Tensions continue to grow in Minnesota and across the country over tactics used in the federal immigration crackdown. New waves of protests began in Minneapolis on the evening of Jan. 14, after news spread of another shooting by federal agents involving a Venezuelan national on the north side of the city. The individual was shot in the leg and taken to the hospital, where full recovery is expected. Federal agents have been using tear gas and “flash-bangs” against protesters, and in turn, protesters have shot off fireworks against the immigration agents. There have been several student walk-outs at local high schools to protest the crackdown.
In a Jan. 15 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act in Minnesota, in response to growing protests against his “Operation Metro Surge.” This would allow the President to deploy the military domestically without prior approval from Congress. Trump wrote in his post that, by invoking this act, he could “quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place” in Minnesota if the “corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE.”
On Jan. 15 Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on X: “I am making a direct appeal to the president: let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are. And an appeal to Minnesotans: I know this is scary. We can—we must—speak out loudly, urgently but also peacefully. We cannot fan the flames of chaos. That’s what he wants.” After the Jan. 14 shooting of a Venezuelan national by a federal agent, Walz posted on X: “I know you’re angry. I’m angry. What Donald Trump wants is violence in the streets. But Minnesota will remain an island of decency, of justice, of community, and of peace. Don’t give him what he wants.” State investigators are on the scene of this latest shooting.
At the U.S. Justice Department there has been a wave of resignations and “early retirements” to protest the department’s operations. On Jan. 13 six senior lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota resigned, and in Washington, four leaders of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department quit. The Minnesota attorneys who are resigning told the New York Times that they were outraged that instead of investigating the shooter, senior Justice Department officials wanted to investigate Good’s family, and that they were also upset that the FBI was refusing to cooperate with state investigators. The paper trail for the decision not to investigate the ICE killer, Jonathan Ross, ends at the desk of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon.
