Minneapolis, MN — A month and a half into “Operation Metro Surge,” the federal immigration enforcement blitz that has flooded the Twin Cities with ICE and other federal agents, protests and developments are accelerating; residents continue to confront ICE throughout the cities and legal challenges against federal law enforcement’s operations continue to unfold.

Wednesday night (Day 44) an ICE agent shot another person in Minneapolis, injuring him after attempting to arrest him. Immediately after the incident neighbors and community members turned up in the street to confront ICE and halt their work. Agents left behind equipment and a vehicle that protesters quickly ran through. More on that below.

The following morning, Trump took to Truth Social to threaten invoking the Insurrection Act to quell protests in the state, which would allow for the deployment of military in Minnesota. On Friday he walked this back somewhat.

January 16: Day 46

Federal judge orders preliminary injunction protecting protesters and drivers against federal agents – Late on Friday the first major ruling dropped against federal agents operating in Minnesota. In 83 pages, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez reviewed cases from plaintiffs then ordered the feds to stop attacking protesters expressing First Amendment-protected conduct, also forbidding unlawful searches of legal observers’ vehicles without justifications (Star Tribune, NY Times 1/16) . However this injunction was narrower than that sought by the plaintiffs.

Other signs of legal problems for the government surfaced: the ruling explained that federal officials failed to give sworn statements under penalty of perjury about specific incidents, instead largely relying on non-sworn statements from David Easterwood, acting field director of the St. Paul ICE ERO Field Office at the Whipple Building. This resembles similar recent patterns in Chicago legal proceedings, where many federal charges against protesters and legal observers crumbled in court (Fox 32, 10/8/25). Federal attorneys struggled to explain in court earlier this week what justification made it legal for agents to pounce on drivers lawfully operating their vehicles.

“Covered Federal Agents are hereby enjoined from: a. Retaliating against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity, including observing the activities… b. Arresting or detaining persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity… in retaliation for their protected conduct and absent a showing of probable cause or reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a crime or is obstructing or interfering… c. Using pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity… d. Stopping or detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles where there is no reasonable articulable suspicion that they are forcibly obstructing or interfering…”

Preliminary injunction by U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, p. 82, CASE 0:25-cv-04669-KMM-DTS

Nationwide more than 100 people have been charged under 18 U.S.C.§ 111 (Atlantic 11/18/2025) , which is sometimes cited as the excuse to harass observers (MPR News, 1/13), but it seems that the feds have rarely tried charging this during their Minnesota campaign.

ICE spotted in surrounding suburbs — Rapid response networks reported multiple sightings of ICE vehicles and activity in the northwest suburban metro area outside of the Twin Cities. Community networks reported seeing agents in Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Park, and Robbinsdale, among other places.

At least anecdotally on Thursday and Friday federal agents were less evident in South Minneapolis than previous days. Crowdsourced information on the Twin Cities Metro Activity Dashboard shows some decline in recent days, although additional reports over the last two days are expected to be added. Each gray line represents 20 reports. Red are abductions, orange are threats, light green are attempted abductions, and pink are attempted abductions (outcome unknown) while blue is all other activity.

Democratic law makers hold hearing, residents to share experiences with ICE — U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-7), Ilhan Omar (MN-5), Betty McCollum (MN-4) and U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (MN) held a hearing in Minnesota Friday alongside state and local officials including Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Community members testified about the cruelty and humiliation they and others were subjected to while detained and held in ICE facilities.

“I saw holding cells with over a dozen people each, and a large holding cell of between 40 to 50 people,” Patty O’Keefe, a U.S. citizen detained by ICE in Minneapolis, said in the hearing. “Most of the people there were Hispanic and East African, both women and men. Some cells had no room for people to sit or lay down. Most people I saw were staring straight ahead, not talking, despondent and grief stricken. I know I’ll never forget their faces,” she added as reported by Common Dreams. Other members of Congress joined the hearing as well (Jayapal press release 1/17).

DOJ Probe Against Tim Walz and Jacob Frey – Late on Friday it was revealed initially via CBS News that the Trump Administration is investigating Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey on a “conspiracy” to impede immigration enforcement (AP).

Trump walks back Insurrection Act threats – GOP senators tried to “put the brakes” on new military escalation tactics according to The Hill (1/16). Experts like Steve Vladeck explained there are major legal barriers (Slate, 1/16, Archive). Trump said outside the White House Friday, “I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it” (AP, 1/16). “The first signs of internal second-guessing” among White House insiders has begun about the broad unpopularity of their violent campaign in Minnesota (Axios 1/16). More on the military angle below.

Far-right agitators expected Saturday – A major subject of discussion is the community response to an expected far-right march from Downtown Minneapolis towards Cedar-Riverside, a center for the Somali community in Minnesota that has been under intense attack by federal agents, the White House and freelance agitators for weeks. The march is being organized by convicted January 6 rioter Jake Lang. In recent days, federal agents have at times acted to protect right-wing agitators around spaces like the Whipple Building. Temperatures are expected to be around 10 degrees Fahrenheit with a bitter windchill of around -6. A wide range of community defenders are expected to show up to block Lang’s hate march from reaching Cedar Riverside.

CBS insiders highlight dubious medical story about killer ICE agent – During Thursday and Friday more information emerged that CBS News personnel expressed skepticism about a story about “internal bleeding to the torso” which offered the Trump Administration a chance to change the narrative. A week after ICE agent Jonathan Ross killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, two anonymous U.S. officials were able to set up what a CBS staffer called “a thinly-veiled anonymous leak by the Trump administration to someone who’d carry it online” (Guardian 1/15). CBS news chief Bari Weiss supported the story; on Friday it was exposed she kissed President Trump on the cheek following a “60 Minutes” interview (Independent 1/16). Many obvious issues, like why this ostensible medical condition took a week to hit the news, were apparently raised inside CBS. The medical story served as an amplification pipeline for the White House and right-wing media (Parker Molloy, 1/16).

January 15: Day 45

Bovino on line as agents get violent against protesters and federal agents detain far-right agitator Jayden Scott — At the Whipple Federal Building on Friday, January 15, Customs and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino came out on the line to film propaganda videos as federal agents pushed anti-ICE protesters and made arrests. Agents were filmed slipping on the ice and dropping their pepperballs along with making some violent arrests. Far-right agitator Jayden Scott appeared with violent pro-ICE activist Zak X along with Gregor Butzow to agitate the crowd. Scott was detained briefly by federal agents.

City council members press for eviction moratorium – Amid the economic fallout of the federal repression campaign, some Minneapolis politicians are trying to pause evictions. Council Member Robin Wonsley called on Gov. Walz to issue an eviction moratorium during immigration raids via executive order. “They shoot indiscriminately. They brutalize our community and they tear families apart,” Council Member Jason Chavez said as he began to cry. The council resolution calling on Walz passed unanimously (Sahan Journal, 1/15).

A federal judge ruled that a Liberian man detained in a violent north Minneapolis raid had his constitutional rights violated and that HSI Assistant Secretary lied about his record — A week after Garrison Gibson’s north Minneapolis home was broken into by federal agents and he was detained, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Bryan ruled that the agents acted improperly and that Gibson’s rights were violated and gave DHS until noon Friday to release him from Freeborn County jail (he was released Thursday night). Agents did not use a judicial warrant; Gibson was already regularly checking in with immigration officials for years. The violent raid was live streamed from inside the home, and widely reported from media outside the home. “This arrest violated the Fourth Amendment,” Bryan wrote. Gibson was re-arrested and released again on Friday (Fox9, 1/16). A press briefing will be held Saturday morning at 10 a.m. where Garrison will be speaking.

Agents raid wrong home in connection with Wed. night car looting, FBI arrests man accused of stealing gun — Multiple agencies including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, ATF and FBI raided a home Thursday afternoon they said was connected to a suspect in Wednesday night’s theft of materials and weapons from a federal agent’s car. A 33-year-old man was charged. The vehicle was left behind after community members rallied in response to an ICE shooting Wednesday. Video showed people had removed documents and other materials from a car.

The raid took place Thursday afternoon, but the residents at the apartment raided said that agents had gone to the wrong apartment. A search warrant listed the target as apartment number 2926, though the home raided was at 2928 (CBS, 1/16).

ICE shoots flashbang, teargas at family car carrying infant — On Wednesday night (Day 44) a family inadvertently drove onto a Minneapolis street where protesters were confronting federal agents after ICE shot a person. They were surrounded by agents as they tried to leave, with ICE agents telling them to drive away while simultaneously blocking them in (NY Times 1/15, Archive). Soon after, ICE agents rolled a flashbang grenade under the vehicle, causing the airbags to deploy and filling the car with smoke. The children, one just six months old, choked on the smoke, according to the parents. The infant was found unconscious and not breathing, the parents said, prompting the mother to begin CPR before taking their children to the hospital. A DHS social media account posted that people should not bring their children to riots, but later deleted the post.

Trump threatens military action against Minnesota — Thursday morning Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to Minnesota to repress ongoing protests against ICE’s activity in the Twin Cities. In a social media post, the president called the protesters “professional agitators and insurrectionists,” blaming “corrupt politicians” for the ongoing protest, according to Reuters. A news analysis found that difficulties at the U.S. Supreme Court over deploying the military using other laws might have inspired Trump officials to look to the Insurrection Act (NYT, 1/15). More about the Insurrection Act from a lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School (11/6/25) and the ACLU (1/16/25).

In practice domestic military actions like this follow a little-known “Civil Disturbance Operations” planning framework using a classified template called CONPLAN 3502, known for decades before 2002 as GARDEN PLOT.

For more on these contingency plans and real-world examples, see our previous coverage on “Field Force Operations” (UR 11/2016), the “Riotsville” documentary (UR 12/2022), National Special Security Events (UR 4/2016), leaked planning documents around the 2016 Republican National Convention (UR 6/2016), and 2024 RNC planning (UR 7/2024). A memo signed last October by Maj. Gen. Ronald Burkett ordered National Guard departments in every state and territory to develop “quick reaction forces” trained in “riot control” (Guardian 10/2025).

Relatedly, a lot of helicopter activity including Blackhawks and a Chinook transport were observed around the Twin Cities metro area late on Thursday according to Bluesky posts, sometimes visible with transponders and sometimes not.

State launches investigation into last night’s shooting — The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, or BCA, announced that it will investigate ICE’s shooting a man in the leg last night, Fox9 reports. The state agency was denied access to case material in Renee Good’s killing, effectively blocking them from investigating that shooting.

ICE Shoots Second Person in Minneapolis, Community Responds

ICE in Minnesota – Day 44: Community Calls for Walkout Day Next Friday, Protests Continue