Protest Erupts as Federal Officers in Tactical Gear Enter Latino Community in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Dozens of protesters converged in the heart of the Latino community in Minneapolis on Tuesday after a large force of federal and local authorities wearing tactical gear conducted what they called a law enforcement action.

The protesters flocked to the area near a Mexican restaurant and other Latino-owned businesses after seeing livestreams that claimed an immigration raid was underway, reflecting opposition to such raids in a city that has declared itself a sanctuary for migrants. However, statements from local authorities said it was not an immigration enforcement matter, but a criminal case.

“While we are still gathering details, this incident was related to a criminal search warrant for drugs and money laundering and was not related to immigration enforcement,” Mayor Jacob Frey said in a Facebook post soon after the police action. “No arrests were made.”

But several dozen protesters remained at the intersection occupied by federal agents hours earlier, using cars to block traffic. A few held signs saying “abolish ICE” and “stop the deportations.”

A driver went through the crowd. At least one person appeared to have been knocked to the ground but got up and said they were OK. Protesters deflated the car’s tires; police moved in to take the driver away, and a scuffle ensued. At least one man was taken into custody.

Bystander video showed officers wearing logos from local agencies but also federal ones, including the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. An armored vehicle at the scene bore the initials of Homeland Security Investigations. Minneapolis’ police chief also was present.

Michelle Gross, president of the local Communities United Against Police Brutality group, said the show of force appeared designed to “terrorize people into submission.”

“This is jackbooted thuggery, and we aren’t having it in our city,” she said.

Onlooker Jennifer Davila, who works in the community, said it already had been on edge because of raids. It’s tight-knit, and “if something happens, we know about it,” she said.

“They had a white van, a black van and a tank. For a raid, that’s pretty excessive,” Davila said. “And then coming into a brown community and doing this, because we have all kinds of immigrants, not just Latinos.”

While the mayor said there were no arrests, a few protesters were at least temporarily detained as tensions grew between the crowd and the law enforcement officers. A Minnesota Public Radio photographer was pepper-sprayed and had his camera broken.

A Facebook post from the sheriff’s office said it “partnered with federal agencies on a criminal investigation and part of that investigation included the execution of multiple search warrants at multiple locations in the metro area.”

Frey said the police department’s only role was helping with crowd control, and that the department was not involved in “anything related to immigration enforcement.” Both the police department and sheriff’s offices have policies against cooperating with immigration enforcement actions.

The sheriff’s office said that in conducting criminal investigations, “We work with federal partners regularly.” A local FBI spokesperson, Diana Freedman, declined in a text message to provide details about the operation.

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Associated Press writers Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed reporting.