Minnesota
Crow Wing County sheriff addresses 2 agreements made with ICE
Federal officials are calling on counties to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Several sheriff’s offices in Minnesota have what’s called a 287(g) agreement with the agency. The agreement can be controversial. Different models allow departments to help enforce ICE operations and to serve warrants on people inside their jails. Crow Wing County has both.
The county also houses detainees for ICE. Sheriff Eric Klang agreed to allow WCCO into the jail to talk about the agreements.
“We have the 287(g), the warrant model,” Klang said.
Klang signed two agreements with ICE last year.
“When I signed that thing back in March, that was really about operational efficiency, meaning that if we had arrested somebody, or we had a detainee here, we couldn’t serve them the detainee paperwork. So I said, ‘Hey, why can’t we serve it? What’s the big deal?’” Klang said.
So far, it hasn’t been used. The other agreement is a task force model allowing deputies to help enforce ICE operations. Seven deputies went through online training.
“I’ve been in law enforcement for 30 years, and I’ve always supported our local, state and federal partners. And I wasn’t going to change because of political winds or because of the emotionally charged, you know, commotion going on around the country. I mean, that’s just not me. I’m gonna, I’m staying steady on that,” Klang said.
Mayerle asked what the task force model looks like.
“If you have a felony warrant against you and you’re a target of an ICE operation, you can bet that we’re going to be a part of that. But if you are just here simply because you cross the border, we are not going out with ICE going after people like that,” Klang said.
He says they were called in to assist on what he calls a targeted arrest for the first time last week.
It was at El Potro restaurant in Brainerd, Minnesota.
“Was basically just standing by and taking a perimeter and transporting of individuals to our, to the jail, which they immediately took and they brought them to Duluth, to the federal detention facility,” Klang said.
He said the people ICE was targeting had a criminal record.
“They had criminal records, and there just happened to be a couple of them that ended up, as far as I know, have just crossed the border, so civil penalty, and they got scooped up in that arrest that we did as well,” Klang said.
The restaurant is now closed, with signs of support on the outside.
Klang says that only more recently has he started getting hate mail over the ICE agreements.
“I would say the majority of the population supports what we’re doing here in Brainerd. There are a few that are, you know, aren’t happy with me cooperating, collaborating with our federal partners,” Klang said.
Klang told us he thinks more departments should cooperate with the feds. He says he doesn’t like to see how the agents are being treated in the Twin Cities. And feels if locals were standing alongside them, some of the treatment of community members could also have been avoided.
“Who knows the community better than the local law enforcement? A lot of these guys just got deployed here. They didn’t get a chance to finish their field training. I mean, they got 40 hours in the classroom. They don’t know anything about the mobile field force. And then you compound that by people yelling, screaming, throwing stuff at them. I mean, you know, it’s no wonder they don’t know that they’re acting out. Not typical that we would act out or respond by somebody doing that. So if we were standing alongside him, we could say, ‘Hey, no, no, we don’t do that here. We can’t do that. No, you don’t. You don’t. You don’t, you know, flip them back off because they’re flipping you off.’ You know, we can’t just randomly stop a car, you know, we could. We could be helping them and we wouldn’t be in this situation, this crisis that we’re in now,” Klang said.
The Department of Homeland Security responded to WCCO’s request about the January arrests:
“On Jan. 26, ICE agents in Brainerd, Minn., executed judicial criminal arrest warrants for Jose Baraja Farias and Javier Francisco Montoya-Barboza, both illegal aliens wanted on federal immigration charges. Montoya is a criminal illegal alien with a conviction for driving under the influence. Illegal aliens have killed and maimed far too many Americans while doing just that. Baraja is an illegal Mexican national who was previously removed from the United States in 2007 and subsequently reentered the country without authorization, a felony, in 2010. Two additional illegal aliens, Alberto Core Vidal Neri from Mexico and Nilo Fernando Piruch Tsenkus from Ecuador, were also arrested for unlawful presence in the United States. Both Baraja and Montoya were transported to Douglas County for judicial proceedings, while the others are pending removal proceedings. ICE will continue its efforts to uphold immigration laws and ensure community safety. Those who are in our country illegally have a choice—they can leave the country voluntarily or be arrested and deported. The United States taxpayer is generously offering free flights and a $2,600 to illegal aliens who self-deport using the CBP Home app. If they leave now, they preserve the potential opportunity to come back the legal, right way. The choice is theirs.”
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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