{"id":413023,"date":"2026-01-17T13:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T13:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/413023\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T13:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T13:45:09","slug":"renee-good-judge-restricts-federal-response-to-minnesota-protests-amid-ongoing-outcry-over-ice-shootings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/413023\/","title":{"rendered":"Renee Good: Judge restricts federal response to Minnesota protests amid ongoing outcry over ICE shootings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n A federal judge ruled Friday that agents carrying out the Trump administration\u2019s sweeping immigration operation in Minnesota can\u2019t arrest or deploy certain crowd-control measures<\/a> against anyone \u201cengaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity.\u201d The order comes as outcry continues to build over two shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis over the course of a week.\n <\/p>\n

\n The new restrictions on federal agents also come amid word that the Department of Justice is investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey<\/a> over possible obstruction of federal law enforcement, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The probe raises the possibility of criminal consequences for the two Democratic leaders, who have openly rebuked the surge of federal activity that began last month.\n <\/p>\n

\n Groups of protesters continued to decry the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis during the day and into the night Friday, despite frigid temperatures. Demonstrations intensified last week after 37-year-old mother of three Renee Good<\/a> was fatally shot in her car by an ICE agent, and again a week later when another agent shot and injured a Venezuelan man<\/a> accused of \u201cviolently\u201d resisting arrest, according to the Department of Homeland Security.\n <\/p>\n

\"US<\/p>\n

\n Federal agents working in the Trump administration\u2019s Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota are not allowed to arrest or retaliate against peaceful protesters or use \u201cpepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools\u201d against them, US District Judge Katherine Menendez ruled in a preliminary injunction issued Friday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Menendez also said the agents can no longer stop and detain drivers when there is \u201cno reasonable articulable suspicion\u201d they are forcibly obstructing or interfering with federal operations. \u201cThe act of safely following\u201d the officers, \u201cat an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop,\u201d the judge added.\n <\/p>\n

\n The order only applies in Minnesota and only to agents involved in the current operation, and does not apply to other federal officers handling routine duties elsewhere, the order specified.\n <\/p>\n

\n In a response to the ruling, the Department of Homeland Security said it is \u201ctaking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that despite these threats, agents follow training and use \u201cthe minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The preliminary injunction was requested by activists who filed a lawsuit last month alleging the federal government was violating their constitutional rights. The case is separate from a different lawsuit filed by Minnesota and the Twin Cities<\/a> on Monday seeking a court-ordered end to what it calls a \u201cfederal invasion\u201d during Operation Metro Surge.\n <\/p>\n

\n With protests expected to continue, here\u2019s what else to know:\n <\/p>\n

Walz and Frey respond: Neither the Minnesota governor nor the Minneapolis mayor confirmed the reported DOJ investigation for possible obstruction of federal law enforcement, but both accused the Trump administration of trying to intimidate its political opponents<\/a>. A host of Democratic governors and members of Congress<\/a> issued statements casting the reported investigation as an abuse of power.<\/p>\n

Outcry over federal tactics: Democratic members of Congress held a field hearing<\/a> at Minnesota\u2019s state capitol Friday to highlight alleged abuses happening during the immigration crackdown. American citizens going about their daily business are getting tackled or detained<\/a> due to their ethnicities, lawmakers and local residents said at the hearing. A DHS spokesperson insisted federal agents do not use racial profiling to make arrests.<\/p>\n

Ongoing protests: Protesters gathered again Friday at Minneapolis\u2019 Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, the staging facility for immigration operations. Federal officers in tactical gear<\/a> forcefully moved a group of protesters away from the street, and at least one person appeared to be detained after triggering a heavy response from at least five agents. CNN reached out to DHS for details.<\/p>\n

No Insurrection Act \u201cright now,\u201d Trump says: The president reiterated Friday he\u2019s willing to use the Insurrection Act<\/a> to send US troops into Minnesota but said, \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any reason right now to use it.\u201d Trump has threatened multiple times to invoke the centuries-old law if state and local leaders don\u2019t quell unrest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal judge ruled Friday that agents carrying out the Trump administration\u2019s sweeping immigration operation in Minnesota can\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-413023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-united-states-of-america","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}