At least one Mega Millions player has plenty of dough to ring in the New Year after drawing the winning number. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, a ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in California for the drawing Friday night, according to the Mega Millions website.
The California Lottery said the winning ticket was sold at Circle K (Sunshine Food and Gas) on Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Sacramento. The winning ticket matched the white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and the gold Mega Ball 6. Ishar Gill, a son of the store owner, said the winning ticket was “a blessing” for the small rural town of roughly 6,000 people. The identity of the winner or winners was not immediately known.
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Jaspal Singh, right, and store employee Bob Singh, left, look for a spot to place two enlarged images of lottery payoff checks, at the family store, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, where the winning lotto ticket was purchased in Cottonwood, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Ishar Gill, left, his father Jaspal Singh, center and his sister Jaspeet Gill right, look over the enlarged image of a check, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, that will be presented to the winner of $1.22 billion Mega Millions Lotto ticket that was purchased at their family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Ishar Gill holds up a copy of the Mega Millions lotto ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion at his family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, the ticket with the winning numbers was drawn Friday night.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Ishar Gill, left, his sister Verdeen Gill, center and father Jaspal Singh. right, look over congratulatory texts for selling winning the Mega-Million lotto ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion at the family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, the ticket with the winning numbers was drawn Friday night.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Jaspal Singh, right, and store employee Bob Singh, left, look for a spot to place two enlarged images of lottery payoff checks, at the family store, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, where the winning lotto ticket was purchased in Cottonwood, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Ishar Gill, left, his father Jaspal Singh, center and his sister Jaspeet Gill right, look over the enlarged image of a check, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, that will be presented to the winner of $1.22 billion Mega Millions Lotto ticket that was purchased at their family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Ishar Gill holds up a copy of the Mega Millions lotto ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion at his family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, the ticket with the winning numbers was drawn Friday night.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Rob, right, buys a Mega Millions ticket at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A Mega Millions lottery ticket is displayed at a store on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Tigard, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Dennis Murphy shows off his lottery tickets he just bought at Joe's Service Center on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024 in Altadena, Calif. In 2022, the location had sold a $2.04 billion Powerball ticket. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
“We don't have the slightest clue of who may have won it or who may have sold it,” Gill told The Associated Press. “But congratulations to the winner.”
The total amount of the Mega Millions jackpot would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Friday night’s drawing is an estimated $549.7 million.
Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continued to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grew. Until Friday, the last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was Sept. 10.
The largest-ever Mega Millions jackpot ticket worth $1.6 billion was sold in Florida in August 2023. Two prizes for its compatriot Powerball lottery have been larger.
Mega Millions and Powerball are sold in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is sold in Puerto Rico.
Mega Millions ticket prices are set to rise from $2 to $5 in April. The increase will be one of many changes that officials say will result in improved jackpot odds, more frequent giant prizes and even larger payouts.
Ishar Gill holds up a copy of the Mega Millions lotto ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion at his family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, the ticket with the winning numbers was drawn Friday night.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Ishar Gill, left, his sister Verdeen Gill, center and father Jaspal Singh. right, look over congratulatory texts for selling winning the Mega-Million lotto ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion at the family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, the ticket with the winning numbers was drawn Friday night.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Jaspal Singh, right, and store employee Bob Singh, left, look for a spot to place two enlarged images of lottery payoff checks, at the family store, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, where the winning lotto ticket was purchased in Cottonwood, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Ishar Gill, left, his father Jaspal Singh, center and his sister Jaspeet Gill right, look over the enlarged image of a check, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, that will be presented to the winner of $1.22 billion Mega Millions Lotto ticket that was purchased at their family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Ishar Gill holds up a copy of the Mega Millions lotto ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion at his family's store in Cottonwood, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, the ticket with the winning numbers was drawn Friday night.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).
Rob, right, buys a Mega Millions ticket at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A Mega Millions lottery ticket is displayed at a store on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Tigard, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Dennis Murphy shows off his lottery tickets he just bought at Joe's Service Center on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024 in Altadena, Calif. In 2022, the location had sold a $2.04 billion Powerball ticket. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer there and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon, as Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”
On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice, O’Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests have been peaceful, those who cause damage to property or put others in danger will be arrested. He faulted “agitators that are trying to rile up large crowds.”
“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz echoed the call for peace.
“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone,” Walz posted on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation. Trump's administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.
Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he's frustrated with the immigration crackdown.
“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”
Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday because of the “horrifying” killing of Good in Minneapolis.
“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”
Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.
In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration that began in a park about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where the 37-year-old Good was shot on Wednesday. Marchers carried signs calling for ICE to leave and voiced support for Good and immigrants.
A couple of miles away, just as the demonstration began, an Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed officers — at least one in Border Patrol uniform — approach a person who had been following them. Two of the agents had long guns out when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and final warning.”
The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.
Protests held in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and officers guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
O’Hara said city police officers have responded to calls about cars abandoned because their drivers have been apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, the car was left in park and in another case a dog was left in the vehicle.
He said immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 callers have been alerting authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.
The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers were taking part.
Some officers moved in after abruptly pulling out of Louisiana, where they were part of another operation that started last month and was expected to last until February.
Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building on Saturday morning and were initially allowed to enter but then told they had to leave about 10 minutes later.
U.S, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of obstructing members of Congress from fulfilling their duty to oversee operations there.
“They do not care that they are violating federal law,” Craig said after being turned away.
A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.
Associated Press writers Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.
People place flowers for a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Friday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Rep. Kelly Morrison D-Minn., center, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., second from the right, and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., far right, at the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference as Police Chief Brian O'Hara listens, on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents look on as protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman holds a sign for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier in the week, as people gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two people sit in the street with their hands up in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Two people sit in the street holding hands in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
