The Detroit News

Trump urges supporters to cast early ballots in Michigan presidential primary

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Former President Donald Trump, who has spent years criticizing absentee voting in Michigan, on Saturday night urged supporters to cast early votes in person ahead of the state's Feb. 27 presidential primary. Municipalities across Michigan on Saturday started offering early, in-person voting for the first time after voters mandated it in a 2022 constitutional amendment. "You can do that or you can wait a little bit," Trump said of early voting at the outset of a speech inside a hanger at Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township. Trump is favored to ...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib endorses protest vote against Biden in Michigan

DETROIT — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is endorsing the campaign urging Michigan Democrats to vote "uncommitted" in the Feb. 27 presidential primary in protest of President Joe Biden's policy in Gaza.

In a video posted to social media Saturday, Tlaib said it's important to not just march against the "genocide" in Gaza but to form a voting bloc to affect change.

"Something that is a bullhorn to say enough is enough. We don't want a country that supports wars and bombs and destruction. We want to support life. We want to stand up for every single life killed in Gaza," Tlaib said.

Michigan man bragged about being sexually aroused during Jan. 6 siege, feds say

DETROIT — A Michigan man bragged about breaking into the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and used a bullhorn to tell rioters he was sexually aroused by the siege, according to a criminal case unsealed Friday.

Federal agents arrested Barry Allen Toth, 35, of Standish, on felony and misdemeanor charges related to the capitol breach, making him at least the 28th person from Michigan — and among more than 1,300 nationwide — charged with Jan. 6 crimes.

Oil, gas lobby enters presidential campaign with EV ad in key swing states

WASHINGTON — A lobbying group for the oil and gas industry has launched a new television advertising campaign targeting the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles in several battleground states.

One ad from American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers accuses Democratic President Joe Biden of “rushing to ban new gas-powered cars, no matter where you live or what you need.”

“They want to force you into an electric vehicle,” the ad continues.

Donald Trump will make campaign stop in Michigan this weekend

Former President Donald Trump will make his first Michigan campaign stop of the 2024 election year in Oakland County on Saturday. Trump's campaign announced the visit Monday.

The Republican candidate will hold a "get out the vote" rally at 7 p.m. at a venue at the Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township, according to a press release.

The event will take place 10 days ahead of Michigan's Feb. 27 presidential primary election, in which Trump is competing for GOP votes with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as his ambassador to the United Nations.

How Michigan State students and leaders will mark one year after mass shooting

EAST LANSING, Mich. — One year after a gunman rampaged through Michigan State University's campus, altering thousands of lives and shattering a sense of security, those in the MSU community and beyond East Lansing will mark the anniversary with reflection, remembrances and activities. Luminaries will light up windows across East Lansing and elsewhere on Tuesday. The battery-operated candles are one way to acknowledge the mass shooting that left three dead and five others critically injured, organizers said. They said it was important to offer a variety of activities for students and staff beca...

Oxford High School families greet verdict with gratitude. One parent calls it a 'huge win for our country'

DETROIT — Families affected by the Oxford High School shooting greeted Tuesday's guilty verdict for the mother of the Oxford killer on involuntary manslaughter charges with responses ranging from pleased to surprised to relieved. Buck Myre, whose son, 16-year-old Tate, was gunned down in the November 2021 attack on the northern Oakland County high school, said he was surprised by the jury's decision to find Jennifer Crumbley guilty on all four counts of involuntary manslaughter connected to the deaths of four students. Seven others were wounded in the attack carried out by Crumbley's then-15-y...

Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Michigan school shooter, found guilty in unprecedented case

PONTIAC, Mich. — The mother of the Oxford High School shooter on Tuesday was convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, capping an emotional 11-day trial that some legal experts viewed as a possible precedent setter for holding parents criminally responsible for their children's actions. As the 12-member jury read its verdict Tuesday afternoon in Oakland County Circuit Court, Jennifer Crumbley, with her hands clasped on a table in front of her, showed little reaction but closed her eyes and looked down. Jurors deliberated for 11 hours before arriving at a decision tied to the killin...

Arab American leaders demand apology, retraction after Wall Street Journal 'jihad' column

DEARBORN — The media clash between local Arab American leaders and the writer of a Wall Street Journal opinion piece continued Monday as both sides doubled down on accusations their opponents are peddling hate.

On Monday, members of the Arab-American Civil Rights League and others held a press conference outside the Dearborn Police Department and denounced the op-ed piece published Friday.

The piece, which described the Wayne County suburb as "America's Jihad Capital," prompted city officials to increase police patrols near places of worship.

Missed warning signs or a crime? Jurors to decide Jennifer Crumbley's fate

PONTIAC, Mich. — An Oakland County jury will now decide whether the mother of the Oxford High School shooter should bear criminal responsibility for her son’s violence, or if she simply made tragic lapses in judgment but could not have foreseen the harm her son caused. Deliberations are set to begin Monday in the trial against Jennifer Crumbley, 45, on involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the deaths of four students her son killed in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting: Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. She faces up to 15 years in prison ...

Judge tosses Biden threats case against northern Michigan man

DETROIT — A northern Michigan man accused of threatening President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was released Friday after a federal judge dismissed a criminal case that drew national attention. After a preliminary examination in federal court in Bay City, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Morris concluded probable cause did not exist and that social media posts attributed to Prudenville resident Russell Douglas Warren, 48, did not pose a "true threat." The posts included saying Biden had been condemned and called on the president to be taken to prison "to await execution. He shall b...

Biden visits UAW union hall during Metro Detroit campaign swing

WARREN, Mich. — President Joe Biden made his first campaign stop in Michigan of 2024 on Thursday with a swing through Metro Detroit as criticisms of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war loom over his reelection bid in the battleground state. Biden, a Democrat who is seeking a second term in the White House, arrived in Warren just before 4 p.m. for a political event at the UAW Region 1 union hall, where union members will be volunteering at a phone bank ahead of the Feb. 27 primary election, his campaign said. On one wall, yard signs were organized to say “UAW 4 Joe.” Earlier Thursday, Gov. Gre...

Biden to visit Michigan on Thursday ahead of primary election

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will visit Metro Detroit on Thursday for an event hosted by the United Auto Workers on the heels of his endorsement by the union last week, according to three Democratic sources familiar with his plans.

Biden's anticipated trip to Michigan comes three and a half weeks ahead of the state's Feb. 27 presidential primary election. It will be the president's first time in the state since September when he went to Van Buren Township to address autoworkers on a picket line amid their strike against the Detroit Three car companies

'Not welcome here': Arab leaders cancel Dearborn meeting with Biden campaign manager

The organizer of a planned meeting between President Joe Biden's campaign manager and a group of Arab and Muslim American leaders in Dearborn said it was canceled after some in the wider community objected to the gathering amid fury over Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Assad Turfe, who was coordinating the sit-down of Arab leaders and officials with Biden's campaign in Dearborn, said he made the decision to cancel Friday afternoon's group meeting "in the best interest of the community."

Former Ambassador Pete Hoekstra selected to lead Michigan GOP faction

LANSING, Mich. — Former Ambassador Pete Hoekstra was elected chairman of a faction of the Michigan Republican Party that is fighting in court to be recognized as the legitimate replacement to embattled chairwoman Kristina Karamo.

The new chair, whose victory was clinched with a call from Mar-a-Lago, inherits a party torn by internal divisions and under financial stresses, including default on a roughly $500,000 loan, just 10 months ahead of the 2024 presidential election.