Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey criticizes ICE tactics, praises discipline among demonstrators

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Saturday, January 10, strongly criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the Twin Cities, while stressing that the “vast majority” of demonstrators protesting federal immigration enforcement have acted peacefully.

Speaking alongside Police Chief Brian O’Hara at a morning news conference, Frey and O’Hara said all protests in the city following Wednesday’s fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent had been peaceful until Friday night, when a small group splintered off and caused property damage.

That group damaged windows and spray-painted graffiti at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel at The Depot, authorities said.

Jacob Frey praises protester discipline and warns against chaos

Most of Friday’s protest activity centered around the Canopy Hotel by Hilton, where demonstrators held what officials described as a “noise protest” outside a building activists believed was housing ICE agents.

After police issued dispersal orders, 29 people were arrested, O’Hara said. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck by a chunk of ice during the night.

While warning that vandalism and attacks on officers would lead to arrests, Frey praised protesters for largely maintaining discipline.

“We will not counter Donald Trump's chaos with our own brand of chaos,” Frey said. “We in Minneapolis are going to do this right.”

Frey also commended demonstrators for refusing to engage with allegedly far-right influencers who appeared at protests in an apparent attempt to provoke confrontations. One individual was recorded telling protesters, “We executed one of you yesterday.”

“I saw this video where you had this agitator, clearly from the far right, who was trying to rile up the crowd,” Frey said. “He was trying to make the crowd take the bait so they would give the Trump administration an excuse to come in even more.”

Instead, Frey said, protesters ignored the provocations. “It was so awesome that not only was the crowd not taking the bait, they were blowing him off,” he added. “We are meeting a whole lot of despair with a lot of hope.”

Jacob Frey condemns 'indiscriminate' ICE actions

The mayor and police chief turned sharply critical of ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations in Minneapolis and surrounding communities, describing them as reckless and poorly coordinated.

“This is not a coordinated, strategic plan,” Frey said. “In many cases, it’s indiscriminate.”

Frey cited reports of US citizens and legal observers being detained, as well as allegations of profiling by federal authorities.

He also claimed that ICE initially targeted Minnesota’s Somali community before shifting enforcement toward Latino and other immigrant communities. “These are the communities that make Minneapolis a better place,” Frey said. 

“This scattered buckshot approach not only endangers these communities but endangers these neighborhoods,” he added.

O’Hara said ICE arrests had repeatedly created dangerous public safety situations, particularly when agents detained people from vehicles and left those vehicles behind.

In one instance, he said, a car was left in traffic with a dog inside, requiring animal control to respond. In another case, a vehicle was left on a major street without being placed in park, causing it to roll unattended.

“It could have hit anybody,” Frey said. “This is not about safety, clearly. If this were about safety, you wouldn’t do things like this. Somebody is going to get hurt, somebody has gotten killed.”

O’Hara said Minneapolis emergency services were receiving “dozens and dozens” of 911 calls every day related specifically to immigration enforcement activity.