BRAVE MAG

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - Islamic Society of Milwaukee President Salah Sarsour, who is a Palestinian American, has been detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the mosque said ‌on Thursday.

ISM, which is Wisconsin's largest mosque, said Sarsour, 53, is a legal permanent resident who ‌has lived in the U.S. for over three decades and was detained on Monday. He grew up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"He was ​pulled over while driving by over 10 ICE agents with no cause," a page on the mosque's website said, adding he was taken out of the state to a detention facility in Chicago before being transferred to a detention center in Indiana.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cited Othman Atta, the executive director of the mosque, as saying that deportation documents ‌focused on Sarsour's arrest by Israeli ⁠authorities as a teenager living in the West Bank to argue he provided material support for extremists.

Atta said Sarsour was convicted as a teenager in an Israeli military court, ⁠according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Though Israel has ratified the U.N. convention against torture, Israeli rights group B'Tselem says military courts in the West Bank, where Palestinians are tried for alleged crimes, have a 96 percent conviction rate and a ​history ​of extracting confessions through torture.

Atta denied that Sarsour supported the ​militant group Hamas.

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Sarsour is "being targeted on the basis ‌of his Palestinian and Muslim background, and his advocacy for Palestinian rights," the mosque said.

The Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, confirmed his arrest and accused Sarsour of lying on his immigration forms and alleged that he was "suspected of funding terror organizations."

DHS said he came to the U.S. in 1993. Noting his past conviction, it said he was previously "convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces."

President Donald ‌Trump's administration has pursued an immigration crackdown condemned by rights groups ​as being in violation of due process and free speech. Advocacy ​groups say it has created an unsafe environment ​for minorities.

Trump has particularly cracked down on pro-Palestinian voices by attempting to deport foreign ‌protesters, threatening funding freeze for universities where protests ​were held and ordering screening ​of immigrants' online comments.

The crackdown has faced judicial obstacles. Many of the protesters targeted for deportation have been freed from detention by court orders while their cases proceed. Judges have also blocked some of Trump's ​attempts to freeze funds for universities.

Trump ‌alleges protesters are antisemitic and support extremists. Demonstrators, including some Jewish groups, say he wrongly conflates ​criticism of Israel's assault on Gaza with antisemitism and advocacy for Palestinian rights as supporting extremism.

(Reporting ​by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

Rapper Gucci Mane was the victim of a kidnapping and robbery plot by a rapper signed to Mane's label earlier this year, the Department of Justice alleged in a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday.

Lontrell Williams Jr., known by the stage name Pooh Shiesty, allegedly asked to meet with Mane, whose legal name is Radric Davis, in Dallas on Jan. 10 to discuss his contract with Mane's label 1017, according to the criminal complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Williams was "upset with the terms of his contract" and wanted to be released, the complaint said. They met that afternoon at a music studio inside an office building.

Williams was wearing an ankle monitor because he was on home confinement for a prior firearms conspiracy conviction out of Florida, the complaint said. While inside the studio, Williams allegedly learned on a phone call that his case manager had not given him permission to be out and had to return home immediately.

Mane offered to reschedule, but Williams allegedly asked to speak to him in an attached recording room. According to the complaint, Mane agreed and was inside the room with Williams, Williams' father and another artist.

An argument occurred inside the studio, and Williams told the other artist to bring him his bag, the complaint said.

He "pulled what appeared to be a black AK-style pistol from the bag" and pointed it at Mane, demanding that Mane sign the papers to release him from his contract, officials alleged. Mane signed the paperwork while Williams' father and the other artist stood by, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors allege that after they left, six others from their group armed themselves and demanded "property" from other individuals in the room, who were referred to by initials.

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One individual, identified as "M.M.," had a Rolex watch, wallet, Apple Airpods and a Louis Vuitton bag with other watches stolen, the complaint said. He was "choked from behind to the point of nearly losing consciousness," according to the complaint.

The victims were barred from leaving as one of the men involved allegedly barricaded them, according to the DOJ. The victims believed "they were going to be executed," the complaint said.

Williams, his father and seven others left in vehicles that were later identified in surveillance videos from a neighboring building, according to the complaint. One of the vehicles was a 2020 Dodge Charger Hellcat registered to his father and two rental cars that were rented to Williams' father at the time.

Williams, his father and six others were arrested Wednesday in Dallas and Memphis, Tennessee, according to the U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of Texas. They are facing federal charges in relation to kidnapping and robbery at gunpoint.

They each face a potential sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Ryan Raybould, the U.S. Attorney for the district, described them as having "resorted to violence and intimidation to achieve their purported business objectives."

Neither representatives for Mane nor Williams immediately responded to a request for comment from NBC News on Thursday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said that the electronic monitoring device worn by Williams at the time of the alleged kidnapping and robbery placed him at the incident's location at the time as well as surveillance footage. Social media posts from the suspects also showed the allegedly stolen items after the incident occurred, the prosecutor's office said.

Caltraincould be the next transit system in theSan Francisco Bay Area to experience significant service cutsif it cannot secure additional funding through a potential taxpayer referendum.

The Peninsula Corridor Joint PowersBoard of Directors released a plan on April 2 outlining what service could potentially be cut ifBay Area voters do not approve a 2026 ballot measure,which would create a 14-year regional transportation sales tax that is expected to generate millions annually to support and improvetheBay Area Rapid Transitagency and other local transit systems.

The measure will go before votersin Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara countieson November's ballot.

Like BART, Caltrain is facing an operating cost shortfall. This has left Caltrain with what the company says is a projected "average annual deficit of approximately $75 million" from fiscal years 2027 to 2041 after the transit system experienced a sharp drop in ridership due to the pandemic.

Although Caltrain says it saw an increase in ridership by "47% in 2025," it is struggling to meet its operational costs to maintain its new electric infrastructure and "state-of-the-art fleet."

"Caltrain is delivering more frequent, faster, and more reliable service for riders up and down the Peninsula," said Caltrain Executive Director Michelle Bouchard in a press release.

"But, as discussed in today's meeting, we are facing a structural funding challenge that cannot be solved through cuts or efficiencies alone. Without a stable, long-term funding solution, we will be forced to make difficult decisions that would significantly reduce service and impact the communities that rely on Caltrain every day."

Among the potential service cuts, the Caltrain board was presented with the option of closing more than one-third of stations; eliminating all weekend service; reducing train frequency to once an hour; ending service by 9 p.m.; and cutting segments of service.

The potential cuts would not take effect until 2027, initially beginning with the elimination of weekend services and a reduction in train frequency. If Caltrain continues to face funding shortages, it will then evaluate the need for cutting long-term services by closing stations.

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Currently, Caltrain has 31 stations that serve areas between the San Francisco Peninsula and the Santa Clara Valley. The train can reliably take travelers on a 79-mile trip from Oracle Park in San Francisco to Gilroy, California.

Earlier this year,California Gov. Gavin Newsom authorized a $590 million loanto help address a budgetary shortfall that BART would be responsible for repaying over 12 years. However, this funding was strictly for the BART system and did not provide any assistance to Caltrain and other regional transit services.

Caltrain has attempted to implement cost-cutting measures to reduce its overhead costs by pausing new hires, improving crew efficiency, and reducing professional services and other non-labor expenses.

The agency is also attempting to raise funds through other sources that aren't operating costs, such as advertising and naming rights, and by monetizing its real estate.

"The public has made it clear that frequent, reliable service was exactly what they needed to get back on board," said Caltrain Board Chair Rico E. Medina in a press release.

"We are gaining riders and getting people where they need to go, every day. But the reality is that the service that has been such a success will be in jeopardy if our funding picture does not improve this year."

More:BART commuters see fare increases in 2026 as budgetary shortfall looms

Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him atnpadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Caltrain could close one-third of stations if it can't find funding