Overview
- U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez issued an 83-page order barring detention or arrest of peaceful protesters and drivers and prohibiting pepper spray against demonstrators, giving DHS 72 hours to comply under Operation Metro Surge.
- The restrictions come after the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Nicole Good and a separate Wednesday shooting that wounded a man, incidents marked by conflicting accounts from federal officials and local leaders.
- The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey obstructed federal enforcement, a probe both officials criticized as political intimidation.
- The federal operation has deployed thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to more than 2,500 arrests, drawing condemnations from Minnesota officials who describe the presence as unsustainable.
- President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act but said there is no immediate need to use it as protests and confrontations with federal agents continue in Minneapolis.