Wisconsin
Attorneys urge release of mosque leader, saying he’s been denied diabetes care in custody
Attorneys for the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque say he is being denied basic medical care for diabetes and has lost 30 pounds (14 kilograms) in the two months since he was detained by immigration officers.
Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in April. His attorneys say he is being detained on baseless claims that he is a foreign policy threat, but they believe he was actually targeted for speaking out against Israel and for a conviction as a minor by Israeli military courts.
He has no criminal record in the U.S., where he has lived for more than 30 years.
Sarsour has Type 2 diabetes and his blood sugar levels aren’t being consistently checked, putting him at risk of organ failure or death if left untreated, his attorneys told a federal judge on Monday. Sarsour is being held in an Indiana county jail while his immigration case is pending.
“We had the opportunity to make a direct, urgent appeal to the court about the need for Salah’s release, including being able to report that he has lost a staggering 30 pounds while in detention,” Luna Droubi, an attorney for Sarsour, said in a press release. “The Judge raised questions about the medical care Salah is receiving, and we will continue to press this case.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that all people in ICE custody receive three meals a day and proper medical treatment. The DHS said Sarsour is in the U.S. illegally and will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. Court documents filed by attorneys representing DHS and ICE all appeared to be sealed in the online federal court files, so any legal response to the allegations raised by Sarsour’s attorneys was not immediately available to view.
An investigation by KFF Health News and the AP found that hundreds of detainees in at least 33 states have filed federal lawsuits with similar allegations of medical neglect. Those lawsuits include other detainees who say they were denied medication or had treatment delayed for conditions including cancer, high blood pressure, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, HIV, diabetes, infections, depression and more.
Sarsour’s attorneys offered more details about his detention conditions in a letter sent late last month to U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon. They are asking the judge to release Sarsour while his case moves forward.
“Mr. Sarsour’s health continues to deteriorate,” they wrote. “Though he recently developed severe abdominal pain, he was told by officials in the jail that they could not help him and that he must purchase his own medication. His blood sugar levels are not being consistently checked.”
Sarsour is also being tormented by jail guards who denied him access to a Quran and who repeatedly interrupt him when he is trying to pray in accordance with his Muslim faith, his attorneys said.
When Sarsour asked for an adequate diet to stabilize his blood sugar levels, he was told to purchase BBQ pork rinds from the commissary, even though that food would violate his religious beliefs and dietary restrictions, his attorneys said.
“Just over two months ago, my dad would have been starting his day as usual by checking in on my grandmother and heading to work,” said Kareem Sarsour, Salah’s son. “We’re not only fighting now for my dad’s legal right to be here, but also for his health — and basic due process guaranteed by his constitutional rights to speak up about injustice.”
Texas
Teen convicted of murder in a fatal stabbing at a school track meet
MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A Texas teenager who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old track athlete from a rival team during a meet was convicted of murder Tuesday in a trial that drew national attention far beyond the booming Dallas suburb where the two students attended different high schools.
A jury rejected Karmelo Anthony’s claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Austin Metcalf in the stadium’s bleachers last year. Anthony, now 19, didn’t testify. Most who did were students who described a heated exchange over him refusing to leave a tent belonging to Metcalf’s team during a rainy competition.
Anthony faces up to life in prison upon sentencing.
The trial drew lines of spectators hoping to find seats in the gallery and unfolded amid heavy security at a courthouse in Collin County. Anthony and Metcalf attended separate schools in Frisco, one of Texas’ fastest-growing cities that is dotted with dozens of modern school campuses and gleaming athletic facilities.
Several students testified that Metcalf, after ordering Anthony to leave his team’s tent, scoffed before Anthony reached a hand into a bag and pulled out a knife.
One teenage witness recalled Metcalf telling Anthony, “You don’t have anything in that backpack. It’s Frisco.”
Outside attention on the case spread, in part, over social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Prosecutors and defense attorneys told jurors that the case had nothing to do with race.
Instead, prosecutor Bill Wirskye called the stabbing a “sneak, surprise attack” and accused Anthony of egging on the confrontation. Mike Howard, an attorney for Anthony, said his client acted in a “split second of fear, chaos” after Metcalf made the first physical contact.
The stabbing happened on a rainy morning in April 2025. Teenage witnesses said the confrontation began after Anthony sat under a tent belonging to the track team of Memorial High School, where Metcalf was in his junior year.
Other students competing at the meet testified that several athletes told Anthony to leave the tent and that he was the aggressor. When Metcalf told Anthony he needed to move, Anthony reached inside a bag and replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.
Metcalf then pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony reacted by pulling out a knife and stabbing Metcalf in the chest.
One teammate told jurors that Anthony was “distraught” after the stabbing. Judge John Roach Jr. ordered that the names of teenage witnesses not be made public.
“I was hearing him say, ‘I told him not to touch me,’” the teenager said.
The parents of both Anthony and Metcalf have said they were good students who planned to go to college.
Attorneys urge release of mosque leader, saying he’s been denied diabetes care in custody
Attorneys for the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque say he is being denied basic medical care for diabetes and has lost 30 pounds (14 kilograms) in the two months since he was detained by immigration officers.
Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in April. His attorneys say he is being detained on baseless claims that he is a foreign policy threat, but they believe he was actually targeted for speaking out against Israel and for a conviction as a minor by Israeli military courts.
He has no criminal record in the U.S., where he has lived for more than 30 years.
Sarsour has Type 2 diabetes and his blood sugar levels aren’t being consistently checked, putting him at risk of organ failure or death if left untreated, his attorneys told a federal judge on Monday. Sarsour is being held in an Indiana county jail while his immigration case is pending.
“We had the opportunity to make a direct, urgent appeal to the court about the need for Salah’s release, including being able to report that he has lost a staggering 30 pounds while in detention,” Luna Droubi, an attorney for Sarsour, said in a press release. “The Judge raised questions about the medical care Salah is receiving, and we will continue to press this case.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that all people in ICE custody receive three meals a day and proper medical treatment. The DHS said Sarsour is in the U.S. illegally and will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. Court documents filed by attorneys representing DHS and ICE all appeared to be sealed in the online federal court files, so any legal response to the allegations raised by Sarsour’s attorneys was not immediately available to view.
An investigation by KFF Health News and the AP found that hundreds of detainees in at least 33 states have filed federal lawsuits with similar allegations of medical neglect. Those lawsuits include other detainees who say they were denied medication or had treatment delayed for conditions including cancer, high blood pressure, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, HIV, diabetes, infections, depression and more.
Sarsour’s attorneys offered more details about his detention conditions in a letter sent late last month to U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon. They are asking the judge to release Sarsour while his case moves forward.
“Mr. Sarsour’s health continues to deteriorate,” they wrote. “Though he recently developed severe abdominal pain, he was told by officials in the jail that they could not help him and that he must purchase his own medication. His blood sugar levels are not being consistently checked.”
Sarsour is also being tormented by jail guards who denied him access to a Quran and who repeatedly interrupt him when he is trying to pray in accordance with his Muslim faith, his attorneys said.
When Sarsour asked for an adequate diet to stabilize his blood sugar levels, he was told to purchase BBQ pork rinds from the commissary, even though that food would violate his religious beliefs and dietary restrictions, his attorneys said.
“Just over two months ago, my dad would have been starting his day as usual by checking in on my grandmother and heading to work,” said Kareem Sarsour, Salah’s son. “We’re not only fighting now for my dad’s legal right to be here, but also for his health — and basic due process guaranteed by his constitutional rights to speak up about injustice.”
Texas
Teen convicted of murder in a fatal stabbing at a school track meet
MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A Texas teenager who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old track athlete from a rival team during a meet was convicted of murder Tuesday in a trial that drew national attention far beyond the booming Dallas suburb where the two students attended different high schools.
A jury rejected Karmelo Anthony’s claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Austin Metcalf in the stadium’s bleachers last year. Anthony, now 19, didn’t testify. Most who did were students who described a heated exchange over him refusing to leave a tent belonging to Metcalf’s team during a rainy competition.
Anthony faces up to life in prison upon sentencing.
The trial drew lines of spectators hoping to find seats in the gallery and unfolded amid heavy security at a courthouse in Collin County. Anthony and Metcalf attended separate schools in Frisco, one of Texas’ fastest-growing cities that is dotted with dozens of modern school campuses and gleaming athletic facilities.
Several students testified that Metcalf, after ordering Anthony to leave his team’s tent, scoffed before Anthony reached a hand into a bag and pulled out a knife.
One teenage witness recalled Metcalf telling Anthony, “You don’t have anything in that backpack. It’s Frisco.”
Outside attention on the case spread, in part, over social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Prosecutors and defense attorneys told jurors that the case had nothing to do with race.
Instead, prosecutor Bill Wirskye called the stabbing a “sneak, surprise attack” and accused Anthony of egging on the confrontation. Mike Howard, an attorney for Anthony, said his client acted in a “split second of fear, chaos” after Metcalf made the first physical contact.
The stabbing happened on a rainy morning in April 2025. Teenage witnesses said the confrontation began after Anthony sat under a tent belonging to the track team of Memorial High School, where Metcalf was in his junior year.
Other students competing at the meet testified that several athletes told Anthony to leave the tent and that he was the aggressor. When Metcalf told Anthony he needed to move, Anthony reached inside a bag and replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.
Metcalf then pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony reacted by pulling out a knife and stabbing Metcalf in the chest.
One teammate told jurors that Anthony was “distraught” after the stabbing. Judge John Roach Jr. ordered that the names of teenage witnesses not be made public.
“I was hearing him say, ‘I told him not to touch me,’” the teenager said.
The parents of both Anthony and Metcalf have said they were good students who planned to go to college.
