ICE temporarily detained educator Christina Rank in Minnesota. Here’s what we know

On Jan. 12, 2026, according to social media posts and reporting by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained special education classroom assistant Christina Rank after a confrontation with the agents in her employer’s parking lot in a Minneapolis suburb.

Snopes readers wrote in looking for more information about the incident. It was true that ICE agents detained Rank — a staff member at Concord Education Center in Inver Grove Heights, a southern suburb of the Twin Cities — in the school’s parking lot, though the circumstances surrounding the detainment were unclear. 

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) version of what happened differed from the social media posts. 

At some point, ICE vehicles and a vehicle driven by Rank collided in the parking lot, according to DHS and bystanders’ videos. But it was unclear who hit whom. Bystanders in footage shared online claim the ICE agents hit Rank, while agents in that footage and the DHS allege Rank hit the agents.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin provided the following email statement:

On January 12, while ICE law enforcement were parked in a parking lot in Inver Grove, MN a vehicle belonging to a U.S. citizen pulled up next to the agents, asked if they were ICE, and began honking her horn and yelling  “you are terrorists.” 

ICE departed the parking lot and she proceed to stalk law enforcement officers and moved her vehicle dangerously getting close to them. As ICE agents attempted to turn, the individual tried to cut their vehicle off and collided with law enforcement’s vehicle.

Officers then attempted to get her out of the vehicle and arrest her for obstruction—a federal crime. The woman refused and disobeyed commands. ICE officers followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to make the arrest.

During this entire incident, a large crowd of agitators began to gather and blow whistles while yelling at officers. As the crowd grew and the situation became dangerous, the officers departed the area. Secretary Noem has been clear: Anyone who actively obstructs or impedes law enforcement will be prosecuted.

Snopes attempted to contact Rank and her mother, who had previously spoke about her daughter’s detainment with the Pioneer Press newspaper. We will update this report if we hear back.

Because Snopes could not independently verify the circumstances surrounding Rank’s detainment, we did not put a rating on this article.

Footage recorded by bystanders moments after ICE agents detained Rank in the parking lot showed two SUVs boxing in a white sedan, presumably the 25-year-old’s, while bystanders argued with ICE agents. 

After one ICE agent said the arrest was “because she rammed my vehicle,” a bystander yelled back, “No, I was right in front of her. You rammed her vehicle.” That bystander also claimed he recorded the incident showing agents ramming into Rank’s vehicle on his dashboard camera. 

Snopes reached out to the social media user who posted the video depicting bystanders’ comments, including the claim about dashcam footage. We have not heard back, and we did not find the alleged dashcam footage online.

According to the Pioneer Press, Rank’s mother said Rank’s car was damaged on the “passenger side door and the back window,” claiming that the front bumper would have been damaged if DHS’ version of events were true. No images of the allegedly damaged car were available online. Snopes was unable to independently confirm this detail.

The Pioneer Press reported that Rank’s mother said she received a phone call from her daughter on the morning of the incident, saying she did not know why she was being detained. According to that article, Rank was released at 7 p.m., about 12 hours after she was detained. It was unclear whether she had been charged with any crimes. 

Snopes was able to geolocate social media footage of the incident to the entrance of the parking lot at Concord Education Center by matching the positions of street signs and a senior living facility across the street.

According to Intermediate School District 917, the area’s special education school district, the Concord Education Center is a site for students with disabilities. The school district’s website says programming at Concord “provides services to students with unique needs from kindergarten through age 22 who require a high level of support provided by a separate school site dedicated to students receiving special education services.” 

In addition to reaching out to DHS, Snopes attempted to contact ICE about the incident. In both inquiries, we asked why ICE agents were stationed at the school prior to the confrontation with Rank. McLaughlin’s statement did not address that specific question and we had not heard back from ICE.

Snopes has reported on other incidents involving agents with ICE or Customs and Border Protection in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in early 2026, including the arrests of Brandon Siguenza and Sue Tincher, a video showing agents kneeing a man in the face and the fatal shooting of Renee Good.