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From way downtown! Twice! Virginia Tech, Miami kickers close 1st half with a field goal display

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From way downtown! Twice! Virginia Tech, Miami kickers close 1st half with a field goal display
Sport

Sport

From way downtown! Twice! Virginia Tech, Miami kickers close 1st half with a field goal display

2024-09-28 12:35 Last Updated At:12:40

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — John Love and Andy Borregales sent Virginia Tech and No. 7 Miami into halftime with a little bit of fireworks Friday night.

They're the kickers — and they connected on career-longs 20 seconds apart to end the first half.

Love made a 57-yarder for Virginia Tech, and Borregales answered with a 56-yarder for Miami on the final play before halftime. The Hokies took a 24-17 lead into the locker room in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Love added a 52-yarder in the second half, but Miami wound up rallying for a 38-34 victory.

It was the first FBS game since an Arizona-Washington State matchup on Oct. 28, 2017 — according to SportRadar — where both teams connected on a field goal of at least 56 yards.

There were 14 field goals of 56 yards or more at the FBS level in the entire 2023 season, the NCAA said, and Love and Borregales pushed the number of such kicks in 2024 to 10 already.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Miami place kicker Andres Borregales (30) watches after kicking a field goal during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Ball State, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami place kicker Andres Borregales (30) watches after kicking a field goal during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Ball State, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

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Newark mayor denies trespassing at immigration detention center following arrest

2025-05-11 06:19 Last Updated At:06:20

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on Saturday denied trespassing at a new federal immigration detention center during a confrontation that led to his arrest while the Democrat was at the facility with three members of Congress.

Baraka, who has been protesting the center’s opening this week, was released around 8 p.m. Friday after spending several hours in custody. He was accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings to leave the Delaney Hall facility.

Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for public affairs with the Department of Homeland Security, said in an interview with CNN on Saturday that the investigation was ongoing, and the department also released more video of the confrontation. McLaughlin also accused Baraka, who is seeking his party's nomination for governor, of playing “political games."

“I'm shocked by all the lies that were told here,” Baraka said, who said he had been invited there for a press conference. “No one else arrested, I was invited in, then they arrested me on the sidewalk.”

Baraka, who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration. He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.

Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group.

Habba said Baraka had “chosen to disregard the law.”

Video of the incident showed that Baraka was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate to the facility.

Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.

When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates.

“There was yelling and pushing,” Martinez said. “Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.”

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of Delaney Hall, which the agency said it would have facilitated. The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon “a group of protesters, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.”

Ned Cooper, a spokesperson for Watson Coleman, said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour.

“Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not ‘storm’ the detention center,” Watson Coleman said in a statement. “The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didn’t even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident.”

In video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because “you are not a Congress member.”

Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: “They’re talking about coming back to arrest you.”

“I’m not on their property. They can’t come out on the street and arrest me,” Baraka replied.

Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, “Shame,” Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs.

Rep. Menendez said in a statement that as members of Congress, they have the legal right to carry out oversight at DHS facilities without prior notice and have done so twice already this year. But on Friday, “Throughout every step of this visit, ICE attempted to intimidate everyone involved and impede our ability to conduct oversight.”

In an interview Saturday with MSNBC, Baraka recounted being put in a cell, getting his fingerprints taken and being the subject of a mug shot. He said he would continue to try to gain entry to the detention facility. “We don’t know what’s going on in there,” said Baraka, who has a court date scheduled for Thursday.

The two-story building is next to a county prison formerly operated as a halfway house.

In February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, in an unusually long and large agreement for ICE.

The announcement was part of President Donald Trump’s plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year.

Baraka sued Geo soon after the deal was announced.

Geo touted the Delaney Hall contract during an earnings call with shareholders Wednesday, with CEO David Donahue saying it was expected to generate more than $60 million a year in revenue. He said the facility began the intake process May 1.

Hall said the activation of the center and another in Michigan would increase capacity under contract with ICE from around 20,000 beds to around 23,000.

DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared.

Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.

Protestors shout "Let him out" to demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Protestors shout "Let him out" to demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Protestors demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest at an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Protestors demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest at an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Amina Baraka, mother of Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, hugs Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., outside of an ICE office after her son's arrest, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Amina Baraka, mother of Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, hugs Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., outside of an ICE office after her son's arrest, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Rep. LaMonica McIver, center, demands the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Rep. LaMonica McIver, center, demands the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., speaks with an officer demanding she be let into the ICE Detention office after the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., speaks with an officer demanding she be let into the ICE Detention office after the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

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