{"id":447282,"date":"2026-02-03T21:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/447282\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T21:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:39:12","slug":"immigration-agents-draw-guns-arrest-activists-following-them-in-minneapolis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/447282\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration agents draw guns, arrest activists following them in Minneapolis"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Immigration officers with guns drawn arrested some activists who were trailing their vehicles on Tuesday in Minneapolis, a sign that tensions have not eased since the departure last week of a high-profile commander<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At least one person who had an anti-ICE message on clothing was handcuffed while face-down on the ground. An Associated Press photographer witnessed the arrests.<\/p>\n

\"ActivistsActivists are approached by a federal agent brandishing a firearm, for following agent vehicles, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n

Federal agents in the Twin Cities lately have been conducting more targeted immigration arrests at homes and neighborhoods, rather than staging in parking lots. The convoys have been harder to find and less aggressive. Alerts in activist group chats have been more about sightings than immigration-related detainments.<\/p>\n

Several cars followed officers through south Minneapolis after there were reports of them knocking at homes. Officers stopped their vehicles and ordered activists to come out of a car at gunpoint. Agents told reporters at the scene to stay back and threatened to use pepper spray.<\/p>\n

\"ActivistsActivists are approached by federal agents for following agent vehicles, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n

A federal judge last month put limits on how officers<\/a> treat motorists who are following them but not obstructing their operations. Safely following agents \u201cat an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop,\u201d the judge said. An appeals court, however, set the order aside.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn activist is detained by federal agents on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n

Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who was leading an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and other big U.S. cities, left town last week, shortly after the fatal shooting<\/a> of Alex Pretti, the second local killing<\/a> of a U.S. citizen in January.<\/p>\n

Trump administration border czar Tom Homan was dispatched to Minnesota instead. He warned that protesters<\/a> could face consequences if they interfere with officers.<\/p>\n

The community gathered at the VA hospital Alex Pretti worked at to honor his memory. (WCCO, MICHAEL PRETTI, CNN)Grand jury seeks communications, records<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Tuesday was the deadline for Minneapolis to produce information for a federal grand jury. It\u2019s part of a U.S. Justice Department request for records of any effort to stifle the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown. Officials have denounced it as a bullying tactic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide, but when the federal government weaponizes the criminal justice system against political opponents, it\u2019s important to stand up and fight back,\u201d said Ally Peters, spokesperson for Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat.<\/p>\n

She said the city was complying, but she didn\u2019t elaborate. Other state and local offices run by Democrats were given subpoenas, though it\u2019s not known whether they had the same deadline. People familiar with the matter have told the AP that the subpoenas are related to an investigation<\/a> into whether Minnesota officials obstructed enforcement through public statements.<\/p>\n

No bond for man in Omar incident<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, a man charged with squirting apple cider vinegar on Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar<\/a> will remain in jail. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Schultz granted a federal prosecutor\u2019s request to deny bond to Anthony Kazmierczak.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe simply cannot have protesters and people \u2014 whatever side of the aisle they\u2019re on \u2014 running up to representatives who are conducting official business, and holding town halls, and assaulting them,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Bejar said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Defense attorney John Fossum said the vinegar posed a low risk to Omar. He said Kazmierczak\u2019s health problems weren\u2019t being properly addressed in jail and that his release would be appropriate.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Raza reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. AP reporters Ed White in Detroit and Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Immigration officers with guns drawn arrested some activists who were trailing their vehicles on Tuesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,2483,16950,6429,3,2564,452,453,3479],"class_list":["post-447282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-ice","tag-minneapolis","tag-minnesota","tag-news","tag-protests","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447282","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=447282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}