Background to the weekend arrest
A Liberian man arrested after heavily armed immigration agents used a battering ram to break into his Minneapolis home had been checking in regularly with federal authorities for years, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Marc Prokosch, attorney for Garrison Gibson, said the arrest Sunday happened during a Minnesota immigration crackdown that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.
Warrant dispute and claims of prior compliance
Prokosch said Gibson’s arrest was a “blatant constitutional violation,” saying agents did not have a proper warrant. He argued that agents brought only an administrative warrant, which he said authorizes an arrest but does not allow officers to forcibly enter private homes. Prokosch said forced entry requires a criminal warrant signed by a judge.
Prokosch also said Gibson had remained in the country legally under an order of supervision, which required him to meet regularly with immigration authorities. The report said Gibson had been ordered removed after a 2008 drug conviction that was later dismissed, but that he continued to live in the U.S. while meeting supervision requirements.
Prokosch said only days before the arrest, Gibson checked in with immigration authorities at regional immigration offices in the same building where agents had been staging enforcement raids. Prokosch said Gibson would have had another check-in in a couple of months, and asked why authorities would allow him to “walk around” if he was dangerous.
Government spokeswoman cites criminal history; court records dispute it
Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security Department spokeswoman, said earlier this week that Gibson has “a lengthy rap sheet” that includes robbery, drug possession with intent to sell, possession of a deadly weapon, malicious destruction and theft. She did not indicate whether those were arrests, charges or convictions, and McLaughlin did not respond to questions about whether the agents’ use of force was justified.
The report said court records indicate Gibson’s legal history is dominated by traffic violations, minor drug arrests, and an arrest for riding public transportation without paying the fare. It said court records showed only one felony: the 2008 conviction for third-degree narcotics sales that was later dismissed.
Custody, filings, and detention location
Prokosch said Gibson was flown to Texas by immigration authorities in the hours after his arrest. He said Gibson was then quickly flown back to Minnesota on a judge’s order after Prokosch filed a habeas corpus petition, which courts use to determine whether an imprisonment is legal. The report said courts had not yet ruled on the petition.
AP reported that Gibson was being held at an immigration detention center in Albert Lea, Minnesota, after being held at a large camp on the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, according to ICE’s detainee locator.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to an email from AP with follow-up questions about Gibson’s case.
Raid scene, family impact, and video of clashes
Prokosch said Gibson’s wife, Teyana Gibson Brown, a nurse, was inside the home with the couple’s 9-year-old child during the raid. Prokosch said that during conversations, she “was having a hard time just completing sentences because she’s just been so distraught.”
Activists who had been keeping watch on immigration agents before the arrest banged on drums, blew whistles and honked car horns in attempts to disrupt the operation and warn neighbors, the report said. The Twin Cities area has been convulsed by protests and clashes after the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, which an immigration agent carried out during a confrontation.
AP reported that video taken at the scene showed agents pushing and pepper-spraying demonstrators.
Larger enforcement campaign and questions after Good’s death
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good, saying the officer was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle. The report said city and state officials dismissed those explanations based on videos of the confrontation, and urged the public to share video and other evidence as they seek to investigate Good’s death after federal authorities said they would not share information.
According to DHS, more than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News over the weekend that the administration would send additional federal agents to the state to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.