Minneapolis
Woman recounts death of Alex Pretti as lawyers eye a class action lawsuit
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis woman who confronted federal immigration officers alongside Alex Pretti in January was among a group of potential litigants who spoke out Thursday about alleged excessive force against people protesting or monitoring the enforcement surge in Minnesota.
Georgia Savageford, who introduced herself as Wynnie at a news conference, said she was inside an officer’s vehicle when she saw federal agents shoot Pretti.
“That day has changed me forever,” she said. “The trauma will haunt me for the rest of my life, and I will never be the same.”
Savageford said she had been legally observing the actions of federal officers in Minneapolis ever since the shooting death of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. She said she was doing so again on the morning of Jan. 24 when an agent pushed her twice and caused her to fall.
“As I was going down, three agents proceeded to tackle me and drag me face-down into the middle of the street. They knelt on my back, twisted my arms and my legs to the ground, and handcuffed me. The cuffs were so tight I lost feeling in my hands, which resulted in temporary nerve damage,” she recounted.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond Thursday to emails seeking comment. Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate the killings.
Savageford said Pretti recorded video of her arrest and yelled at agents to leave her alone.
She said the officers put her in the back of a vehicle, from which she saw agents shoot and kill Pretti on the other side of the street.
“At that moment, I thought I was going to die too. I pleaded with the agents to understand why another life was taken, and to not take mine,” she said.
She added that they told her to shut up and to stop being hysterical. She said they then took her to an ICE holding facility where she was held for 12 hours in a cold cell without ready access to food, water or the bathroom until she was released without being charged.
“I did not know him, but I knew he had my back,” she said of Pretti. “I know the kind of heart he had. One that loves and protects without limits.”
Savageford shared her story at a news conference where civil rights attorney John Burris, of Oakland, California, and other lawyers laid out how they’re paving the way for potential class-action lawsuits over alleged excessive force used against protesters and monitors.
Burris, who specializes in police misconduct, helped win an $11 million settlement against the Oakland Police Department in 2003, and helped win a civil jury verdict of $3.8 million for the late motorist Rodney King, who was beaten by Los Angeles police officers in 1991.
He said he and his colleagues have filed complaints with federal agencies involved in the Minnesota enforcement surge on behalf of 10 people, including Savageford, as the first step in a process that’s likely to lead to a larger class-action lawsuit.
“We have many others that are under investigation that have not completed the process. But I thought it was important for us to start this process now. Put the government on notice that we’re here,” Burris said.
Indiana
Federal judge denies NCAA’s restraining order request to make DraftKings stop using ‘March Madness’
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied the NCAA’s motion for a temporary restraining order to stop DraftKings from using registered trademarks associated with its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
The complaint for trademark infringement, filed in the Southern District of Indiana last week, requested that DraftKings stop using “March Madness,” “Final Four,” “Elite Eight” and “Sweet Sixteen” and variations of those terms to promote its business.
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled the NCAA did not show how the online sports wagering platform’s use of the terms would cause irreparable harm.
“With further discovery the NCAA may be able to show they are entitled to a preliminary or permanent injunction, and those claims remain pending,” Pratt wrote.
DraftKings has been using “March Madness” and other familiar terms to refer to the NCAA Tournament for more than five years and has the legal right to do so, the sportsbook said in a court filing Wednesday in response to a complaint filed by the NCAA last week.
The NCAA has said it actively avoids any appearance of affiliation with gambling and said in the complaint that DraftKings’ use of the terms confuses customers by making it appear the NCAA is on board.
Washington
Judge won’t block meeting that could exempt Gulf drilling from Endangered Species Act
A judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration can convene a meeting this week to seek an exemption from the Endangered Species Act on the basis of national security for expanded oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
District of Columbia District Judge Rudolph Contreras rejected the Center for Biological Diversity’s motion to postpone the Interior Department’s upcoming meeting of the Endangered Species Committee.
The committee is set to meet Tuesday to seek an exemption from endangered species laws — which make it illegal to harm or kill species on a protected list, without a viable alternative — for national security purposes as invoked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
According to a Department of Justice filing, Hegseth called for an exemption for “all Gulf of America oil and gas exploration and development activities” overseen by federal agencies in his request to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for the meeting. The request came as the world experiences oil shocks and soaring energy prices amid the U.S.-Iran war.
Composed of six high-ranking federal officials plus a representative for states involved, the committee has been called the “God Squad” by environmental groups that say its actions can essentially determine the fate of an endangered species. It has convened only three times in its nearly 50-year history and the national security provision has never been invoked.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued earlier this month, saying Burgum did not meet requirements or the legal basis needed to convene the committee. In seeking a temporary restraining order, the center argued the government could cause irreparable harm through the actions it decides next week. Environmental groups are especially concerned about the Rice’s whale in the Gulf, where only about 50 remain.
Government attorneys argued in court that the environmental group was challenging an exemption decision that hasn’t been made and said the government’s reasoning for the exemption will be detailed next week.
The judge said the center did not meet a high standard necessary to issue the temporary restraining order.
Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called it disappointing that the court “didn’t immediately stop Hegseth’s reckless power grab.”
“We’ll be outside the Department of the Interior on Tuesday protesting this outrageous abuse by Trump’s extinction committee. We’ll certainly be back in court to save the Rice’s whale and all of the Gulf of Mexico’s wildlife from being driven to extinction by the oil industry,” he said.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Environmental groups say the administration is seeking an exemption to avoid the intensive process required for an Endangered Species Act exemption. They say such an exemption could set a dangerous precedent for future fossil fuel projects.
The Gulf has long been affected by the environmental harms that oil can bring. An oil spill in the Gulf earlier this month spread 373 miles (600 kilometers), contaminating at least six species and polluting seven protected natural reserves. BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 wreaked havoc on the Gulf, spilling 134 million gallons of oil and devastating life in the region. The administration approved BP’s new $5 billion ultra-deepwater drilling project in the Gulf just weeks ago.
Pennsylvania
Phillies third baseman sues his parents, accuses them of misusing his money
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm has sued his parents for millions of dollars, accusing them of siphoning large amounts of his money into financial accounts they managed for him and then using some of the cash to pay their own expenses.
Bohm’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Philadelphia court, comes after he began to review his personal and financial affairs in recent months, and said that his parents refused to give him access to the accounts or provide him with the information he sought about them.
They sought to “freeze” him out of four accounts — established as limited liability companies — and he now believes they “converted a sizeable amount” of his money from those accounts “to their own use,” the lawsuit said.
By the time he sought the information, his parents had already transferred millions of dollars from his personal accounts to the accounts they controlled, the lawsuit said.
Bohm’s parents, Daniel and Lisa Bohm, denied doing anything wrong and, through their lawyer, said they are “deeply saddened by the allegations” and will aggressively defend themselves. Alec Bohm has had full access to the accounts and his parents are paying his expenses on their personal credit cards, their lawyer, Robert Eckard, said in a statement.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bohm love their son very much and have always acted in his best interests, both personally and professionally, and still do so to this day,” Eckard said.
After Thursday’s 2026 season opening game, Bohm declined comment to reporters, saying “I’m not going to address any personal matters right now.”
Both parties say the first of the accounts was opened in 2019. His parents told him that they assigned themselves a 10% stake, strictly for administration purposes, and that Bohm was the “true” owner of all of the LLC’s assets, Bohm’s lawsuit said.
The accounts had various purposes, such as investing in securities or buying real estate. Bohm’s lawsuit also said they used money from The Alec Bohm Foundation to pay their expenses.
Bohm’s lawsuit asks his parents to pay at least $3 million in damages, hand over control of the accounts and hire an accountant to track every dollar they transferred from Bohm’s personal accounts to the accounts they controlled.
Bohm, 29, has a $10.2 million contract with the Phillies for the 2026 baseball season. The lawsuit said his parents live in a recreational vehicle and travel the country.
Woman recounts death of Alex Pretti as lawyers eye a class action lawsuit
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis woman who confronted federal immigration officers alongside Alex Pretti in January was among a group of potential litigants who spoke out Thursday about alleged excessive force against people protesting or monitoring the enforcement surge in Minnesota.
Georgia Savageford, who introduced herself as Wynnie at a news conference, said she was inside an officer’s vehicle when she saw federal agents shoot Pretti.
“That day has changed me forever,” she said. “The trauma will haunt me for the rest of my life, and I will never be the same.”
Savageford said she had been legally observing the actions of federal officers in Minneapolis ever since the shooting death of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. She said she was doing so again on the morning of Jan. 24 when an agent pushed her twice and caused her to fall.
“As I was going down, three agents proceeded to tackle me and drag me face-down into the middle of the street. They knelt on my back, twisted my arms and my legs to the ground, and handcuffed me. The cuffs were so tight I lost feeling in my hands, which resulted in temporary nerve damage,” she recounted.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond Thursday to emails seeking comment. Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate the killings.
Savageford said Pretti recorded video of her arrest and yelled at agents to leave her alone.
She said the officers put her in the back of a vehicle, from which she saw agents shoot and kill Pretti on the other side of the street.
“At that moment, I thought I was going to die too. I pleaded with the agents to understand why another life was taken, and to not take mine,” she said.
She added that they told her to shut up and to stop being hysterical. She said they then took her to an ICE holding facility where she was held for 12 hours in a cold cell without ready access to food, water or the bathroom until she was released without being charged.
“I did not know him, but I knew he had my back,” she said of Pretti. “I know the kind of heart he had. One that loves and protects without limits.”
Savageford shared her story at a news conference where civil rights attorney John Burris, of Oakland, California, and other lawyers laid out how they’re paving the way for potential class-action lawsuits over alleged excessive force used against protesters and monitors.
Burris, who specializes in police misconduct, helped win an $11 million settlement against the Oakland Police Department in 2003, and helped win a civil jury verdict of $3.8 million for the late motorist Rodney King, who was beaten by Los Angeles police officers in 1991.
He said he and his colleagues have filed complaints with federal agencies involved in the Minnesota enforcement surge on behalf of 10 people, including Savageford, as the first step in a process that’s likely to lead to a larger class-action lawsuit.
“We have many others that are under investigation that have not completed the process. But I thought it was important for us to start this process now. Put the government on notice that we’re here,” Burris said.
Indiana
Federal judge denies NCAA’s restraining order request to make DraftKings stop using ‘March Madness’
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied the NCAA’s motion for a temporary restraining order to stop DraftKings from using registered trademarks associated with its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
The complaint for trademark infringement, filed in the Southern District of Indiana last week, requested that DraftKings stop using “March Madness,” “Final Four,” “Elite Eight” and “Sweet Sixteen” and variations of those terms to promote its business.
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled the NCAA did not show how the online sports wagering platform’s use of the terms would cause irreparable harm.
“With further discovery the NCAA may be able to show they are entitled to a preliminary or permanent injunction, and those claims remain pending,” Pratt wrote.
DraftKings has been using “March Madness” and other familiar terms to refer to the NCAA Tournament for more than five years and has the legal right to do so, the sportsbook said in a court filing Wednesday in response to a complaint filed by the NCAA last week.
The NCAA has said it actively avoids any appearance of affiliation with gambling and said in the complaint that DraftKings’ use of the terms confuses customers by making it appear the NCAA is on board.
Washington
Judge won’t block meeting that could exempt Gulf drilling from Endangered Species Act
A judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration can convene a meeting this week to seek an exemption from the Endangered Species Act on the basis of national security for expanded oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
District of Columbia District Judge Rudolph Contreras rejected the Center for Biological Diversity’s motion to postpone the Interior Department’s upcoming meeting of the Endangered Species Committee.
The committee is set to meet Tuesday to seek an exemption from endangered species laws — which make it illegal to harm or kill species on a protected list, without a viable alternative — for national security purposes as invoked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
According to a Department of Justice filing, Hegseth called for an exemption for “all Gulf of America oil and gas exploration and development activities” overseen by federal agencies in his request to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for the meeting. The request came as the world experiences oil shocks and soaring energy prices amid the U.S.-Iran war.
Composed of six high-ranking federal officials plus a representative for states involved, the committee has been called the “God Squad” by environmental groups that say its actions can essentially determine the fate of an endangered species. It has convened only three times in its nearly 50-year history and the national security provision has never been invoked.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued earlier this month, saying Burgum did not meet requirements or the legal basis needed to convene the committee. In seeking a temporary restraining order, the center argued the government could cause irreparable harm through the actions it decides next week. Environmental groups are especially concerned about the Rice’s whale in the Gulf, where only about 50 remain.
Government attorneys argued in court that the environmental group was challenging an exemption decision that hasn’t been made and said the government’s reasoning for the exemption will be detailed next week.
The judge said the center did not meet a high standard necessary to issue the temporary restraining order.
Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called it disappointing that the court “didn’t immediately stop Hegseth’s reckless power grab.”
“We’ll be outside the Department of the Interior on Tuesday protesting this outrageous abuse by Trump’s extinction committee. We’ll certainly be back in court to save the Rice’s whale and all of the Gulf of Mexico’s wildlife from being driven to extinction by the oil industry,” he said.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Environmental groups say the administration is seeking an exemption to avoid the intensive process required for an Endangered Species Act exemption. They say such an exemption could set a dangerous precedent for future fossil fuel projects.
The Gulf has long been affected by the environmental harms that oil can bring. An oil spill in the Gulf earlier this month spread 373 miles (600 kilometers), contaminating at least six species and polluting seven protected natural reserves. BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 wreaked havoc on the Gulf, spilling 134 million gallons of oil and devastating life in the region. The administration approved BP’s new $5 billion ultra-deepwater drilling project in the Gulf just weeks ago.
Pennsylvania
Phillies third baseman sues his parents, accuses them of misusing his money
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm has sued his parents for millions of dollars, accusing them of siphoning large amounts of his money into financial accounts they managed for him and then using some of the cash to pay their own expenses.
Bohm’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Philadelphia court, comes after he began to review his personal and financial affairs in recent months, and said that his parents refused to give him access to the accounts or provide him with the information he sought about them.
They sought to “freeze” him out of four accounts — established as limited liability companies — and he now believes they “converted a sizeable amount” of his money from those accounts “to their own use,” the lawsuit said.
By the time he sought the information, his parents had already transferred millions of dollars from his personal accounts to the accounts they controlled, the lawsuit said.
Bohm’s parents, Daniel and Lisa Bohm, denied doing anything wrong and, through their lawyer, said they are “deeply saddened by the allegations” and will aggressively defend themselves. Alec Bohm has had full access to the accounts and his parents are paying his expenses on their personal credit cards, their lawyer, Robert Eckard, said in a statement.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bohm love their son very much and have always acted in his best interests, both personally and professionally, and still do so to this day,” Eckard said.
After Thursday’s 2026 season opening game, Bohm declined comment to reporters, saying “I’m not going to address any personal matters right now.”
Both parties say the first of the accounts was opened in 2019. His parents told him that they assigned themselves a 10% stake, strictly for administration purposes, and that Bohm was the “true” owner of all of the LLC’s assets, Bohm’s lawsuit said.
The accounts had various purposes, such as investing in securities or buying real estate. Bohm’s lawsuit also said they used money from The Alec Bohm Foundation to pay their expenses.
Bohm’s lawsuit asks his parents to pay at least $3 million in damages, hand over control of the accounts and hire an accountant to track every dollar they transferred from Bohm’s personal accounts to the accounts they controlled.
Bohm, 29, has a $10.2 million contract with the Phillies for the 2026 baseball season. The lawsuit said his parents live in a recreational vehicle and travel the country.
