Is America bringing freedom to North Carolina & Oregon & Minnesota?
- Thread starter Ron in Regina
- Start date
ICE agents pull woman from car as she yells 'I'm disabled!' in Minneapolis — Global News
In the video, several masked ICE agents speak to the woman before an Enforcement and Removal Operations agent smashes the passenger-side window of her vehicle.
A federal judge on Friday barred federal agents in Minneapolis from arresting peaceful protesters, or using ‘nonlethal munitions and crowd control tools against them.
The 80-page rulingby U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez, a Biden appointee who sits in Minneapolis, lands amid an increasingly confrontational dynamic between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials who have accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of stoking fear and violence on local streets. And it comes a week after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good.
Menendez’s order bars Homeland Security and ICE officials involved in Operation Metro Surge from “using pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity.” The judge also prohibited federal agents from stopping vehicles following them, as long as those vehicles are maintaining a safe and “appropriate” distance.
In reference to the judges ruling, the following statement was released. “The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters. We remind the public that rioting is dangerous — obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony."
apple.news
In a statement, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: "This absurd ruling embraces a dishonest, left-wing narrative. Here’s the truth: federal agents have acted lawfully to protect themselves and ensure the integrity of their operations when individuals attempt to intervene. The Trump Administration will always enforce the law.”
apple.news
The Justice Department recently surged more than 2,000 Homeland Security officials in Minnesota, because Minnesota“There is no sign that this operation is winding down — indeed, it appears to still be ramping up,” Menendez wrote.
Amid the ramp-up, the Justice Department has also begun scrutinizing two of Trump’s most vocal critics in Minnesota — Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — for potentially obstructing immigration agents.
The move against two prominent Democrats, including one who ran on the Democratic ticket against Trump in 2024, is the latest escalation in the Trump Justice Department’s bid to punish the president’s political adversaries.
“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic,” Walz said Friday night on X. “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.
Menendez’ decision Friday came in response to an emergency request from protesters who sued ICE in December, claiming that their actions have repeatedly been met with unconstitutional arrests and violence. The protesters last week cited Good’s death to push Menendez to expedite her decision.
The judge found that the protesters observed and criticized ICE officers, but “did not forcibly obstruct or impede the agents’ work,” and were otherwise non-violent and non-threatening.
Local leaders have called for ICE to leave the state, accusing agents of sowing fear and threats to public safety. Frey urged ICE to “get the fuck out” of his city.
apple.news
Menendez’ ruling follows similar orders in Los Angeles and Chicago, where federal judges ruled that tactics aimed at protesters and journalists violated the First Amendment. It’s the new order.
The 80-page rulingby U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez, a Biden appointee who sits in Minneapolis, lands amid an increasingly confrontational dynamic between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials who have accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of stoking fear and violence on local streets. And it comes a week after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good.
Menendez’s order bars Homeland Security and ICE officials involved in Operation Metro Surge from “using pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity.” The judge also prohibited federal agents from stopping vehicles following them, as long as those vehicles are maintaining a safe and “appropriate” distance.
In reference to the judges ruling, the following statement was released. “The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters. We remind the public that rioting is dangerous — obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony."
Trump’s Own Advisers Suddenly Unnerved as ICE Raids Take Horrific Turn — The New Republic
So the president doesn’t like the “optics” of what ICE is doing. But there’s no such thing as sanitized, popular mass deportations—and this is by design.
Judge limits ICE’s crowd control tactics following Minneapolis shooting — POLITICO
The judge’s order prevents federal agents from arresting peaceful protesters.
Amid the ramp-up, the Justice Department has also begun scrutinizing two of Trump’s most vocal critics in Minnesota — Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — for potentially obstructing immigration agents.
The move against two prominent Democrats, including one who ran on the Democratic ticket against Trump in 2024, is the latest escalation in the Trump Justice Department’s bid to punish the president’s political adversaries.
“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic,” Walz said Friday night on X. “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.
Menendez’ decision Friday came in response to an emergency request from protesters who sued ICE in December, claiming that their actions have repeatedly been met with unconstitutional arrests and violence. The protesters last week cited Good’s death to push Menendez to expedite her decision.
The judge found that the protesters observed and criticized ICE officers, but “did not forcibly obstruct or impede the agents’ work,” and were otherwise non-violent and non-threatening.
Local leaders have called for ICE to leave the state, accusing agents of sowing fear and threats to public safety. Frey urged ICE to “get the fuck out” of his city.
Irony Meters Explode Over Leavitt's Latest Lecture: 'Who Wants To Tell Her?' — HuffPost
The White House press secretary was reminded of something that only happened this week.
Well, this is interesting. Former (& maybe future?) governor of Minnesota….Jesse Ventura.
(YouTube & Jesse Ventura Emerges To Rip Trump & ICE Apart)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota have detained at least four children from the same school district this month, including a 5-year-old boy, school officials in a Minneapolis suburb said Wednesday.
The events have inflamed tensions between residents and ICE officers, sparked by the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renée Good by an ICE officer this month. The Trump administration has sought to justify the presence of ICE agents by saying that the officers are detaining immigrants convicted of violent crimes.
“Why detain a 5-year-old?” Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of the Columbia Heights Public Schools district, located just north of Minneapolis, said at a news conference. “You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”
Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, whom the Department of Homeland Security identified as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias in an emailed statement, were detained in their driveway Tuesday afternoon, just as they were returning from the child’s preschool, according to a news release from Columbia Heights Public Schools.
The father fled on foot when ICE officers approached him, DHS said. “For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias,” it added.
After detaining the father, ICE officers then asked Liam to knock on the door to see if any other people were inside the home, “using a 5-year-old as bait,” according to the school district.
Another adult living in the home who was outside at the time, “begged the agents” to leave the child with them, the school district said. ICE agents refused.
Liam’s middle-school-aged brother returned home 20 minutes later to find that his younger brother and father had been taken away.
Liam and his father are now in San Antonio in the custody of Homeland Security authorities, the family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said in an email. They are not U.S. citizens but “have been following the legal process perfectly, from presenting themselves at the border to applying for asylum and waiting for the process to go through,” he said.
(DHS said it was not targeting Liam and that ICE’s policy is to ask parents if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person designated by a parent)
Three more students at Columbia Heights have been detained this month by ICE officers, according to school officials.
A 17-year-old high school student on their way to school was removed from their car earlier Tuesday and taken by armed and masked agents, believed to be ICE agents, according to the news release. “No parents were present,” it said.
Last week, “ICE agents pushed their way into an apartment and detained a 17-year-old Columbia Heights High School student and her mother,” the school district said.
A week before that episode, a 10-year-old fourth-grader was detained by ICE agents with her mother. “During the arrest, the child called her father to tell him the ICE agents were bringing her to school,” the district said. “The father immediately came to the school to find that both his daughter and wife had been taken.” The girl and her mother are in a detention center in Texas, according to the school officials.
Makes you wonder what’s happening in the other school districts in the same city, or others? Mary Granlund, the chair of the Columbia Heights Public Schools board of education, expressed exasperation at a meeting this week.
“I have spent the last few weeks trying to make sure that our students and staff and families and everybody in our community are safe,” she said.
apple.news
“I saw the power of community,” she continued. “But at the end of the day, we have whistles and they have guns.”
apple.news
The events have inflamed tensions between residents and ICE officers, sparked by the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renée Good by an ICE officer this month. The Trump administration has sought to justify the presence of ICE agents by saying that the officers are detaining immigrants convicted of violent crimes.
“Why detain a 5-year-old?” Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of the Columbia Heights Public Schools district, located just north of Minneapolis, said at a news conference. “You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”
Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, whom the Department of Homeland Security identified as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias in an emailed statement, were detained in their driveway Tuesday afternoon, just as they were returning from the child’s preschool, according to a news release from Columbia Heights Public Schools.
The father fled on foot when ICE officers approached him, DHS said. “For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias,” it added.
After detaining the father, ICE officers then asked Liam to knock on the door to see if any other people were inside the home, “using a 5-year-old as bait,” according to the school district.
Another adult living in the home who was outside at the time, “begged the agents” to leave the child with them, the school district said. ICE agents refused.
Liam’s middle-school-aged brother returned home 20 minutes later to find that his younger brother and father had been taken away.
Liam and his father are now in San Antonio in the custody of Homeland Security authorities, the family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said in an email. They are not U.S. citizens but “have been following the legal process perfectly, from presenting themselves at the border to applying for asylum and waiting for the process to go through,” he said.
(DHS said it was not targeting Liam and that ICE’s policy is to ask parents if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person designated by a parent)
Three more students at Columbia Heights have been detained this month by ICE officers, according to school officials.
A 17-year-old high school student on their way to school was removed from their car earlier Tuesday and taken by armed and masked agents, believed to be ICE agents, according to the news release. “No parents were present,” it said.
Last week, “ICE agents pushed their way into an apartment and detained a 17-year-old Columbia Heights High School student and her mother,” the school district said.
A week before that episode, a 10-year-old fourth-grader was detained by ICE agents with her mother. “During the arrest, the child called her father to tell him the ICE agents were bringing her to school,” the district said. “The father immediately came to the school to find that both his daughter and wife had been taken.” The girl and her mother are in a detention center in Texas, according to the school officials.
Makes you wonder what’s happening in the other school districts in the same city, or others? Mary Granlund, the chair of the Columbia Heights Public Schools board of education, expressed exasperation at a meeting this week.
“I have spent the last few weeks trying to make sure that our students and staff and families and everybody in our community are safe,” she said.
Pregnant woman in medical distress deported from US, says attorney — Guardian US
Woman who’s eight months pregnant sent to Colombia by ICE, despite belated court order to keep her out of the air
ICE detains four children from Minnesota school district, including 5-year-old — The Washington Post
Columbia Heights Public Schools district officials accused ICE officers of using the 5-year-old “as bait.” A 10-year-old and her mother were also detained.
Clergy arrested, businesses shutter as Minnesotans protest Trump's surge in immigration agents — Reuters
Local police arrested dozens of clergy members who sang hymns and prayed as they knelt on a road at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport as part of a day of protests and walkouts on Friday against U.S. President Donald Trump's deployment of thousands of immigration enforcement officers...
They ignored commands to clear the road by officers from local police departments, who arrested and zip-tied dozens of the protesters, who did not resist, before putting them onto buses. Reuters observed dozens of arrests, and organizers said about 100 clergy members were arrested.
Ahead of an afternoon rally downtown in frigid weather, hundreds of people headed to the state's main airport. Organizers said their demands included legal accountability for the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, in her car this month as she monitored ICE activities.
Faith in Minnesota, a nonprofit advocacy group that helped organize the protest, said the clergy were also calling attention to airport and airline workers who they said had been detained by ICE at work. The group asked that airline companies "stand with Minnesotans in calling for ICE to immediately end its surge in the state."
White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest — Guardian US
Guardian analysis shows images are the same, with Nekima Levy Armstrong looking composed in original but sobbing after alteration
Trump instantly proves Jack Smith prediction right with prosecution threat — MS NOW
In a long-awaited hearing on Capitol Hill, Jack Smith testified publicly for the first time about his investigation into Donald Trump and the aftermath of the 2020 election. Plus - VP Vance visited Minneapolis to defend what ICE is doing there as yet another poll shows Americans don't support...
Local police leaders seemed to doubt that any actions taken by federal immigration agents could lead to criminal charges, saying that federal officers are largely immune from prosecution for actions taken as part of their official duties.
Mark Bruley, Chief of the Brooklyn Park Police Department, said he's been met by confusion and more questions when he's tried to get answers from federal officials.
"When you call ICE leadership or you call Border Patrol leadership … they're unable to tell you what their people were doing that day," he said. "They like to give you a website to go file a complaint, but the complaint requires the identity of the agents. The agents don't have nametags on, they cover their faces."
Immigration agents have stopped off-duty officers in Minnesota "solely because of the color of their skin," a group of local police chiefs alleged, as concern grows over the handling of immigration enforcement in the state.
American citizens are being stopped on the streets "with no cause and are being forced to produce paperwork to determine if they are here legally,” said Bruley, chief of the Brooklyn Park Police Department, which operates in a suburb north of Minneapolis. He added that police officers “fell victim to this while off duty” and that the stops appear to “target” people of color.
ICE agents drew guns on off-duty officer in Minnesota, chief says — USA TODAY
Police chiefs in Minnesota said their officers were among those being targeted by immigration agents operating in the state.
Tens of thousands gather in downtown Minneapolis for ‘ICE Out’ day — Minnesota Reformer
100 clergy arrested in morning protest at MSP Tens of thousands of people march in downtown Minneapolis in subzero temperatures to protest the massive presence of ICE agents over the past several weeks Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. Tens of thousands of Minnesotans marched in downtown Minneapolis Friday...
Darius Reeves, who previously served as field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Baltimore, told Newsweek that the tactics now being used in cities such as Minneapolis are poorly suited for the interior of the country and increase the risk of dangerous encounters.
"It’s going to get worse," Reeves told Newsweek in a phone interview. "I think there are going to be a lot more people hurt.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Border Patrol, said: “Border Patrol’s mission includes performing sworn duties within 100 miles of U.S. borders. Border Patrol Agents are highly trained and required to meet the highest standards of professionalism and law enforcement capability."
The incidents come as the Trump administration presses ahead with its flagship mass deportation policy, expanding the role of Border Patrol in interior enforcement and prompting renewed questions about oversight, training, and the risk of mistaken or aggressive encounters away from the border.
Operations by U.S. Border Patrol in interior cities have drawn a wave of backlash for what witnesses and advocacy groups describe as heavy-handed tactics. Reports and video footage show agents deploying tear gas, forcibly dragging people from their vehicles, conducting frequent stops, and detaining individuals under aggressive circumstances.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) both fall under the Department of Homeland Security, but they are separate agencies with distinct missions, authorities, and training.
Federal resources from agencies such as the DEA, FBI, ATF, and U.S. Marshals have also been directed to assist in immigration arrests alongside ICE and Border Patrol, expanding the scope of enforcement operations beyond traditional immigration authorities.
Reeves also raised concerns about rapid hiring across DHS, particularly within ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, saying it has diluted experience and professionalism. He said former colleagues report declining morale, early retirements and departures for other agencies.
Former ICE agent sounds warning on tactics: 'It's going to get worse'
"It’s going to get worse," Darius Reeves told Newsweek. "I think there are going to be a lot more people hurt."
www.newsweek.com
Was it conservatives in action when the Obama administration was doing the same thing ?
Police chief calls for calm after a man is shot and killed during Minneapolis immigration crackdown — The Canadian Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal immigration officers shot and killed a man Saturda
The video shows an officer shoving a person who is wearing a brown jacket, skirt and black tights and carrying a water bottle. That person reaches out for a man and the two link up, embracing. The man, wearing a brown jacket and black hat, seems to be holding his phone up toward the officer.
The same officer shoves the man in his chest and the two, still embracing, fall back.
The video then shifts to a different part of the street and then comes back to the two individuals unlinking from each other. The video shifts focus again and then shows three officers surrounding the man.
Soon at least seven officers surround the man. One is on the man’s back and another who appears to have a cannister in his hand strikes a blow to the man’s chest. Several officers try to bring the man’s arms behind his back as he appears to resist. As they pull his arms, his face is briefly visible on camera. The officer with the cannister strikes the man near his head several times.
A shot rings out, but with officers surrounding the man, it’s not clear from where the shot came. Multiple officers back off of the man after the shot. More shots are heard. Officers back away and the man lies motionless on the street.
The police chief appealed for calm, both from the public and from federal law enforcement.
After Another ICE Shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Tells Trump: 'Act Like A Leader' — HuffPost
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged Trump to "take action now" to remove thousands of federal agents from his city following another fatal ICE shooting.
FBI agent resigns over investigation into ICE shooting of Renee Good, sources say — NBC News
The fatal shooting of Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7 has sparked protests calling for ICE to leave the state.
Well, this just keeps getting weirder.
Ok…in the below video, from the perspective of somebody in a vehicle in traffic where this happened in front of them, you could see that the only thing in Alex Pretti’s hands when he was tackled was a cell phone. This is at about the two minute point:
(YouTube & Another ICE shooting SURGES into national spotlight)
Etc…don’t believe your own lying eyes…
Video recordings of the incident showed Pretti filming law enforcement agents with his phone and directing traffic. He was subsequently pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by about six federal agents, who then shot him to death.
en.wikipedia.org
Ok…in the below video, from the perspective of somebody in a vehicle in traffic where this happened in front of them, you could see that the only thing in Alex Pretti’s hands when he was tackled was a cell phone. This is at about the two minute point:
Etc…don’t believe your own lying eyes…
Video recordings of the incident showed Pretti filming law enforcement agents with his phone and directing traffic. He was subsequently pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by about six federal agents, who then shot him to death.
Killing of Alex Pretti - Wikipedia
“Assessing from the multiple angles of video that we’re seeing at this time, the statement from the homeland security does not match up with what we’re seeing with our own eyes.”
“The government came out with a statement immediately from the beginning, stating that the individual brandished his weapon and approached the officers. Video came out later on within the hour showing that the individual was not brandishing his weapon and did not have his weapon displayed.”
“He was standing in the road videotaping in the officers, and it was the officers that then engaged with him and you can see in other videos that the officers remove the weapon from his holster so according to the governor of Minnesota, he had a legal right to have that weapon.”
“They removed that weapon. You can then see that the weapon is removed from the situation, then the gunfire begins, at which point up to 10 shots were fired at the individual who was unarmed.”
(YouTube & Minnesota man shot by ICE agent identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti)
“So based on the video evidence that I’m seeing, and based on the fact that there was only one weapon that was shown to us by the government, it’s my opinion that the individual that was shot was unarmed” states retired FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner in the above video from CTV.
(YouTube & Details emerging about Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old shot dead by federal forces in south Minneapolis)
Well, in a glass half full sort of way, I guess that the DHS/ICE/CBP/EIEIO haven’t shot any off duty Minnesota police officers to date.
“The government came out with a statement immediately from the beginning, stating that the individual brandished his weapon and approached the officers. Video came out later on within the hour showing that the individual was not brandishing his weapon and did not have his weapon displayed.”
“He was standing in the road videotaping in the officers, and it was the officers that then engaged with him and you can see in other videos that the officers remove the weapon from his holster so according to the governor of Minnesota, he had a legal right to have that weapon.”
“They removed that weapon. You can then see that the weapon is removed from the situation, then the gunfire begins, at which point up to 10 shots were fired at the individual who was unarmed.”
“So based on the video evidence that I’m seeing, and based on the fact that there was only one weapon that was shown to us by the government, it’s my opinion that the individual that was shot was unarmed” states retired FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner in the above video from CTV.
Well, in a glass half full sort of way, I guess that the DHS/ICE/CBP/EIEIO haven’t shot any off duty Minnesota police officers to date.