CHICAGO (AP) — The town of Newport, Maine, has a population of about 3,200 people. There's a bowling alley, a popular local diner that serves breakfast all day, a hunting club and it costs only $6 to license your dog.
It is a quintessential small New England town. It is not known for developing NBA stars.
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Khaman Maluach, left, and Cooper Flagg warm up on the court at the 2025 NBA basketball draft combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Khaman Maluach, from rear left, and Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Tre Johnson participate in the 2025 NBA basketball draft combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Cooper Flagg participates at the 2025 NBA basketball draft combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Cooper Flagg (51), Khaman Maluach (14) and Ace Bailey (21) participate at the 2025 NBA basketball Draft Combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Cooper Flagg participates at the 2025 NBA basketball Draft Combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Cooper Flagg was undeterred.
Flagg played his lone college year at Duke, finished high school in Florida at Montverde Academy and presumably will soon be moving to Dallas to play for the Mavericks, the team that has the No. 1 pick in next month's NBA draft. But he's still just an 18-year-old from Maine, a small-town kid who says “please” and “thank you” and seems completely unphased by being labeled basketball's next big thing.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from," Flagg said Wednesday at the draft combine. “If you have a goal, if you have a dream and you put your mind to it ... I mean, honestly, for me it wasn’t real until I was in high school, but I always loved the game of basketball. I always put the work in. I always wanted to be the best that I could be.”
The only player who lists Maine as his birthplace and played in the NBA this season is Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson. There are a couple of players — current Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle among them — who went to the NBA after spending at least some of their college career at the University of Maine. But the basketball history, at least at the NBA level, of the Pine Tree State isn't exactly rich.
Flagg — who should be a high school senior right now in Newport, then decided to reclassify and go to college early — could soon change that.
“I'm so proud of this guy, what he’s done,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said last month at the Final Four. “I have to remind myself it’s a year early. He should be graduating high school now. To have the season that he’s had, I think the stats speak for itself. I think how hard he plays, the highlights, all those things speaks for itself. But it’s the person he is every day.”
Flagg is starting to settle into his new reality.
He's been considered the presumptive No. 1 pick in next month's NBA draft for some time and now knows that pick is held by the Mavericks — winners of the draft lottery earlier this week. Flagg was at the lottery along with a handful of other draft picks, all of whom met NBA Commissioner Adam Silver briefly before the event started.
It's a rare Texas two-step of No. 1 picks for Dallas. The Dallas Wings had the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft last month and took UConn's Paige Bueckers, and now the Mavericks will follow as holders of a No. 1 pick.
This one-city, two-No. 1-picks double has happened only once before — 2003, when the Cleveland Rockers chose LaToya Thomas and the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted LeBron James two months later.
“I’m grateful to get this opportunity, any opportunity to any team, to be able to hear my name called on draft night and shake Adam Silver’s hand,” Flagg said. "I’m just really excited for this whole opportunity. The environment, just go through this process, not everybody gets to do this, so I just feel really blessed.”
In Dallas, Flagg could join a roster with fellow former Duke players Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II — and be part of a new chapter for the Mavericks, who saw their fan base rocked in February by the decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“As far as Dallas goes, they’ve got a lot of really good pieces," Flagg said. "D-Live, coming from Duke, that’s pretty cool. So I think it would be a really cool opportunity.”
Flagg has gone through the rigors of the draft combine this week, getting height, weight, vertical leap and various sizes measured, along with hitting the court for some shooting, agility and speed drills.
He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists while leading Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season. He shot 48% from the field, 39% from 3-point range, 84% from the foul line and was The Associated Press’ national player of the year.
He's done Duke, and Montverde, and Maine proud. He has no plans on stopping now.
“Growing up in Maine, there’s people that told me I would never be able to make it to the next level or play Division I basketball because I’m from Maine and nobody plays up there," Flagg said. "I think just that message of ‘it doesn’t matter where you’re from,' as long as you work hard and trust yourself and trust your ability, then you can really accomplish anything.”
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Khaman Maluach, left, and Cooper Flagg warm up on the court at the 2025 NBA basketball draft combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Khaman Maluach, from rear left, and Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Tre Johnson participate in the 2025 NBA basketball draft combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Cooper Flagg participates at the 2025 NBA basketball draft combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Cooper Flagg (51), Khaman Maluach (14) and Ace Bailey (21) participate at the 2025 NBA basketball Draft Combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Cooper Flagg participates at the 2025 NBA basketball Draft Combine in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
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.
Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, starting in his first term, but hasn't followed through. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.
“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,” 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.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.
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. and Golden reported from Seattle. 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)
