Motorists who take Interstate 394 in and out of Minneapolis are in for some major changes starting Sunday night.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) says the changes are all a part of a two-year project to repair and improve the roadway.

Those changes include shutting down the Penn Avenue bridge over the interstate through November, as well as reducing and closing lanes in both directions.

Other changes include:

• Westbound I-394 will be reduced to two lanes between downtown Minneapolis and Highway 100 through mid-summer.
• There will be intermittent lane closures on I-394 and I-94 in both directions through November.
• Westbound I-394 to Park Place Boulevard/Xenia Avenue, eastbound I-94 to westbound I-394, Lyndale Avenue to westbound I-394, and westbound I-394 to/from Penn Avenue ramps will be closed through mid-summer.

Additionally, I-394 will close in both directions between Highway 100 and I-94 in downtown Minneapolis starting Friday, Feb. 27, at 10 p.m. and wrapping up on March 5 at 5 a.m.

A map of the roadway is below; more information from MnDOT can be found by CLICKING HERE.

Nearly two-and-a-half hours into a monumental gig on her “Human” arena tour in support of her 2025 LP,  Returning to Myself, Brandi Carlile stood before a roaring, sold-out Minneapolis Target Center crowd. Behind her, a group of local freedom fighters known as the Singing Resistance stood with her in both musical and spiritual solidarity. Together they sang a powerful and poignant song, the title of which has become a rallying cry among Minneapolis protestors over the past month in response to ICE’s cruel occupation of the city: “It’s Okay to Change Your Mind.”

“It’’s okay to change your mind / And you can join us / Join us here any time”

The Minneapolis show was always on Carlile’s tour calendar, but after witnessing the injustice plaguing the residents of the city at the hands of a federal government supposedly charged with protecting them, Carlile felt it would be impossible to perform in the city without contributing in some fashion.

“It pained me not to be with you guys [in recent weeks],” Carile said early in her 24-song, career-spanning performance dubbed “Be Human: A Concert for Minneapolis.” (The show was live-broadcast globally and proceeds benefited the Advocates for Human Rights. At the time of publication, the show had raised more than $600,000. The performance remains available to stream through tomorrow). “You have been through so much,” she told the impassioned crowd. “And you’ve been on my mind every second of every day. This is home to me.”

“It’s very clear that this administration is not interested in legal immigration,” Carlile tells Rolling Stone backstage, just a few minutes after finishing the concert, her red bandanna still covering her forehead, steely determination and passion burning in her eyes. “They’re interested in violent theater. Violent theater and dominance over other people. I don’t believe most people signed up for that. Even people who voted for Trump, who I’m angry with, I don’t think they voted for this and I do think that they can still change their minds.”

She’s certainly no stranger to advocacy work, but in speaking with Carlile, it’s clear she’s disgusted but not deterred by where the country is headed. Carlile admits she possesses a palpable anger toward the current administration, and more specifically, their inhumane immigration policies. Despite being a self-described hopeful person, Carlile says the time is now to take action. 

“We can’t let down our guard. We have to be resilient and loud and unwavering in our commitment to justice,” she says. “We can overpower oppression by deciding to not be disenfranchised. We can change the outcome of this oppressive regime. We can resist and not submit.”

What went through your mind in recent weeks as you watched the horrors unfold in Minneapolis?
I was really angry. My heart is on the side of displaced people. I think about displaced people — economic migrants, immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees — all the time. I think about the displaced movement of people globally as the test of our humanity in this time and age. I’m concerned about it all the time. I don’t like the part of the argument where people are pontificating about what an injustice it is that these things are happening to American citizens or in America. The fact that these things are happening to black and brown people is just as important as what happened to Renee Good and Alex Pretti. And I know if both of them were sitting here right now, they would say the exact same thing to me. I don’t know how people on the right can wax philosophical about doing it “by the book” when ICE is literally zip-tying people on the floor of their immigration hearings.

I’m glad you’re using the phrase “change their minds,” which you did numerous times throughout the concert.
Do you have time for a story?

Of course.
When I first moved out of my parents’ house, I was poor, poor, poor. I got payday loans, I pawned everything that I had: I pawned CDs for a dollar, I pawned my tools, my guitars, I got my power shut off all the time; I was working doing roofing labor and as a barista. I was in the shit.

One day a vacuum salesman came to my door. He treated me like someone that had money, like someone that was important. And he started talking to me about this vacuum cleaner and he took this little fucking strip out of his pocket and he dipped it in a bottle of water and he told me that my entire house was toxic. I don’t know how he did it, but he sold me a vacuum cleaner. He told me I wasn’t going to have to pay for it, that I could make really tiny payments. He was going to talk to his boss and see if he could just give this one to me… it was going to be fine. So, he leaves and he leaves this vacuum cleaner — so heavy I can’t even pick the damn thing up. And a few days later I got a bill in the mail for $1500.

I was first really embarrassed. I was ashamed. And it wasn’t too long before I was just fucking mad. Because I realized the situation I was in. I realized I was vulnerable at the time. I realized the guy looked me in the eye and made me feel important. And I called the company that he worked for and I said, “I know what this guy looks like. And I know where he goes. And I’m going to go to Kinko’s and I’m going to make a stack of flyers and I’m going to follow this dude door to door and go to every house he goes to before he gets there.” Anyway, they came and they picked up the vacuum and they didn’t make me pay for it. 

I love the metaphor. Donald Trump is the ultimate vacuum cleaner salesman.
So, you got fucking scammed. We’re living in a scammy time. That’s what people do. You can’t even pick up your phone without getting scammed. Doesn’t mean you have to double down. It doesn’t mean you have to pay for the fucking vacuum cleaner. And I just think there are a whole lot of people out there right now feeling duped and feeling ashamed and embarrassed. What they need to feel is angry. They need to get mad and change their minds. Get past the embarrassment, get past the shame that we got duped by a con artist. Get mad enough to change your mind.

Even though ICE says it’s scaling down its mission here in Minneapolis, there remains so much hopelessness among those living in fear of detainment.
Their fear is warranted. And that shatters my heart into a thousand pieces. If there’s any hope in that, it’s that I hope that those immigrants, those people who left their homes for the promise of safety or a better life, I hope they know how much we love them. I hope they can see they are welcome with open arms. That we believe in their contributions to this country and we believe that they belong here. That’s what I wish ICE did: I wish ICE found ways for paths to legal immigration for people. That they helped them with computers and forms. What if ICE just started giving everybody rides to immigration court instead of detaining them?

It has to be empowering to see thousands of people unifying with you, particularly on a night like this one.
I was on the verge of tears the whole time. When I feel that way I have to remind myself to get out of the way; it’s not about me. I have to remember I’m a surrogate of sorts for something else. I can tell we’re living in a deeply troubled time and music and art are so important to people and being able to stand in that violent threshold and be a conduit for it is a high honor and a big responsibility.

It’s maybe the most sacred responsibility that somebody has with a microphone and a platform right now, to show people how powerful that can be en masse. It’s not me: I may have pointed to an open door but it’s all these people coming together as a collective. It’s a very dangerous and very potent concept. Because we can become huge. We can overpower oppression by deciding to not be disenfranchised.

Does it make you feel hopeful about the future of our country?
Incredibly hopeful. I’m so lucky to have this job because — and I said it out there onstage — it’s not lost on me that I may have limited access to all kinds of people. It’s not lost on me that unless I’m singing at the Super Bowl, I may only really get to speak to and sing for one kind of person for the most part. But it trickles out. It aggregates. Because everybody has got brothers and sisters and moms and dads and family members. And if the message gets potent and cohesive enough, it’ll make it. 

Protesters gathered in Minneapolis, marking four weeks since Alex Pretti was shot by federal immigration officers.

On Saturday, hundreds of protesters chanted “ICE out” as they marched from Whittier Park. They expressed some optimism over a shift in immigration enforcement since Pretti’s death, but were adamant that protests will continue.

Shannon Born and Finn McAfee, a mother and son, joined the protest to show solidarity.

“For me, this is about Alex and being with this community and marching towards where that happened. Yeah, it’s very emotional,” said Born.

“I just want to be here to support the people that need it, and use our privilege to help them,” said McAfee.

FBI evidence decision

The protest followed the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s (BCA) announcement that the FBI will not share evidence related to Pretti’s killing with state investigators. The BCA called the FBI’s decision “concerning and unprecedented.”

“Astonishing. It’s disgusting. This is, yeah, just speechless, actually,” said Born. “It just seems like there is no justice, and things are just getting swept under the rug, and hoping people will just move on and not sharing evidence and all that. And it is, it’s terrifying.”

Wes, a volunteer with MN50501, commented on the situation.

“I mean, it’s not surprising to me… I would love for that to happen, but I have no confidence in that happening. No,” said Wes, asked for his take on the FBI’s unwillingness to share evidence with state investigators.

A “shift” in enforcement

It’s been an eventful few weeks since Pretti’s death, beginning days later with the removal of Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino from his role as the face of Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota after inflaming the community with unsubstantiated claims about Pretti.

In the first week of February, White House Border Czar Tom Homan announced the start of an ICE drawdown and the beginning of the end of its Minnesota-based operation. On Friday, U.S. lawmakers from Minnesota said fewer than 500 agents remained, down from 3,000 federal agents at the height of the operation. Homan’s stated goal is to return to the typical footprint of 150 agents.

“I think there was definitely a shift. So while we’re nowhere near claiming victory, you know, we’re feeling a lot better,” said Wes on Saturday.

“If we were seeing activity comparable to September or October, then I would exhale. But again, we’re not interested in pulling back, I don’t think anymore,” he added.

Push for reform

Democrats in Washington, D.C., are pushing for ICE reform, including requiring agents to unmask and identify themselves, and use judicial warrants to enter homes. These requests are at the center of a partial government shutdown, which began a week ago Saturday.

In St. Paul, Mayor Kaohly Her signed an ordinance to bar law enforcement officers from wearing masks that obscure their identity. The ordinance, passed unanimously by the city council, will take effect March 13.

“It’s not the end of the fight right now,” said Morgan Budiandri, a volunteer with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

“I just want people to remember all the victims who were killed by ICE, to remember Renee Good, to remember Alex Pretti. And I want people to, you know, remember that this is, you know, not the end of our fight despite this drawdown. We still need to show up and care about our neighbors.”

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to federal officials again on Saturday for comment on their decision not to share evidence with state investigators, but has not received a response.

Protestors leading the march on Saturday said they will continue their efforts, at least if/until immigration enforcement agents leave Minnesota entirely. At least two more protests are planned for next week.