Tens of Thousands Demand ‘ICE Out of Minnesota’ During Day of Action

Minneapolis, MN — As businesses shuttered, schools closed and people called off work for Friday’s popular ‘ICE Out of Minnesota’ day, tens of thousands participated in actions demanding ICE cease their operations in the state. Around 100 people were arrested in morning protests.

The “Day of Truth and Freedom” was organized by a coalition of groups in the Twin Cities area called “ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA.” Besides direct action from protesters in the street, the day also saw more than 700 businesses shut down for the day and a widespread pause in economic activity from many Minnesota residents.

“Today is a historic day,” Executive Director of the Islamic Association of North America Imam Yusuf Abdulle said during the rally at Target Center. “A day when the federal government tried to divide us and Minnesota said ‘no.’”

Imam Yusuf Abdulle speaks at the Target Center during ‘ICE Out of Minnesota’ day.

With extreme subzero temperatures where the high reached only -11°F, clergy and faith leaders demanding “ICE out” led a mass protest at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and participated in acts of civil disobedience by praying on the road. Bloomington Police arrested the clergy in a process that lasted more than an hour.

While the arrests were taking place, police in riot gear entered the terminal and closed it down, forcing people to leave the area.

A short light-rail ride away, up to three arrests occurred outside the Whipple Federal Building, the headquarters of the immigration operation and federal occupation of Minnesota. The stretch of Minnehaha Avenue to the south of Whipple was barricaded by protesters with large shields cut out of plastic barrels at around 9 a.m. until around noon, when deputies from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department threatened to deploy chemical weapons and the protesters dispersed.

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Another blockade was planned on Tower Road to the north east, which would have effectively blocked both entrances to the federal building, but it never fully materialized. Instead, protesters lined up at the concrete barricade along the sidewalk and threw snow balls and chunks of ice at passing vehicles as they entered and left the parking lot.

NEW: Anti-ICE protesters hurled snow and ice balls at the vehicles of federal agents driving into the Whipple Federal Building in extreme subzero temperatures on Friday morning. At least two people were arrested outside the Whipple.

See the full video in past posts. pic.twitter.com/S0PrC0BU8L
— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) January 24, 2026

Deputies arrested at least one person along the barricades for throwing ice at vehicles, and another was arrested later in a major show-of-force by several dozen Department of Homeland Security agents.

While protesters were outside, Border Patrol Commander at Large Greg Bovino gave a press conference inside Whipple to share an update on Operation Metro Surge and blamed the media for spreading misinformation.

Later that day in downtown Minneapolis, massive amounts of people gathered to rally and march through the streets to demand an end to the federal immigration surge that began in early December, 2025. The march of what was estimated at 50,000 to 75,000 people began near U.S. Bank Stadium and went straight through downtown Minneapolis, ending at Target Center, where the entire lower level of stadium seating filled in for a major anti-ICE rally.

TODAY: Hundreds of thousands in Minnesota braved -10°F weather to march through downtown Minneapolis as part of the statewide general strike demanding ICE out of the Twin Cities. pic.twitter.com/LkvkxFztJI
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) January 23, 2026

The rally opened with live music as attendees filed in to the stadium before speakers from several different organizations spoke to the audience for an hour about their work and what the community can continue to do going forward.

“Native people, Indigenous people, historically, first we were savages, then we were radicals and anarchists during the Civil Rights movement. And now, along with our fellow allies and many of you here today, we are being labeled as violent domestic terrorists. They are the violent ones,” said Rachel Dionne-Thunder, co-founder of the Indigenous Protector Movement, addressing thousands within Target Center. “They are the ones that murdered Renee Nicole Good. They are the ones that are taking our children off the streets. They are the ones that have invaded our lands.”

Rabbi Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg spoke at the rally and lifted up the name of a Nicaraguan man who was taken by ICE on January 6, Victor Manuel Díaz. He was “Abducted from his workplace in Minnesota,” and later died while in ICE custody on January 14 at a federal immigration facility in Texas. His family says that they don’t believe ICE’s initial claim that he committed suicide.

Lekach-Rosenberg also provided words for Renee Nicole Good’s and Victor Manuel Díaz’s memories and said, “May their memories be for blessing. May their families be comforted and surrounded in love.”

“When we stay united, and when we keep our eyes and our arms wrapped around one another instead of keeping our hearts in fear, then history will record our moment, not just as a time of crisis, but as a turning point,” President of the Service Employees International Union, April Verrett, said while closing out the rally.

“A moment when the people stood up … A moment when this country began once again to bend toward justice. That is where we must go from here. So let’s go get it.”
April Verrett, President of the Service Employees International Union

The next day, federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in South Minneapolis. The second killing of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis this month.

Photos contributed by A. Little.

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