United States curler Rich Ruohonen spoke out Tuesday during an Olympic news conference against \u201cwhat\u2019s going on in Minnesota,\u201d while also emphasizing that \u201cwe\u2019re playing for the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Ruohonen, 54, didn\u2019t mention any specific governmental agency, he appeared to be alluding to the actions of agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DHS has sent thousands of heavily armed agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as part of President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation campaign,<\/a> and federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud to be here, to represent Team USA and to represent our country,\u201d Ruohoen said. \u201cBut we\u2019d be remiss if we didn\u2019t at least mention what\u2019s going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it\u2019s been for everybody.<\/p>\n \u201cThis stuff is happening right around where we live. And I am a lawyer, as you know. We have a constitution. It allows us freedom of the press, freedom of speech, protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures, and makes it so we have to have probable cause to be pulled over. And what\u2019s happening in Minnesota is wrong. There\u2019s no shades of gray.\u201d<\/p>\n US Olympic Curling Team member speaks out against ICE:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud to represent Team USA. But we\u2019d be remiss if we didn\u2019t mention what\u2019s going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it\u2019s been. What\u2019s happening is wrong. There\u2019s no shades of gray.\u201d<\/p>\n [image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social<\/a>) February 10, 2026 at 12:58 PM<\/a><\/p>\n Ruohonen\u2019s online biography<\/a> says he is a partner in a law firm that represents victims of personal-injury accidents. He was named as an alternate to the U.S. team.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make it clear that we are out here, we love our country,\u201d Ruohonen said. \u201cWe\u2019re playing for the U.S. We\u2019re playing for Team USA, and we\u2019re playing for each other, and we\u2019re playing for our family and our friends that sacrificed so much to get here today.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that doesn\u2019t change anything. Because what the Olympics means is excellence, respect, friendship. And we all, I think, exemplify that. And we are playing for the people in Minnesota and the people around the country who share those same values \u2014 that compassion, that love and that respect.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruohonen\u2019s comments continue a trend among some U.S. Winter Olympic athletes of calling attention to the social and political climate in the country.<\/p>\n Freestyle skier Hunter Hess responded to a question about what it means to represent the United States by saying it \u201cbrings up mixed emotions<\/a>\u201d and was \u201ca little hard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust because I\u2019m wearing the flag,\u201d Hess said, \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean that I represent everything that\u2019s going on in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n Hess\u2019 comment prompted Trump to make a social media post in which he called Hess \u201ca real loser\u201d and said \u201che shouldn\u2019t have tried out for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Figure skater Amber Glenn, in a news conference before the Olympics, said it is a \u201ctough time\u201d for the LGBTQ+ community. She said she received death threats<\/a> in response to her comment.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe the outlandish backlash I\u2019ve received for just supporting people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Questions posed to Olympians about Trump\u2019s response to Hess sparked a response from other athletes.<\/p>\n