Anti-ICE protesters are growing more radical as the body count rises
Federal immigration agents have shot and killed two American citizens in Minneapolis in a matter of weeks. Despite their mandate, their presence in the city has radicalized protesters and polarized the US.
Weeks after the death of Renee Good, and a day after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by US Border Patrol agents, a mob of protesters descended on a hotel they believed to be housing federal immigration officers on Sunday night. The demonstration quickly turned into a riot as activists spray-painted ‘f**k ICE’ on the hotel’s windows and battered their way into the lobby, while armed agents attempted to hold them back.
The agents called for local backup, which reportedly arrived late and refused to physically move the rioters. The melee was eventually broken up by more federal agents, who arrived with tear gas.
Last night hundreds of craze lunatics broke into a hotel and began beating up the staff because two ICE officers were staying there.
After several hours, the two agents were able to push them out.
The police never came. Trump must declare the Insurrection Act or pull ice out of… pic.twitter.com/CdE9uD4iph
The incident marked the latest escalation in US President Donald Trump’s Minnesota crackdown. Trump’s government agencies are now facing off against a network of activists and their political backers, and both sides predict that more blood will be spilled.
Why is ICE in Minnesota?
The US Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is tasked with seeking out and removing illegal immigrants throughout the US. Although Minneapolis is more than 1,000 miles from the US’ southern border, ICE announced in December that it would launch ‘Operation Metro Surge’ in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, as news broke of a multi-billion-dollar fraud ring led by Somalis.
Trump announced the deployment of a further 2,000 ICE, Border Patrol, and other federal agents to Minneapolis earlier this month. The US Justice Department has charged 98 members of the Somali fraud ring – many of them naturalized US citizens – with criminal offenses, and ICE agents have arrested 3,000 “criminal illegal aliens” during Operation Metro Surge, according to a statement made by the agency last week.
Who did they shoot?
Liberal activists have held massive protests against the federal deployments from the outset, organizing on ‘ICE Watch’ messaging groups and using vehicles to impede the agents in the streets. Renee Good, a member of one of these groups, blocked a street with her SUV on January 7, leading to a confrontation with Jonathan Ross, an ICE agent.
The lesbian teacher was ordered to get out of her vehicle, but refused and drove forward. It is unclear whether she intended to ram Ross, but he fired three times, killing her.
BREAKING: Alpha News has obtained cellphone footage showing perspective of federal agent at center of ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/p2wks0zew0
The latest incident happened on Saturday, when US Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis resident and intensive care nurse. Pretti was carrying a legally-owned Sig P320 handgun at an anti-ICE protest. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that Pretti had brandished the weapon at the agents, although this is not clear from video footage of the incident.
Firearms experts have also claimed that Pretti’s P320 – a model known for accidentally discharging – went off as an agent was confiscating it, prompting the other agents to open fire. ICE banned its own agents from using the P320 last year over the risk of negligent discharges.
Who’s radicalizing the protesters?
US Vice President J.D. Vance has accused local authorities and left-wing activists of working together to create “engineered chaos” in Minneapolis.
Local politicians have made no secret of their opposition to the ICE deployment. The State of Minnesota has sued to halt Operation Metro Surge, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has assured residents – illegal and legal – that city police would not cooperate with federal agents. At a press conference last week, Frey said that his officers would “fight ICE on the streets.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has also sided with the protesters. Walz has called for Trump to pull “his 3,000 untrained agents” out of the state, and deployed National Guard troops to hand out donuts and coffee to protesters. One National Guardsman described this as “a demonstration of safety and security.”
Minnesota National Guard was asked why they’re handing out coffee, donuts, and hot chocolate to protesters.
Answer: “It’s a demonstration of safety and security. We’re here to help.”
High-profile Democrats like California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have encouraged further demonstrations, with Clinton calling on protesters to “stand up and speak out” for their “freedoms.”
With Democrat officials and liberal journalists spotted in anti-ICE group chats, some protesters have been emboldened to surveil and stop vehicles they suspect of carrying ICE agents. In one clip that went viral on Sunday, a group of activists refused to let one vehicle continue until the occupants showed IDs proving they were not agents.
🚨🇺🇸 “ICE WATCH” NETWORK!? Minneapolis is getting weird.
A local “ICE Watch” network flagged a random car as ICE, then followed it for over an hour after it popped up in their homemade database.
Listening to some of their rhetoric, it would seem that the protesters and their backers are preparing for open fighting. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes stated last week that activists could be justified in shooting ICE agents if they feel endangered, while an Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire caused controversy by telling his clergy to “have their wills written” and prepare for “a new era of martyrdom.”
DHS has described Mayes’ comment as a “direct threat calling for violence against our law enforcement officers” that “is going to get someone killed.”
Trump threatened last week to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy the US military to restore order in Minnesota. However, he has made similar threats in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago without following through, and he suggested on Sunday that ICE will withdraw from Minneapolis “at some point.”
The situation in Minneapolis will remain tense as long as federal agents are on the ground. However, the level of violence in the city has a long way to go before it reaches the heights seen during the wave of Black Lives Matter riots that hit more than 200 US cities in 2020. The riots caused up to $2 billion in property damage, led to the death of 20 people and the occupation of city blocks in Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis by activists, but ultimately died down by the fall.
According to recent media reports, Trump is wavering on his commitment to the Minneapolis operation. Mainstream Republicans are calling for an investigation into ICE conduct, and Trump is reportedly frustrated that his immigration message is being drowned out by images of violence coming out of the city. With midterm elections less than a year away, expect the president to wind down the operation if the bad press continues.
