New York
Judge tosses DOJ lawsuit challenging a law barring immigration agents from state courthouses
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a Trump administration legal challenge to New York policies that block immigration officials from arresting people at state courthouses, saying the federal government can’t force states to cooperate with those enforcement efforts.
U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino late Monday granted New York’s motion to dismiss the government’s lawsuit, one of several legal actions from the Republican administration targeting state and local policies over immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit challenged a 2020 state law banning federal immigration officials from arresting people who are coming and going from New York courthouses or in court for proceedings unless they have a warrant signed by a judge. The law, called the Protect Our Courts Act, was approved in response to enforcement actions at courthouses during President Donald Trump’s first term.
In its lawsuit, the Department of Justice claimed that the New York law and two related state executive orders were unconstitutional because they obstructed the execution of federal immigration authorities.
D’Agostino, though, found that New York’s decision not to participate in enforcing civil immigration law is protected by the 10th Amendment, which sets boundaries on the federal government’s powers.
“Fundamentally, the United States fails to identify any federal law mandating that state and local officials generally assist or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. Nor could it,” the judge wrote. “No such federal laws exist because the Tenth Amendment prohibits Congress from conscripting state and local officials and resources to assist with federal regulatory schemes, like immigration enforcement.”
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a Tuesday email seeking comment about the ruling, including whether it plans to appeal.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office argued for the lawsuit to be dismissed, said she was fighting for the “dignity and rights of immigrant communities.”
“Everyone deserves to seek justice without fear,” James said in a statement. “This ruling ensures that anyone can use New York’s state courts without being targeted by federal authorities.”
Washington
Court settlement calls for NPR to get $36M in government funds to operate public radio system
WASHINGTON (AP) — National Public Radio will receive approximately $36 million in grant money to operate the nation’s public radio interconnection system under the terms of a court settlement with the federal government’s steward of funding for public broadcasting stations.
The settlement, announced late Monday, partially resolves a legal dispute in which NPR accused the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of bowing to pressure from President Donald Trump to cut off its funding.
On March 25, Trump said at a news conference that he would “love to” defund NPR and PBS because he believes they are biased in favor of Democrats.
NPR accused the CPB of violating its First Amendment free speech rights when it moved to cut off its access to grant money appropriated by Congress. NPR also claims Trump, a Republican, wants to punish it for the content of its journalism.
On April 2, the CPB’s board initially approved a three-year, roughly $36 million extension of a grant for NPR to operate the “interconnection” satellite system for public radio. NPR has been operating and managing the Public Radio Satellite System since 1985.
But the CPB reversed course under mounting pressure from the Trump administration, according to NPR. The agency redirected federal interconnection funds away from NPR to an entity that didn’t exist and wasn’t statutorily authorized to receive it, NPR says.
CPB attorneys denied that the agency retaliated against NPR to appease Trump. They had argued that NPR’s claims are factually and legally meritless.
On May 1, Trump issued an executive order that called for federal agencies to stop funding for NPR and PBS. The settlement doesn’t end a lawsuit in which NPR seeks to block any implementation or enforcement of Trump’s executive order. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss is scheduled to preside over another hearing for the case on Dec. 4.
The settlement says NPR and CPB agree that the executive order is unconstitutional and that CPB won’t enforce it unless a court orders it to do so.
Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, said the settlement is “a victory for editorial independence and a step toward upholding the First Amendment rights of NPR and the public media system.”
Patricia Harrison, the corporation’s CEO, said in a statement that the settlement marks “an important moment for public media.”
Michigan
Woman charged in McDonald’s killing to face trial
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido’s office announced that 27-year-old Afeni Muhammad of Eastpointe, Mich., was bound over to the circuit court on charges including First-Degree Murder related to the stabbing death of her manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in Eastpointe.
On Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, Muhammad’s Preliminary Exam was held before Judge Kathleen G. Galen at the 38th District Court in Eastpointe, MI. Judge Galen bound her over on the following charges: First Degree Premeditated Murder, a mandatory life without parole offense; Carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, a five-year felony; The Preliminary Exam was conducted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Kumar Palepu and Christopher Urban.
Muhammad will be arraigned before Judge James M. Maceroni at the Macomb County Circuit Court on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at 9 a.m.
Muhammad is held at the Macomb County Jail with $25 million cash/surety bond.
It is alleged that in the morning of Thursday, July 10, 2025, Jennifer Harris, the McDonald’s manager, sent Muhammad home from her job prior to the end of her scheduled shift. Muhammad returned with a knife. She entered the McDonald’s through the employee entrance while wearing a mask. She assaulted Harris, stabbing her multiple times. A customer at the drive-through window was lawfully carrying a concealed weapon. The customer fired his weapon to try to stop the assault. Muhammad then fled to her vehicle and was followed by the armed customer. The customer held Muhammad at gunpoint until the Eastpointe Police arrived on scene.
New York
Neo-Nazi leader admits plot to give poisoned candy to Jewish children
NEW YORK (AP) — The leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group who tried to recruit an undercover federal agent to dress as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children and racial minorities has pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes.
Federal prosecutors said they would seek a sentence of up to 18 years for Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from the Republic of Georgia who also goes by “Commander Butcher.” He pleaded guilty Monday before a federal judge in Brooklyn to soliciting violent felonies and distributing information about making bombs and ricin.
Prosecutors described Chkhikvishvili as the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group that adheres to a “neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence and violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems ‘undesirables.’”
They said the group’s violent solicitations — promoted through Telegram channels and outlined a manifesto called the “Hater’s Handbook” — appear to have inspired multiple real-life killings, including a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier this year that left a 16-year-old student dead.
He was arrested in July 2024 in Moldova. He was extradited to the United States in May.
Since 2022, Chkhikvishvili has traveled on multiple occasions to Brooklyn, where he bragged about beating up an elderly Jewish man and instructed others, primarily through text messages, to commit violent acts on behalf of the Maniac Murder Cult, according to court papers.
When he was approached by an undercover FBI agent in 2023, Chkhikvishvili recruited the official to a scheme that “involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities and children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn,” according to the Justice Department.
He later suggested narrowing the focus to “dead Jewish kids,” prosecutors said, after noting that “Jews are literally everywhere” in Brooklyn.
Describing his desire to carry out a mass casualty attack, Chkhikvishvili said he saw the United States as “big potential because accessibility to firearms,” adding that the undercover should consider targeting homeless people because the government wouldn’t care “even if they die,” according to court papers.
Michigan
Three plead guilty in forgery scheme
Averill Dintaman, 46, and Daniel Nolan, 51, both of Mount Pleasant, and Dwayne Johnson, 59, of Saint Louis, have pled guilty to an identity theft and unclaimed property fraud scheme totaling more than half a million dollars, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. In 2022, Dintaman, Nolan, and Johnson conspired to steal the identity of a victim and forged a fraudulent durable power of attorney to obtain an unclaimed property check in the victim’s name for $579,551.99. Johnson then posed as the victim in person at the Department of Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Office to obtain a second copy of the check.
The defendants were initially charged by the Department of Attorney General in May 2025. This matter was referred to the Department of Attorney General by the Department of Treasury.
Dintaman is scheduled to be sentenced on December 11, 2025. Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on January 15, 2026. Nolan is scheduled to be sentenced on January 22, 2026. All sentencings will be before Judge Janice Cunningham of the 56th Circuit Court in Eaton County.
Michigan
Asst. principal bound over to circuit court on charge criminal sexual conduct with a minor
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido announced that 54-year-old Jerome Younger, of Roseville, Mich.,, was bound over to circuit court on two counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct in connection with an alleged assault involving a minor. Younger served as the Assistant Principal of the Edward “Duke” Ellington Conservatory of Music and Art at Beckham Academy in Detroit. The allegations state that on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, Younger sexually assaulted a minor child.
On Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, after his Preliminary Exam, Younger was bound over to the Macomb County Circuit Court on two charges: First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Relationship), a life felony, and Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Relationship), a 15-year felony. The exam was conducted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kelsey Heath.
Younger will be arraigned before Judge Joseph Toia at the Macomb County Circuit Court on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.
Younger is free after posting bond. His bond was set at $250,000 cash/surety 10%. He must wear a steel-cuff tether and have no contact with the complainant.
Judge tosses DOJ lawsuit challenging a law barring immigration agents from state courthouses
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a Trump administration legal challenge to New York policies that block immigration officials from arresting people at state courthouses, saying the federal government can’t force states to cooperate with those enforcement efforts.
U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino late Monday granted New York’s motion to dismiss the government’s lawsuit, one of several legal actions from the Republican administration targeting state and local policies over immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit challenged a 2020 state law banning federal immigration officials from arresting people who are coming and going from New York courthouses or in court for proceedings unless they have a warrant signed by a judge. The law, called the Protect Our Courts Act, was approved in response to enforcement actions at courthouses during President Donald Trump’s first term.
In its lawsuit, the Department of Justice claimed that the New York law and two related state executive orders were unconstitutional because they obstructed the execution of federal immigration authorities.
D’Agostino, though, found that New York’s decision not to participate in enforcing civil immigration law is protected by the 10th Amendment, which sets boundaries on the federal government’s powers.
“Fundamentally, the United States fails to identify any federal law mandating that state and local officials generally assist or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. Nor could it,” the judge wrote. “No such federal laws exist because the Tenth Amendment prohibits Congress from conscripting state and local officials and resources to assist with federal regulatory schemes, like immigration enforcement.”
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a Tuesday email seeking comment about the ruling, including whether it plans to appeal.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office argued for the lawsuit to be dismissed, said she was fighting for the “dignity and rights of immigrant communities.”
“Everyone deserves to seek justice without fear,” James said in a statement. “This ruling ensures that anyone can use New York’s state courts without being targeted by federal authorities.”
Washington
Court settlement calls for NPR to get $36M in government funds to operate public radio system
WASHINGTON (AP) — National Public Radio will receive approximately $36 million in grant money to operate the nation’s public radio interconnection system under the terms of a court settlement with the federal government’s steward of funding for public broadcasting stations.
The settlement, announced late Monday, partially resolves a legal dispute in which NPR accused the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of bowing to pressure from President Donald Trump to cut off its funding.
On March 25, Trump said at a news conference that he would “love to” defund NPR and PBS because he believes they are biased in favor of Democrats.
NPR accused the CPB of violating its First Amendment free speech rights when it moved to cut off its access to grant money appropriated by Congress. NPR also claims Trump, a Republican, wants to punish it for the content of its journalism.
On April 2, the CPB’s board initially approved a three-year, roughly $36 million extension of a grant for NPR to operate the “interconnection” satellite system for public radio. NPR has been operating and managing the Public Radio Satellite System since 1985.
But the CPB reversed course under mounting pressure from the Trump administration, according to NPR. The agency redirected federal interconnection funds away from NPR to an entity that didn’t exist and wasn’t statutorily authorized to receive it, NPR says.
CPB attorneys denied that the agency retaliated against NPR to appease Trump. They had argued that NPR’s claims are factually and legally meritless.
On May 1, Trump issued an executive order that called for federal agencies to stop funding for NPR and PBS. The settlement doesn’t end a lawsuit in which NPR seeks to block any implementation or enforcement of Trump’s executive order. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss is scheduled to preside over another hearing for the case on Dec. 4.
The settlement says NPR and CPB agree that the executive order is unconstitutional and that CPB won’t enforce it unless a court orders it to do so.
Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, said the settlement is “a victory for editorial independence and a step toward upholding the First Amendment rights of NPR and the public media system.”
Patricia Harrison, the corporation’s CEO, said in a statement that the settlement marks “an important moment for public media.”
Michigan
Woman charged in McDonald’s killing to face trial
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido’s office announced that 27-year-old Afeni Muhammad of Eastpointe, Mich., was bound over to the circuit court on charges including First-Degree Murder related to the stabbing death of her manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in Eastpointe.
On Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, Muhammad’s Preliminary Exam was held before Judge Kathleen G. Galen at the 38th District Court in Eastpointe, MI. Judge Galen bound her over on the following charges: First Degree Premeditated Murder, a mandatory life without parole offense; Carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, a five-year felony; The Preliminary Exam was conducted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Kumar Palepu and Christopher Urban.
Muhammad will be arraigned before Judge James M. Maceroni at the Macomb County Circuit Court on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at 9 a.m.
Muhammad is held at the Macomb County Jail with $25 million cash/surety bond.
It is alleged that in the morning of Thursday, July 10, 2025, Jennifer Harris, the McDonald’s manager, sent Muhammad home from her job prior to the end of her scheduled shift. Muhammad returned with a knife. She entered the McDonald’s through the employee entrance while wearing a mask. She assaulted Harris, stabbing her multiple times. A customer at the drive-through window was lawfully carrying a concealed weapon. The customer fired his weapon to try to stop the assault. Muhammad then fled to her vehicle and was followed by the armed customer. The customer held Muhammad at gunpoint until the Eastpointe Police arrived on scene.
New York
Neo-Nazi leader admits plot to give poisoned candy to Jewish children
NEW YORK (AP) — The leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group who tried to recruit an undercover federal agent to dress as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children and racial minorities has pleaded guilty to soliciting hate crimes.
Federal prosecutors said they would seek a sentence of up to 18 years for Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from the Republic of Georgia who also goes by “Commander Butcher.” He pleaded guilty Monday before a federal judge in Brooklyn to soliciting violent felonies and distributing information about making bombs and ricin.
Prosecutors described Chkhikvishvili as the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group that adheres to a “neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence and violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems ‘undesirables.’”
They said the group’s violent solicitations — promoted through Telegram channels and outlined a manifesto called the “Hater’s Handbook” — appear to have inspired multiple real-life killings, including a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier this year that left a 16-year-old student dead.
He was arrested in July 2024 in Moldova. He was extradited to the United States in May.
Since 2022, Chkhikvishvili has traveled on multiple occasions to Brooklyn, where he bragged about beating up an elderly Jewish man and instructed others, primarily through text messages, to commit violent acts on behalf of the Maniac Murder Cult, according to court papers.
When he was approached by an undercover FBI agent in 2023, Chkhikvishvili recruited the official to a scheme that “involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities and children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn,” according to the Justice Department.
He later suggested narrowing the focus to “dead Jewish kids,” prosecutors said, after noting that “Jews are literally everywhere” in Brooklyn.
Describing his desire to carry out a mass casualty attack, Chkhikvishvili said he saw the United States as “big potential because accessibility to firearms,” adding that the undercover should consider targeting homeless people because the government wouldn’t care “even if they die,” according to court papers.
Michigan
Three plead guilty in forgery scheme
Averill Dintaman, 46, and Daniel Nolan, 51, both of Mount Pleasant, and Dwayne Johnson, 59, of Saint Louis, have pled guilty to an identity theft and unclaimed property fraud scheme totaling more than half a million dollars, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. In 2022, Dintaman, Nolan, and Johnson conspired to steal the identity of a victim and forged a fraudulent durable power of attorney to obtain an unclaimed property check in the victim’s name for $579,551.99. Johnson then posed as the victim in person at the Department of Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Office to obtain a second copy of the check.
The defendants were initially charged by the Department of Attorney General in May 2025. This matter was referred to the Department of Attorney General by the Department of Treasury.
Dintaman is scheduled to be sentenced on December 11, 2025. Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on January 15, 2026. Nolan is scheduled to be sentenced on January 22, 2026. All sentencings will be before Judge Janice Cunningham of the 56th Circuit Court in Eaton County.
Michigan
Asst. principal bound over to circuit court on charge criminal sexual conduct with a minor
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido announced that 54-year-old Jerome Younger, of Roseville, Mich.,, was bound over to circuit court on two counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct in connection with an alleged assault involving a minor. Younger served as the Assistant Principal of the Edward “Duke” Ellington Conservatory of Music and Art at Beckham Academy in Detroit. The allegations state that on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, Younger sexually assaulted a minor child.
On Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, after his Preliminary Exam, Younger was bound over to the Macomb County Circuit Court on two charges: First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Relationship), a life felony, and Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Relationship), a 15-year felony. The exam was conducted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kelsey Heath.
Younger will be arraigned before Judge Joseph Toia at the Macomb County Circuit Court on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.
Younger is free after posting bond. His bond was set at $250,000 cash/surety 10%. He must wear a steel-cuff tether and have no contact with the complainant.
