The order limits federal officers’ authority to stop vehicles and detain individuals during the operation, which has drawn national attention since a federal agent fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good in the head on Jan. 7 as she drove away from a scene. A separate lawsuit brought by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, also before Judge Menendez, remains pending.
A federal judge in Minnesota ruled Friday that immigration officers conducting enforcement operations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area may not detain or use tear gas against peaceful observers who are not obstructing their activities. U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez issued the ruling in a case filed in December on behalf of six Minnesota activists represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. The six are among thousands of people who have been observing the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers in the Twin Cities since last month.
The order limits when federal officers may stop vehicles and detain individuals during the operation. Safely following agents “at an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop,” the ruling states. Menendez also ruled that agents may not arrest people without probable cause or reasonable suspicion that a person has committed a crime or was obstructing officers.
The confrontations between federal agents and demonstrators escalated after a federal immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head on Jan. 7 as she drove away from a scene in Minneapolis, an incident captured on video from several angles. Agents have arrested or briefly detained numerous people in the Twin Cities during the operation.
After the ruling, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement saying her agency was taking “appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.” McLaughlin said people had assaulted officers, vandalized their vehicles and federal property, and attempted to impede officers from doing their work.
“We remind the public that rioting is dangerous — obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony,” McLaughlin said.
The ACLU of Minnesota did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night.
Parallel lawsuit pending
Menendez is also presiding over a separate lawsuit filed Monday by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which seeks to suspend the enforcement operation. She declined at a Wednesday hearing to grant the state’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order in that case.
State Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter told Menendez at the hearing: “What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered.”
Menendez said the issues raised by the state and cities are “enormously important,” but noted the case raises high-level constitutional and other legal questions for which there are few direct precedents. She ordered both sides to file additional briefs the following week.