NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Saturday in a social media post that after talking to President Donald Trump, he has agreed to grant a visa to the mother of a 15-year-old immigrant from Ghana who was shot to death earlier this week.
The White House did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press confirming the administration would be issuing the visa.
The teen, Javits Frimpong, was on his way to school in a Bronx neighborhood shortly before 9:30 a.m. Thursday when he was shot in the abdomen, New York City police said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital later that day. No arrests have yet been made, and the killing remains under investigation.
“The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away,” Mamdani wrote Saturday on X. “Javits Frimpong’s mother deserves to say goodbye to her son in person. I just got off the phone with President Trump and he has agreed to grant her visa immediately.”
“All of New York City is mourning this tragedy,” he said.
Frimpong arrived in the Bronx from Ghana a year ago to be with his father and begin a new life in the United States, according to U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from the Bronx.
Frimpong was on his way to school when he was shot, Torres wrote on X.
“Our entire borough is mourning a young man who should have had his whole future ahead of him,” Torres said. “Every child in the Bronx deserves to walk to school without fearing for their life, and no parent should ever have to endure what Javits’s father, Thomas, is enduring now.”
Thomas Frimpong described his son as a quiet teen who spent much of his time on his cellphone. He told reporters that several days before the shooting he learned his son was being bullied at school.
“It was the principal who told me,” Thomas Frimpong said. “He said two guys are disturbing my son so he has suspended the two guys. My son is at school. He’s innocent, so I call him. I talk with my son, he said ‘dad, I’m OK.’ ”
Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa said in a post on X that Ghanaian officials in New York are coordinating with local authorities and that the foreign ministry “will work tirelessly with U.S. authorities to ensure justice is secured.”
Trump has clamped down on immigration during his second term, including suspending the processing of visas from 75 countries.
FILE - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to media after his meeting with President Donald Trump, Sept. 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)
ROME (AP) — They’ve been blessed by the pope. And now it’s finally time for some hoops.
The Villanova and Notre Dame men’s and women’s teams are meeting in a doubleheader in Rome on Sunday to open the college basketball season.
The event, dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off, was created to honor the first American pope.
Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV received all four teams in an audience at the Vatican on Saturday.
Leo told the teams from his alma mater Villanova and fellow Catholic university Notre Dame that in matters of sport, the pontiff is neutral.
Then the pope, who was born Robert Prevost, said his former self might disagree.
“Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now,” he said to laughs during a whooping, cheering audience of 7,000 people from both schools — players, coaches, fans and their families — in the Vatican audience hall.
The games are being played at the 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport, which is located about a half-hour drive from the Vatican.
While Leo, who underwent lung cancer surgery last month, was not expected to attend the games, a contingent of cardinals and other Vatican officials was expected at the arena.
The schools also brought their team chaplains to Rome.
The men’s game starts at 3:30 p.m. local (9:30 a.m. ET) and is being shown on Fox with Bill Raftery as the analyst. The women’s game, which features the only ranked team of the day in No. 13 Notre Dame, is slated for 6 p.m. (noon ET) on FS1.
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Pope Leo XIV examines a basketball he received as a gift in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Villanova men's basketball team takes part in a training session in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
From left, Villanova's guards Elijah Crawford, and Brady Muller present Pope Leo XIV with a personalized Villanova's jersey as they meet in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
From left, Notre Dame's guards Braeden Smith and Logan Imes, and from right, guards Hanna Hidalgo and Kelly Ratigan present Pope Leo XIV with a personalized Notre Dame's jersey and basketball as they meet in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men’s and women’s college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
This combination of three images shows Pope Leo XIV as he examines a basketball he received in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
