The Department of Homeland Security is calling for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey to turn over a convicted sex offender they said federal agents were searching for when they dragged a US citizen from his St. Paul home on Sunday.
“This is exactly what we have been saying: We need state and local law enforcement engagement and information so we don’t have to have such a presence on the streets,” reads a post on X from the agency.
Paul Schnell, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections, told CNN yesterday he had notified DHS that the offender was in state custody.
Some context: ICE agents bashed open ChongLy “Scott” Thao’s door before detaining him and leading him outside in his underwear in frigid conditions, according to the Associated Press. The episode, captured on video, provoked anger and criticism of the ICE agents’ tactics.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Thao of living with two convicted sex offenders, the targets of the operation, and said both were still at large.
But Schnell said that one of those sex offenders is already in prison.
“He is, in fact, in prison and subject to a detainer,” Schnell told CNN yesterday. “They should know, because we did notify them that they were in our custody.”