Kansas
Kansas Congress Members Express Alarm at Lethal Force by Federal Agents
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids and U.S. Rep. Derek Schmidt of Kansas expressed various shades of alarm about fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents taking part in an aggressive immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
The death Saturday of Alex Pretti, who worked as a nurse for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, followed the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good, which set off widespread protests.
“I am deeply troubled by the shootings in Minneapolis involving federal agents. Our constitution provides citizens protection from the government. We have a right to free speech, to peaceably assemble and to bear arms,” said Moran, a Republican who has served Kansans in Washington for three decades.
He said people in the United States expected government to thwart lawless behavior, including illegal immigration. He said that job required local, state and federal officials to work together on upholding the law.
“Law enforcement must reflect our nation’s values and citizens should obey the law,” said Moran, an attorney. “This tragic circumstance should be investigated to the fullest extent to ensure transparency and accountability.”
Davids, a Democrat representing the 3rd District of eastern Kansas, said she was “angry and heartbroken” by Pretti’s death. She said “this shouldn’t be who we are as a country” and urged the administration of President Donald Trump to halt the bloodshed.
“People should feel safe in their own communities, but right now families are afraid to leave their homes and communities are living in fear,” she said. “One killing is too many, but after two fatal shootings in recent weeks, this administration must answer for what happened and take immediate, concrete action to stop the senseless killing.”
Davids, also an attorney, said local law enforcement should be left to protect neighborhoods without the overbearing presence of “masked, militarized federal agents operating with zero transparency.”
Sustaining rule of law
Schmidt, the Kansas Republican serving his first term as 2nd District congressman, said U.S. immigration law had to be enforced in a manner respectful of constitutional boundaries. He said deadly shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis required rigorous investigation.
“In my view, there needs to be a transparent and thorough review and factfinding regarding the officer involved shootings in Minnesota — as there should be in every officer involved shooting anywhere,” said Schmidt, who served a dozen years as Kansas’ attorney general. “Enforcing the law professionally and with clear focus and common sense is vital to public confidence in the rule of law.”
Schmidt said reported actions by some federal officials and the alleged lack of cooperation among state officials was distressing. Difficulty enforcing U.S. immigration law was tied to decisions by President Joe Biden to allow millions of people into the country “illegally,” the congressman said.
Schmidt said Congress must fund body cameras and better training for personnel at U.S. Immigration and Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He said he would continue to raise questions about use by ICE or CBP of administrative, rather than judicial, warrants to enter homes.
Three Republicans in the Kansas congressional delegation — U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann and U.S. Rep. Ron Estes — didn’t respond to requests for comment about violence in Minnesota.
Christy Davis, a Democrat from Cottonwood Falls seeking to oust Marshall in 2026, said video images of federal agents confronting Pretti should challenge the government’s use of lethal force. She said the Trump administration had to be held accountable for unnecessary loss of life.
“If Senator Marshall is unwilling to call out the Trump administration for the use of militarized force against people in our communities, then he is failing in his duty as a U.S. senator,” Davis said. “The footage is horrifying and impossible to justify. This was not about public safety. It was unchecked violence carried out by a system that has abandoned accountability.”
‘Armed thugs’
Don Coover, a Democrat from Galesburg campaigning this year to challenge Schmidt in the 2nd District, said the federal crackdown ended up targeting people exercising constitutional rights of assembly and speech, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, the right to a fair and speedy trial, and the right to bear arms. He placed responsibility for failed leadership in Minneapolis with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
“As a West Point graduate and Army veteran, I am appalled at what we are seeing in our own country,” he said. “Apparently, ICE is now a band of out-of-control armed thugs that feel they are free to shoot American citizens that they violently disarm. The leaders of ICE and DHS feel free to make up stories unrelated to the facts that justify the execution of citizens they encounter in the streets.”
He asserted federal officials were acting “brazenly and openly” outside the law because Congress and the courts were “apparently afraid to fulfill their obligations.”
In the 4th District held by Estes, Democratic candidate Chris Carmichael said he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the deaths of Pretti and Good. He said the U.S. Constitution couldn’t be abandoned simply because a federal agent chose to detain someone.
“We all know right from wrong and what is happening is simply wrong,” said Carmichael, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. “What we are seeing from our current representatives right now would never be acceptable in the military. When lives are at stake, silence is not neutrality — it is failure.”
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Story via Kansas Reflector
The Royals plan to stick with Erceg as their ninth-inning reliever. However, manager Matt Quatraro has noticed that the “swing-and-miss” has been absent from Erceg’s arsenal.
“He’s got good stuff, and we’ve seen him at his best with us,” Quatraro said. “And he’s a competitor, and that one (Saturday’s loss) really hurts.
“When you give him the ball, you like your chances. And the last game was a little odd. There were things that happened, you know, in the game against the (New York) Yankees. And this one, he was unable to put the guys away.”
In the last four years, the University of Arkansas has gotten the better of the Kansas Jayhawks in postseason play.
In 2022, the Razorbacks defeated KU football 55-53 in a triple-overtime thriller in Memphis during the Liberty Bowl. A year later, No. 8 seed Arkansas upset No. 1 seed KU (and reigning college basketball champions) in the NCAA Tournament by a single point (72-71) to end Kansas basketball’s chances of a repeat. In 2025, Arkansas pulled off another upset in the Big Dance when the No. 10 seed Razorbacks defeated No. 7 KU 79-72 to advance to the Sweet 16.
Needless to say, there were plenty of Jayhawk fans hoping for revenge this weekend when Arkansas was announced as the No. 2 seed in the Lawrence Regional – and KU baseball delivered in a big way with a sweep over the Razorbacks to reach the program’s first-ever Super Regionals appearance.
KU came from behind in both games to earn a 5-3 victory on Saturday and a 13-10 win on Sunday night at Hoglund Ballpark.
On Saturday, Arkansas took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second before a Tyson LeBlanc RBI tied things up in the bottom of the third. Each team scored two in the fifth and remained deadlocked until KU pulled away late with a Dairel Osoria run in the seventh and a solo home run by Augusto Mungarrieta in the eighth to seal the win.
After Arkansas beat Northeastern in a narrow 10-9 contest on Sunday afternoon, KU and Arkansas met again on Sunday evening in a highly anticipated matchup that saw a lot of offensive firepower on display.
The Razorbacks jumped out to a 5-0 lead through three innings before KU had a monster performance in the top of the fourth. Osoria led things off with a solo home run before Brady Ballinger hit an RBI single to score Jordan Bach and Max Soliz Jr. had an RBI single to score Dylan Schlotterback. Then LeBlanc showed his All-American talents once again in a big moment by hitting a three-run home run to deep center field to put the Jayhawks ahead 6-5.
From there, KU would never relinquish the lead after scoring two runs in the fifth inning and three in the sixth. The Jayhawks tacked on two more in the top of the eighth to give the team its 13th score of the game.
The Jayhawks are now 45-16 on the season – tied for the most wins in a season in program history with the 1993 team that reached the College World Series.
KU will now move on to the Super Regionals which start Friday, June 5. If Oklahoma beats Georgia Tech tomorrow, KU will get the chance to host as they did this week. If Georgia Tech wins, the Jayhawks will head to Atlanta with a spot in the College World Series on the line.
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KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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If the motto to live by is to get 1 hour of movement a day, the Parkinson’s community in Kansas City is exceeding it.
Bob Zipse has been fighting Parkinson’s for 10 years. He said the diagnosis hit him hard.
Leawood’s Parkinson’s Exercise and Wellness Center expands services as diagnoses climb
“I was super depressed. I mean, I was in a chair. Did you want to move? Look around, just horrible. Because there’s no resources. Where do I go with the time?”
Zipse said the disease can be an isolating experience.
KSHB
“Parkinson’s, I say, is a very lonely, lonely disease. Either people don’t want to deal with you, or you’re embarrassing.”
He found the Parkinson’s Exercise and Wellness Center at his lowest point. Now, he sees people around him pushing past their limits.
“You see people out here, they’re in the mid-70s, they’re doing push-ups, sit-ups, lifting weights. I mean, it’s amazing, really,” Zipse said. “In here, we’re all the same.”
Sarissa Curry founded the center after seeing the power of healing through exercise and recognizing that diagnosis rates were increasing. An aging population and younger diagnoses are among the biggest factors driving that trend.
Kansas consistently ranks as having one of the highest Parkinson’s disease diagnoses and mortality rates in the United States, second only to Nebraska. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, an estimated 20,000 people in the Kansas City metro alone are living with the disease.
“You see your neurologist once every six months to a year, and you see a physical therapist maybe a couple of months out of the year. Community-based programs are here every day to support this community,” Curry said.
Curry said the warning signs of rising Parkinson’s rates have been visible for years.
“They have been predicting this increase in Parkinson’s for many years. They were able to see the writing on the wall, they were able to see how the population was aging, and they knew that this was coming. We paid attention.”
She expanded the center to serve as an all-encompassing resource for people like Zipse.
KSHB
“I’d hate to wager what I would have been like. Life would have stopped for me, I think. This at least gives me hope, gives me some work towards and see some benefit of it,” Zipse said.
The PEWC will host a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, June 3, at 3:30 p.m. The community is invited to attend to learn more about the center’s services and the disease as incidence rates continue to rise each year.
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.
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