Challenger to Hungary's Orbán announces new political alternative to tens of thousands of supporters

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mobilized tens of thousands of supporters in Hungary's capital on Saturday, outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to the populist leader's 14-year hold on power.

At the center of the demonstration, the latest in a recent series of protests against Orbán's right-wing nationalist government, was political newcomer Peter Magyar, a former insider within Hungary's ruling Fidesz party who has shot to prominence in recent weeks through his allegations of entrenched corruption and cronyism among the country's leaders.

Magyar addressed a crowd that filled the sprawling square near the parliament building in Budapest, announcing his creation of a new political community aimed at uniting both conservative and liberal Hungarians disillusioned by Orbán's governance and the fragmented, ineffectual political opposition.

“Step by step, brick by brick, we are taking back our homeland and building a new country, a sovereign, modern, European Hungary,” Magyar said, adding that the protest was “the biggest political demonstration in years.”

Magyar, 43, was once a member of Orbán's political circle and is the ex-husband of former justice minister and Orbán ally Judit Varga. But he broke ranks in February in the wake of a political scandal that led to the resignation of his ex-wife and the president, and has amassed a large following with frequent media appearances where he portrays Hungary's political life as having been taken over by a privileged group of oligarchs and anti-democratic elites.

He has argued that Orbán’s government operates as a “mafia,” and advocated for a moral, political and economic transformation of the country that would rein in corruption and create a more pluralistic political system.

“More than twenty years have passed as our elected leaders have incited the Hungarian people against each other. Whether the fate of our country went well or we were close to bankruptcy, we were pitted against each other instead of allowing us to band together,” Magyar said. “We will put an end to this now.”

Hungary's government has dismissed Magyar as an opportunist seeking to forge a new career after his divorce with Varga and his loss of positions in several state companies. But his rise has compounded political headaches for Orbán that have included the resignation of members of his government and a painful economic crisis.

Last month, Magyar released an audio recording of a conversation between him and his ex-wife Varga that he said proved that top officials had conspired to manipulate court records in order to cover up their involvement in a corruption case. He has called on Orbán's government to resign and for a restoration of fair elections.

Orbán’s critics at home and in the European Union have long accused him of eroding Hungary’s democratic institutions, taking over large swaths of the media and altering the country’s election system to give his party an advantage. The EU has withheld billions in funding to Budapest over alleged democratic backsliding, misuse of EU funds and failure to guarantee minority rights.

One demonstrator on Saturday, Zoltan Koszler, said he wanted a “complete change in the system, which is now completely unacceptable to me.”

“I want to live in a normal rule-of-law state where the principles of the rule of law are really adhered to, not only on paper, but in reality,” he said.

Magyar has said he will found a new party which will run in EU and municipal elections this summer.

People gather in support of a political newcomer Peter Magyar, a former insider within Hungary's ruling Fidesz party on Saturday, April 6, 2024. A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mobilized tens of thousands of supporters outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to the populist leader's 14-year hold on power. (AP Photo/Justin Spike)

Peter Magyar, a former insider within Hungary's ruling Fidesz party, a political newcomer, leads people with a banner that reads: "Do not be afraid!" during a protest on Saturday, April 6, 2024. A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mobilized tens of thousands of supporters outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to the populist leader's 14-year hold on power. (AP Photo/Justin Spike)

People gather in support of a political newcomer Peter Magyar, a former insider within Hungary's ruling Fidesz party on Saturday, April 6, 2024. A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mobilized tens of thousands of supporters outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to the populist leader's 14-year hold on power. (AP Photo/Justin Spike)

People gather in support of a political newcomer Peter Magyar, a former insider within Hungary's ruling Fidesz party on Saturday, April 6, 2024. A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mobilized tens of thousands of supporters outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to the populist leader's 14-year hold on power. (AP Photo/Justin Spike)

People gather in support of a political newcomer Peter Magyar, a former insider within Hungary's ruling Fidesz party on Saturday, April 6, 2024. A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mobilized tens of thousands of supporters outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to the populist leader's 14-year hold on power. (AP Photo/Justin Spike)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Six people who all knew each other were inside a vehicle when one, a man with an alleged gang connection, shot each of them in the head before fleeing, according to newly unsealed criminal charges in this week's mass shooting in Minneapolis.

Three victims died at the scene early Tuesday. Another succumbed to his wounds Thursday. One remains hospitalized after being shot in the face but was able to identify the shooter to police, according to the criminal complaint.

And investigators believe a fifth person was killed hours later in retaliation. A suspect in the first shooting was arrested Thursday and has been charged with murder.

Police say the victims were all Native Americans and the shooting was gang-related. The rash of violence has shaken one of the country’s largest urban Indigenous communities.

The first shooting happened on Tuesday just before midnight in a vehicle parked in the diverse residential and commercial neighborhood of Phillips in south Minneapolis. The county medical examiner's office on Friday said the three who died at the scene were Evan Ramon Denny, 27 of St. Paul; Joseph Douglas Goodwin, 17, of Minneapolis; and Merelle Joan White, 20, of Red Lake. Two had been shot multiple times.

A 20-year-old woman was shot in the face and hospitalized in critical condition, the complaint said. She said the shooter was sitting in the back seat when he opened fire on her and everyone else in the vehicle before fleeing on foot.

A 28-year-old man was hospitalized in grave condition but died shortly after the suspect was arrested on Thursday, police said. That victim's name was still being withheld Friday.

About 13 hours later and a few blocks away, a man was killed near an apartment building that happens to house the Minneapolis office of the Red Lake Nation, one of the state's largest tribes. The medical examiner identified him Friday as Tiago Antonio Gilbert, 34, of Minneapolis. He died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The Minneapolis police chief said Thursday it was “entirely probable” this second shooting was revenge for the first. But a police spokesman, Sgt. Garrett Parten, said investigators were still working to determine if there was a link.

Police have released few other details about that homicide.

A makeshift memorial had sprung up by Friday at the site of the first shooting. Red, silver and black balloons were tied to a tree where a plush eagle toy was also attached. At the base were candles, fresh flowers and a bottle of tequila.

The state’s 11 sovereign tribal nations issued a joint statement Thursday, mourning the deaths and urging anyone with information to contact city law enforcement or their own tribal police.

“As native peoples, we have always known grief,” the statement said. “But we have also always experienced the strength that comes afterward. We are here because our ancestors cared for one another. That is how you are even here — because someone before you chose love, protection, and community over despair.”

The complaint against James Duane Ortley, 34, of Minneapolis, alleges that he and members of his family are associated with a gang known as the Native Mob, which operates in the city’s south and other parts of Minnesota.

The gang was the subject of a multiyear federal investigation over a decade ago that resulted in the convictions of 28 people. Its alleged leader at the time was sentenced in 2014 to 43 years in prison.

The U.S. Marshals Service said its local fugitive task force and an FBI SWAT team arrested Ortley on Thursday afternoon. He was charged a day earlier with second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Ortley has a felony assault conviction on his record from 2021, which the complaint said prohibits him from possessing guns or ammunition. Court records show he completed his probation in 2023. When police interviewed him in 2023 in a separate homicide investigation, the complaint said, he acknowledged that his street name was “Baby James.”

Ortley remained jailed Friday, and court records didn’t list an attorney who could comment on his behalf. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday. The chief public defender for Hennepin County, Michael Berger, said his office probably won’t learn if it’s representing Ortley until Monday. Messages were left with several potential relatives of Ortley's.

The victim who survived told police the shooter went by the street names “Baby J,” “Little J” and “Little James,” and was a friend of one of the victims, according to the complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.

Relatives of one victim told police that the victims were all together at a family friend's residence in Minneapolis but left around 9:30 p.m. with plans to pick up “Baby J,” who was known to be a “close family friend” of the victims. The family member identified “Baby J” as the defendant.

Other law enforcement sources told investigators that Ortley was “an associate” of more than one victim, the complaint said.

A surveillance video was consistent with the survivor's account, the complaint said. It shows one person matching Ortley's description exiting the vehicle and fleeing before police arrived.

The complaint gave no details on what might have prompted the shootings.

“This is a bittersweet day,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement Friday. “While this arrest represents meaningful progress toward justice, that progress is overshadowed by the heartbreaking loss of another life. Our thoughts remain with the victims’ families, their loved ones, and a community that continues to grieve.”

This story had been updated to correct in the headline that he has been charged in four homicides, instead of charged with four homicides.

Associated Press reporters Mark Vancleave in Minneapolis and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed.

Items are placed as a memorial at the site of a late Tuesday fatal shooting, on Friday, May 2, 2025 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

Items are placed as a memorial at the site of a late Tuesday fatal shooting, on Friday, May 2, 2025 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

A police officer works on the scene as a bystander is shook up by the homicide in front of 2107 Cedar Ave S in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

Police work on the scene as a bystander is shook up by the homicide in front of 2107 Cedar Ave S in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)