U.S. pairs champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov underscored exactly what the American team could be missing at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Saturday when they rallied to win the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing.
Efimova and Mitrofanov were in third place, nearly five points back of China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, after the short program. But they rallied to win the free skate and finished with 205.34 points, while Sui and Han — who will be trying to defend their Olympic title when they get to Milan in less than two weeks — slipped to second with 200.99 points.
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Tomoki Hiwatashi of the United States competes in the Men Short Program of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Kao Miura of Japan competes in the Men Short Program of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Gold medalists Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States react after the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States compete in the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Gold medalists Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States celebrate with their national flag and medals after the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi of Japan fell from second to third with 197.46 points.
Efimova and Mitrofanov were the talk of the U.S. championships earlier this month, not only because of their performance in St. Louis but also because of their situation. While he was born in Wisconsin and raised in Texas, Efimova was born in Finland, and the only way that athletes can compete at the Winter Olympics is if they are citizens of the nation they are representing.
Efimova married Mitrofanov nearly two years ago and has a valid green card. But despite help from officials in Massachusetts, where they train at the Skating Club of Boston, she was unable to secure a passport before the U.S. had to select its Olympic team.
The rules are different for non-Olympic events, such as Four Continents and the world championships. Those events are run by the International Skating Union, not governed by the International Olympic Committee, so Efimova is allowed to represent the U.S. there.
Efimova and Mitrofanov would have been podium contenders in the pairs event in Milan. They also would have been able to help the Americans in the team event, where they are the defending champions. Instead, the U.S. will have to rely on national silver medalists Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea and fourth-place finishers Emily Chan and Spencer Howe in the team competition.
Earlier on Saturday, Kao Miura led a Japanese sweep of the short program at Four Continents, scoring 98.59 points in his final tune-up for the Milan Cortina Olympics. Kazuki Tomono was second with 97.19 points and Sota Yamamoto was third with 94.68.
Tomono and Yamamoto are not part of the Japanese team going to the Winter Games.
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, Jin Boyang of China and Junhwan Cha of South Korea were right behind; all of them will be in the men's competition in Milan. None of the U.S. team that's headed to the Olympics is competing at Four Continents, leaving Tomoki Hiwatashi to lead the American contingent in eighth place with 80.88 points at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing.
The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships conclude Sunday with the men's free skate.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Tomoki Hiwatashi of the United States competes in the Men Short Program of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Kao Miura of Japan competes in the Men Short Program of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Gold medalists Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States react after the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States compete in the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Gold medalists Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States celebrate with their national flag and medals after the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democrats demanded that federal immigration officers leave Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally a man in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigid streets and increasing tensions in a city already shaken by another shooting death weeks earlier.
Family members identified the man who was killed as Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse who protested President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city. After the shooting, an angry crowd gathered and protesters clashed with federal officers, who wielded batons and deployed flash bangs.
The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police at the direction of Gov. Tim Walz, officials said. Guard troops were sent to both the shooting site and a federal building where officers have squared off with demonstrators daily.
Information about what led up to the shooting was limited, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when they tried to disarm him.
In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.
O'Hara said police believe he was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference that Pretti had shown up to “impede a law enforcement operation.” She questioned why he was armed but did not offer details about whether Pretti drew the weapon or brandished it at officers.
The officer who shot him is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.
The president weighed in on social media by lashing out at Walz and the Minneapolis mayor.
He shared images of the gun that immigration officials said was recovered and said: “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”
Trump, a Republican, said the Democratic governor and mayor are “are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was among several Democratic lawmakers demanding federal immigration authorities leave Minnesota. She also urged Democrats to refuse to vote to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying via social media: “We have a responsibility to protect Americans from tyranny.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer later said that Democrats will not vote for a spending package that includes money for DHS, which oversees ICE. Schumer’s statement increases the possibility that the government could partially shut down Jan. 30 when funding runs out.
Pretti was shot just over a mile from where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7, sparking widespread protests.
Pretti's family released a statement Saturday evening saying they are “heartbroken but also very angry” and calling him a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.
“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed," the family statement said. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
In a bystander video obtained by The Associated Press, protesters are heard blowing whistles and shouting profanities at federal officers on Nicollet Avenue.
An officer shoves a person who is wearing a brown jacket, skirt and black tights and carrying a water bottle. That person reaches out for a man, and the two link up, embracing. The man, wearing a brown jacket and black hat, seems to be holding his phone up toward the officer.
The same officer shoves the man in his chest and the two, still embracing, fall back.
The video shifts to a different part of the street and then comes back to the two individuals unlinking from each other. It shifts focus again and then shows three officers surrounding the man.
Soon at least seven officers surround him. One is on his back, and another who appears to have a canister in his hand strikes a blow to his chest. Several officers try to bring the man’s arms behind his back as he appears to resist. As they pull his arms, his face is briefly visible. The officer with the canister strikes him near his head several times.
A shot rings out, but with officers surrounding the man, it’s not clear where it came from. Multiple officers back off. More shots are heard. Officers back away, and the man lies motionless on the street.
The police chief appealed for calm, both from the public and from federal law enforcement.
“Our demand today is for those federal agencies that are operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement in this country demands,” the chief said. “We urge everyone to remain peaceful."
Gregory Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol, who has commanded the administration’s big-city immigration campaign, said the officer who shot the man had extensive training as a range safety officer and in using less-lethal force.
“This is only the latest attack on law enforcement. Across the country, the men and women of DHS have been attacked, shot at,” he said.
Walz said he had no confidence in federal officials and the state would lead the investigation into the shooting.
But Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said during a news conference that federal officers blocked his agency from the scene even after it obtained a signed judicial warrant.
Demonstrations broke out in several cities across the country including New York, Washington and Los Angeles.
In Minneapolis, protesters converged at the scene of the shooting in Minneapolis despite dangerously cold weather — by the afternoon the worst of an extreme cold wave was over, but the temperature was still -6 degrees (-21 Celsius).
An angry crowd gathered after the shooting and screamed profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home. One officer responded mockingly as he walked away, telling them: “Boo hoo.” Agents elsewhere shoved a yelling protester into a car. Protesters dragged garbage dumpsters from alleyways to block streets, and people chanted “ICE out now” and “Observing ICE is not a crime.”
As dark fell hundreds of people mourned quietly by a growing memorial at the site of the shooting. Some carried signs saying “Justice for Alex Pretti.” Others chanted Pretti's and Good's names. A doughnut shop and a clothing store nearby stayed open, offering protesters a warm place as well as water, coffee and snacks.
Caleb Spike said he came from a nearby suburb to show his support and his frustration. “It feels like every day something crazier happens,” he said. “What’s happening in our community is wrong, it’s sickening, it’s disgusting.”
Santana reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell'Orto, Tim Sullivan and Sarah Raza in Minnesota, Jim Mustian in New York, Michael Catalini in New Jersey and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.
Federal agents deploy tear gas and other munitions into a crowd of people near the intersection of 27th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis after a federal officer shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
People gather at the site where a federal officer shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
A person holds up their hands as law enforcement deploys a thick screen of teargas on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
