Tensions flare in US as protesters, federal agents repeatedly square off
Days of demonstrations against immigration agents left Minnesota tense on Tuesday, a day after federal authorities used tear gas to break up crowds of whistle-blowing activists, and state and local leaders sued to fight the enforcement surge that led to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman.
Confrontations between federal agents and protesters stretched throughout the day and across multiple cities on Monday. Agents fired tear gas in Minneapolis as a crowd gathered around immigration officers questioning a man, while to the northwest in St Cloud, hundreds of people protested outside a strip of Somali-run businesses after ICE officers arrived.
Later that night, confrontations erupted between protesters and officers guarding the federal building being used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown. With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota in what Immigration and Customs Enforcement has called its largest enforcement operation ever, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued the Trump administration Monday to try to halt or limit the surge.
The suit filed says the Department of Homeland Security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections. It accuses the Republican Trump administration of violating free speech rights by focusing on a progressive state that favours Democrats and welcomes immigrants. “This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and it must stop,” state Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a news conference. Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since December.
The days after Renee Good was shot in the head by an ICE officer while behind the wheel of her SUV have seen dozens of protests or vigils across the US to honour the 37-year-old mother of three and to passionately criticise the Trump administration’s tactics.
“President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is,” McLaughlin said. The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, saying she and her vehicle presented a threat. But that explanation has been widely panned by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and others based on videos of the confrontation. Students from Roosevelt High School protest during a walkout in Minneapolis.
