Trump is set to respond to Harris on immigration during his visit to a small Wisconsin town

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. (AP) — A day after Vice President Kamala Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, former President Donald Trump is expected to respond by again linking her to illegal border crossings at an event in a western Wisconsin river town.

Trump heads Saturday to Prairie du Chien, a town of about 5,000 people just across the Mississippi River from Iowa, for a campaign event focused on immigration. He is expected to highlight the local case of a Venezuelan national accused of sexually assaulting a woman and attacking her daughter in an alleged domestic dispute.

Trump is hoping frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected.

Hours before the rally, scores of supporters were lined up waiting as vendors sold Trump signs and T-shirts around the auditorium. The halls were lined with placards on immigration, and the stage had photos of people in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crime. One sign read: “Kamala Harris wants to make every state a ‘sanctuary state.’”

Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have held up the story of Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate's arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on Sept. 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse.

Police Chief Kyle Teynor posted statements on Facebook saying that Coronel Zarate is not a U.S. citizen and that he had two fake immigration documents, including a fake Social Security card. The chief added that Coronel Zarate’s tattoos indicate he’s affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in Venezuelan prisons and is posing a growing threat in the U.S.

Court records show Coronel Zarate was previously charged in Madison, the state capital, in December with strangulation, false imprisonment, battery and disorderly conduct. According to a criminal complaint in that case, Coronel Zarate was driving with a female friend in November and attacked her when she tried to get out of the car. The complaint does not say why. The woman told investigators that they were just acquaintances and Coronel Zarate was homeless.

Police in Madison said that Coronel Zarate allegedly stole a car and fled before he could be questioned. He was arrested in Minneapolis a day after the alleged attack but was released from jail there. Asked why, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Megan Larson told a reporter to file a request for Coronel Zarate's jail records. The Associated Press filed such a request but government agencies typically take months to fulfill them.

Republicans including U.S. Sen. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.

Michelle Marie Dietrich, a public defender representing Coronel Zarate in the Prairie du Chien case, declined to comment. Charlotte Wynes, another public defender representing him in Prairie du Chien along with Dietrich, didn't respond to a voicemail seeking comment. Michelle Brandemuehl, a public defender representing him in Madison, also didn't respond to a voicemail message seeking comment.

Trump has repeatedly portrayed migrants as criminals and blamed Harris for failing to stem an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, though border crossings have fallen since President Joe Biden instituted an executive order limiting asylum claims. Democrats, in turn, have blamed Trump for persuading allies in Congress to kill bipartisan legislation that would have funded more border agents and given the Homeland Security secretary authority to prohibit entry for most people over a daily limit.

Supporters wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Supporters wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Merchandise vendor Sam Smith, of Sarasota, Fla., stands with his dog Milo while waiting for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A supporter waits for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A supporter waits for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Supporters pose for a photo while waiting for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a town hall event at Macomb Community College Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah led the Lebanese militant group for the past three decades, transforming it into one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the Middle East.

Hezbollah confirmed Saturday that he was killed in an Israeli air raid that levelled six apartment buildings in Beirut the previous day.

Read his full obituary here, and here's a shorter look at the leader:

An astute strategist, the 64-year-old Nasrallah reshaped Hezbollah into an archenemy of Israel, cementing alliances with Shiite religious leaders in Iran and Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas.

Under his leadership, Hezbollah fought wars against Israel and took part in the conflict in neighboring Syria, helping tip the balance of power in favor of President Bashar Assad.

Idolized by his Lebanese Shiite followers and respected by millions of others across the Arab and Islamic world, Nasrallah held the title of sayyid, an honorific meant to signify the Shiite cleric’s lineage dating back to the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

A fiery orator viewed as an extremist in the United States and much of the West, he was also considered a pragmatist compared to the militants who dominated Hezbollah after its founding in 1982, during Lebanon’s civil war.

Despite the power he wielded, Nasrallah lived largely in hiding for fear of an Israeli assassination.

Born in 1960 into a poor Shiite family in Beirut’s impoverished northern suburb of Sharshabouk, Nasrallah was later displaced to south Lebanon. He studied theology and joined the Amal movement, a Shiite political and paramilitary organization, before becoming one of Hezbollah’s founders.

Hezbollah was formed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who came to Lebanon in the summer of 1982 to fight invading Israeli forces. It was the first group that Iran backed and used as a way to export its brand of political Islam.

Nasrallah built a power base as Hezbollah became part of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the Axis of Resistance.

Two days after its leader, 39-year-old Sayyed Abbas Musawi, was killed in an Israeli helicopter gunship raid in south Lebanon, Hezbollah chose Nasrallah as its secretary-general in February 1992.

Five years later, the United States designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Under Nasrallah, Hezbollah was credited with leading the war of attrition that led to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon in 2000, after an 18-year occupation. Nasrallah’s eldest son, Hadi, was killed in 1997, fighting against Israeli forces.

After Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, Nasrallah rose to iconic status both within Lebanon and throughout the Arab world. His messages were beamed on Hezbollah’s own radio and satellite TV station.

That status was further cemented when, in 2006, Hezbollah fought Israel to a stalemate during the 34-day war.

When Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, Hezbollah fighters rushed in, siding with Assad’s forces — even though Hezbollah’s popularity took a dive as the Arab world ostracized Assad.

A day after the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7, Hezbollah began attacking Israeli military posts along the border calling it a “backup front” for Gaza.

In speeches throughout the conflict, Nasrallah argued that Hezbollah’s cross-border strikes had pulled away Israeli forces that would otherwise be focused on Hamas in Gaza and insisted that Hezbollah would not halt its attacks on Israel until a cease-fire is reached in Gaza.

He maintained a defiant tone, even as tensions rose dramatically in recent weeks with Israel announcing a new phase in the conflict intended to push Hezbollah back from the border to allow thousands displaced from northern Israel to return.

Israel launched strikes killing top military commanders with the group and was blamed for the explosion of thousands of communications devices, mainly used by Hezbollah members, that killed 37 people and wounded thousands.

Ambulances arrive at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A civil defense member walks at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Rescuers arrive at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

FILE - Hezbollah fighters stand behind the coffin of their top commander Fouad Shukur, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on July 30, as Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaks through a screen during Shukur's funeral in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2015 file photo, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah addresses a crowd during the holy day of Ashoura, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)