Fact Check: Are anti-ICE protesters stopping public vehicles to check if federal agents are inside?

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis have ramped up following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, 37, by an ICE agent on January 7. There have been several incidents where ICE agents and protesters were involved in arguments.

Amid this, a rumor circulated online claiming that anti-ICE protesters are stopping public vehicles to check if there are federal agents inside. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.

Claim: Anti-ICE protesters stop public vehicles to check if there are federal agents inside

On Tuesday, January 20, a post went viral on the social media platform X that claimed anti-ICE protesters are stopping public vehicles to check if there are federal agents inside.

The post read, "The leftists in Minneapolis are randomly stopping people who they think might be ICE agents, and forcing them to prove they are not ICE agents. The anti-ICE people are now conducting their own racial profiling and conducting immigration checkpoints. Amazing."

The post has garnered more than 29 million views so far, and around 800 people have reshared it. Even tech billionaire Elon Musk reshared the post, captioning it 'True'.

Fact Check: Video shows protesters checking man's car to see if he's an ICE agent

Reports and videos confirm isolated incidents in Minneapolis where anti-ICE protesters have confronted people in vehicles resembling ICE vehicles, and demanded proof they're not ICE agents. These involve small groups, with a few cases documented.

An X account @ClownWorld shared a clip of anti-ICE protesters stopping a man's car and checking his car to ensure he is not an agent. The caption of the post read, 'Liberals protesting ICE thought this man was an ICE agent, so they stopped him to make sure he wasn’t.'

However, this does not seem to be a widespread or random pattern of 'checkpoints' or stops targeting individuals. Instead, it stems from heightened vigilance and rapid response networks among activists amid ongoing ICE operations.

Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis was launched in late December 2025 and intensified in January 2026. The federal immigration enforcement effort has deployed more than 2,000 agents to the Twin Cities for mass deportations, focusing on undocumented immigrants with criminal records. 

Interestingly, on January 16, a federal judge ruled that agents cannot arrest peaceful protesters or use non-lethal force against them without cause, nor stop tailing vehicles absent obstruction.