Minneapolis, MN

F-bomb heard across the nation: Minneapolis’ mayor tries to break ICE

Published

3 months ago

January 10, 2026

F-bomb heard across the nation: Minneapolis’ mayor tries to break ICE

For many Americans, the first introduction to Jacob Frey may have come this week in the form of press conference footage in which the Minneapolis mayor, visibly upset by Wednesday’s fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration agent, had the following words for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “Get the f—- out of Minneapolis.”

But the third-term mayor with the boyish smile is no stranger to high-profile situations, adept at navigating crises with resolve and authenticity while fiercely aligning himself with the Minnesota community he represents. Now at odds with the Trump administration as leader of the latest Democratic-led city to be targeted by the president’s stepped-up deportation efforts, he’s shown he’s unafraid to challenge the federal government.

Frey’s emotional statement was in sharp contrast to the state’s “Minnesota Nice” stereotype.

“He just basically tells people the truth, whether they want to hear it or not,” said former longtime Minneapolis councilmember Lisa Goodman, who now serves in Frey’s administration as the city’s director of strategic initiatives. “He’s not passive-aggressive, which is alarming to some people, especially in Minnesota. He speaks his truth, and he doesn’t back down from that.”

The mayor’s statement “was very forceful in tone, sure, and in turn, probably represents the feelings of most Minneapolis residents,” said Andy Aoki, a professor of political science at the city’s Augsburg University.

“Otherwise, he doesn’t come across as the loud, abrasive, over-the-top politician ready with a soundbite. He comes across as more thoughtful, measured, and now more direct.”

This week’s incident was the spark many feared amid a growing powder keg of heightened activity by immigration authorities in Minneapolis and nationwide. But it was just the latest adversity Frey, 44, has faced in his eight years as the city’s mayor.

In May 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer less than a mile from the site of this week’s ICE incident; in August, two children were killed and 14 injured in a mass shooting at the city’s Annunciation Church; and more recently, President Donald Trump broadly attacked the state’s Somali community after reports of fraud involving Somali immigrants.

Then, on Jan. 7, a U.S. immigration agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in her vehicle, an encounter captured on video and subsequently dissected and hotly debated while initially appearing to contradict the administration’s characterization of what happened.

On Friday, Frey doubled down on his outrage over the Trump administration’s portrayal of Good’s shooting as an act of self-defense, penning a guest editorial in the New York Times headlined “I’m the Mayor of Minneapolis. Trump Is Lying to You.”

“The chaos that ICE and the Trump administration have brought to Minneapolis made this tragedy sadly predictable,” he wrote.

Aoki said the resilience and resolve Frey has exhibited since Good’s death stems from “a political savvy, an everyman approach” that he has polished over the years. He thinks the mayor’s heated declaration to federal officials reflected the frustration that has built up over several weeks of ICE presence in the area.

“This is going to be a test of his patience, resilience, and all of his political savvy,” Aoki said. “He’s in the crosshairs of the federal government, and you just can’t just fight them tit-for-tat. He has to figure out the best path to succeed while getting pressure from all sides. This is going to test his political skillset in many ways.”

Jim Scheibel, who served as Saint Paul mayor from 1990 to 1994 and now assists the associate provost at the city’s Hamline University, said he has received positive reviews from around the country about Frey’s handling of the situation.

“He’s very visible, and speaking for myself, his controlled anger in this situation is important,” Scheibel said. “People are looking for someone to articulate what people in the Twin Cities are feeling.”

Scheibel said Frey’s emotions strike him as genuine, not theatrics.

“It’s really from his heart and his head that he’s speaking,” he said. “Hubert Humphrey would be very proud of the kind of leadership that Mayor Frey is showing right now.”

Frey’s path to mayor

Frey, a native of Northern Virginia and the son of professional modern ballet dancers, attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg on a track scholarship, earning a government degree and a shoe company contract that allowed him to run professionally. He ran as many as 120 miles a week while attending Villanova Law School in Philadelphia, where he graduated cum laude.

According to his biography, Frey developed an affection for Minneapolis while running the Twin Cities Marathon and moved there to work as an employment and civil rights lawyer. He fell into community organizing work, chosen as the city’s first annual recipient of its Martin Luther King Jr. Award for his efforts on behalf of marriage equality, housing, and worker non-discrimination rights.

In 2013, he successfully ran for the Minneapolis City Council, representing the city’s Third Ward. Five years later, he became the city’s second-ever Jewish mayor and its second youngest ever, winning on a platform that included mending police-community relations with local frustrations still simmering after two police-involved killings.

Two years later, the police-community relations issue would explode with global reverberations when George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who had kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. Captured on video, the incident would bring national tensions over police brutality to a head, igniting months of demonstrations around the country.

Frey’s handling of the crisis, including his call to fire and charge the offices involved, drew both acclaim and disapproval; as Minneapolis structures were set ablaze amid protests that immediately following Floyd’s killing, On social media, President Donald Trump – then finishing his first term – decried Frey’s “total lack of leadership” and threatened to deploy the National Guard.

When a reporter related Trump’s remarks to Frey, the mayor responded by saying Trump knew nothing of the city’s toughness.

“Weakness is refusing to take responsibility for your actions,” he said. “Weakness is pointing your finger at somebody else during a time of crisis…. Is this a difficult time period? Yes. But you better be damn sure that we’re gonna get through this.”

In December, after Trump maligned Somali immigrants as “garbage” while federal immigration agents ramped up activity in the Twin Cities area, Frey came to the community’s defense, saying Minneapolis was “proud” to host the country’s largest Somali community.

“They are our neighbors, our friends, and our family – and they are welcome in our city,” he said. “Nothing Donald Trump does will ever change that.”

Latest crisis could test city’s accord

Good’s fatal shooting occurred as the community and police were showing signs of rebuilding trust post-George Floyd, said Muhammad Abdul-Ahad, executive director of T.O.U.C.H Outreach, a Minneapolis violence prevention nonprofit.

Abdul-Ahad hopes ICE’s presence won’t derail progress made thus far, though he said some residents have questioned why Minneapolis police haven’t taken a more forceful stance against the agency. He hopes the mayor and police chief have a strategy in place with larger protests scheduled for this weekend.

“We don’t want to see an ‘Us versus Them,’” he said. “We’ve worked too hard since Floyd. It’s going to take all of us to show up together for our communities in times like this, versus blank stares and disbelief.”

The mayor, Abdul-Ahad, said, “is going to have to do more than talk about that he’s with the people; he’s going to have to show it.”

Aoki, of Augsburg University, said while Frey has his detractors, his willingness to take on the Trump administration on the community’s behalf in the wake of Good’s fatal shooting has earned him broad support.

“He has come to grips with the divisions on the council and in the city and he decidedly knows where he stands,” Aoki said. “Early in his first term, he was trying to appeal to everybody, and that didn’t work. Now he knows how to appeal to the moderates and try to peel off a couple of left-leaning council members to get what he needs done.”

Former councilmember Goodman said that while Frey also has learned to negotiate with a “fairly purple” state legislature, his longevity in office illustrates that city voters believe in his authenticity. Goodman said while Frey would be considered extremely progressive in almost any other city, “clearly some of his detractors see him as not progressive enough.”

“A strong leader is out there emotionally, intellectually, in partnership with others. You can’t do it alone,” Goodman said. “You have to be working with others…And Jacob is very good at that.”

She believes the mayor still considers the city’s police reform strategy a crucially important component of unfinished business.

“The city is making progress, and he is very committed to that,” Goodman said. “He is committed to making policing community-based, with many alternative responses – and not the way it was, which facilitated the murder of George Floyd.”

That Frey survived the aftermath of that issue to be re-elected twice “should count for something, Aoki said.

“I think because of (Floyd), he’s more adept at handling crises this time around,” he said. “It doesn’t make it any easier, but how can you not lean into that experience, for better or worse?”

Abdul-Ahad thinks a resilient Frey would like to be recognized for guiding Minneapolis through a historically tumultuous time, but says that will have to be earned through action, not just words.

“He’s been through so much, we all have,” Abdul-Ahad said. “But as mayor, it’s his job to stand up and take accountability for the city. He’s been ridiculed so many times over the last five years, and I’m sure he doesn’t want to go through that again…. He’s been humiliated. But he keeps coming back.”

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Minneapolis, MN

Man dead, 2 others hurt in overnight shooting in Minneapolis

Published

4 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Man dead, 2 others hurt in overnight shooting in Minneapolis

Police say two people were hurt and one other man died.

A homicide investigation is underway in Minneapolis after a shooting early Friday morning killed one man and hurt two others.

Minneapolis police were called to the area of East Franklin Avenue and Chicago Avenue at around 12:30 a.m.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS cameras caught more than 65 evidence markers scattered across the ground in the area and shattered glass at a bus shelter. Some nearby businesses also appeared to have some damage.

Minneapolis police are still working to determine what led up to the shooting and who was involved but investigators say first responders found the three men suffering from gunshot wounds.

One injured man is in his 40s, the other in his 50s, police say. Both were taken to a hospital by ambulance.

The third man died at the scene. His name and age haven’t yet been publicly released.

Police say early information suggests the men were on a sidewalk when at least one person opened fire, then fled in a vehicle.

So far, no arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call police at 612-673-5845 to leave a voicemail or email policetips@minneapolismn.gov.

“This is a tragic and deeply disturbing act of violence that has taken a life, and left others seriously injured,” MPD Chief Brian O’Hara said. “This kind of violence is unacceptable, and we are committed to identifying those responsible and holding them accountable.”

Minneapolis police investigating alleyway shooting near East Franklin Avenue

It comes less than 30 hours after another serious shooting along East Franklin Avenue, just a half-mile west of Friday’s scene. That incident left a man hospitalized with a potentially life-threatening gunshot wound. No arrests have been announced in that case either.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is still working to learn more about this shooting. Stay with KSTP-TV for the latest updates on air and on the KSTP app.

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Minneapolis, MN

A Minneapolis woman recounts death of Alex Pretti as lawyers eye a class action lawsuit

Published

16 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

A Minneapolis woman recounts death of Alex Pretti as lawyers eye a class action lawsuit

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis woman who confronted federal immigration officers alongside Alex Pretti in January was among a group of potential litigants who spoke out Thursday about alleged excessive force against people protesting or monitoring the enforcement surge in Minnesota.

Georgia Savageford, who introduced herself as Wynnie at a news conference, said she was inside an officer’s vehicle when she saw federal agents shoot Pretti.

“That day has changed me forever,” she said. “The trauma will haunt me for the rest of my life, and I will never be the same.”

Savageford said she had been legally observing the actions of federal officers in Minneapolis ever since the shooting death of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. She said she was doing so again on the morning of Jan. 24 when an agent pushed her twice and caused her to fall.

“As I was going down, three agents proceeded to tackle me and drag me face-down into the middle of the street. They knelt on my back, twisted my arms and my legs to the ground, and handcuffed me. The cuffs were so tight I lost feeling in my hands, which resulted in temporary nerve damage,” she recounted.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond Thursday to emails seeking comment. Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate the killings.

Savageford said Pretti recorded video of her arrest and yelled at agents to leave her alone.

She said the officers put her in the back of a vehicle, from which she saw agents shoot and kill Pretti on the other side of the street.

“At that moment, I thought I was going to die too. I pleaded with the agents to understand why another life was taken, and to not take mine,” she said.

She added that they told her to shut up and to stop being hysterical. She said they then took her to an ICE holding facility where she was held for 12 hours in a cold cell without ready access to food, water or the bathroom until she was released without being charged.

“I did not know him, but I knew he had my back,” she said of Pretti. “I know the kind of heart he had. One that loves and protects without limits.”

Savageford shared her story at a news conference where civil rights attorney John Burris, of Oakland, California, and other lawyers laid out how they’re paving the way for potential class-action lawsuits over alleged excessive force used against protesters and monitors.

Burris, who specializes in police misconduct, helped win an $11 million settlement against the Oakland Police Department in 2003, and helped win a civil jury verdict of $3.8 million for the late motorist Rodney King, who was beaten by Los Angeles police officers in 1991.

He said he and his colleagues have filed complaints with federal agencies involved in the Minnesota enforcement surge on behalf of 10 people, including Savageford, as the first step in a process that’s likely to lead to a larger class-action lawsuit.

“We have many others that are under investigation that have not completed the process. But I thought it was important for us to start this process now. Put the government on notice that we’re here,” Burris said.

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Minneapolis, MN

Boy who shielded classmate during school shooting receives Medal of Honor

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Boy who shielded classmate during school shooting receives Medal of Honor

WASHINGTON (TNND) — A fifth grader from Minneapolis received the Citizen Honor Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Victor Greenawalt jumped in front of his friend during a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.

Weston Halsne told local station KARE 11 that Greenawalt saved his life.

“It was really scary,” Halsne told KARE 11. “My friend Victor, like, saved me, though. Because he laid on top of me. But he got hit.”

Two students were killed and several were injured after a shooter opened fire through the windows of the church last year. The shooter died on the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The Congressional Medal Society said in a statement that Greenawalt showed “extraordinary bravery far beyond his years.”

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – SEPTEMBER 3: Flowers line a pathway to Annunciation Catholic Church as U.S. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance visit to pay their respects to victims of the shooting there on September 3, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The shooting left two students dead and many more wounded. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski-Pool/Getty Images)

“Instinctively, Victor protected a classmate with his own body, directly saving their life during the attack,” the society said in a written statement. “His courage and selflessness became a powerful symbol of hope and humanity for a community in crisis.”

Greenawalt was hospitalized following the shooting, according to a verified GoFundMe page. His sister was also injured.

He flew to Washington with his family on Wednesday to accept the award.

Greeenawalt met with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., while on Capitol Hill. The ceremony also included a wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery.

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He received the Young Hero award, which honors individuals age 17 or younger for their courage.

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