ICE agents call for backup during Minneapolis traffic stop, bystanders hurl insults and snowballs
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A pair of ICE agents found themselves surrounded by outraged neighbors and activists during an attempted immigration arrest in south Minneapolis on Monday afternoon.
Observers said the officers were attempting to arrest a woman in a traffic stop north of Lake Street and Pillsbury Avenue at about 1 p.m. Video shared with MPR News shows agents restraining a woman on her stomach on the icy ground, then dragging her on the road towards their vehicle as bystanders and activists hurled insults and snowballs in their direction.
The agents used pepper spray, pepper balls and tasers on bystanders, according to the videos. One agent is seen wildly swinging a baton to keep protesters at bay before apparently getting hit by a colleague’s pepper spray. Witnesses say at least three people at the chaotic scene were arrested.
The Department of Homeland Security says two U.S. citizens were arrested Monday for allegedly assaulting federal officers in Minneapolis.
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In a statement sent out Wednesday, spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said federal agents had conducted a targeted traffic stop and were attacked by some people who had gathered nearby.
McLaughlin also said a woman attempted to vandalize a government vehicle — and that people threw rocks and ice at officers as they tried to apprehend her.
McLaughlin said officers sustained injuries including cuts, but still managed to also detain two people in the country illegally.
The Minneapolis Police Department and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office both responded to the scene. The Minneapolis City Council recently voted unanimously to strengthen the city’s separation ordinance, which bans Minneapolis police from assisting in federal immigration actions.
Minneapolis police said in a statement that they responded to an “officer needs help” call, but confirmed that no one was being assaulted and that no “life-safety conditions” warranted further officer involvement. A spokesperson said Minneapolis police left the scene within 10 minutes.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office referred MPR News to a statement on their Facebook page, which included audio of a panicked call from a Department of Homeland Security supervisor requesting assistance because “we only have a few officers but we have 60 to 70 agitators fighting them.”
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies didn’t witness any attacks on agents or any injured agents. Deputies helped agents leave the scene but did not make any arrests themselves or deploy any chemical munitions, according to the statement.
As the federal agents departed the scene, protesters sang the chorus to “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”
