Tim Walz asks Minnesotans to film ICE agents to gather evidence for future prosecution
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA: Governor Tim Walz addressed the people of Minnesota through a video message on Wednesday, January 14, as he slammed the recent surge of federal immigration enforcement in the state.
He asked Minnesotans to record ICE agents as they conduct their activities for potential future prosecution. Walz's message came a week after the death of Renee Nicole Good, who was reportedly killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was branded a "domestic te**orist" by the Trump administration.
Tim Walz accuses federal government of running a 'campaign of organized brutality'
Tim Walz began his speech saying that “what’s happening in Minnesota right now defies belief.”
He also claimed that the federal government is giving trauma to the people of Minnesota by deploying two to three thousand “armed, masked, undertrained ICE agents” who are “pulling over people indiscriminately.”
“Let's be very, very clear: This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. Instead, it's a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government,” Walz stated.
The 61-year-old politician even called out President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and asked them to “end this occupation. You've done enough.”
Tim Walz asks people to protest and 'peacefully film' ICE agents
Tim Walz also claimed that Donald Trump “wants more violence on our streets. We cannot give him what he wants” and asked Minnesotans to protest "loudly and urgently" but peacefully.
The governor then went on to suggest that people of Minnesota should “establish a record of exactly what's happening in our communities.”
“You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct these activities. So carry your phone with you at all times and if you see these ICE agents in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record. Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution,” he stressed.
Ending his speech, the governor mentioned that “we will not have to live like this forever. Accountability is coming at the voting booth and in court. We will reclaim our communities from Donald Trump. We will bring an end to this moment of chaos, confusion, and trauma. We will find a way to move forward.”
Walz also expressed how proud he is of Minnesotans and the way they have “risen to meet this unbearable moment,” before calling the state “an island of decency in a country being driven towards cruelty.”
