BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Thousands rallied across Slovakia on Tuesday to protest the latest moves by the government of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico to dismantle an independent office that protects those who report corruption and other criminal activities and amend the penal code.
Rallies took place in 10 communities, including the capital, Bratislava, where the protesters at Freedom Square had a massage for Fico: “Resign, resign.”
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and people rally often to protest his pro-Russian and other policies.
This time, people were angered after lawmakers in Parliament loyal to Fico’s coalition government approved a plan to cancel the Whistleblower Protection Office last week despite critical responses to such a move at home and abroad.
In another controversial step, they voted to ban the use of evidence gathered from the suspects who cooperated with law enforcement authorities in exchange for a lower sentence. Such evidence cannot also be used if they lied in any other case.
A banner in the crowd read: “Fico’s government helps mafia.”
Michal Šimečka, the head of the Progressive Slovakia opposition party that organized the rally told the crowd: “Slovakia is the only country where the government approves laws to make life easier for criminals and mafia.”
“Shame, shame,” people chanted.
The opposition charged that the changes were designed to help a prominent ally of Fico, deputy speaker of Parliament Tibor Gašpar, who should face trial on charges of establishing a criminal group.
Protesters called on President Peter Pellegrini, usually an ally of Fico, to veto the changes. Pellegrini has to sign the legislation to become law, but the government has a majority to override it.
Fico’s critics claim that under his government, Slovakia is following the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
László Gubík, head of the Hungarian Alliance, a party that represents the 450,000 strong Hungarian minority in Slovakia, joined the anti-government protest for the first time.
FILE - From left, Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico attend a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Additional police were sent to Providence schools on Tuesday to reassure worried parents that their kids will be safe with the Brown University shooter on the loose and no indication yet that investigators have zeroed in on a suspect.
Authorities on Monday released several new videos of the man suspected in Saturday's mass shooting inside of a Brown classroom, which killed two students and wounded nine others. On Tuesday, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told MS Now that an “enhanced photograph” would soon be released.
“We have a good picture of the gunman's route, but it's not complete yet,” he said.
After releasing a person of interest in the case because the evidence pointed elsewhere, they once again pleaded with the public for any tips that might help them catch the attacker.
Tensions remain high in Providence. Ten state troopers were assigned to support the local police sent to beef up security at schools, district Superintendent Javier Montañez said.
“We recognize that the tragic incident at Brown University, occurring so close to where many of our students and families live and learn, is deeply unsettling and frightening,” he wrote in an email to parents.
With the investigation in its third day Monday, officers were still knocking on doors and poring through dumpsters and backyards near the Ivy League campus in search of additional video evidence or other clues.
But some locals expressed defiance.
“Of course it feels scary. But at the same time, I think that if the person really wanted to scare us, we shouldn’t allow him or her to win," said Tatjana Stojanovic, a Providence parent who lives next door to the Brown campus. "Despite all of that, we should just go about our lives. I mean, obviously, you cannot forget this. But I think we shouldn’t cower and just sort of stop living despite what has happened.
In the five videos authorities have released of the suspect, he was wearing a mask or his face was turned. The FBI described him as about 5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall, with a stocky build.
The attack and the shooter's escape have raised questions about campus security, including a lack of security cameras, and led to calls for better locks on campus doors. Others pushed back, though, saying such efforts do little to address the real issue.
“The issue isn’t the doors, it’s the guns,” said Zoe Kass, a senior who fled the engineering building as police stormed in Saturday. “And all of this, like, ‘Oh, the doors need to be locked.’ I get it, parents are scared. But any of us could have opened the door for the guy if the doors had been locked.”
After spending of her life in schools where every door was locked and school shootings continued to persist, Kass said such security measures only created “the illusion of safety.”
Meanwhile, details have emerged about the victims, who were in the first-floor classroom in the school's engineering building studying for a final.
Only one of the wounded students had been released as of Sunday, Brown President Christina Paxson said. One was in critical condition and the other seven were in critical but stable condition.
One of the wounded students, 18-year-old freshman Spencer Yang of New York City, told the New York Times and the Brown Daily Herald that there was a mad scramble after the gunman entered the room. Many students ran toward the front, but Yang said he wound up on the ground between some seats and was shot in the leg. He expected to be discharged within days.
Jacob Spears, 18, a freshman from Evans, Georgia, was shot in the stomach, “but through sheer adrenaline and courage, he managed to run outside, where he was aided by others," according to a GoFundMe site organized for him.
Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore who was one of the two students killed, was vice president of the Brown College Republicans and was beloved in her church in Birmingham, Alabama. In announcing her death Sunday, the Rev. R. Craig Smalley described her as “an incredible grounded, faithful, bright light” who encouraged and “lifted up those around her.”
The other student killed was, MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Virginia, who was majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. His family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan when he was a kid.
As a child, Umurzokov suffered a neurological condition that required surgery, and he later wore a back brace because of scoliosis, his sister Samira Umurzokova told The Associated Press by phone. He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a neurosurgeon to help others like him.
“He had so many hardships in his life, and he got into this amazing school and tried so hard to follow through with the promise he made when was 7 years old,” she said.
Contributing were Associated Press journalists Jennifer McDermott and Matt O'Brien in Providence; Brian Slodysko in Washington; Michael Casey in Boston; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas.
Visitors kneel at a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims outside the Engineering Research Center at Brown University, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Providence, R.I.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Photos of Brown University shooting victims Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, left, and Ella Cook, are seen amongst flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the Engineering Research Center, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Providence, R.I.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A memorial of flowers and signs lay outside the Barus and Holley engineering building at Brown University, on Hope Street in Providence, R.I., on Tuesday, Dec 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt OBrien)
Brown University senior Zoe Kass and her boyfriend return to the engineering building they fled Saturday to leave flowers on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Matt OBrien)
A classroom in Brown University's Barus and Holley building is pictured two days after a shooting occurred inside the building. in Providence, R.I., Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)
This combo image made with photos provided by the FBI and the Providence, Rhode Island, Police Department shows a person of interest in the shooting that occurred at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (FBI/Providence Police Department via AP)
A makeshift memorial is seen on the campus of Brown University, close to from the scene of the shooting, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team search for evidence near the campus of Brown University, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Visitors pause at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Saturday's shooting, at the Van Wickle Gate at Brown University, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Providence, R.I.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
