Minnesota
ICE agents drew guns on off-duty officer in Minnesota, chief says
Federal agents stopped an off-duty officer in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, stopped her from recording the interaction and drew their guns, a local police chief said.
Native Americans detained in Trump’s Minnesota ICE raids
The Oglala Sioux Tribe said three men are still in detention after being transferred to an ICE detention center.
Immigration agents 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 ongoing immigration enforcement in the state.
American citizens are being stopped “on the streets with no cause and being forced to produce paperwork to determine if they are here legally,” said Mark 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.
In one encounter, a Brooklyn Park police officer was boxed in by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who “demanded her paperwork,” Bruley said.
Agents “had their guns drawn,” he said, adding that one agent knocked the police officer’s phone out of her hand when she tried to record the interaction.
“I wish I could tell you this was an isolated incident,” Bruley said, flanked by several local chiefs of police. “If it is happening to our officers, it pains me to think of how many of our community members are falling victim to this every day. It has to stop.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The police chiefs’ remarks come amid heightened scrutiny of the tactics being used by federal immigration agents after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7.
Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have defended the actions of federal agents in recent weeks, insisting that operations are targeted. Noem and other Homeland Security officials have said that people near their alleged targets may be subject to questioning.
“In every situation we are doing targeted enforcement,” said Noem while speaking to reporters on Jan. 15. “If we are on a target and doing an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal who we may be asking who they are and why they’re there and having them validate their identity.”
Axel Henry, chief of the Saint Paul Police Department, spoke at the Jan. 20 news conference and raised concerns about federal agents’ actions.
“We’ve had employees for our city that have experienced some of the same things. Thankfully not with firearms drawn, but traffic stops that were clearly outside the bounds of what federal agents are allowed to do,” Henry said.
“These processes are clearly failing if American citizens are being grabbed or stopped or seized,” Henry added. “This can’t happen.”
About 3,000 immigration agents are in Minnesota as part of “Operation Metro Surge,” which officials have called the “largest immigration operation ever.” According to the Department of Homeland Security, at least 3,000 undocumented immigrants have been arrested since the operation began in December.
USA TODAY could not immediately verify those figures as the agency does not release the names of most of those arrested or the breakdown of their charges.
Since the fatal shooting of Good, tens of thousands have taken to the streets to protest the immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and cities nationwide. Rapid response groups have also fanned out across Minnesota, following masked agents and unmarked vans to record the actions of federal agents.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz encouraged civilians to protest peacefully and record federal agents for “future prosecution.”
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.
Bruley, of Brooklyn Park, said he’s been met by confusion and more questions when he’s tried to get answers from the Department of Homeland Security.
“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.”
Bruley said while most federal agents are “doing focused, legitimate immigration work,” it appears “there are groups that seem to have less supervision.” He did not elaborate on the “groups” but said the most aggressive enforcement didn’t begin until after the deadly shooting of Good.
The state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to halt the ongoing immigration enforcement. A judge declined to issue an emergency injunction expelling the agents.
In a separate case filed in December, the same judge barred federal agents from using pepper spray or arresting peaceful protesters in Minnesota, finding sufficient evidence that agents had used “intimidation tactics,” such as the “drawing and pointing of weapons; the use of pepper spray and other non-lethal munitions,” according to an order filed in federal court.
Christopher Cann is a national breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact him via email at ccann@usatoday.com.
Minnesota
Utah Mammoth take down Minnesota 5-2 to end the Wild’s winning streak at 6
The Wild were taken down by the Utah Mammoth 5-2 on Friday night to end Minnesota’s winning streak at six games.
Lawson Crouse scored twice and U.S. Olympian Clayton Keller had a goal and two assists for Utah.
Logan Cooley and Barrett Hayton also scored and Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves to help the Mammoth rebound from a 4-2 home loss to NHL-leading Colorado on Wednesday night in their return from the Olympic break. Utah began the night in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
U.S. Olympian Matt Boldy scored and assisted on Kirill Kaprizov’s goal for Minnesota. Second behind Central Division-rival Colorado in the West, the Wild are 9-2-1 in their last 12. They beat the Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night in Denver.
Cooley opened the scoring with a short-handed goal with 6:37 left in the first period. The former University of Minnesota star got the puck on the right side off a deflection and put a shot between Wallstedt’s legs for his 15th goal.
Keller scored his 18th at 4:26 of the second. Nick Schmaltz forced a turnover on a forecheck and fed Keller on the right side.
Crouse made it 3-0 at 7:49 of the second. He came down the middle, took a pass from Keller and beat Wallstedt with a backhander.
Kaprizov countered for Minnesota on a power play with 5:57 left in the second. He has 33 goals this season.
Hayton made it 4-1 on a power play at 1:19 of the third, and Crouse added his 16th of the season on a tip with 7:12 to go.
Boldy got his 35th of the season with 5:57 remaining.
Up next
Wild: Host St. Louis on Sunday.
Mammoth: Host Chicago on Sunday.
Minnesota
Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 18 and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Clippers 94-88 on Thursday night.
Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds to help the Timberwolves improve to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 3-1 since the All-Star break.
Edwards, returning to the site of the All-Star Game, where he was the MVP, was 12 for 24 from the floor and sealed the victory with a step-back three-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left.
Minnesota improved to 2-0 on a three-game trip.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers, who struggled from the outset with a season-low 38 points in the first half. Kris Dunn had 11 points for the Clippers (27-31), who have lost three consecutive games for the first time since December.
The Clippers struggled on offense without star Kawhi Leonard, out because of ankle soreness. The Clippers shot 40.5% from the floor, including 18.2% (four for 22) in the second quarter. Minnesota shot 43.4% in the game.
The Timberwolves (37-23) scored just 15 points in the second quarter and still topped the Clippers, who had 11. Minnesota led 44-38 at halftime behind 12 points from DiVincenzo and 11 from Edwards.
The Clippers led by six in the third quarter and were up 68-63 heading into the fourth. Edwards’ drive and reverse layup put the Timberwolves up for good at 76-74 with 7:40 remaining.
The Clippers pulled within one three times in the last 2½ minutes, but Edwards answered each time. He scored the Timberwolves’ last nine points.
Up next for Clippers: vs. New Orleans on Sunday night.
Minnesota
Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters
A St. Paul church member has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a group of individuals, including journalist Don Lemon and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, unlawfully disrupted service last month as part of a coordinated political demonstration.
The complaint, filed by Ann Doucette in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, alleges that a Jan. 18 demonstration at Cities Church interfered with her ability to worship and caused her to suffer damages, including emotional distress and trauma.
In addition to the former CNN anchor and Armstrong, the complaint names journalist Georgia Fort and activists Will Kelly, Jerome Richardson, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy. It also names St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen.
Doucette and seven of the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Doucette filed the complaint without the representation of an attorney. In an emailed statement to NBC News, Crews denied the lawsuit’s allegations “with empathy and compassion.”
The lawsuit accuses the group of civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with religious exercise and trespassing.
“As a result of Defendants’ actions, the worship service was disrupted, congregants experienced fear and distress, and Plaintiff’s ability to freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship was unlawfully interfered with,” the lawsuit states.
All eight defendants are also facing federal charges for conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and for interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom. Lemon has pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying outside the court, “I wanted to say this isn’t just about me, this is about all journalists, especially in the United States.”
Fort, Crews and Lundy were released on bond and entered not guilty pleas, according to The Associated Press.
This is the latest legal action tied to protests in the Twin Cities, where tensions remain over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
According to the lawsuit, the demonstrators engaged in “coordinated conduct” by organizing meetings ahead of the “Operation Pullup” protest and promoting it on social media.
The lawsuit alleges that on the morning of Jan. 18, a coordinated group of individuals entered Cities Church, halting the worship service, and chanting “‘ICE Out!’ and ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!’” while obstructing aisles. Protesters could allegedly be seen “confronting the pastor and congregants in a menacing manner,” the lawsuit says, noting that their chanting and “aggressive gestures” caused “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” and caused children “terror.”
Demonstrators gathered at the church because they said its pastor, David Easterwood, was the acting director of an ICE field office in the city, the lawsuit says.
Lemon was arrested in January in California and accused of violating federal civil rights law after covering the protest on Jan. 18. He was released on a personal recognizance bond before a federal grand jury in Minnesota returned the indictment against Lemon and eight co-defendants, all of whom are also named in Doucette’s lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Doucette alleges that Lemon specifically livestreamed the protest, “noting congregants’ fear and distress, and appeared to take satisfaction in the disruption.”
Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and activist, was also arrested for her participation in the St. Paul protest. Her arrest drew national attention after the White House shared on social media doctored photos where she appeared to be crying.
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