after the Department of Justice has mounted a challenge to its constitutionality, stating that it creates risks for agents, including doxing and harassment.

A similar ordinance was approved in December by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, affecting law enforcement who operate in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, the law enforcement agency that patrols unincorporated Los Angeles County, said that federal law makes the department unable to enforce the ban.

'Federal law governs civil immigration matters, and under the U.S. Constitution, federal authority supersedes state and local laws. As a local law enforcement entity, we do not create federal policy, but we are required to operate within the legal framework it establishes.

“Current federal law will not allow us to enforce the proposed ordinance on federal agents, should the courts decide differently we will adjust accordingly,' the department said.

Here’s a look at the facts.

Investments

TRUMP: '$18 trillion is being invested now.'

THE FACTS: Trump has presented no evidence that hes secured this much domestic or foreign investment in the U.S. Based on statements from various companies, foreign countries and the White Houses own website, that figure appears to be exaggerated, highly speculative and far higher than the actual sum.

The White House website offers a far lower number, $9.6 trillion, and that figure appears to include some investment commitments made during the Biden administration.

A study published Tuesday raises doubts about whether more than $5 trillion in investment commitments made last year by many of Americas biggest trading partners will actually materialize and questions how it would be spent if it did.

Housing

SCOTT TURNER, secretary of housing and urban development: 'Because of your policy sir, home sales in December, they rose sharply to their strongest pace in three years.'

THE FACTS: That overstates what’s happening in the housing market, a persistent source of frustration for U.S. consumers.

The National Association of Realtors did report that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of home sales in December rose to 4.35 million units, 'nearly' the highest in three years, as the trade association noted. But the sum was just a 1.4% year-over-year increase.

More importantly, it could have been a monthly blip as the association separately said that pending home sales in December had fallen 3% from a year ago.

Trump has said he wants to keep home prices high to increase people’s net worth, but doing so will likely keep construction levels low and price out possible first-time buyers.

California wildfires

TRUMP, discussing state and local permitting for rebuilding homes destroyed in the 2025 wildfires around Los Angeles: 'They have been unable to give permits. There are like three houses being built out of thousands and thousands. They have no permits.”

THE FACTS: On Friday, Trump signed an executive order directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration to find a way to issue regulations that would preempt state and local rules for obtaining permits and allow builders to 'self-certify' that they have complied with 'substantive health, safety, and building standards.'

According to Los Angeles county and city data, about 3,100 permits have been issued within the Palisades and Eaton fire zones as of Thursday. Fewer than a dozen residences have been rebuilt, but about 900 homes are under construction.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to Trump on social media, saying local officials are moving at a fast pace. Newsom called on the Trump administration to approve the states $33.9 billion disaster aid request.

Survivor advocates also told The Associated Press that permits are not necessarily the primary obstacle for impacted households right now, as many still struggle to secure full insurance payouts, or face gaps of hundreds of thousands of dollars between what theyve received and actual rebuilding costs.

Typically it takes about 18 months after a major wildfire for the permitting process to gain steam, according to Andrew Rumbach, co-lead of the Climate and Communities Program at the Urban Institute.

He pointed to the recovery pattern of a December 2021 blaze that erupted south of Boulder, Colorado, destroying more than 1,000 homes. After a year, the cleanup was mostly done and most permit applications were in. Then it took about six more months for the permits to be issued, he told the AP this month.

The two California fires killed 31 people and destroyed about 13,000 residential properties.

___

TRUMP, discussing the effects of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires: 'They should have allowed the water to come down from the Pacific Northwest, which was very plentiful. But they didn’t do that.'

THE FACTS: Contrary to Trump’s claim, no water supply from the Pacific Northwest connects to California’s system.

Most of California’s water comes from the northern part of the state, where it melts from mountain snow and runs into rivers that connect to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. From there, much of it is sent farther south to farmers and cities like Los Angeles through two large pumping and canal systems. One is run by the federal government and the other by the state.

Some Los Angeles fire hydrants ran dry during last year’s wildfires, but local officials said the outages occurred because the municipal system was not designed to deal with such a massive disaster.

Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration, also brought up Trump’s claim about releasing water to fight the fires, claiming an executive order got “water to the scene in your earliest days of your presidency.'

But the Jan. 24, 2025, executive order resulted in water going to a dry lake basin more than 100 miles from Los Angeles.

Trump repeats other false claims

TRUMP: 'There’s never been a first year like this, including the fact that we put out ' extinguished ' eight wars.'

THE FACTS: This statistic is highly exaggerated. Although Trump has helped mediate relations among many nations, his impact isnt as clear-cut as he makes it seem.

___

TRUMP: 'You’re not allowed to say the word coal without preceding by saying clean, beautiful coal. Clean, beautiful coal.'

THE FACTS: The production of coal is cleaner now than it has been historically, but that doesnt mean its clean.

___

TRUMP, on China: 'They make the windmills, but they don’t have a lot of wind farms. That’s ' somebody’s oughta look at that. How many wind farms do they have? Very, very few. They make them. They sell them. They make a fortune, but they don’t use them.'

THE FACTS: China is the worlds largest manufacturer of wind turbines, producing more than half of the supply. It is also installing them at a record pace.

Associated Press writers Melissa Goldin in New York, Josh Boak in Washington, Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Gabriela Aoun in San Diego contributed to this report.

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) ' A jury found a Wisconsin man guilty Thursday of forging threats against President Donald trump in an attempt to get the victim in a robbery case against him deported.

Online court records show the Milwaukee County jury found 52-year-old Demetric Scott guilty of felony identity theft and witness intimidation after deliberating for most of the day. He represented himself during the three-day trial and was immediately taken into custody after the verdicts were read, leaving no way to reach him for comment on Thursday evening.

According to court documents, Mexican immigrant Ramon Morales Reyes was riding his bike in Milwaukee in September 2023 when Scott approached him and kicked him off the bike. He stabbed Morales Reyes with a box cutter before stealing the bike and riding away.

Scott was arrested hours later. While he was in jail, Scott wrote multiple letters posing as Morales Reyes to state and federal officials threatening to kill Trump at a rally. Federal immigration authorities took Morales Reyes into custody in May after he dropped his daughter off at school.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasted his photo on social media, along with an excerpt of a letter he purportedly wrote in English promising to shoot Trump at a rally. The White House and Trump supporters played up his arrest as a major success in the administrations crackdown on immigration.

Investigators determined that Morales Reyes couldnt have written the letters since he doesnt speak English well, cant write in the language and the handwriting in the letters didnt match his.

Meanwhile, Scott was making calls from jail in which he talked about letters that needed to be mailed and a plan to get U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities to pick someone up so his trial could get dismissed. He admitted to police that he wrote the letters.

Scott was charged separately with armed robbery, battery, and reckless endangerment in connection with the bike incident. The jury on Thursday acquitted him on the robbery and battery counts but found him guilty on the endangerment charge.

Court records show prosecutors charged Scott in 2022 with being a party to burglary. He was out on bail in connection with that case when the bike incident happened and wrote the letters, prompting prosecutors to charge him with three counts of bail jumping. The jury on Thursday found him guilty on one of those counts but acquitted him on the remaining two charges.

All together, he faces up to 26 years in the state prison system when hes sentenced on Feb. 27. The burglary charge is still pending.

The Noem news release with Morales Reyes photo touting his arrest is still posted on the DHS website but now includes a disclaimer stating that hes no longer under investigation for threatening Trump but remains in ICE custody pending deportation. The release says he entered the U.S. illegally nine times between 1998 and 2005 and has a criminal record that includes arrests for felony hit and run, property damage and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier.

Morales Reyes was released on $7,500 bond in June and is currently residing with his family in Milwaukee, his deportation defense attorney, Cain Oulahan, said. He has applied for a U-visa, a document that allows crime victims and their family members to remain in the U.S., but Oulahan said it could take years to obtain one.

Wisconsin online court records do not show any criminal cases involving Morales Reyes. Oulahan, his attorney, said that all the background checks he has conducted on Morales Reyes have turned up nothing.

Morales Reyes moved to the U.S. from Mexico in the 1980s. He worked as a dishwasher in Milwaukee, is married and has three children who are U.S. citizens, according to his attorneys. He said Scotts conviction is a huge relief for Morales Reyes and his family.

'Hes been traumatized by going through all this, all these different levels that feel like victimization,' Oulahan said. 'He just wants to work and be with his family again.'

WASHINGTON (AP) ' President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that would impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, a move that could further cripple an island plagued by a deepening energy crisis.

The order would primarily put pressure on Mexico, a government that has acted as an oil lifeline for Cuba and has constantly voiced solidarity for the U.S. adversary even as President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought to build a strong relationship with Trump.

This week has been marked by speculation that Mexico would slash oil shipments to Cuba under mounting pressure by Trump to distance itself from the Cuban government.

In its deepening energy and economic crisis ' fueled in part by strict economic sanctions by the U.S. ' Cuba has relied heavily on foreign assistance and oil shipments from allies like Mexico, Russia and Venezuela, before a U.S. military operation ousted former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Since the Venezuela operation, Trump has said that no more Venezuelan oil will go to Cuba and that the Cuban government is ready to fall.

In its most recent report, Pemex said it shipped nearly 20,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba from January through Sept. 30, 2025. That month, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Mexico City. Afterward, Jorge Piñon, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute who tracks shipments using satellite technology, said the figure had fallen to about 7,000 barrels.

Sheinbaum has been incredibly vague about where her country stood, and this week has given roundabout and ambiguous answers to inquiries about the shipments, and dodged reporters questions in her morning press briefings.

On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said that Mexico’s state oil company, PEMEX, had at least temporarily paused some oil shipments to Cuba, but struck an ambiguous tone, saying the pause was part of general fluctuations in oil supplies and that it was a 'sovereign decision' not made under pressure from the United States. Sheinbaum has said that Mexico would continue to show solidarity with Havana, but didnt clarify what kind of support Mexico would offer.

On Wednesday, the Latin American leader claimed she never said that Mexico has completely 'suspended' shipments and that 'humanitarian aid” to Cuba would continue and that decisions about shipments to Cuba were determined by PEMEX contracts.

'So the contract determines when shipments are sent and when they are not sent,' Sheinbaum said.

The lack of clarity from the leader has underscored the extreme pressure Mexico and other Latin American nations are under as Trump has grown more confrontational following the Venezuelan operation.

It remains unclear what the Thursday order by Trump will mean for Cuba, which has been roiled by crisis for years and a U.S. embargo. Anxieties were already simmering on the Caribbean island as many drivers sat in long lines this week for gasoline, many unsure of what would come next.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City.

WASHINGTON (AP) ' President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened Canada with a 50% tariff on any aircraft sold in the U.S., the latest salvo in his trade war with Americas northern neighbor as his feud with Prime Minister Mark Carney expands.

Trumps threat posted on social media came after he threatened over the weekend to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if it went forward with a planned trade deal with China. But Trumps threat did not come with any details about when he would impose the import taxes, as Canada had already struck a deal.

In Trumps latest threat, the Republican president said he was retaliating against Canada for refusing to certify jets from Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace.

Trump said the U.S., in return, would decertify all Canadian aircraft, including planes from its largest aircraft maker, Bombardier. 'If, for any reason, this situation is not immediately corrected, I am going to charge Canada a 50% Tariff on any and all Aircraft sold into the United States of America,' Trump said in his post.

Spokespeople for Bombardier and Canadas transport minister didnt immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday evening.

The U.S. Commerce Department previously put duties on a Bombardier commercial passenger jet in 2017 during the first Trump administration, charging that the Canadian company is selling the planes in America below cost. The U.S. said then that the Montreal-based Bombardier used unfair government subsidies to sell jets at artificially low prices.

The U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington later ruled that Bombardier did not injure U.S. industry.

Bombardier has since concentrated on the business and private jet market in recent years. If Trump cuts off the U.S. market it would be a major blow to the Quebec company.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Carney on Wednesday that his recent public comments against U.S. trade policy could backfire going into the formal review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade deal that protects Canada from the heaviest impacts of Trumps tariffs.

Carney rejected Bessents contention that he had aggressively walked back his comments at the World Economic Forum during a phone call with Trump on Monday.

Carney said he told Trump that he meant what he said in his speech at Davos, and told him Canada plans to diversify away from the United States with a dozen new trade deals.

In Davos at the World Economic Forum last week, Carney condemned economic coercion by great powers on smaller countries without mentioning Trumps name. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks, upstaging Trump at the gathering.

Gillies contributed to this report from Toronto.

Patrick James, the former CEO of bankrupt auto parts supplier First Brands Group, was indicted on federal fraud charges and arrested Thursday in Ohio with his brother Edward, a former senior executive with the company, the government said.

The indictment from the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Southern District of New York said the James brothers 'perpetrated a yearslong fraud' to obtains billions of dollars for First Brands ' and millions for themselves ' by duping investors and banks with fake documents and false financial reports.

When it filed for bankruptcy protection in September, officials representing First Brands said the company had more than $9 billion in debt and only $12 million in cash, according to Thursdays charging documents.

After changing its name to First Brands from Crowne Group about five years ago, the Cleveland company began buying and then cobbling together a number of aftermarket auto parts manufacturers through debt-financed deals. Acquisitions by First Brands included well-known industry brands like Fram filters, Autolite sparkplugs and Anco windshield wiper blades.

The government alleges that the James brothers falsely inflated invoices for accounts receivable and borrowed against them two and three times, unbeknownst to lenders and investors. This yielded billions of dollars of financing for the company, which the James brothers used to finance a lavish lifestyle, the indictment said.

'The defendants operated First Brands as a ‘Ponzi scheme in which new loan proceeds were used to pay back old lenders and to fund their extravagant lifestyle,' said Kareem Carter, an agent with the Internal Revenue Service.

A spokesperson for James said 'Patrick James is presumed innocent and denies these charges. He built First Brands from nothing into a global industry leader and has always been devoted to the success of the company. Mr. James looks forward to presenting his case in court.'

A lawsuit brought against Patrick James in November accused the former First Brands CEO of securing billions of dollars in debt financing based in part on fraudulent invoices, then transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to himself and other affiliates to 'fund his and his familys lavish lifestyle,' which includes seven homes and 17 cars.

The lawsuit claims that James, with the help of unnamed conspirators, transferred $8 million to his son-in-laws wellness company, $2 million for James family office, at least $3 million toward the rent of his New York City townhouse, $500,000 to his personal chef and another $150,000 for a 'celebrity personal trainer,' the lawsuit claimed.

The majority of the transfers occurred between 2023 and 2025, according to the lawsuit.

The indictment released on Thursday also revealed a guilty plea from former First Brands executive Andy Brumbergs for his role in the scheme. Brumbergs is cooperating with the government.

Patrick James, 61, and his brother Edward, 60, each face nine counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Most of the charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years if convicted. Patrick, the former CEO, is also facing a potential life sentence.

They are scheduled to appear before a judge in Ohio later Thursday, according to the indictment.

These various demonstrations, and more, are planned for Friday, as part of a nationwide day of action to show opposition to the Trump administration‘s ongoing immigration enforcement efforts and in solidarity with Minneapolis, where two people were fatally shot by immigration officers over the course of two weeks.

Friday, activists said, is a day of “no work, no school and no shopping” with calls to stop funding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

“Every day, ICE, Border Patrol and other enforcers of Trump’s racist agenda are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear. It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough,” a website touting the “National Shutdown” day said.

“People are looking to join this movement now, and to get involved and make an impact. It’s unfortunate that it took the murder of two people, two Americans, to notice,” said Janet Nasir, an organizer with Indivisible Inland Empire.

“Alex (Pretti) and Renee (Good) aren’t the only people whom ICE have killed. The murders are really flash points… These are Americans, and the government has turned weapons on their own citizens,” Nasir said. “And I think a lot of people, no matter where they are politically, are not OK with that. They’re saying this has gone too far.”

Nasir said Friday’s protests and boycotts build community for people with shared values, standing “in solidarity, resisting the overreach of our government and in being observers of our community.”

And boycotts work, she said, because they’re “a form of voting with the dollar.”

“It puts pressure on the CEOs. For them, it’s always about the bottom line, how much profit they can make. So with mass boycotting, profits are driven down, and having a concerted targeted effort nationwide, walking out, will send a bigger message,” she said. “It’s throwing sand in the gears ' it will get the people in power to take notice.”

Over in San Juan Capistrano, a protest is planned for 2:30 p.m. on the corner of Camino Capistrano and Del Obispo Street.

“We’re a suburban community, and it’s very easy for people to think, ‘Oh, this isn’t happening here. That happens in big cities. That might be happening in L.A. or Santa Ana or Minneapolis or Chicago, but that doesn’t happen here.’ Well, it does,” said Darcie Harris, an organizer of the event and member of the Democratic Women of South Orange County.

The club predominantly serves San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point and San Clemente, and Harris said it formed a resistance team after Trump’s second inauguration. It has organized 10 protests so far, with Friday’s demonstration set to be its 11th.

That first protest last year also focused on condemning federal immigration enforcement efforts, Harris said.

“Immigrants are a vital, integral part of our communities here, particularly the Hispanic community,” Harris said. “We want to stand up for our neighbors, stand with our neighbors, because these mass deportations are just inhuman. It’s just inhuman.”

Other protests, boycotts and community actions were also planned in Los Angeles, Riverside, Chino Hills and Pomona, among other cities.

A representative from Indivisible South Bay, which is hosting a protest in Torrance at Hawthorne and Sepulveda boulevards at noon Saturday, said they are expecting around 1,200 people to attend the gathering.

Aside from protests, multiple shops and restaurants around Southern California said they would not open on Friday to show solidarity and participate in the nationwide call for a shutdown.

Mundial Coffee in Riverside shared on its Instagram page that the shop would be closed “in solidarity with the nationwide shutdown. There will be no business as usual while our people are hurting.”

“We believe collective action is powerful. When we move together, change is possible.”

Mundial, which means “global” in Spanish, was founded by sisters-in-law Priscilla Horta and Nayeli Ysarraraz, and according to its website, is “a proud Latino-owned business. … Our name, ‘Mundial,’ Spanish for ‘global,’ reflects our commitment to making a worldwide impact through our local coffee shop.”

Canyon Coffee in L.A.’s Echo Park neighborhood will also be closed on Friday, saying in an Instagram post: “Thank you to the people of Minnesota for leading by example, to our community for standing up for our most vulnerable neighbors and to our team for their support for Canyon’s participation in the strike.”

As, too, will Sibylline Records in Pasadena be shuttered.

“As a small business, closing on a weekend day means taking a real hit. Is it worth it? 1000% and more,” the shop said on social media.

Meanwhile, San & Wolves Bakeshop, a Filipino and vegan bakery in Long Beach, will remain open on Friday, but it will donate some of its proceeds from Friday sales to the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund.

Judging by the Cover bookstore in San Dimas planned to have flyer and sign-making materials, plus stations for writing letters to local elected representatives, available during store hours on Friday.

“This is how we’re showing up in solidarity with the ICE Out protests,” a social media post read. “We may not be able to close the store, but we are not neutral, and there’s room for you here.”

“We’ve been really alarmed seeing the actions that have taken place in Minnesota,” said Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, noting California hasn’t been immune to violence either, referencing a protester in Santa Ana who was left permanently blinded in their left eye after a Department of Homeland Security officer fired a non-lethal round from close range earlier this month.

“What we have seen taking place over the last several weeks has been incredibly alarming. Our federal government is utilizing federal agents against not just undocumented people, but American citizens. We see them violating First and Fourth Amendment rights,” said Pérez, a Pasadena Democrat who plans to participate in the day of action.

“I do believe this day of action will be effective, and I do believe this is how we will get the federal government to stop its violence against American citizens,” she said.

Tom Homan, the president’s border czar, suggested Thursday that Minnesota could see a reduction in federal immigration officers but tied that to cooperation from state and local officials, The Associated Press reported.

And not everyone is protesting ICE and the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies this week.

Leandra Blades, a Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District board member since 2020, said she is spearheading a resolution for the district in support of law enforcement and immigration officers.

The resolution states that the Placentia-Yorba Linda Board of Education “affirms its support for local law enforcement officers and federal immigration officers who carry out their duties professionally and lawfully” and “recognizes the essential role these agencies play in maintaining public safety and protecting schools, families and neighborhoods.” It also says the board “affirms classrooms are places for education, not political activism, and that district communications and materials provided to students shall prioritize academic instruction, safety and age-appropriate content.”

Blades, in a Facebook post, said she requested the resolution be placed on a February meeting’s agenda.

Meanwhile, the California Faculty Association, the union representing Cal State system employees, encouraged its members to participate in Friday’s activities.

“This means ceasing any shopping, reaching out to your member of Congress, participating or leading a community action or event, using social media to amplify our demands, or making donations to organizations that are doing the work on the ground,” CFA said in a news release.

“We must band together with Minnesota by forcefully condemning and putting an end to ICE’s reign of terror,” the union said.

And an action guide put together by Somali and Black student organizations in Minneapolis encouraged students to walk out on Friday “to protest ICE terror in our communities.”

In Santa Ana, where ICE has repeatedly targeted immigrant neighborhoods and have conducted ongoing raids, there is another visible display to honor Renee Good and Alex Pretti ' who were fatally shot by federal immigration officials over the course of about a two week span ' as well as “all those who have unjustly lost their lives to recent ICE immigration enforcement actions while exercising their constitutional rights, which has been a longstanding civil rights tradition in our country.”

There, flags are lowered until Friday.

City officials said the lowered flags symbolize their deep concern about ongoing actions by the federal government, which they say have contributed to the erosion of civil rights and have caused fear and trauma in Santa Ana communities and nationwide.

“I believe in safety, dignity, and the value of human life,” said Councilmember Jessie Lopez. “This escalation was not caused by our communities, yet they are the ones living in fear of violence, retaliation and the erosion of their rights. The constitution was written to protect people, not power and when fear is used to justify surveillance, silence, or intimidation, both freedom and safety are put at risk.”