DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan prosecutor filed a terrorism charge Monday against a man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart store. The charge has been rarely used in the state's courts since it was adopted more than 20 years ago during the national outrage over 9/11.
Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg said she believes the charge fits because the weekend attack was intended to “put fear in the entire community and to change how maybe we operate on a daily basis.”
But proving that could be difficult. Bradford Gille, 42, has a history of mental health problems. A judge signed an order Friday, the day before the attack, telling police to find him and take him to a hospital because he was considered a risk to himself or others. Police said they were unable to find him.
Moeggenberg also filed attempted murder charges, one for each Walmart stabbing victim. A not-guilty plea was entered for Gille, and bond was set at $100,000.
Tobacco companies are “selling cigarettes with Fiberglas and chemicals in ’em just to kill off the population. You can’t really accuse me of anything if you’re doing that,” Gille said in court.
A look at Michigan's terrorism law:
The Michigan Legislature in 2002 created and amended a stack of anti-terrorism laws after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.
A terrorism crime is defined as an act "intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence or affect the conduct of government or a unit of government through intimidation or coercion.” A conviction carries a sentence of up to life in prison.
“I don't see the prosecutor being able to establish this,” sad Margaret Raben, a Detroit-area lawyer who has served as president of a statewide association of defense attorneys. “It seems to have been a random thing, and the fact that he injured 11 people doesn't make it any less random."
Gille's mental health will be an issue. He'll likely be evaluated to determine if he understands the charges and can assist his lawyer. Experts will also determine if he can be held criminally responsible.
Gille seemed irritated during his court appearance. When asked if he had money for a lawyer, he told a magistrate: “Not to give you.” He suggested he was homeless, noting he had no mailing address.
In 2016, Gille was accused of smashing a cemetery vault that had not yet been covered with grass, one of many encounters with local police over many years. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to Emmet County court records.
“He never should have been out on the street. It was just sad,” Karl Crawford, superintendent of Greenwood Cemetery in Petoskey, Michigan, told The Associated Press.
There's no dispute that a terrorism charge is rare in Michigan. Wayne County, the largest in the state, has never used it, according to Maria Miller, a spokesperson for the prosecutor.
The biggest case: the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in which four students were killed and more were wounded. Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to terrorism, murder and other crimes, and is serving a life sentence. He had planned the attack.
It was the first time that a school shooter was convicted of terrorism in the United States, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said.
“The sheer force of destruction, violence, trauma and murder the shooter caused that day did not stop at the doorway of Oxford High School. It was carried through the doors and out into the community," McDonald said.
Associated Press reporter Corey Williams contributed.
Officers investigate Sunday, July 27, 2025, the scene where 11 people were stabbed at a Walmart in Traverse City, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The booking photo of Bradford Gille, who is accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart, is seen behind Grand Traverse County Sheriff Mike Shea during a news conference Sunday, July 27, 2025, in Traverse City, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones blasted apartment buildings and the power grid in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa in an overnight attack that injured six people, including a toddler and two other children, officials said Wednesday.
Four apartment buildings were damaged in the bombardment, according to regional military administration head Oleh Kiper. Power company DTEK said two of its energy facilities suffered significant damage. The company said that 10 substations that distribute electricity in the Odesa region were damaged in December alone.
Russia has this year escalated its long-range attacks on urban areas of Ukraine. In recent months, as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor approaches its four-year milestone in February, it has also intensified its targeting of energy infrastructure, seeking to deny Ukrainians heat and running water in the bitter winter months.
From January to November this year, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier this month. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023, it said.
Russia’s sustained drone and missile attacks have taken place against backdrop of renewed diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday and announced that a settlement is “closer than ever before." The Ukrainian leader is due to hold talks next week with the heads of European governments supporting his efforts to secure acceptable terms.
The ongoing attacks, meantime, are inflaming tensions.
The overnight Odesa strikes “are further evidence of the enemy’s terror tactics, which deliberately target civilian infrastructure,” Kiper, the regional head, said.
Moscow has alleged that Ukraine attempted to attack Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia with 91 long-range drones late Sunday and early Monday. Ukrainian officials deny the claim and say it’s a ruse to derail progress in the peace negotiations.
Maj. Gen. Alexander Romanenkov of the Russian air force claimed Wednesday that the drones took off from Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
At a briefing where no questions were allowed, he presented a map showing the drone flight routes before they were downed by Russian air defenses over the Bryansk, Tver, Smolensk and Novgorod regions.
It was not possible to independently verify the reports.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, on Wednesday called the Russian allegations “a deliberate distraction” from the peace talks.
“No one should accept unfounded claims from the aggressor who has indiscriminately targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilians since the start of the war,” Kallas posted on X.
Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Romania and Croatia are the latest countries to join a fund that buys weapons for Ukraine from the United States. The financial arrangement, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, pools contributions from NATO members, except the United States, to purchase American weapons, munitions and equipment.
Since it was established in August, 24 countries are now contributing to the fund, according to Zelenskyy. The fund has so far received $4.3 billion, with almost $1.5 billion coming in December alone, he said on social media.
Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that Russia fired 127 drones at the country during the night, with 101 of them intercepted by air defenses.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 86 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russian regions, the Black Sea and the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula.
The Ukrainian attack started a fire at an oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, but it was quickly put out, local authorities said.
This story has corrected the day of the alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian president’s residence to late Sunday and early Monday.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, a Russian Army soldier fires from D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
