Minneapolis activists press local leaders to respond to federal surge
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Prominent activists in Minneapolis called out state officials Wednesday for not taking more action to defend residents from federal agents since the surge of federal agents in Minneapolis began.
Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said activists and peaceful observers have routinely been arrested or injured by federal agents without a response from elected officials in the state.
“All along the way, the community has stepped up with our whistles, with our cell phones and with our bodies to defend our neighbors,” Gross said. “But what do we see from our public officials? They have utterly failed us.”
Gross zeroed in on a provision in both state law and the Minneapolis Police Department’s policies that requires officers to intervene if they witness another law enforcement agent using excessive force. She said there have been no reports of officers intervening during the surge, which started in December.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
“Someday this thing is going to be over,” Gross said. “And when it is, we will remember who stood with us. We will remember who stood against us and, mostly, we will remember who didn't stand at all.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that Minneapolis police officers will act if they are on scene when someone’s life or safety is at risk, including in cases where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is involved.
"That's their responsibility. But with just 600 officers, we cannot be everywhere at once,” Frey said. “The reality is this: the surest way to make our streets safer is for ICE to leave Minnesota. That's my ask — and I'll keep saying it."
Activists also called on the public to reach out to U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith to urge them to oppose new funding for ICE or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security will lapse on Friday at midnight unless the Senate extends funding. National Democrats have said they want to include a package of reforms to ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection that includes a ban on masks and a requirement to obtain judicial warrants to enter people’s homes.
Minnesota has been targeted by President Donald Trump’s administration, and it has little to gain from backroom talks with federal officials, said Nekima Levy Armstrong, civil rights attorney and founder of the Racial Justice Network.
“They are continuing to brutalize people in the community. They are violating people's constitutional rights. They are terrorizing women, children and families,” Levy Armstrong said. “Up to this point, they have gotten away with it.”
Levy Armstrong was one of the activists arrested by federal agents after a protest last month at a St. Paul church along with former CNN journalist Don Lemon and local independent journalist Georgia Fort. Levy Armstrong said it’s telling that there have been no arrests of federal agents for the killings of either Renee Macklin Good or Alex Pretti.
“Have we once heard the governor call for an arrest of any ICE agents who have violated Minnesota law, our Constitution and our rights?” Levy Armstrong said. “No, we have not. What we have seen is him coming before the camera, begging the federal government to please end the surge, and trying to soften the seriousness of this war that has been waged upon Minnesota residents.”
Jae Yates of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice said state officials like Gov. Tim Walz are working too closely with Trump officials “while our neighbors are being sent to concentration camps and shot in the street.”
“But [Walz is] more than happy to send [Department of Natural Resources] officers and state patrol to violently arrest protesters like they did at the nonviolent demonstrations at the Whipple building this weekend,” Yates said.
Walz’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Activists have criticized Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt for what they see as collaboration with federal authorities both outside the Whipple Federal Building and in the Hennepin County Government Center, where federal agents arrested a teenager this week charged in a drug crime.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Witt told reporters on Friday that her priority is to get federal agents out of the state, and that she’s been in conversations with Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s “border czar” about the administration’s demands, which Homan has said includes more federal access to county jails.
