Dozens Arrested After Throwing Dildos at ICE Outside Whipple Federal Building

Minneapolis, MN — State police and Hennepin County sheriffs in riot gear arrested up to 54 protesters Saturday afternoon at the Whipple Federal Building following a day of actions that culminated in protesters throwing hundreds of dildos.

The mass arrest was in response to protesters throwing rubber dildos over chainlink fences at passing vehicles suspected of being driven by ICE agents. The arrests follow a recent trend of various law enforcement agencies in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area mass arresting protesters following demonstrations against Operation Metro Surge, the code name for the federal immigration enforcement surge targeting Minnesota’s densest cities.

One deputy was struck in the head and the windshield of a vehicle was broken, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement shortly after the event. According to the department, ice chunks were mixed in with the barrage of penile projectiles.

The colorful dildos, numbering in the hundreds, were brought to the Whipple building by Closer to the Edge. Sheriff’s deputies, tasked with policing the area around Whipple, picked up discount dildos from the road by the armful and tossed them over their side of the fence as protesters laughed at them.

Many of the people at the protest were there to counter far-right provocateur and pardoned violent J6er Edward Jacob “Jake” Lang, who only made a brief appearance before the time he was scheduled to arrive.

The sheriff’s office gave the initial dispersal order around 2 p.m., declaring the protest an unlawful assembly and warning protesters they would be arrested if they failed to comply. Sheriff’s deputies assisted state troopers and conservation officers in pushing protesters back from Tower Road onto the north east driveway into the Fort Snelling Park and Ride parking lot. State troopers and conservation officers then attempted to surprise the protesters by running from their line, tackling and tumbling over people.

Police chased protesters into the parking lot, tackling them to the ground and zip-tying their hands behind their backs. One arrestee was seen bleeding from his head after a state trooper tackled him to the asphalt.

Arrestees were led single file through a line back on Tower Road outside of the Whipple building, where troopers emptied each of their belongings into a plastic bag before leading them onto a bus.

After the arrests, the area around Whipple mostly cleared out except a few scattered protesters.

State police agencies, particularly the state troopers, have been present at each of the mass arrests throughout this year’s anti-ICE unrest.

At Whipple, smaller arrests have typically been handled by sheriff’s deputies, who have had the controversial role of policing the area. Their treatment of protesters has also caught media attention in January, with one instance drawing condemnation from the city’s progressive leadership.

On multiple occasions throughout the protests, sheriff’s deputies used their vehicles to threaten protesters to stay on the sidewalk, driving right up to protesters blaring their horn. Throughout Saturday, the vehicles, especially near the north east gate where the majority of protesters were, could occasionally be seen with dildos stuck on them by their suction cups.

Tables were set up to give free supplies to protesters in the Ride and Share parking lot earlier in the day, with the first action beginning at 10 a.m. (see video below) near the intersection of Minnehaha Avenue and Tower Road. State troopers forced the tables to close down and disperse as they were arresting protesters on the ground around them.

MORE COVERAGE: ICE in Minnesota — Day 68: Day of Protests, One Month Since Feds Killed Renee Good

Just before noon, Lang arrived in the area in the back of a U-Haul moving truck, 20 minutes ahead of a 12 p.m. “press conference.” The event was announced the previous day after he was released from the Ramsey County jail, where he was being held on felony destruction of property.

Lang and his cadre agitated the crowd as the truck drove down the road, pepperspraying protesters and firing paintballs at some. One protester, who was recording the instance, had his phone shot by a projectile that dented the area around his camera and shattered the screen on the other side.

Before disappearing onto the highway, Lang could be seen throwing out multiple Nazi salutes to the people watching him.

Lang, who was pardoned by Trump and released from prison for assaulting police during J6, last appeared publicly in Minneapolis during a hate rally he scheduled outside city hall, where thousands of residents chased him through downtown.

Interestingly, one of the protesters arrested outside Whipple on Saturday is 34-year-old Alleister Voosen, who traveled from Minnesota to DC to attend the deadly J6 riot.

The Whipple building, which has become the Upper Midwest hub for federal immigration operations, has been the site of frequent protests since the immigration operations began last year.

Entrance ramps off of the highway into the area were closed down after the arrests, with multiple municipal plowtrucks stationed in the turning lanes to block traffic.