Overview
- CBS, citing sources, reports the Justice Department has opened an investigation into Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, over an alleged conspiracy to impede ICE operations.
- A federal judge in Minnesota issued an 83-page order prohibiting federal agents from using pepper spray and similar nonlethal crowd-control tools against people engaged in peaceful, non-obstructive protest.
- The order also bars arrests of peaceful demonstrators, limits vehicle stops to cases with reasonable, articulable suspicion of violent interference, and states that simply following federal vehicles is not grounds for a stop.
- These developments follow an ICE operation in Minneapolis in early January during which an ICE officer fatally shot 37-year-old Rene Nicole Good, an incident federal officials describe as self-defense and local leaders dispute.
- Political responses remain polarized, with Vice President J.D. Vance supporting ICE, President Donald Trump criticizing local leaders, Mayor Jacob Frey denouncing the federal account, and Gov. Tim Walz placing the National Guard on heightened readiness.