Riots continue in Twin Cities

By Elyse Apel
The Center Square

Rioting is crippling Minneapolis with local lawmen standing down in the wake of the second shooting by federal agents in the Twin Cities.

Local law enforcement continues to refuse to cooperate with federal forces – standing by as rioters went after a hotel where they believed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were staying.

Videos online show rioters smashing windows, assaulting hotel employees, and throwing bricks and other objects at federal agents Sunday night.

This is just the latest escalation of the violence in the Twin Cities, following Saturday morning’s shooting.

During that incident, an armed Minneapolis man approached a group of U.S. Border Patrol agents who were conducting a targeted operation in south Minneapolis against a person illegally in America.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the federal agents during a press conference on Saturday afternoon. She said then that the man, identified as 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an ICU nurse and U.S. citizen, was intent on impeding the operation.

“This individual showed up to impede a law enforcement operation and assaulted our officers,” Noem said. “They responded according to their training and took action to defend the officer’s life and those of the public around him.”

Democrats throughout Minnesota and nationally have pushed back against the Trump administration. They say the shooting was unwarranted and have called withdrawal of federal agents from Minneapolis.

Second-term Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, former candidate for vice president and in office when riots burned portions of the city in conjunction with the death of George Floyd, said it is time for Operation Metro Surge to end. He also maintained that the protests are peaceful.

“What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state?” Walz said during a press conference on Sunday. “If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation. We are tired, but we’re resolved. We’re peaceful, but we’ll never forget. We believe in law and order in this state. We believe in peace, and we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota.”

To enter America from another country, if not a U.S. citizen, a visa or some other travel authorization is required to be presented at a port of entry.

Walz compared the situation for illegal immigrants in Minnesota to that of the Jewish Holocaust during World War II.

“We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses afraid to go outside,” Walz said. “Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody is going to write that children’s story about Minnesota.”

That comparison garnered much public outrage from Republicans, who argue that this is just another example of Democrats attempting to incite more violence in the state.

“After previously calling ICE ‘Gestapo,’ Gov. Tim Walz just compared removals pursuant to federal law to capturing people to carry out genocide,” said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School. “Walz is using this reckless rhetoric as signs appeared in Minneapolis over the weekend calling for people to ‘Kill Nazis.’”

Walz promised the state will also be conducting an investigation into the shooting.

“Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word on this,” Walz said. “The state will handle it.”

That comes as Minnesota state law enforcement says it was blocked from the shooting scene on Saturday. Courts granted Minnesota both a search warrant for access to the scene and an emergency court order barring federal officials “from destroying or altering evidence related to the fatal shooting involving federal officers.”

This is the third shooting in 18 days in Minneapolis by federal officials. On Jan. 7, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot during an encounter with ICE officers. ICE said Good hit an agent with her car while trying to pull away and the agent fired defensive shots.

One week later, bystanders attacked an agent attempting to execute a detainment. The suspect was shot in the lower body.

Many Republicans are blaming local and state officials for the heightened tension and chaos on the streets in Minneapolis, which led Walz to deploy about 1,500 Minnesota National Guard troops on Saturday.

“This violence is directly fueled by hateful rhetoric from Minnesota’s sanctuary politicians,” Noem said. “It must end now.”

Federal immigration operations continue in Minneapolis, despite Walz’s demands. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also reports that protestors are being arrested for federal charges.

“Arrested for throwing ice blocks at law enforcement in Minneapolis,” it said in a social media post on Sunday of an arrested individual. “Federal crime. Felony. You will be arrested.”