(FOX 2) – A familiar face is back in front of screens after a video posted by Mellissa Carone about burkinis picked up traffic online.

The full-body swimsuit is often worn by Muslim women. 

Carone shared on TikTok that she was canceling her membership at the Lifetime Fitness because she saw women wearing them in the pool.

The backstory:

Carone rose to prominence following her testimony alongside Rudy Giuliani during a Michigan State House Oversight Committee meeting and even became the inspiration for a Saturday Night Live skit. 

She also ran for office before being disqualified by the Macomb County Clerk. 

Big picture view:

Posting on TikTok, Carone complained about burkinis being worn at her local gym.

“Story time regarding the Muslim problem we have here in Michigan,” Carone started her post on TikTok. “It is not freedom of religion to go into a pool with an entire burka on.”

She likened the garb to a “sanitary problem.”

FOX 2 sought an additional comment from Carone, who declined to comment. 

The other side:

Other members of the Lifetime Fitness were confused by Carone’s comments.

“Muslim people wash five times a day for prayers and it’s part of their religion to be clean and sanitary,” said Khaled Farhat, a Lifetime Fitness member. “I don’t understand what she means by unsanitary.” 

Another member was turned off by the Carone’s stance.

“Just mind your own business and go on your way,” the 

Local perspective:

According to the Lifetime Fitness website, appropriate swimming attire includes swim shirts, bikinis, tankinis, one piece, trunk shorts or long briefs. 

We reached out to the company for comment, but they were not immediately available. 

Michigan State is looking to the Motor City for its next commitment.

Multiple reports on Saturday indicated that the Spartans have set up an official visit with Martin Luther King (Mich.) athlete Don Spillers III. The visit to East Lansing is set for May 29-31 and will be the first in a string of official visits for Spillers. He’s also got reported trips to Illinois (June 5-7) and Louisville (June 12-14) scheduled.

Fast Facts on Spillers

Spillers, listed at 6’2″ and 195 pounds, is a 3-star recruit ranked 848th overall in the class of 2027 on the 247Sports Composite. He’s listed as an athlete on 247Sports, but as a wide receiver on Rivals. It looked like MSU and Courtney Hawkins wanted him as a receiver for a while, but safety seems to be the spot where Michigan State wants him now. That would make his position coach James Adams.

The Spartans seem to be considered in the lead right now. MSU has two expert predictions in its favor submitted on Rivals, one of which was submitted as recently as Friday. Rivals’ RPM metric has Michigan State at the very top, holding a comfortable lead at 94.2%. Besides Illinois and Louisville, Spillers’ other notable offers include Michigan, Maryland, Missouri, Pitt, and Purdue.

More Info, Potential Fit at MSU

Next weekend will not be the first time Spillers will be on campus. He visited East Lansing while spring practices were going on and also showed up at MSU a few times during the Jonathan Smith era. The retentions of both Hawkins and Adams by new head coach Pat Fitzgerald have allowed mutual interest to remain.

If Spillers ends up committing to the Spartans as a safety, he’d be the second player at the position to join the 2027 recruiting class. The first was 3-star St. Peter’s Prep (N.J.) prospect Ty’ire Clark. He committed back on April 4 and is ranked 1,280th overall in the class.

There should be room for multiple safeties in the 2027 recruiting class. Michigan State has three players at the spot whose eligibility is expected to expire after this fall: Nikai Martinez, Aveon Grose, and Michael Richard.

A few other names are also on MSU’s recruiting board. The Spartans have three predictions in their favor for Dakota (Mich.) prospect Elijah Goins. He’s ranked 973rd overall in the class of ’27 in the Rivals Industry Rankings and has a reported official visit scheduled with Michigan State for June 19-21.

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CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Officials with the Veterans and America First Foundation are speaking out after for their donation bins were vandalized.

The organization, based in Clinton Township, collects clothing donations through bins placed throughout metro Detroit to support veterans and others in need with clothes, food and housing.

Bins located on West Vernor Highway near Military Street in Detroit were among the latest to be hit.

Paul Dehem, director and founder of Veterans and America First Foundation, learned about the damage on Saturday after Aiman Kawas, who is in charge of servicing the bins, discovered they had been damaged.

Dehem said the vandalism occurred within a narrow window.

“It happened sometime between Wednesday and Friday,” Dehem said.

“It’s just disheartening,” Dehem said.

Kawas said the West Vernor Highway incident is far from isolated.

“I was disappointed, of course this is not our first time being vandalized,” Kawas said.

WXYZ

“We have lost over 70 bins to vandalism or theft, the actual bin disappears… they take it completely,” Kawas said.

Jason Beddow, director of development for Veterans and America First Foundation, said each bin costs about $1,000 to replace.

“The vets are missing out on their charity and donations from those bins and it’s just a real shame,” Beddow said.

WXYZ

Meanwhile, Dehem said he hopes those responsible will consider who is truly harmed by the destruction.

“We have a mission and it’s for the veterans,” Dehem said. “It’s not for profit, we’re just trying to make things work and help people.”

Anyone with information about who is vandalizing the bins, or surveillance video, is asked to contact Detroit police.

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This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.