Minneapolis, MN

Lyft and Uber To Cease Operations In Minneapolis

Published

2 years ago

March 16, 2024

Lyft and Uber To Cease Operations In Minneapolis

If
you’re looking for transportation from the airport or any other destination in
Minnesota’s largest city, don’t look to Lyft or Uber after May 1.

That’s
when the ride-sharing companies will cease
operations in Minneapolis.

It
is a protest move, of sorts.

The Minneapolis
city council overrode the mayor’s veto of a minimum wage for ride-share
drivers. The override lets drivers earn the local minimum wage of $15.57 an
hour.

“We support a minimum earning standard for drivers, but it
should be done in an honest way that keeps the service affordable for riders,”
said a Lyft spokesperson.

Uber said in a statement obtained by CNN that it’s “disappointed the council chose
to ignore the data and kick Uber out of the Twin Cities, putting 10,000 people
out of work and leaving many stranded.”

“Everyone wants to see Uber and Lyft drivers get paid
more. But getting a raise doesn’t do a whole lot of good if you lose your job,”
Mayor Jacob Frey said. “There will be a massive impact felt by our region.”

Indeed, the services have become almost indispensable to
some.

But Frey pointed to a study that showed drivers make
significantly less.

“We shouldn’t be afraid of data, we should be embracing
it. We shouldn’t be ignoring studies that come out, we should be utilizing them
and creating the best possible policy,” Frey said.

Frey is asking local politicians to come up with a
solution before May 1. The ride-share services say that user prices would
double if they stayed in Minneapolis.

Last year,
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had vetoed a bill that would’ve set a
minimum wage for ride-share drivers. He said it would make Minnesota “one of the
most expensive states in the country for ride-share.”

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Minneapolis, MN

‘She’s pregnant’: Trump’s immigration agent drags woman through Minneapolis street, kneels on her; video goes viral

Published

3 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

‘She’s pregnant’: Trump’s immigration agent drags woman through Minneapolis street, kneels on her; video goes viral

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents violently dragged a woman in Minneapolis this week, and pinned her face down on snow-filled streets as onlookers screamed. According to ICE officials, they were deployed for ‘targeted vehicle stop,’ when protesters swarmed the agents. Soon after several onlookers including journalists saw an ICE agent holding a woman on the ground. The video of the incident has now gone viral on social media with people criticising ICE for their violent methods. The Minneapolis police chief criticised federal immigration enforcement tactics after the chaotic scene.

What exactly happened?

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According to the video, ICE agents handcuffed a pregnant woman, and violently pinned her to the ground by forcing her onto her stomach and pressed their body weight into her even as the crowd shouted that she was pregnant. According to ICE, the incident happened during ‘Operation Metro Surge.’

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that ICE did not appear to take steps to de-escalate the situation as bystanders shouted at agents and threw snowballs in an attempt to save the woman. “We have been training our officers for the last five years very, very intensely on de-escalation, but unfortunately that is … often not what we are seeing from other agencies in the city,” O’Hara said. O’Hara also accused ICE of stoking fear, including the practice of hiding their identities with masks and unmarked clothes.

This comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration has increased immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minnesota – Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Trump called Somali immigrants there “garbage” and said they should be deported after dozens of people, including Somali immigrants, were charged in a fraud scheme.

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Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis PD chief worries about ‘instability’ created by ICE operation

Published

15 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Minneapolis PD chief worries about ‘instability’ created by ICE operation

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara expressed concerns about the “instability” created by the ongoing ICE operations in Minneapolis during a sit-down interview on FOX 9 All Day on Wednesday.

O’Hara on ICE operation

What they’re saying:

Speaking with FOX 9’s Amy Hockert, Chief O’Hara said the issue isn’t necessarily what the agents are doing in enforcing federal law but rather the tactics they are using to go about their business.

“I think it’s been very destabilizing for a lot of people in the community,” explained Chief O’Hara. “A significant portion of the city are immigrants and that sort of instability is something that criminals and bad actors can take advantage of and that’s been the concern.”

Identifying ICE

Big picture view:

O’Hara says he is also concerned about masked federal authorities. Often, ICE agents will be masked, in unmarked squads, and not wearing visible identification of their law enforcement status. Chief O’Hara said a bad actor posing as law enforcement is a legitimate concern, pointing to the murders of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at the hands of a man posing as a police officer.

“Two or three months ago, the FBI put out a law enforcement bulletin saying that there were people committing violent crimes in cities around the country that were posing as ICE,” O’Hara said. “And it urged ICE to better identify themselves during law enforcement operations. And so that’s not just something I came up with – that’s something the FBI has been recommending.”

O’Hara says the department has also responded to calls from people who’ve encountered federal law enforcement and were unsure if they were legitimate.

“We have had calls from people who aren’t sure,” said O’Hara. “We’ve responded, and it turns out it was federal law enforcement. In other cases, it turns out it wasn’t. It was someone with a gun. We’ve had it happen both ways.”

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Minneapolis, MN

BCA identifies armed suspect, Minneapolis officer who fired shots at him

Published

1 day ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

BCA identifies armed suspect, Minneapolis officer who fired shots at him

The armed man and an officer who fired shots at him in Minneapolis last week have been identified by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

The BCA identified the suspect as 26-year-old Hanun Mohamed Awow and the Minneapolis police officer who fired his gun as Ariel Luna Sanchez.

Sanchez has three years of law enforcement experience and has been placed on critical incident leave, the BCA said.

Minneapolis police officer shoots at armed man, BCA investigating: MPD

According to the BCA, officers responded around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday to a 911 call from a resident on the 3000 block of Fifth Avenue South, who said a neighbor had pointed a gun at their mom.

The caller told Minneapolis police that the neighbor, later identified as Awow, had a handgun and went back into his apartment. Officers went to Awow’s apartment and he opened the door and stepped out with a gun in his hand.

Police shouted for him to drop the gun and that’s when Sanchez fired shots, the BCA says.

Awow, who was not injured, was taken into custody by police. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said last week that he believed Awow was intoxicated at the time of the incident.

BCA crime scene personnel recovered a handgun from the scene and body cameras worn by officers.

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