CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Darian Mensah has enrolled at Miami, giving the Hurricanes another standout transfer at quarterback as they come off a season where they went to the national championship game and got into the College Football Playoff for the first time.
Mensah transferred to Miami from Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke on Tuesday night. Duke had agreed earlier Tuesday to end a legal battle with its now-former quarterback over whether he should be allowed to sign elsewhere.
Duke and Mensah announced they came to that agreement, a few hours before Mensah and his top target with the Blue Devils this past season — wide receiver Cooper Barkate — toured the Miami campus in Coral Gables, Florida.
About 12 hours later, Mensah's deal with Miami was official. Barkate committed Tuesday night as well, after the former Duke duo dined at a steakhouse in Miami Beach alongside some current and former Miami players.
Mensah is joining his third team in as many years. He threw for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns for Tulane in 2024, then had 3,973 passing yards and 34 touchdowns — both best in the ACC — for Duke while leading the Blue Devils to a surprise conference title this past season.
And the Hurricanes are hoping he can keep their run of portal-quarterback success going.
Miami has hit home runs in the past two seasons by going the transfer route, first with Cam Ward — who played his way into becoming the No. 1 pick in last year's NFL draft — leading the Hurricanes to a 10-win season in 2024, then this past season with Carson Beck guiding the team to its first national championship game in nearly a quarter-century.
The Hurricanes return a slew of offensive firepower from the national runner-up team, including star wide receiver Malachi Toney — the nation's top freshman this past season — along with running backs Mark Fletcher Jr., Marty Brown and Girard Pringle, and tight end Elija Lofton.
Barkate, who is also set to join his third different team in a three-season span, would seem to add even more to that already-loaded mix. He has 185 catches for 2,848 yards and 21 touchdowns in his college career, which includes three years at Harvard — he has an economics degree from there — and then this past season at Duke.
Duke plays at Miami this coming season, visiting on Nov. 14. The Blue Devils are coached by Manny Diaz, who coached Miami from 2019 through 2021. He was replaced in Coral Gables by Miami alum Mario Cristobal, who led the team to a school-record 13 wins this past season and its first instance of back-to-back 10-win seasons since a four-year run of those from 2000 through 2003.
Miami opens the 2026 season at Stanford on Sept. 4.
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Miami head coach Mario Cristobal speaks during news conference ahead of the College Football Playoff national championship game between Miami and Indiana, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Miami. The game will be played on Monday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
FILE - Duke quarterback Darian Mensah looks to pass the ball against Virginia in the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game in Charlotte, N.C., Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump seemed to signal a willingness to ease tensions in Minneapolis after a second deadly shooting by federal immigration agents, but there was little evidence Wednesday of any significant changes following weeks of harsh rhetoric and clashes with protesters.
The strain was evident when Trump made a leadership change by sending his top border adviser to Minnesota to take charge of the immigration crackdown. That was followed by seemingly conciliatory remarks about the Democratic governor and mayor.
Trump said he and Gov. Tim Walz, whom he criticized for weeks, were on “a similar wavelength” following a phone call. After a conversation with Mayor Jacob Frey, the president praised the discussion and declared that “lots of progress is being made.”
But on city streets, there were few signs of a shift. Immigration enforcement operations and confrontations with activists continued Wednesday in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
A group of protesters blew whistles and pointed out federal officers in a vehicle on a north Minneapolis street. When the officers’ vehicle moved, a small convoy of activists followed in their cars for a few blocks until the officers stopped again.
Associated Press journalists were in the neighborhood covering the enforcement actions. When the journalists got out of their car to document the encounter, officers with the federal Bureau of Prisons pushed one of them, threatened them with arrest and told them to get back in their car despite the reporters' identifying themselves as media.
Officers from multiple federal agencies have been involved in the enforcement operations. From their car, the AP journalists saw at least one person being pepper sprayed and one detained, though it was unclear if that person was the target of the operation or a protester. Agents also broke car windows.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is visiting Minnesota, said 16 people were arrested Wednesday on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement in the state. She said more arrests were expected.
“NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law," Bondi said in a social media post.
Messages seeking comment were left with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
Many immigrant families are still fearful of leaving their homes, and Latino businesses are still closed, said Daniel Hernandez, who owns the Minneapolis grocery store Colonial Market. He also runs a popular Facebook page geared toward informing the Hispanic community in the Twin Cities.
While Colonial Market is open, all but one of the dozen immigrant-run businesses that rented space inside to sell clothes, jewelry and toys have closed since late December, and none has plans to reopen, Hernandez said.
“The reality is the community is still very worried and afraid,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez referenced Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who helped lead the administration's crackdown in the Twin Cities and who has reportedly been assigned elsewhere.
Bovino "was removed, but the tactics so far are still the same," Hernandez said. “Nobody now is trusting the government with those changes.”
The federal enforcement extended to the city’s Ecuadorian consulate, where a federal law enforcement officer tried to enter before being blocked by employees.
Meanwhile, Trump said in a social media post that the mayor was “PLAYING WITH FIRE” by not participating in the enforcement efforts.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Donnie McMillan placed a cardboard sign reading “In remembrance of my angel” at the makeshift memorial where Alex Pretti was shot.
The Vietnam veteran, 71, knelt to pay his respects and saluted to honor the nurse whom he said he remembered seeing during his frequent visits to the Veterans Affairs hospital where Pretti worked.
“I feel like I’ve lost an angel right here,” McMillan said, pointing to the growing sidewalk memorial covered in flowers, candles and signs.
“This is not the way we should operate,” McMillan said. “I respect everybody, but I respect my angel more, and now he’s no longer with us.”
Also Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said two federal agents involved in Pretti's death have been on leave since Saturday, when the shooting happened.
In other developments, a man confronted Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar during a town hall meeting and sprayed her with a strong-smelling substance as she denounced the administration. He was tackled and identified by police as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak, who has a criminal record and had made online posts supportive of Trump.
Minnesota court records show Kazmierczak was convicted of auto theft in 1989 and has multiple arrests for driving under the influence, along with a slew of traffic offenses. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
In social media posts, Kazmierczak described himself as a former network engineer who lives in Minneapolis and had made comments critical of former President Joe Biden, referring to Democrats as “angry and liars.”
He was jailed on a preliminary third-degree assault charge, police said.
After the attack, there was a strong, vinegarlike smell in the room, according to an AP journalist who was there. Authorities have not publicly identified the substance, which was squirted from a syringe containing a light-brown liquid.
Omar continued speaking for about 25 minutes after the man was ushered out by security, saying she would not be intimidated. After the event, she said she was unharmed.
The administration was also being challenged in court. Federal courts were weighing a decision on a lawsuit seeking to pause the crackdown, as well as an order for the head of ICE to appear personally to address what a judge said were failures to grant due process for certain immigrants.
Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.
The Ecuadorian consulate stands in Minneapolis, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)
Vietnam war veteran Donnie McMillan places a sign that says "In remembrance of my angel" at a memorial set up at the location where Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti was shot by U.S. federal agents, in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)
A person is attended to after federal officers used a chemical irritant on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A person walks past a memorial honoring Alex Pretti outside the Minneapolis VA hospital on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
A federal officer approaches observers and journalists on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
ADDS MORE INFORMATION Federal Bureau of Prisons officers threaten AP video journalist Mark Vancleave with arrest on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Federal agents knock on a door of a residence on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
