What we know so far
• Insurrection Act: President Donald Trump warned he might invoke the centuries-old law to deploy US troops to Minnesota as state and federal officials clash over tactics used by immigration agents.
• Another shooting: Law enforcement and demonstrators clashed last night near where a federal agent shot and injured a man after he allegedly assaulted the agent. During the struggle, DHS said two people came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle. After the suspect got loose and joined the attack, the officer fired “defensive shots,” DHS said, striking the man in the leg.
• High tensions: A CNN crew was hit with pepper balls after a kind of projectile was thrown at federal agents at an anti-ICE protest outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, where tensions continued to flare Thursday night. The FBI is offering up to $100,000 for information after several agency vehicles were vandalized last night.
In pictures: Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside ICE facility near Minneapolis
Tensions continued to flare on Thursday night outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building near Minneapolis, where police have used pepper balls, percussion grenades, and tear gas to try to disperse crowds.
Tear gas and percussion grenades deployed at protesters outside Whipple Federal Building
Tear gas was deployed on protesters outside the Whipple Federal Building near Minneapolis Thursday night as federal law enforcement tried to clear a group from the building’s driveway.
The use of tear gas came after several instances of protesters kicking and banging on vehicles entering and leaving the facility Thursday.
Around 10:00 p.m., a line of Customs and Border Protection officers moved down the driveway, pushing protesters back. As that happened, a separate team of officers approached from the side, CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz reported from the scene.
“Out of nowhere, the other team of federal law enforcement officers come from this other direction and start firing the percussion grenades and then they started with the tear gas,” Prokupecz said.
The protesters then appeared to move back from the driveway to an area across the street.
Following ICE-involved shooting, law enforcement used flash bang before entering home in search of suspect
Witness video shows the moment federal agents gained access to a Minneapolis home on Wednesday night following an ICE-involved shooting.
According to DHS, federal agents were conducting a “targeted traffic stop” when a Venezuelan national resisted arrest and started to “violently assault” an officer.
DHS said two people from what’s described as a nearby apartment came out and attacked the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle, resulting in the officer firing “defensive shots,” striking the original suspect in the leg.
The three people ran back into the building and barricaded themselves, DHS said.
In video obtained by CNN, law enforcement is seen approaching the home and setting off a flash bang. Smoke can be seen and ramming sounds are heard as the witness says “They’re in! There’s more than a dozen of them.”
The suspect was removed by federal agents and taken to an ambulance, CNN previously reported.
Smoke device deployed as vehicles leave Whipple Federal Building
As vehicles were leaving the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building near Minneapolis tonight, a smoke device was deployed from at least one car window, causing protesters to disperse from the driveway, according to CNN senior crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz, who is at the protest.
Clouds of smoke surrounded protesters but no one appeared to be injured. As the cars came out of the facility, a couple people kicked the tires of the vehicles.
After the smoke was deployed, an announcement from the federal building loudspeaker told protesters to move away from the driveway. The message has been shared several times throughout the night.
Here is how the attorneys representing Renee Good’s family are preparing for potential litigation
The law firm representing the family of Renee Good filed a letter to the federal government today demanding they preserve all evidence related to her fatal shooting by a federal agent, which is the first step of a civil investigation that could potentially lead to litigation, attorney Antonio Romanucci told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Romanucci and the law firm want the federal government to preserve any and all evidence related to the investigation, including Good’s car, cellphone video, dashcam video and communications between agents, among other things.
Romanucci said his firm is conducting its own investigation and demanding the preservation of the evidence, as they “don’t know that we are going to get the truth only with the federal government investigating this,” he said. If evidence is not preserved, “that could be very problematic,” Romanucci added.
He also refuted “domestic terrorism” accusations made by federal officials against Good and criticized efforts to have the investigation focus on her and her wife, Rebecca Good.
Agents at Whipple Federal Building deploy pepper spray after protesters shake fence
Federal agents at the Whipple Federal Building near Minneapolis have deployed pepper spray to disperse protesters who were shaking a fence, according to CNN senior crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz, who is at the protest.
One protester could be seen on the ground crying out in pain, having a liquid poured onto his face by other protesters.
A wall of agents stood a distance behind the fence, standing shoulder to shoulder.
After several minutes, protesters approached the fence, some touching it but not shaking it, and agents deployed pepper balls towards the protesters. They immediately started coughing and backing away, several saying they couldn’t breathe.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Federal officials using physical tactics and warnings to keep crowd at federal building back
Federal agents right now are managing protests in front of a federal building near Minneapolis by giving verbal warnings and physically pushing people back.
In the last few hours in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, they have not appeared to use tear gas or any type of chemical to disperse the crowd, despite having those tools with them, according to CNN senior crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz, who is at the protest.
The federal agents are carrying batons and have been physically pushing the crowd of people from the street to the sidewalk, walking in a line. When this happens, the officials and protesters come face to face for a few minutes before law enforcement walks back toward the building.
Still, the protesters, who have been walking right up to the line of the driveway, came prepared. Many of them are wearing gas masks and goggles.
"You will be identified": Federal officials warn protesters before pushing them back
Federal agents are issuing warnings to protesters at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building near Minneapolis.
The crowd moved into the building’s driveway before being pushed back by federal agents. Before the officials moved into the crowd, a person using a bullhorn was heard telling protesters not to block the entryway.
“You will be identified, and we will come arrest you,” the person said.
As cars went in and out, protesters were seen blocking and hitting some of the vehicles, according to CNN senior crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz, who is on the scene.
“Do not strike the vehicles,” the person with the bullhorn said. “You will be identified.”
Law enforcement officials holding what appeared to be batons stood face to face with protesters, who chanted “shame” at them.
Can law enforcement demand proof of citizenship?
Many activists have sounded the alarm over reports of immigration agents demanding people provide proof of citizenship amid tense protests in Minneapolis against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
“It’s illegal and it’s unconstitutional to require people to show their citizenship papers without some other basis to make a stop,” said CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the questioning of bystanders in certain situations, telling reporters Thursday, that people “surrounding” someone alleged to have committed a crime may be asked to “validate their identity.”
The Supreme Court, last September, backed President Donald Trump’s push to allow immigration enforcement officials to continue what critics describe as “roving patrols” in Southern California that lower courts said likely violated the Fourth Amendment.
The Supreme Court did not provide any analysis explaining their decision to overturn the lower courts’ rulings. But in a 10-page concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that in cases where legal immigrants are stopped by law enforcement, “the questioning in those circumstances is typically brief, and those individuals may promptly go free after making clear to the immigration officers that they are U. S. citizens or otherwise legally in the United States.”
He also wrote: “To be clear, apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion; under this court’s case law regarding immigration stops, however, it can be a ‘relevant factor’ when considered along with other salient factors.”
Honig pointed to Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion, saying, “So what you cannot do is just go arbitrarily up to people or set up a checkpoint or go door to door and say, ‘Hey, you need to prove to us that you’re a US citizen.’ The immigration officer needs to have some reasonable suspicion. You cannot just arbitrarily approach people and make them prove that they are in fact here legally.”
When ICE agents can legally use force on protesters
CNN’s Josh Campbell walks through DHS protocols for federal agents.
One person arrested for stealing FBI body armor and weaponry out of car, federal authorities say
One person was arrested after they allegedly stole FBI body armor and weaponry from an FBI car last night in Minneapolis, federal authorities said.
The person is “a known member of the Latin Kings gang” with “a long list of prior violent crimes,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X. Earlier in the day, the FBI posted a reward of up to $100,000 for information on FBI vehicles that were vandalized and from which items were stolen last night.
FBI Director Kash Patel assured more arrests were coming: “Again: any individual who attacks law enforcement or vandalizes federal property paid for by hardworking taxpayers will be found and arrested.”
CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for information on arrests in Minneapolis over the last two days.
Tensions amid protest at Whipple Federal Building
Tensions are flaring at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building near Minneapolis.
Federal officers in tactical gear just came out into the crowd. Several officers appeared to be detaining someone on the ground, while others pushed back the rest of the crowd.
They then led that person into the building.
Dozens of officers then walked back up the driveway while others formed a line, keeping protesters at a distance.
Earlier, a protester threw what appeared to be a frozen water bottle at a car, which also brought the federal agents out. Agents then lined up at the entrance again, across from protesters who were yelling at them from the middle of the street.
“What if someone came for your family?” one person with a bullhorn yelled.
For most of the day, the protests around the federal building have remained calm. The crowd held signs, rang a cowbell and yelled at cars coming in and out.
But last night, there were intense clashes between federal officials and protesters. Law enforcement officers deployed multiple tear gas canisters and what sounded like flash bangs before officials told people to “go home.”
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz contributed reporting to this post, which was updated with additional details from the protest.
As night falls on Minneapolis, tensions between protesters and federal agents remain high. Here's the latest
More than a week has passed since 37-year-old Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, making way for heated — and sometimes violent — confrontations between protesters and federal agents.
As city leaders urge the community to remain calm under pressure, another shooting involving US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is prompting warnings from President Donald Trump, who is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act — a centuries-old law that would allow the deployment of US troops to Minnesota.
Here’s the latest:
- Another ICE-involved shooting: Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national, was shot and injured by an ICE agent last night after he resisted arrest and started to “violently assault” the federal officer, according to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security. Sosa-Celis was detained along with two others from Venezuela, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, DHS said. All three men are living in the US illegally, according to officials.
- Recent arrests: A number of arrests have been made amid anti-ICE protests this week, federal officials have said. Some protesters were taken into custody this afternoon during demonstrations at a federal building, US Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino told Fox News. Last night, an armed protester was arrested for assaulting officers, DHS said in an X post. CNN has reached out to officials for more information.
- Insurrection Act: Trump has warned he might invoke the centuries-old law to deploy US troops to Minnesota. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it is a “tool at the president’s disposal” and Trump’s warning “spoke very loud and clear to Democrats across this country.” The president previously threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to anti-ICE protests in Portland last fall.
- Legal battle: Teresa Nelson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, called Trump’s Insurrection Act threats “unnecessary, dangerous and wrong.” The organization also filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government today claiming immigration agents violated US citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights.
- Twin cities on alert: Federal agents pulled over two vans of students and staff on their way to school in St. Paul, Minnesota, in separate incidents this week, a school district spokesperson said. Starting next week, students “who do not feel comfortable coming to school” can participate in virtual learning, Saint Paul Public Schools said in a Facebook post.
CNN crew hit with pepper balls amid Minneapolis protests
A CNN crew was hit with pepper balls while at an anti-ICE protest in the Minneapolis area today.
Demonstrators were confronting a large group of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building when an object was thrown at officials.
“Just moments ago, we saw agents coming out of this building in formation and tried to clear protesters off of the street,” CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones told Jake Tapper this evening.
“Soon after, some kind of projectile — looked to me like a water bottle — was thrown at these agents,” Jones said. “And then all of us, including our crew here, our CNN crew, got hit with some projectiles with pepper spray.”
Arrests were recently made outside the federal building where anti-ICE protests have been happening daily, US Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino told Fox News this afternoon.
CNN has reached out to authorities for more information.
Federal agents pulled over vans of students heading to school in St. Paul, district spokesperson says
Federal agents pulled over two vans of students and staff on their way to school in St. Paul, Minnesota, in separate incidents this week, a school district spokesperson said.
The incidents happened on Monday and Wednesday, Erica Wacker, a spokesperson for St. Paul Public Schools, said in a statement to CNN.
The district said “staff followed the district’s protocols, and both vans were able to continue to school without further disruption.”
Wacker did not elaborate when asked what those protocols are. The vehicles were “contract vans” that had the van company’s name on them, according to the spokesperson.
Wacker said staff members in the vans were able to keep everyone “calm and safe.”
Starting next Thursday, students “who do not feel comfortable coming to school” can participate in virtual learning, Saint Paul Public Schools said in a Facebook post. After the holiday Monday, there will be no school next Tuesday or Wednesday to give teachers time to prepare, the post said.
In another school district: Minneapolis Public Schools is also offering online learning through February 12, according to its website. The district said more information was shared directly with families.
This post has been updated with information about virtual learning at Minneapolis Public Schools.
FBI offers up to $100,000 reward for information on vandalized government cars
The FBI is offering up to $100,000 for information on several FBI vehicles that were vandalized, broken into and had property taken from them while the agency’s personnel responded to the Minneapolis shooting last night.
A CNN crew saw two vehicles that appeared ransacked and vandalized last night. One car was seen with “F**k ICE” painted on it, while another had “America land of the obey or die” written on it. The photos shared by the FBI show similar phases painted in red on the vehicles.
“If you harm law enforcement or destroy / steal federal property this @FBI will not hesitate to pursue you, find you, and bring you to the fullest extent of justice,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X.
US citizens were at work or shoveling snow when agents tackled or detained them, lawsuit says
The ACLU of Minnesota’s lawsuit against the federal government lists ordeals suffered by several US citizens in the past two months, ACLU staff attorney Catherine Ahlin-Halverson said:
– Mubashir Khalif Hussen, 20, was walking during his lunch break when he was violently stopped, pinned to the ground, placed in a headlock and taken away by agents who refused to look at his US passport card until after he was in detention, the attorney said.
– Mahamed Eydarus, 25, was shoveling snow with his mother when masked federal agents pulled up in unmarked vehicles, the lawsuit states. “The agents told Mr. Eydarus’s mother to remove her niqab, which is a cultural and religious face covering, and then separated Mr. Eydarus from his mother.” After they were detained “for a lengthy period,” the attorney said, Eydarus and his mother were released. Now, “Mr. Eydarus is scared to go about his daily life in public, as he fears being again detained based on his Somali descent and appearance,” the lawsuit states.
– Plaintiff Javier Doe, who was born in Minnesota, was tackled by an agent near the entrance of the Target where he worked, the lawsuit said. Despite Javier’s repeated statements that he’s a US citizen, the agents handcuffed and dragged him into an SUV, the ACLU said. While handcuffed, Javier slipped and his head slammed into the SUV, the lawsuit says. He was shoved into the car, and agents drove off “with rapid acceleration, while playing Mexican music loudly,” the suit says. After agents looked at Javier’s identification, they left him in a Walmart parking lot, the attorney said.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include the Department of Homeland Security and its reporting agencies. A DHS spokesperson responded to the lawsuit in an email to CNN:
ACLU sues federal government after agents violently stop and detain US citizens, attorney says
The ACLU of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government Thursday claiming immigration agents violently arrested or detained US citizens who were minding their own business.
“The Trump administration has been clear in its targeting of the Somali and Latino communities through Operation Metro Surge,” the group said. “President Trump called people from Somalia ‘garbage,’ said ‘we don’t want them in our country,’ and told them to ‘go back to where they came from.’”
Since then, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection “have indiscriminately arrested — without warrants or probable cause — Minnesotans solely because the agents perceived them to be Somali or Latino,” the ACLU of Minnesota said.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include the Department of Homeland Security and its reporting agencies.
A DHS spokesperson called the allegations “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE” in an email to CNN.
“DHS law enforcement uses ‘reasonable suspicion’” and “NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,” the spokesperson said.
The ACLU is asking the US District Court of Minnesota for an emergency order “to stop ICE, CBP, and other federal agents from continuing to violate Minnesotans’ rights,” the attorney said.
“ICE and CBP’s practices are both illegal and morally reprehensible,” Ahlin-Halverson said. “Federal agents’ conduct — sweeping up Minnesotans through racial profiling and unlawful arrests” — violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Arrests made outside Minneapolis federal building amid anti-ICE protests, Bovino tells FOX
Arrests have been made outside a federal building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where demonstrators have been confronting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during daily anti-ICE protests, US Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino told Fox News this afternoon.
Bovino, who did not specify how many people were arrested or when, said the arrests were “recent.”
“Some of those protesters and rioters, they want to block the road, make it difficult for federal law enforcement to do its job,” Bovino told FOX. “So they’re being pushed out of the road, and if they don’t move, they’re being arrested.”
CNN has reached out to authorities for more information.
Video from a CNN crew shows more than 100 protesters gathered outside in below freezing temperatures the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building this afternoon.
While a small group of protesters chanted “F*ck ICE,” others belted out “We will not put up with ICE” and “ICE out now” as nearby drivers appeared to support the crowd by honking their horns.
Why Trump may be considering invoking the Insurrection Act
President Donald Trump warned he might invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy US troops to Minnesota amid protests over immigration tactics.
CNN’s Jake Tapper discusses a few theories why Trump is considering this move:
President Donald Trump warned he might invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy US troops to Minnesota amid protests over immigration tactics. CNN's Jake Tapper discusses a few theories why Trump is considering this move.
