Clash at City Hall as Minnesota’s Guard is staged
Hundreds of counterprotesters overwhelmed a small rally in support of the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. The confrontation came as the governor’s office said the National Guard was mobilized and ready to assist law enforcement, though it had not yet been deployed to city streets.
The protests have been happening every day since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers. Demonstrators have gathered during the crackdown to oppose what they described as aggressive enforcement tactics aimed at people in homes, vehicles and other settings.
Rally organized by Jake Lang
Conservative influencer Jake Lang organized an anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-ICE demonstration. Before the event, he posted on social media that he intended to “burn a Quran” on the steps of City Hall, though it was not clear whether he carried out that plan.
Only a small number of people attended Lang’s demonstration as hundreds of counterprotesters converged at the site. The counterprotesters yelled over attempts by Lang to speak and chased the pro-ICE group away, and they forced at least one person to remove a shirt the counterprotesters deemed objectionable. Lang appeared to be injured as he left the scene, with bruises and scrapes on his head.
Lang has previously been charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes, before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for Jan. 6 defendants last year. Lang recently announced he is running for U.S. Senate in Florida.
Snowballs, water balloons, and a National Guard readiness announcement
During the demonstrations, protesters threw snowballs and water balloons before an armored police van arrived along with heavily equipped city police. In a parallel development, the Minnesota State Guard said it had been “mobilized” to support the Minnesota State Patrol to provide traffic support to protect life, preserve property, and support the rights of Minnesotans to assemble peacefully.
Maj. Andrea Tsuchiya, a guard spokesperson, said the force was “staged and ready” but had not yet been deployed. The state guard announcement followed by more than a week Gov. Tim Walz’s direction to have the guard ready to support law enforcement in Minnesota.
What protesters said
One counterprotester, Luke Rimington, said: “We’re out here to show Nazis and ICE and DHS and MAGA you are not welcome in Minneapolis.” He added, “Stay out of our city, stay out of our state. Go home.”
Court limits on officers during protests
The crackdown has been accompanied by daily demonstrations in the Twin Cities, and protesters have railed against masked immigration officers pulling people from homes and cars and using tactics they described as aggressive. AP reported that the operation has claimed at least one life: Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, was shot by an ICE officer during a Jan. 7 confrontation.
On Friday, a federal judge ruled that immigration officers cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including when officers are observing protesters during the Minnesota crackdown.
Fear after release from detention for Garrison Gibson
During a news conference on Saturday, Garrison Gibson said he has been afraid to leave his Minneapolis home since being released from an immigration detention center after his arrest last weekend. Gibson, who fled civil war in Liberia as a child, said, “I don’t leave the house.”
Video showing federal officers breaking down Gibson’s front door with a battering ram on Jan. 11 became another rallying point for protesters opposed to the crackdown. AP reported that Gibson, 38, was ordered to be deported, apparently because of a 2008 drug conviction that was later dismissed.
The report said Gibson remained in the country legally under an order of supervision, and after his recent arrest a judge ruled federal officials did not give him enough notice that his supervision status had been revoked. After that arrest, Gibson was taken back into custody for several hours Friday following a routine check-in with immigration officials, AP reported.
Dispute over who ordered the second arrest
Gibson’s cousin, Abena Abraham, said ICE officials told her that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller ordered the second arrest. The White House denied that account and denied that Miller had anything to do with it.
AP said Gibson was flown to a Texas immigration detention facility but returned home after the judge’s ruling. Gibson’s family used a dumbbell to keep the damaged front door closed amid subfreezing temperatures and then spent $700 to fix it.
At the news conference, Gibson said: “If I was a violent person, I would not have been out these past 17 years, checking in.”
DHS says it will continue removals
AP reported that DHS said an “activist judge” was again trying to stop the deportation of “criminal illegal aliens.” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “We will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country.”