DHS Cites Viral Minnesota Video of ICE Agent Confronting Protesters During Alleged Child‑Sex‑Offender Arrest
DHS highlighted a viral St. Paul video showing an ICE agent telling bystanders they were impeding an operation to arrest an alleged child‑sex‑offender, a clip praised by DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin and shared by White House officials. The video surfaced amid a volatile federal surge of roughly 3,000 immigration officers to the Twin Cities after the ICE killing of Renee Good, sparking frequent clashes — protesters following and blocking ICE vehicles, sit‑ins and accusations of aggressive tactics and projectiles, multiple arrests and injuries, and disputed claims between DHS and Minnesota officials over detainers and conduct.
📌 Key Facts
- DHS has deployed roughly 3,000 federal immigration officers to the Twin Cities as part of an operation (often called Operation Metro Surge); ICE and CBP officials say agents are targeting the "worst of the worst" and are authorized to stop and question people during street operations.
- The surge follows the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good and a subsequent federal officer‑involved shooting in which an immigrant man was wounded; CBS/60 Minutes reporting says state investigators were blocked from probing Good's killing and several federal prosecutors resigned amid the case.
- Sustained, organized protests in Minneapolis and St. Paul have included followers of ICE vehicles who film and blow whistles, efforts to block or impede enforcement actions, snowballs thrown at agents and sit‑ins (including at a Target), and demonstrators report repeated uses of tear gas, flash‑bangs and pepper‑ball/other projectiles — tactics that have injured protesters in other cities.
- A newly viral St. Paul video shows an ICE agent telling bystanders they were "impeding" an arrest of an alleged child‑sex offender; DHS and White House officials publicly praised ICE after the clip, while protesters and community leaders sharply criticized the enforcement actions.
- DHS and ICE say multiple arrests were made around the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building (including a reported 12 overnight arrests and photos of four alleged "agitators"), have highlighted detentions for alleged assaults on officers, and have publicly warned that assaulting federal law enforcement or damaging federal property are federal felonies.
- DHS officials and internal figures cite a large increase in attacks on ICE officers and circulated a White House Deputy Chief of Staff message saying agents have "federal immunity in the conduct of your duties" — a line officials declined to interpret amid rising concerns about use‑of‑force and accountability.
- Minnesota leaders dispute key elements of DHS's narrative: Mayor Jacob Frey calls the federal presence an "occupying force," rejects confining protests to a single zone and accuses raids of racial profiling; the Minnesota Department of Corrections says DHS's claims about noncompliance with detainers are "categorically false" and released different custody and detainer numbers.
- The situation has prompted high‑level political reactions — President Trump said he is not invoking the Insurrection Act "right now" but left the option open, some top Republicans urged caution and reliance on law enforcement, and White House social posts publicly backed ICE — intensifying debate over federal tactics, local coordination and oversight.
📊 Relevant Data
From 2020 to 2024, over 81,000 immigrants moved to Minnesota, making international immigration the primary driver of the state's population growth during that period.
Immigration became the leading component of population ... — Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
In St. Paul, Minnesota, approximately 57,600 immigrants reside, constituting 19% of the city's population as of recent estimates.
St. Paul, Minnesota — Vera Institute of Justice
Almost 40% of immigrant households in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, pay more than 30% of their income on housing, indicating high housing cost burdens among these groups.
New report highlights key housing issues facing immigrant ... — Minnesota Housing Partnership
In fiscal year 2026, 92% of the growth in ICE detention populations was driven by immigrants with no criminal convictions.
92% of ICE Detention Growth in FY 2026 Driven by Immigrants with ... — Austin Kocher Substack
Minnesota has the largest Somali community in the United States, with over 80,000 ethnic Somalis, primarily due to refugee resettlement programs starting in the 1990s and continuing through family reunification and economic opportunities.
How Minnesota became the center of the Somali diaspora — Sahan Journal
Claims of a 500% increase in assaults on ICE agents were made in 2025, but comprehensive data verifying the scale of such attacks is lacking, with reports indicating inconsistencies in tracking.
Claims of huge rise in assaults against ICE drive responses, but ... — Colorado Public Radio
📰 Source Timeline (16)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
January 19, 2026
9:22 PM
Anti-ICE agitators occupy Minnesota Target store, demand retailer stop helping federal agents
New information:
- Reports that anti‑ICE protesters staged a sit‑in inside a Target store in St. Paul on Monday, accusing Target of allowing ICE to use its parking lot and restrooms as a 'staging ground'.
- Includes protesters’ specific demands that Target bar ICE from using its lots and buildings and 'stand with the community' to protect children from family separation.
- Provides additional on‑camera quotes from protesters calling ICE actions 'ethnic cleansing' and demanding abolition of ICE, linking the store action directly to Trump‑era raids around Minneapolis.
3:34 AM
Viral video shows ICE agent telling agitators they're disrupting arrest of child sex offender in Minnesota
New information:
- New viral video from St. Paul shows an ICE agent telling bystanders they are 'impeding' an operation to arrest an alleged child sex offender while a nearby car repeatedly honks.
- DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin publicly praised ICE and CBP officers in response to this specific video, framing them as risking their lives to arrest 'these criminals.'
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted 'God Bless ICE' in reaction to the clip, and the official White House X account reposted it; Elon Musk also reacted, calling the situation 'Crazy.'
2:49 AM
ICE says 2 demonstrators were arrested in Minnesota for allegedly assaulting officers
New information:
- ICE says two demonstrators were arrested outside Minnesota’s Bishop Whipple Building for allegedly assaulting federal officers and repeatedly refusing orders to stay out of traffic.
- ICE publicly warned on X that 'if you assault federal law enforcement, you will face the consequences like these two agitators,' explicitly tying the arrests to deterrent messaging.
- The piece restates that protests at the Whipple Building involve about 200 people and are part of a wave sparked by the ICE killing of Renee Nicole Good and a subsequent shooting of an alleged undocumented immigrant.
12:00 AM
Can Americans trust the investigation into Renee Good's killing?
New information:
- ICE’s Marcos Charles, a top enforcement official, gives an on‑camera defense of Operation Metro Surge, insisting agents are 'looking for the worst of the worst' but authorized to question anyone they encounter and 'establish citizenship.'
- Charles acknowledges that American citizens in Minneapolis have been stopped and even detained by ICE during street operations but says what bothers him more are assaults on officers, not those wrongful detentions.
- CBS reports that state investigators were blocked from participating in the investigation of ICE officer Jonathan Ross’s fatal shooting of Renee Good, and that several senior Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned in part because they were told to investigate Good and her wife rather than Ross.
- DHS internal figures, cited by Charles, claim attacks on ICE officers jumped from 19 in 2024 to 275 last year, and DHS circulated a message from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller telling ICE agents they have 'federal immunity in the conduct of your duties.'
- Pressed on whether that 'federal immunity' message means immigration agents can operate without accountability, Charles declines to interpret the statement but insists officers are acting 'lawfully and with professionalism.'
January 18, 2026
5:55 PM
New Hampshire bishop warns clergy to prepare for 'new era of martyrdom'
New information:
- The New Hampshire bishop’s 'era of martyrdom' warning shows some clergy see the Minneapolis‑centered anti‑ICE protests as entering a phase where religious leaders may face lethal risk for intervening physically between officers and immigrants.
- The piece highlights coordinated Episcopal messaging that urges nonviolent resistance but normalizes the idea that Christian witness may entail death in the current enforcement climate.
5:24 PM
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says federal agents are an "occupying force"
New information:
- Frey emphasizes that 'tens of thousands' of Minneapolis residents are 'grinning down the bear' and engaging in what he describes as peaceful First Amendment protests against the ICE presence.
- He rejects DHS’s framing that protests should be confined to a single 'peaceful protest zone,' insisting the First Amendment is not geographically limited.
- Frey publicly links the raids to racial and ethnic profiling, alleging people are being terrorized 'simply because they're Latino or Somali,' adding context to why so many are demonstrating.
- He says city and state authorities, not federal agents or potential active‑duty troops, should be the ones maintaining order, reinforcing local resistance to the scale and style of federal enforcement.
January 17, 2026
3:00 PM
Minnesota Dept of Corrections dismisses DHS narrative about them not complying with ICE
New information:
- Minnesota Department of Corrections issued a formal statement calling DHS’s claims that the state does not honor ICE detainers 'categorically false' and 'unsupported by facts.'
- DOC provided its own numbers: about 8,000 people in state prison, only 207 non‑U.S. citizens, and 84 individuals with ICE detainers released in 2025, all with prior notice and coordination with ICE for custody transfer.
- DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin doubled down in a statement, reiterating that 'nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens' have been released into Minnesota communities and that there are 'more than 1,360 active detainers' statewide, and accusing Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey of 'actively encouraging an organized resistance to ICE.'
- The story ties the numbers fight explicitly to Frey’s 'get the f‑‑‑ out' remark to ICE, Walz’s 'leave Minnesota alone' line, and DHS’s framing of both as 'sanctuary politicians' after the Renee Good shooting.
10:00 AM
Events in Minneapolis show how immigration enforcement has changed. What's the impact?
New information:
- NPR adds qualitative detail about the protest side of the Minneapolis clashes, describing snowballs thrown at agents and direct attempts to block ICE vehicles, rather than just listing arrest numbers.
- The piece situates those protests as a response to ICE’s new, more aggressive on‑street tactics, not an isolated riot, tying demonstrations to broader fear and confusion about shifting enforcement norms.
- Experts on immigration and policing emphasize that ICE is now deploying to cities with little formal coordination with local officials, worsening mistrust and uncertainty about what is legal at protests and during encounters.
January 16, 2026
10:00 PM
CNN revisits viral 2016 ICE report, says 'heightened' rhetoric, protests now complicate operations
New information:
- CNN revisited a 2016 Chicago ICE ride‑along segment that recently went viral, with reporter Pamela Brown reiterating that agents in that footage acted 'very professional' and 'respectful' and faced no protesters then.
- CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez described current ICE operations, especially in Minneapolis, as occurring in a 'very, very testy landscape' with organized protesters using whistles and multiple overlapping federal agencies on scene.
- Brown added on‑air that current ICE operations are using 'aggressive tactics as we've seen in the videos,' underscoring that national media are now explicitly characterizing the enforcement environment as more confrontational.
- The piece notes DHS’s claim that an ICE agent in Minneapolis was hospitalized after a traffic‑stop arrest attempt in which a Venezuelan suspect allegedly assaulted the officer and two others attacked with a snow shovel and broom handle.
9:11 PM
ICE releases photos after violent Minneapolis protests leave multiple alleged agitators arrested
New information:
- ICE publicly released photos of four alleged 'agitators' arrested outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building after what it called violent anti‑ICE protests.
- DHS says 12 people were arrested overnight for allegedly assaulting law‑enforcement officers at the Whipple Federal Building, and reminded the public that assaulting officers or damaging federal property is a federal felony.
- ICE alleges protesters threw objects and poured water on roadways to create icy, hazardous conditions before officers made the arrests, and says the four highlighted men were booked on unspecified federal charges.
8:46 PM
California protester left blind in one eye is among string of violent run-ins with federal agents
New information:
- Details a Jan. 9 protest outside a federal immigration building in Orange County, California, tied to outrage over the Minneapolis ICE killing of Renee Good.
- Reports that 21‑year‑old student Kaden Rummler was blinded in one eye by a projectile fired by a federal officer, required a six‑hour eye surgery, has no depth perception and can no longer drive, with metal and plastic fragments still lodged in his skull.
- Cites a second protester, 31‑year‑old Britain Rodriguez, who says he was also blinded in one eye by a federal projectile at the same protest.
- Notes DHS has not disclosed what projectile was used; Rummler’s attorney believes it was a metal‑and‑plastic capsule containing pepper spray and says doctors are seeking information on possible toxicity.
- Reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed Rummler was the demonstrator taken to the hospital but called his injury claims 'absurd' and described the crowd as violent; Rummler is charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and another protester faces a felony charge of assaulting/resisting a federal officer.
7:29 PM
Trump says no need to invoke Insurrection Act ‘right now’ amid anti-ICE unrest in Minnesota
New information:
- Trump told reporters there is 'no reason right now' to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota but reiterated he will use it if he deems it necessary.
- He framed the Insurrection Act as a 'very powerful' tool and claimed it has been used 'a lot,' citing George H.W. Bush as using it 28 times.
- Top Republicans including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker and Sen. Lisa Murkowski signaled skepticism or caution about invoking the Act, preferring that local and federal law enforcement manage the unrest.
- Trump posted on Truth Social that Minnesota’s governor and Minneapolis mayor have 'totally lost control' and again described protesters as 'Troublemakers, Agitators, and Insurrectionists' and 'highly paid professionals.'
6:00 PM
Tensions continue to surge in Minnesota after Wednesday shooting involving federal agent
New information:
- Reports a new federal officer–involved shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday night, one week after the ICE killing of Renee Nicole Good; DHS characterizes the wounded man as a 'criminal illegal alien from Venezuela' who allegedly assaulted an officer with snow shovels and broom handles.
- Details Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s statement that the presence of 3,000 federal agents alongside 600 MPD officers is 'unsustainable' and that he has seen 'intolerable' ICE conduct.
- Adds FBI Director Kash Patel’s announcement that agents arrested a Latin Kings gang member with a violent record who allegedly stole federal property from an FBI vehicle in Minneapolis the same night.
- Describes DHS’s account of arresting an armed U.S. citizen at a Wednesday protest who allegedly threatened officers, possessed a gun and ammunition, and kicked a metal smoke canister at officers.
- Documents ICE’s Thursday detention of Aliya Rahman, a woman headed to a medical appointment whose car window agents smashed before dragging her out; she tells AP she was denied medical care and lost consciousness, while DHS labels her an 'agitator' who ignored orders to move her vehicle.
12:35 PM
Trump threatens military action in Minneapolis. And, inside his healthcare plan
New information:
- NPR pegs roughly 3,000 federal immigration officers as on the ground or expected in the Twin Cities, adding a more precise sense of the scale of the deployment.
- Reports that on Wednesday an immigration officer shot an immigrant man in the leg on Minneapolis’ north side, sparking the latest round of unrest in addition to the earlier killing of Renee Good (already covered in other pieces).
- First‑person detail that local resistance now includes residents following ICE vehicles, filming and making loud noise — described as constitutionally protected activity — and that ICE has repeatedly used tear gas, flash‑bangs and pepper balls over the past five days, leaving some residents, including at least one asylum seeker, afraid to leave home.
- Confirms that Trump’s 'Great Healthcare Plan' rollout is essentially a compilation of long‑standing GOP ideas — favoring federal dollars for less‑comprehensive plans and potentially weakening Healthcare.gov — without new detail on restoring ACA subsidies.