BEIRUT (AP) — Sheikh Naim Kassem has been the acting head of Hezbollah since its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed as part of an Israeli offensive that has taken out many of the Lebanese militant group’s senior officials.
Kassem made a defiant televised speech Tuesday, claiming that the group's military capabilities are intact and Israelis will only suffer further as fighting continues.
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FILE - Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, after casting his vote during Lebanon's parliamentary elections in Beirut, Sunday, May 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, attends a ceremony in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, raises his finger after casting his vote during Lebanon's parliamentary elections in Beirut, Sunday, May 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut's southern suburbs, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, listens to a speech by then-leader Hassan Nasrallah on a screen in southern Beirut, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Like Nasrallah, Kassem is one of the founding members of the Shiite political party and armed group, but he is widely seen as lacking the former leader’s charisma and oratory skills.
Still, the white-turbaned cleric with a gray beard has often been the public face of the group. After Nasrallah went underground out of fear of being assassinated by Israel, appearing only in televised speeches, Kassem continued to show up at rallies and ceremonies, and he has sat for interviews with foreign journalists.
Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center think tank who researches Hezbollah, said that Kassem is perceived by many as “more extreme” than Nasrallah, at least in his public statements.
In practice, however, his power within the group was limited under Nasrallah. Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees the group’s political affairs — not Kassem — was generally regarded as the leader's heir apparent. But no announcement has been made, and Safieddine has not appeared publicly or made any public statements since Nasrallah’s death.
Kassem has been sanctioned by the United States, which considers Hezbollah a terrorist group.
He was born in the town of Kfar Fila in southern Lebanon and studied chemistry at the Lebanese University before working for several years as a chemistry teacher.
At the same time, he pursued religious studies and participated in founding the Lebanese Union for Muslim Students, an organization that aimed to promote religious adherence among students.
In the 1970s, Kassem joined the Movement of the Dispossessed, a political organization founded by Imam Moussa Sadr that pushed for greater representation for Lebanon’s historically overlooked and impoverished Shiite community. The group morphed into the Amal movement, one of the main armed groups in Lebanon’s civil war, and now a powerful political party.
He then joined the nascent Hezbollah, formed with support from Iran after Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and occupied the country’s southern region.
From 1991, he served as deputy secretary-general of the group, initially under Nasrallah’s predecessor, Abbas Mousawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack in 1992.
FILE - Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, after casting his vote during Lebanon's parliamentary elections in Beirut, Sunday, May 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, attends a ceremony in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, raises his finger after casting his vote during Lebanon's parliamentary elections in Beirut, Sunday, May 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut's southern suburbs, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, listens to a speech by then-leader Hassan Nasrallah on a screen in southern Beirut, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.
The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.
St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.
Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
