All posts tagged: Minneapolis

There Is No Truce in Minneapolis

There Is No Truce in Minneapolis

Published by Daniella Wilson

The state and local officials meeting with Tom Homan, who was put in charge of the federal immigration operation in Minnesota this week, have generally agreed that their encounters have been cordial and productive, a welcome change from the militaristic approach taken by his predecessor. Homan has also cast these discussions in a positive light, expressing optimism Thursday that “commonsense cooperation” on immigration enforcement in Minneapolis will allow him to draw down the thousands of agents that have flooded the city for the past two months. But beyond the pleasantries, Homan is finding little appetite in Minnesota for the kind of targeted, aggressive immigration enforcement he has long sought to enact in Democratic-run cities and states. After the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents, there is even less trust among local leaders that the Trump administration can be a reliable partner. Although Homan has acknowledged that the immigration surge in Minnesota has not “been perfect,” his upbeat predictions of a smooth and swift détente seem to underestimate how much ill …

Thousands once again protest ICE in Minneapolis and across the U.S. : The Picture Show : NPR

Thousands once again protest ICE in Minneapolis and across the U.S. : The Picture Show : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Thousands marched through downtown Minneapolis on Friday for a second consecutive week, calling for an end to Operation Metro Surge, which has led to a significant increase in the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol agents in Minnesota. Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR hide caption toggle caption Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR For the second week in a row, thousands of people in downtown Minneapolis marched to protest the presence of immigration enforcement agents in their city. Demonstrations were also organized in other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Portland, Maine. These protests came after the Department of Justice announced a civil rights probe into the shooting death of Minneapolis resident and ICU nurse Alex Pretti but not of Renee Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7. Thousands marched through downtown Minneapolis on Friday for a second consecutive week, calling for an end to Operation Metro Surge. Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR hide caption toggle caption …

Conservative influencers don’t actually believe empathy is toxic

Conservative influencers don’t actually believe empathy is toxic

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — As chaos has unfolded in Minneapolis over the past several days, culminating in the killing of Alex Pretti, conservative Christian commentators have naturally taken up the mantle of the real problem: what the women are posting on Instagram. “On Instagram, it’s 2020 all over again,” Allie Beth Stuckey bemoaned on X. “Women, including many, many Christian women, are being completely duped by the anti-ICE propaganda.” Stuckey, the author of “Toxic Empathy,” wants us to redirect our attention and our sympathy. Consequently, she has been on a tear of posting horrific, gut-wrenching stories of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants in the U.S. — children murdered, women raped — because she fears that the right is losing the “PR war.” She seems especially distressed by the outrage that I have seen on my own social media feeds about the detaining of a 5-year-old boy in Minneapolis, Liam Conejo Ramos, calling the story a “debunked lie” and taking umbrage with Phil Vischer’s post below. Going after the worst of the worst. pic.twitter.com/DH7Th89Zgh — Phil Vischer (@philvischer) January …

How Minneapolis Looks From the Police Chief’s Squad Car

How Minneapolis Looks From the Police Chief’s Squad Car

Published by Sam Flores

The Minneapolis police cruiser was heading south toward sections of the city hit hardest by recent immigration raids. I was riding with the city’s police chief, Brian O’Hara. How candidly, I asked him, was he willing to discuss his views of President Trump? “I have my personal opinions,” O’Hara allowed warily. “I don’t think my personal opinions are relevant for my job.” We were approaching Karmel Mall, a hub of the Somali community in South Minneapolis. The shopping corridor had emptied out in recent weeks as armed federal agents in tactical gear swarmed the city. The sun was setting, and I saw a woman in a headscarf ushering a young boy along the sidewalk in front of her. “I guess,” I said to O’Hara, “I was thinking specifically of when he talks about Somali residents of Minnesota as garbage.” He threw up his hands. “It’s crazy,” he said. “It’s disgusting, and it’s crazy that the president is saying that.” He used the word a third time: “It’s crazy.” O’Hara is a police chief pushed past …

DOJ opens civil rights probe into Alex Pretti’s death in Minneapolis, deputy AG says

DOJ opens civil rights probe into Alex Pretti’s death in Minneapolis, deputy AG says

Published by Sam Flores

The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights probe into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday. Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday after a heated confrontation between authorities and protesters. The shooting, which came just weeks after Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by a federal officer while in her car, spurred intense backlash over the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Minnesota. “We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened,” Blanche said during a press conference Friday related to the latest release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Pretti’s family attorney, Steve Schleicher, said in a statement to NBC News that “the family’s focus is on a fair and impartial investigation that examines the facts around his murder.” The FBI has since taken a lead on the investigation into Pretti’s death, which was initially handled by the Department of …

Resisting the Minneapolis Surge | Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein

Resisting the Minneapolis Surge | Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein

Published by Jenni Sidey

Driving to St. Paul from the airport you pass under Fort Snelling, an enormous limestone structure from the early nineteenth century. In November 1862, following the bloody conclusion of the US–Dakota War, 1,700 people from the Dakota tribe were forced to march to Fort Snelling and kept in a concentration camp on the river flats below. The next month thirty-eight Dakota men were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota—the largest mass execution in US history. Between one hundred and three hundred people died in the camp. When I was a kid, growing up in St. Paul, we didn’t learn about any of this, but we did regularly go to Fort Snelling on field trips to see historical reenactors light fake cannons. The rock candy in the general store was a big draw. Today Fort Snelling is across the highway from a new detention operation, at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which serves as the local headquarters for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In the past St. Paul, across the river, has largely been immune to the …

DOJ has opened a federal civil rights probe into the death of Alex Pretti, deputy AG says

DOJ has opened a federal civil rights probe into the death of Alex Pretti, deputy AG says

Published by Sam Flores

Medical workers, union members, and veterans gather for an ‘ICE OUT NOW!’ rally and memorial for Alex Pretti outside the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center on January 27, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. Jacek Boczarski/ | Anadolu | Getty Images The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident killed Saturday by Border Patrol officers, according to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “We’re looking at everything that would shed light on that day,” Blanche said during a media conference on Friday. The Department of Homeland Security also said Friday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation will lead the federal probe. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem first disclosed the shift in which agency was leading the probe during a Fox News interview Thursday evening. Her department said earlier this week that Homeland Security Investigations, a unit within the department, would be heading the investigation. “We will continue to follow the investigation that the FBI is leading and giving them all the information that they need to bring …

After Minneapolis, Tech CEOs Are Struggling to Stay Silent

After Minneapolis, Tech CEOs Are Struggling to Stay Silent

Published by skeptic

It was November 12, 2016, four days after Donald Trump won his first presidential election. Aside from a few outliers (looking at you, Peter Thiel), almost everyone in the tech world was shocked and appalled. At a conference I attended that Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it was “a pretty crazy idea” to think that his company had anything to do with the outcome. The following Saturday, I was leaving my favorite breakfast place in downtown Palo Alto when I ran into Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple. We knew each other, but at that point, I had never really sat down with him to do a deep interview. But this was a moment when raw emotions were triggering all sorts of conversations, even between journalists and famously cautious executives. We ended up talking for what must have been 20 minutes. I won’t go into the particulars of a private conversation. But it will surprise no one to hear what was mutually understood on that streetcorner: We were two people stunned at what had …

Don Lemon arrested after church protest in Minneapolis

Don Lemon arrested after church protest in Minneapolis

Published by Sam Flores

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested by federal authorities in Los Angeles on Thursday after being accused of breaking federal laws in connection with an anti-ICE protest in a Minneapolis-area church. The Department of Justice earlier attempted to file charges against protesters for entering Cities Church, including Lemon, who interrupted a church service, but was rejected by a magistrate judge, citing a lack of evidence. Three protesters were eventually arrested by federal officials. Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said Lemon was in Los Angeles to cover the upcoming Grammy Awards when he was apprehended in a hotel lobby late Thursday night. “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said in a statement to CNN. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.” “Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,” Lowell added. Charging documents were not publicly available at the …

Journalist Don Lemon has been arrested after he covered a Minnesota church protest

Journalist Don Lemon has been arrested after he covered a Minnesota church protest

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — Journalist Don Lemon and three other people were arrested Friday in connection with an anti-immigration protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and increased tensions between residents and the Trump administration, officials said. Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he had been covering the Grammy Awards, his attorney Abbe Lowell said. It is unclear what charge or charges Lemon and the others are facing in the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul. Lemon’s arrest came after a magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors’ initial bid to charge him. Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and that he was there as a journalist chronicling protesters. “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth …