WASHINGTON (AP) — Every Homeland Security officer on the ground, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, will be immediately issued body-worn cameras, Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday.
Noem made the announcement on the social media platform X. She said the body-worn camera program is being expanded nationwide as funding becomes available.
“We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country,” Noem said in the social media post.
The news of the body cameras comes as Minneapolis has been the site of intense scrutiny over the conduct of immigration enforcement agents. There have been increased calls by critics of Homeland Security to require all of the department’s officers who are responsible for immigration enforcement to wear body cameras.
President Joe Biden ordered in 2022 that federal law enforcement officers wear body cameras as part of an executive order that included other policing reform measures. President Donald Trump had rescinded that directive after starting his second term.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The state of Minnesota is vowing to continue the legal battle after it and twelve cities, including St Paul and Minneapolis, were denied a temporary restraining order that would have shut down Operation Metro Surge.
In her ruling, Judge Kate Menendez said that the state had not proved that Operation Metro Surge had crossed a constitutional line, “and had not met the burden of proof needed” for her to issue a temporary restraining order.
“We fight on, so it’s important for your viewers to know we didn’t get the temporary emergency action we wanted, but that doesn’t stop the case. The case continues on, the lawsuit continues on,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem celebrated the ruling, saying, “This is a win for public safety and law and order.”
“I am praying that nobody gets hurt or killed tonight or tomorrow morning, or no 5-year-olds get snatched up again in the next 48 or 72 hours,” Ellison said on Sunday. “I am deeply concerned about that, but I am not going to stop.”
Ellison believes communication between federal and state officials is improving.
After Commander Greg Bovino was replaced, the acting director of ICE, Tom Homan, took over. The attorney general met with Homan in what both parties say was a productive meeting.
“Kristi Noem never called, never wanted to talk; Bovino never called, never wanted to talk, so at least now we are having adult conversations with administration leaders. We didn’t agree on everything, but we did agree on some things,” Ellison said.
So, the legal case will now continue and so will Operation Metro Surge.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
“Who can you kill?” and “When can you kill them?” Those are questions Republican Senator Rand Paul is asking after the death of two people in Minneapolis at the hands of federal immigration officers. He’s calling for an independent investigation. Scott Pelley reports, tonight.
With the eyes of a nation fixed on the unrest in Minneapolis, the events haven’t left local journalists overmatched.
Over the past month, the Minnesota Star Tribune has broken stories, including the identity of the immigration enforcement officer who shot Renee Good, and produced a variety of informative and instructive pieces. Richard Tsong-Taatarii’s photo of a prone demonstrator sprayed point-blank with a chemical irritant quickly became a defining image. The ICE actions have changed how the outlet presents the news.
At a time when many regional newspapers have become hollowed-out shells due to the decline in journalism as a business, the Star Tribune has kept staffing relatively steady under billionaire Glen Taylor, who has owned it since 2014. It rebranded itself from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and committed itself to a digital transformation.
It was ready for its moment.
“If you hadn’t invested in the newsroom, you wouldn’t be able to react in that way,” said Steve Grove, publisher and chief executive.
Minnesota’s robust journalism tradition
The Star Tribune hasn’t operated in a vacuum. Minneapolis has a robust journalism tradition, particularly on public radio and television. Sahan Journal, a digital newsroom focusing on immigrants and diverse communities, has also distinguished itself covering President Donald Trump’s immigration efforts and the public response.
“The whole ecosystem is pretty darn good,” said Kathleen Hennessey, senior vice president and editor of the Star Tribune, “and I think people are seeing that now.”
While national outlets have made their presence felt, strong local teams offer advantages in such stories. The Star Tribune’s Josie Albertson-Grove was one of the first journalists on the scene after ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot dead on Jan. 24. She lives about a block away, and her knowledge of the neighborhood and its people helped to reconstruct what happened.
Journalists with kids in school learned about ICE efforts to target areas where children gather by hearing chatter among friends. While covering a beat like public safety can carry baggage, Star Tribune reporter Liz Sawyer developed sources that helped her, along with colleagues Andy Mannix and Sarah Nelson, report on who shot Good.
Besides those contacts, the staff simply knows Minnesota better than outsiders, Hennessey said.
“This is a place with a really, really long and entrenched tradition of activism, and a place with really deep social networks and neighborhood networks,” she said. “People mobilize quickly and passionately, and they’re noisy about it. That’s definitely been part of the story.”
A Signal chat tipped Tsong-Taatarii about a demonstration growing raucous on Jan. 21. Upon arriving, he focused his lens on one protester knocked to the ground, leaving the photographer perfectly placed for his richly-detailed shot. Two officers hold the man face-down with arms on his back, while a third unleashes a chemical from a canister inches from his face. The bright yellow liquid streams onto his cheek and splatters onto the pavement.
What some have called the sadistic cruelty involved in the episode outraged many who saw the photo. “I was just trying to document and present the evidence and let people decide for themselves,” Tsong-Taatarii said.
‘A badge to prove I belong’
In one enterprising story, the Star Tribune’s Christopher Magan and Jeff Hargarten identified 240 of an estimated 3,000 immigrants rounded up in Minnesota, finding 80% had felony convictions but nearly all had been through the court system, been punished and were no longer sought by police. Hargarten and Jake Steinberg collaborated on a study of how the size of the federal force compared with that of local police.
Columnist Laura Yuen wrote that her 80-year-old parents have begun carrying their passports when they leave their suburban townhouse, part of the “quiet, pervasive fear” in the Twin Cities. Yuen downloaded her own passport to carry on her phone. “A document that once made me proud of all the places I’ve traveled is now a badge to prove I belong,” she wrote.
A piece by Kim Hyatt and Louis Krauss detailed the health consequences of chemical irritants used by law enforcement — or thought to be used, since questions about what specifically was deployed went unanswered.
“I really think they’ve done a commendable job,” said Scott Libin, a veteran television newsman and journalism professor at the University of Minnesota. He praised the Star Tribune’s story about the criminal backgrounds of immigrants as thorough and dispassionate.
Since Hennessey, a former Associated Press editor, began her job last May, the Star Tribune has experienced a run of big stories, including the shooting of two state lawmakers and a gunman opening fire at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. And, of course, “we have a newsroom that still has muscle memory from George Floyd ” in 2020, Grove said.
News compelled fundamental shifts in the way the Star Tribune operates. Like some national outlets, it has rearranged staff to cover the story aggressively through a continuously updated live blog on its website, offered free to readers. There’s also a greater emphasis on video, with the Star Tribune doing forensic studies on footage from the Pretti and Good shootings, something few local newsrooms are equipped to do. Traffic to its website has gone up 50 percent, paid subscriptions have increased and the company is getting thousands of dollars in donations from across the country, Grove said.
“People have changed the way that they consume news,” Hennessey said. “We see that readers are coming back. You know, they’re not just waking up in the morning, reading the site and then forgetting about us all day long. They’re coming back a couple of times a day to check in on what’s new.”
Most people in the newsroom are contributing to the story, including the Star Tribune’s food and culture team, and its outdoor reporters. “There are no normal beats anymore,” Albertson-Grove said.
A rapid transformation to a digital-first newsroom
Under Grove, a former Google executive, the Star Tribune has attempted a digital-first transition, turning over about 20% of its staff in two years. The paper shut its Minneapolis printing plant in December, laying off 125 people, and moving print operations to Iowa.
“We face every single headwind that every local news organization in the country does,” Grove said. “But we do feel fortunate that we’re the largest newsroom in the Midwest and it’s part of the reason we’re able to do this now.”
As a reporter, Sawyer says the public response to the outlet’s work, sharing stories and images, has lifted her spirits. Readers see it as public service journalism. Still, she could use a break. She and her husband, Star Tribune photographer Aaron Lavinsky, have a baby daughter and make sure to stagger their coverage. They can’t both be tear-gassed or arrested at the same time; who makes the daycare pickup?
“I think both residents and journalists in this town are running on fumes,” she said. “We’re tired of being in the international spotlight and it’s never for something positive. People are trying their best to get through this moment with grace.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Gregory Bovino, the controversial Border Patrol leader who helped oversee the immigration surge in Minnesota, allegedly used language offensive to the Jewish federal officials on a recent call, multiple sources familiar with the call told CBS News.
The call, which was held on Jan. 12, five days after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, involved multiple federal officials who were trying to coordinate a Saturday meeting to discuss issues related to the massive deployment of federal immigration agents in the area. Bovino was told on the call that Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, an Orthodox Jew, could not attend that meeting because he observes the Sabbath.
Bovino allegedly responded with audible frustration that Rosen was not available for the Saturday meeting, sources familiar with the planning call said. One of them recounted that Bovino replied, “Do Orthodox criminals also take off on Saturday?”
That source said Bovino also used the phrase “chosen people” in a disparaging manner.
Another source briefed on the conversation described Bovino’s alleged remarks as an “antisemitic rant.” The New York Times first reported Bovino’s alleged comments.
Reports of Bovino’s conduct on the call were relayed to Attorney General Pam Bondi and others in the Department of Justice, as well as the White House, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Department of Homeland Security, the White House and the Department of Justice have not yet responded to a request for comment.
Bovino’s remarks contributed to a growing unease between federal immigration officials and some Minnesota-based federal prosecutors, as ICE and Border Patrol officers have engaged in a widening surge of raids and arrests, and thousands took to the streets in protest in reaction, sources told CBS News.
Bovino’s sometimes brusque manner had raised concerns previously. The former Border Patrol “commander-at-large” ran afoul of a federal judge in Chicago during deportation operations there in October. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, whose injunction limited federal immigration agents’ use of force in Chicago, criticized what she called Bovino’s “cute” responses about clashes between agents and protesters.
She wrote in her opinion, “Bovino appeared evasive over the three days of his deposition, either providing ‘cute’ responses to the Plaintiffs’ counsel’s questions or outright lying.” In November, an appeals court paused Ellis’ injunction.
Bovino was reassigned and relieved of his command in Minneapolis earlier this week after an intense backlash over how top U.S. officials, including Bovino, responded to the Jan. 24 fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by two Customs and Border Protection officers.
On the same day that Pretti was shot, Bovino said of him that “this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” a reference to the fact that Pretti was armed with a handgun when he was killed. Some of Bovino’s claims about Pretti were soon contradicted by witnesses and video from the scene. And within several days, the government submitted a report to Congress about the case that contained no mention of Pretti ever reaching for his firearm during the skirmish with CBP agents.
Bovino is being reassigned to his old job at California’s El Centro sector, where he served as the chief agent before the Trump administration deployed him to major American cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, to lead sweeping immigration roundups.
The alleged comments from Bovino come at a time when the Trump administration has sought to make countering antisemitism one of its primary policy goals.
Since last year, the Justice Department and the Department of Education launched dozens of civil rights probes into whether college campuses failed to adequately protect Jewish students during protests over the war in Gaza in 2023.
Cyclists gathered at Washburn Fair Oaks Park, where Dan Breyak passed out hundreds of new, yellow safety vests. The back of the vests read “PEACEFUL OBSERVER, DON’T SHOOT.”
Breyak said he gathered donations and worked with local businesses to produce the new vests and provide them to the cycling community.
“[We’re] sending a message that we are under attack,” Breyak said. “Really letting people know that what the rhetoric they’re hearing that ‘we’re domestic terrorists.’ We’re not. We have a very peaceful message to protect our own neighbors.”
From the park, cyclists rode to the memorials of Pretti and Renee Good. The ride concluded at the VA hospital, where Pretti previously worked as an ICU nurse.
“The Minnesota bike community is one of the most amazing bike communities in the whole nation. You can see it. We’re bidding the world together through love, peace, (and) protest,” Sean, a cyclist, said. “They can see that we can stand together peacefully and do the right thing.”
The memorial ride organized by Angry Catfish sparked a worldwide day of remembrance for Pretti.
Pretti’s family released a statement about the bike ride saying “We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the organizers and participants of this ride. Alex loved his community, he loved to bike and he would have loved this ride.”
On Saturday, more than 200 memorial rides were held by cycling communities around the world in honor of Pretti.
“No matter where you have leaned or where you have once been, you want to open your eyes. Look at what’s happening and react to it,” Breyak said. “I’m a registered Republican. I’ve been a centrist and I have no tolerance for this… I’ve leaned further and further to the left the more angry I get at this particular administration. And (at) the people that don’t speak up. At this point, silence is complicity. If you’re a Republican and you’re serving your people, you have to look at what’s going on and stand up.”
Judge says she won’t halt Minnesota immigration enforcement surge as a lawsuit proceeds
The lawsuit sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope
This 13 page document lays out DHS policy for use of force. Now these rules apply to Customs and Border Protection, ICE, and Secret Service and make it clear what protocols agents should follow before any use of force is applied. And while it’s easy to look back and replay video over and over after the fact, experts we talked to told us agents need to rely on these policies and training, especially in critical moments. Unfortunately, It, it’s for me as *** field office director, this all of this is very um upsetting. Darius Reeves, *** former ICE field office director, spent nearly 20 years with ICE and Homeland Security, *** time when he says their operations were not drawing public attention. No one had any idea about ICE. We were very professional, we were very clean, and this is. There are far too many US citizens being involved. What troubles Reeves now isn’t just the outcome of recent encounters, but whether ICE and Border Patrol are following their own use of force and de-escalation policies. When is use of force an option? If it’s an immediate Imminent threat. The National Investigative Unit reviewed the Department of Homeland Security’s use of force policy alongside video from the two recent killings of Alex Preddy and Renee Good and talked with experts including Reeves. DHS policy is clear officers should attempt de-escalation, issue verbal commands, reassess when resistance stops, and discontinue force once an incident is under control. Video from the encounter involving 30 seven-year-old Alex Preddy shows in the minute before the shooting, Preddy is recording from *** distance. Agents push *** woman who grabs onto Preddy. He’s then pushed. An agent pushes another woman near Preddy, who then steps in with an open hand up, then turns away from the agent as he’s sprayed with *** chemical. They continually sprayed him even when his back was to them, and then everybody piles on. Based on the video we’ve seen, in your opinion. Was deadly force used correctly on Alex Peretti? Absolutely not. The second case involving Renee Good raises *** different policy question. DHS rules place strict limits on the use of deadly force in and around vehicles. Mark Brown used to train ICE agents and explains the strict rules. The general practice was that They went away from shooting in the moving vehicles. Reeves and Brown add that incidents need to be carefully examined afterward to prevent future violations. Are we debriefing every day after, you know, to see, OK, what are we doing for our own accountability? This is *** major travesty, um. And you, you’re going to have to stick to the policy. The DHS policy states that every agent must be trained in use of force and de-escalation policies at least once *** year, and every 2 years they must conduct less than lethal force training. The policy we reviewed was last updated in 2023. Reporting in Washington, I’m national investigative correspondent John Cardinelli.
Judge says she won’t halt Minnesota immigration enforcement surge as a lawsuit proceeds
The lawsuit sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope
A federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.Video above: Examining DHS use-of-force policiesA federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.Judge Katherine M. Menendez on Saturday denied a preliminary injunction sought in a lawsuit filed this month by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul.It argued that the Department of Homeland Security is violating constitutional protections. The lawsuit sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope. Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous.”The ruling on the injunction focused on the argument by Minnesota officials that the federal government is violating the Constitution’s 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government’s powers to infringe on the sovereignty of states. In her ruling, the judge relied heavily on whether that argument was likely to ultimately succeed in court.The federal government argued that the surge, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, is necessary in its effort to take criminal immigrants off the streets and because federal efforts have been hindered by state and local “sanctuary laws and policies.” State and local officials argued that the surge is retaliation after the federal government’s initial attempts to withhold federal funding to try to force immigration cooperation failed.”Because there is evidence supporting both sides’ arguments as to motivation and the relative merits of each side’s competing positions are unclear, the Court is reluctant to find that the likelihood-of-success factor weighs sufficiently in favor of granting a preliminary injunction,” the judge said in the ruling.U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi took to social media Saturday to laud the ruling, calling it “another HUGE” legal win for the Justice Department on X.Federal officers have fatally shot two people on the streets of Minneapolis: Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —
A federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.
Video above: Examining DHS use-of-force policies
A federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.
Judge Katherine M. Menendez on Saturday denied a preliminary injunction sought in a lawsuit filed this month by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
It argued that the Department of Homeland Security is violating constitutional protections. The lawsuit sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope. Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous.”
The ruling on the injunction focused on the argument by Minnesota officials that the federal government is violating the Constitution’s 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government’s powers to infringe on the sovereignty of states. In her ruling, the judge relied heavily on whether that argument was likely to ultimately succeed in court.
The federal government argued that the surge, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, is necessary in its effort to take criminal immigrants off the streets and because federal efforts have been hindered by state and local “sanctuary laws and policies.” State and local officials argued that the surge is retaliation after the federal government’s initial attempts to withhold federal funding to try to force immigration cooperation failed.
“Because there is evidence supporting both sides’ arguments as to motivation and the relative merits of each side’s competing positions are unclear, the Court is reluctant to find that the likelihood-of-success factor weighs sufficiently in favor of granting a preliminary injunction,” the judge said in the ruling.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi took to social media Saturday to laud the ruling, calling it “another HUGE” legal win for the Justice Department on X.
Federal officers have fatally shot two people on the streets of Minneapolis: Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.
Judge says she won’t halt Minnesota immigration enforcement surge as a lawsuit proceeds
The lawsuit sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope
This 13 page document lays out DHS policy for use of force. Now these rules apply to Customs and Border Protection, ICE, and Secret Service and make it clear what protocols agents should follow before any use of force is applied. And while it’s easy to look back and replay video over and over after the fact, experts we talked to told us agents need to rely on these policies and training, especially in critical moments. Unfortunately, It, it’s for me as *** field office director, this all of this is very um upsetting. Darius Reeves, *** former ICE field office director, spent nearly 20 years with ICE and Homeland Security, *** time when he says their operations were not drawing public attention. No one had any idea about ICE. We were very professional, we were very clean, and this is. There are far too many US citizens being involved. What troubles Reeves now isn’t just the outcome of recent encounters, but whether ICE and Border Patrol are following their own use of force and de-escalation policies. When is use of force an option? If it’s an immediate Imminent threat. The National Investigative Unit reviewed the Department of Homeland Security’s use of force policy alongside video from the two recent killings of Alex Preddy and Renee Good and talked with experts including Reeves. DHS policy is clear officers should attempt de-escalation, issue verbal commands, reassess when resistance stops, and discontinue force once an incident is under control. Video from the encounter involving 30 seven-year-old Alex Preddy shows in the minute before the shooting, Preddy is recording from *** distance. Agents push *** woman who grabs onto Preddy. He’s then pushed. An agent pushes another woman near Preddy, who then steps in with an open hand up, then turns away from the agent as he’s sprayed with *** chemical. They continually sprayed him even when his back was to them, and then everybody piles on. Based on the video we’ve seen, in your opinion. Was deadly force used correctly on Alex Peretti? Absolutely not. The second case involving Renee Good raises *** different policy question. DHS rules place strict limits on the use of deadly force in and around vehicles. Mark Brown used to train ICE agents and explains the strict rules. The general practice was that They went away from shooting in the moving vehicles. Reeves and Brown add that incidents need to be carefully examined afterward to prevent future violations. Are we debriefing every day after, you know, to see, OK, what are we doing for our own accountability? This is *** major travesty, um. And you, you’re going to have to stick to the policy. The DHS policy states that every agent must be trained in use of force and de-escalation policies at least once *** year, and every 2 years they must conduct less than lethal force training. The policy we reviewed was last updated in 2023. Reporting in Washington, I’m national investigative correspondent John Cardinelli.
Judge says she won’t halt Minnesota immigration enforcement surge as a lawsuit proceeds
The lawsuit sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope
A federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.Video above: Examining DHS use-of-force policiesA federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.Judge Katherine M. Menendez on Saturday denied a preliminary injunction sought in a lawsuit filed this month by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul.It argued that the Department of Homeland Security is violating constitutional protections. The lawsuit sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope. Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous.”The ruling on the injunction focused on the argument by Minnesota officials that the federal government is violating the Constitution’s 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government’s powers to infringe on the sovereignty of states. In her ruling, the judge relied heavily on whether that argument was likely to ultimately succeed in court.The federal government argued that the surge, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, is necessary in its effort to take criminal immigrants off the streets and because federal efforts have been hindered by state and local “sanctuary laws and policies.” State and local officials argued that the surge is retaliation after the federal government’s initial attempts to withhold federal funding to try to force immigration cooperation failed.”Because there is evidence supporting both sides’ arguments as to motivation and the relative merits of each side’s competing positions are unclear, the Court is reluctant to find that the likelihood-of-success factor weighs sufficiently in favor of granting a preliminary injunction,” the judge said in the ruling.U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi took to social media Saturday to laud the ruling, calling it “another HUGE” legal win for the Justice Department on X.Federal officers have fatally shot two people on the streets of Minneapolis: Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —
A federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.
Video above: Examining DHS use-of-force policies
A federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.
Judge Katherine M. Menendez on Saturday denied a preliminary injunction sought in a lawsuit filed this month by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
It argued that the Department of Homeland Security is violating constitutional protections. The lawsuit sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope. Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous.”
The ruling on the injunction focused on the argument by Minnesota officials that the federal government is violating the Constitution’s 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government’s powers to infringe on the sovereignty of states. In her ruling, the judge relied heavily on whether that argument was likely to ultimately succeed in court.
The federal government argued that the surge, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, is necessary in its effort to take criminal immigrants off the streets and because federal efforts have been hindered by state and local “sanctuary laws and policies.” State and local officials argued that the surge is retaliation after the federal government’s initial attempts to withhold federal funding to try to force immigration cooperation failed.
“Because there is evidence supporting both sides’ arguments as to motivation and the relative merits of each side’s competing positions are unclear, the Court is reluctant to find that the likelihood-of-success factor weighs sufficiently in favor of granting a preliminary injunction,” the judge said in the ruling.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi took to social media Saturday to laud the ruling, calling it “another HUGE” legal win for the Justice Department on X.
Federal officers have fatally shot two people on the streets of Minneapolis: Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.
Federal judge Kate Menendez denied Minnesota’s motion for a temporary restraining order to halt “Operation Metro Surge” on Saturday. The court documents, filed on Saturday, say that Minnesota and its cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have not met their burden of proof.
The argument to halt operations, in part, stated that the federal operation is “causing harm to the Twin Cities and State themselves, as well as their residents.” Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous.”
In the court documents, Menendez cited another recent case where the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently vacated the preliminary injunction ruling that restricted the force federal agents can use on peaceful protesters, saying that court case had “much more settled precedent” in that case and that “the Court of Appeals determined that the injunction would cause irreparable harm to the government because it would hamper their efforts to enforce federal law.” Menendez also wrote, “If that injunction went too far, then halting the entire operation certainly would.”
“Because there is evidence supporting both sides’ arguments as to motivation and the relative merits of each side’s competing positions are unclear, the Court is reluctant to find that the likelihood-of-success factor weighs sufficiently in favor of granting a preliminary injunction,” the judge said in the ruling.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released a statement after Menendez’s ruling that stated in part:
“Of course, we’re disappointed. This decision doesn’t change what people here have lived through — fear, disruption, and harm caused by a federal operation that never belonged in Minneapolis in the first place. This operation has not brought public safety. It’s brought the opposite and has detracted from the order we need for a working city. It’s an invasion, and it needs to stop.”
The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have sought a temporary restraining order in their lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump administration officials.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi took to social media Saturday to laud the ruling, calling it “another HUGE” legal win for the Justice Department on X.
Minnesota’s argument
The state filed the lawsuit claiming the Trump administration has “violated the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” through infringement of police power and unlawful coercion. Minnesota alleges it “has been singled out and targeted by ICE in a way that no other state has experienced.”
In the court filing, Minnesota argues that the operation is not motivated by “a legitimate law-enforcement purpose” but rather serves as a “pretext for leveraging demands and punishing political leaders within the State and Twin Cities who oppose the Trump administration’s immigration policies.”
Court documents also state that the large-scale presence of federal agents has disrupted the healthcare industry, affected local businesses and stopped residents from going to religious services. The state also claims that “federal officers’ use of force and being detained on their way to and from school had had ‘negative impacts on attendance and student focus’” forcing several school districts to temporarily close.
Trump administration’s argument
The Trump administration argues Operation Metro Surge was launched “to address the dangers arising from the presence of illegal aliens in the Twin Cities.” The administration also argues the dangers are exacerbated by Minnesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul’s sanctuary city policies.
The Trump administration also claims that Operation Metro Surge has “strictly been in furtherance of “the enforcement of federal law,” in line with President Trump’s campaign promises.”
Federal judge Kate Menendez denied Minnesota’s motion for a temporary restraining order to halt “Operation Metro Surge” on Saturday. The court documents, filed on Saturday, say that Minnesota and its cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have not met their burden of proof.
The argument to halt operations, in part, stated that the federal operation is “causing harm to the Twin Cities and State themselves, as well as their residents.” Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous.”
In the court documents, Menendez cited another recent case where the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently vacated the preliminary injunction ruling that restricted the force federal agents can use on peaceful protesters, saying that court case had “much more settled precedent” in that case and that “the Court of Appeals determined that the injunction would cause irreparable harm to the government because it would hamper their efforts to enforce federal law.” Menendez also wrote, “If that injunction went too far, then halting the entire operation certainly would.”
“Because there is evidence supporting both sides’ arguments as to motivation and the relative merits of each side’s competing positions are unclear, the Court is reluctant to find that the likelihood-of-success factor weighs sufficiently in favor of granting a preliminary injunction,” the judge said in the ruling.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released a statement after Menendez’s ruling that stated in part:
“Of course, we’re disappointed. This decision doesn’t change what people here have lived through — fear, disruption, and harm caused by a federal operation that never belonged in Minneapolis in the first place. This operation has not brought public safety. It’s brought the opposite and has detracted from the order we need for a working city. It’s an invasion, and it needs to stop.”
The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have sought a temporary restraining order in their lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump administration officials.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi took to social media Saturday to laud the ruling, calling it “another HUGE” legal win for the Justice Department on X.
Minnesota’s argument
The state filed the lawsuit claiming the Trump administration has “violated the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” through infringement of police power and unlawful coercion. Minnesota alleges it “has been singled out and targeted by ICE in a way that no other state has experienced.”
In the court filing, Minnesota argues that the operation is not motivated by “a legitimate law-enforcement purpose” but rather serves as a “pretext for leveraging demands and punishing political leaders within the State and Twin Cities who oppose the Trump administration’s immigration policies.”
Court documents also state that the large-scale presence of federal agents has disrupted the healthcare industry, affected local businesses and stopped residents from going to religious services. The state also claims that “federal officers’ use of force and being detained on their way to and from school had had ‘negative impacts on attendance and student focus’” forcing several school districts to temporarily close.
Trump administration’s argument
The Trump administration argues Operation Metro Surge was launched “to address the dangers arising from the presence of illegal aliens in the Twin Cities.” The administration also argues the dangers are exacerbated by Minnesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul’s sanctuary city policies.
The Trump administration also claims that Operation Metro Surge has “strictly been in furtherance of “the enforcement of federal law,” in line with President Trump’s campaign promises.”
Jan 31 (Reuters) – A Minnesota federal judge on Saturday declined to order a halt to President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown in Minneapolis, in a lawsuit by state officials accusing federal agents of widespread civil rights abuses.
Jose Huerta Chuma is a man in hiding — and he’s also a man in distress. He’s been replaying the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti over and over again in his mind, wondering if he could have done something differently and if there’s something that “would have saved that life.”
The 41-year-old immigrant from Ecuador, who said he has been in the U.S. for over two decades, described witnessing the shooting after hiding inside a local business. The Department of Homeland Security has described Huerta Chuma as a criminal living in the U.S. illegally who was the target of the Border Patrol operation that led to the encounter with Pretti on Saturday, Jan. 24.
“I think, maybe if I hadn’t gone to that place, or I don’t know, a little later or a little earlier, I mean, that never would have happened,” Huerta Chuma told CBS News during a phone interview conducted in Spanish.
Asked if he feels some sense of guilt, he said, while crying, his voice fraught with emotion: “I do feel guilty, I do feel bad. I saw stories about the man and I saw a very good person.”
DHS officials have described Huerta Chuma as a “violent criminal illegal alien” on the loose. Documents reviewed by CBS News indicate Huerta Chuma’s record includes traffic violations, and that he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct misdemeanor offense in 2018. The New York Times reported, citing Minnesota court documents, that the plea was linked to a domestic violence arrest, and that the offense was later expunged.
Huerta Chuma said the domestic violence case stemmed from an argument with his partner at the time. The Minnesota Department of Corrections said in a statement that Huerta Chuma has never been in the state’s prison system and that it did not find felony convictions in his case.
CBS News reached out to representatives for DHS seeking comment about Huerta Chuma’s record and whether officials are still pursuing him.
A shooting witnessed from a hiding spot
In his first public comments, Huerta Chuma told CBS News he immigrated from Ecuador in the early 2000s, in his twenties. Before Pretti’s shooting upended his life, he was raising his American-born children while working as a rideshare driver.
“I’m not a criminal. I just was working that day,” he said. “I was going to pick up the delivery.”
Huerta Chuma said he was on his way to pick up a delivery order around 8:18 a.m. on Jan. 24 in south Minneapolis. (He showed CBS News screenshots of the route from that morning indicating he was in the area where the shooting happened.) It was a routine delivery, similar to the almost 20,000 rides he had done over nearly six years.
As he was driving down Nicollet Avenue, Huerta Chuma said he passed a car driving in the opposite direction.
“One agent was staring at me, but I just blinked my eyes and said, ‘God, they’re immigration,’” Huerta Chuma recalled.
“So, when I looked in the mirror, they turned around immediately.”
Huerta Chuma said the agents, who were in a red car without license plates, started to follow him.
“I didn’t run or anything, I left very calm,” he said. “I saw they were with ICE. I knew in my head they were ICE because they turned around so quickly when they [saw] my face.”
Huerta Chuma said he parked his car, got out, and left the vehicle running. He said federal agents started to follow him, and a man at a local business let him inside,locking the door behind him. Huerta Chuma said he hid there for about 4 hours.
Huerta Chuma said he saw Pretti show up and start filming, and he saw a Border Patrol agent push a woman nearby. He said he saw the agents tackle Pretti to the ground and take his gun.
“It all happened so fast,” he said, noting he did not see Pretti trying to hurt the agents or reach for his firearm.
Then he described the rapid-fire shots: “Tac, tac, tac, tac, tac, tac.”
Huerta Chuma said he watched the ambulance arrive, but knew it was too late. He said he saw federal agents write down his license plate. Then he left.
“It felt horrible. To be watching and not being able to do anything,” Huerta Chuma said. “I don’t know how long I will be like this.”
Initial public statements at odds with evidence, official report
Immediately after the shooting Huerta Chuma witnessed, DHS officials made sweeping statements about Pretti and his actions, some of which have since been directly contradicted by videos, witness accounts and a preliminary government report.
DHS initially said one Border Patrol agent fired “defensive shots” after Pretti “approached” agents with his firearm. The department suggested, without citing concrete evidence, that Pretti intended to “massacre” federal agents.
A report to Congress obtained by CBS News earlier this week found that two U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents fired their weapons during the Jan. 24 shooting. The report, based on a “preliminary review” by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility, also did not mention Pretti reaching for his firearm.
Video analyzed by CBS News shows an agent had removed the gun from Pretti’s waistband one second before another agent fired the first shot.
Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who has since been reassigned following the bipartisan backlash triggered by Pretti’s killing, described Huerta Chuma as an “illegal alien” during a press conference hours after the deadly shooting. Pointing to a booking photo, Bovino said Huerta Chuma’s record included “domestic assault,” “disorderly conduct” and “driving without a license.”
In a statement two days later, DHS branded Huerta Chuma a “violent criminal illegal alien” who remained “at large,” asking the public to call a government hotline with any tips regarding his whereabouts.
Huerta Chuma said the government was displaying an older picture from after he was arrested in 2018 during an altercation with his wife.
Out of work and on the run
Huerta Chuma did not reveal his whereabouts to CBS News. He said he was worried about his safety, his work and what would happen to his three children born in the U.S. Huerta Chuma said he has two children, ages 11 and 15, who live with him, and another child, a 3-year-old, who lives with the mother. CBS News attempted to reach the children’s mother but did not receive a response.
Information accessed through the Justice Department’s immigration court system says Huerta Chuma’s deportation case was administratively closed in May 2022. The immigration court records do not list a deportation order. Huerta Chuma said he has since applied for a “U visa,” designed to protect immigrants who are victims of crimes and who have assisted law enforcement investigations.
It’s unclear exactly when and how Huerta Chuma first entered the U.S. Huerta Chuma said he has another child living in Ecuador. Court records indicate that Huerta Chuma does not have a criminal record in his native country.
Huerta Chuma said he started working as a rideshare driver so he could have a flexible schedule and be available for his children. But since the shooting, he said, he hasn’t worked, and is rarely eating or sleeping. He said he is continuing to hide.
Though he’s scared about getting arrested, Huerta Chuma said the main source of his consternation is Pretti’s death.
“I’m very devastated, spiritually. Why did they kill the man? He didn’t do anything,” he said. “I was there. I was there. I saw everything.”
For many, February rent is due in two days, and increased U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity is keeping some from going to work.
Help lines at the Greater Twin Cities United Way are seeing a surge in need. Housing assistance calls are up 60%, overwhelming organizations trying to respond.
Denia is a single mother of three. Fear has taken over her life. She hasn’t worked since December, not because she doesn’t want to, but because leaving home feels dangerous.
“We feel desperate, locked in. We are afraid even to take out the trash or check the mail,” Denia said in Spanish.
She asked WCCO not to show her face due to her immigration status. Without income, she’s constantly worried about rent and keeping food in the fridge.
Advocates say her story reflects a growing crisis. Families are calling in for help in unprecedented numbers.
Shannon Smith Jones with Greater Twin Cities United Way says calls to 211, the confidential 24/7 call center that connects people with locally available help, have skyrocketed.
“We took in over 6,000 calls in a week. Our housing has increased by over 140%,” Jones said.
Calls for food assistance are up 120%. And in one day, the Spanish-speaking line reached 1,000 calls, that’s up from 65 on an average day.
“The need is exploding, and we are doing our best to keep up with demand,” Jones said.
Greater Twin Cities United Way continues to work to meet the need. In January alone, the nonprofit distributed nearly $200,000 in resources.
Jones said they are working to expand their language lines and adjusting staffing levels to keep up.
Families in need are encouraged to reach out to local nonprofit organizations or call 211 to get routed to the right organization.
For Denia, she says her dream is to go back to work again and live freely with her children.
For more information on Greater Twin Cities United Way, click here.
The former CNN journalist was called ‘One of the most well-known figures in the world’ by his defense attorney before he was released on personal recognizances
Former CNN host Don Lemon said he was arrested in “the middle of the night,” woken in by federal agents who stormed his Beverly Hills hotel room where he was staying to cover this week’s Grammy Awards show.
Lemon, 59, came into court wearing a cream-colored suit and blew a kiss to his husband Tim Malone, who was seated behind LA Mayor Karen Bass and her team before taking a seat next to his defense attorney Marilyn E. Bednarski. Bass had expressed outrage at Lemon’s arrest on social media Friday morning writing: “Don Lemon, an internationally known and renowned journalist and friend, was arrested last night by federal agents and is now in custody in Los Angeles – simply for doing his job and following a protest into a church in Minneapolis while reporting the story.”
Mayor Karen Bass leaves a Little Tokyo courthouse after showing support for Don Lemon, who was federally charged with civil rights violations in MinnesotaCredit: Michele McPhee
Lemon spent the night in a lockup, charged in a federal indictment out of Minnesota, connected to a Jan. 18 protest at a church that forced parishioners to leave in tears. An indictment describes activists planning the disruption at a place of worship that came after protestors learned one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also works as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency official in St. Paul.
Upon his release, he held hands with his husband and faced a scrum of journalists – as the sound of protestors who were part of a national anti-ICE walkout bellowed in the backdrop – and vowed that he “would not be silenced.”
“I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” Lemon said. “In fact, there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”
Lemon prosecutors say, “knowingly joined a mob to terrorize” members of Cities Church in St. Paul. L.A.’s top federal prosecutor was in court as Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Robbins argued that preventing parishioners from worshipping was “a very serious felony.” Robbins argued for a $100,000 bond, which Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue denied, and requested that Lemon surrender his passport.
His attorney called that request unnecessary, calling Lemon “one of the most well-known figures in the world,” a man who was not a flight risk.
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Lemon was charged after a grand jury heard evidence in the case. The Justice Department had drafted a criminal complaint to charge a total of eight people, including Lemon, but the federal magistrate judge who reviewed the evidence approved charges against only three of the people — civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Allen and William Kelly, who had taunted Attorney General Pam Bondi on social media.
Crowds gathered across the U.S. on Friday to protest immigration enforcement actions. Thousands have taken to the streets in Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and beyond as activists call for a nationwide strike to protest ICE. CBS News’ Ian Lee reports on protests in Minneapolis.
The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, amid the ongoing fraud scandal in the state, said Friday that it’s looking into 158 providers who receive funding from a program aimed at making child care affordable for its residents.
The state agency earlier this month said it had 55 open investigations involving providers receiving Child Care Assistance Program funding, which officials say supports 23,000 children and 12,000 families in accessing health care, and invested $306.6 million for affordable child care for Minnesota in fiscal year 2024.
“DCYF remains committed to fact-based reviews that stop fraud, protect children, support families, maintains the public trust, and minimize disruption to communities that rely on these essential services,” the state agency said in a statement on Friday.
Conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley, in a video posted last month, alleged nearly 12 day care centers in Minnesota that are receiving public funds are not actually providing any service.
The state agency said that it was already investigating four of the facilities discussed in the video when it was released. Officials said Friday they had “no public information to share” about the probes.
On Jan. 5, the state agency announced a round of “additional on-site compliance checks.”
“Following standard practice, each of these site visits was opened as an investigation until records obtained during the visit were reviewed,” officials said in the release.
CBS News conducted its own analysis of nearly a dozen day care centers mentioned in the video: all but two have active licenses, according to state records, and all active locations were visited by state regulators within the last six months.
President Donald Trump and his top officials have repeatedly complained that Minnesota state and local leaders will not cooperate with his administration’s immigration enforcement.
On Jan. 25, the day after federal immigration agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Trump called on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democrats “to formally cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation’s Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence.”
Administration officials say that Minnesota won’t turn over immigrants in detention to federal law enforcement.
Pretti was one of two U.S. citizens killed by immigration officials in Minneapolis in the span of about two weeks. Renee Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Walz “refuses” to allow law enforcement to cooperate. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said “we’ve never had a cooperative arrangement with law enforcement here.” And U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Walz, “The results of your state’s policies and politicians’ anti-law enforcement rhetoric are a national tragedy,” in a Jan. 24 letter describing Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul as sanctuary cities.
The facts are more complicated than these leaders allege. Although Minneapolis’ has a policy that city officials won’t cooperate with immigration enforcement, that policy does not apply to state prisons. State correctional system officials have repeatedly said they cooperate with ICE and Walz made that point in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“Corrections honors all federal and local detainers by notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement when a person committed to its custody isn’t a U.S. citizen,” Walz wrote. “There is not a single documented case of the department’s releasing someone from state prison without offering to ensure a smooth transfer of custody.”
After Trump dispatched White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota following outcry over Pretti’s killing, Homan acknowledged that the Minnesota Department of Corrections has “been honoring ICE detainers.”
Here, we fact-checked some of the federal officials’ statements.
Trump: Frey’s statement that Minneapolis does not enforce federal immigration law “is a very serious violation of the law.” (Jan. 28 Truth Social post)
Trump’s take conflicts with previous court rulings.
During Trump’s first term, his administration sought to withhold federal funding for sanctuary cities with policies against cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Courts nationwide blocked Trump.
In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court refused the Trump administration’s request to review a case challenging a California law that restricts police cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
In December, the city of Minneapolis passed an ordinance that says police will not arrest or detain people to enforce federal immigration laws and that the city will not enforce civil federal immigration laws.
Immigration law professors, citing previous rulings, said that such policies are settled constitutional law.
The ordinance adopted by Minneapolis is typical among similar policies, said University of Minnesota law professor R. Linus Chan.
The Constitution’s 10th Amendment that addresses the balance of power between states and the federal government “means that the federal government cannot coerce states to enforce immigration law which is exclusively a federal government concern,” Chan said.
Syracuse University law professor Jenny Breen said sanctuary city laws, including in Minneapolis, recognize the right of states and cities to refuse to do the work of the federal government.
“States may not refuse to permit the federal government itself from doing that work, but they are not obligated to enforce federal laws themselves,” Breen said in an email to PolitiFact, using italics for emphasis.
Trump has threatened to cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities and states starting Feb. 1.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, right, and Attorney General Keith Ellison discuss the shooting of Alex Pretti during a news conference in Blaine, Minn., Jan. 25, 2026.
Leavitt: “Walz refuses to allow local and state law enforcement to cooperate with ICE in arresting and removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from Minnesota communities.” (Jan. 25 X post)
That’s inaccurate.
Cities and counties set their own policies on whether to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. And state officials said they cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections, which oversees state prisons, launched a website, “Combatting DHS Misinformation,” and held a Jan. 22 press conference to explain the state policies.
State Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said his agency notifies ICE weeks before a person’s prison term ends. ICE has the discretion to place a detainer on the person, and corrections staff coordinate with ICE to facilitate custody transfer when requested.
Schnell said his office reviewed the cases of people who Homeland Security publicly named and found many were never in state custody. Others had short stays in county jails or were in custody in other states. Many had been released directly to ICE.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is seen Jan. 16, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP)
Department of Homeland Security: “DHS has called on Governor Walz and Mayor Frey this week to put the safety of Minnesotans and the American public first and honor the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 1,360 aliens, including violent criminals, in the state’s custody.” (Jan. 15 press release)
DHS’s number contradicts state data on how many noncitizens are held in state custody. It also mischaracterizes the role officials such as Walz and Frey have in setting detention policies.
A state survey found Minnesota prisons hold 207 noncitizens out of 8,000 total prison detainees. There were another 94 noncitizens held in county jails with ICE detainers. That adds up to 301 people — about four and a half times less than DHS claimed.
Schnell, the state prisons commissioner, said Jan. 22 that the state received no answer when it asked federal officials for their data about the 1,360 figure. Although DHS did not provide PolitiFact with evidence for its figure, additional public statements by Homeland Security officials showed that the administration referred to people held in county jails. We found no source for that data.
Hundreds of people in Minnesota’s county jails have been transferred to federal immigration officers, which shows that some counties are cooperative. But The New York Times found those cases represented a lower share than arrests made in 39 other states.
Each sheriff’s office sets its own policy. The sheriff’s website for Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, said it complies with immigration warrants signed by a judge, but not civil immigration requests from ICE.
According to ICE, seven counties and one city in Minnesota have signed agreements to perform specified immigration duties under ICE’s oversight. None of those are in the Minneapolis area.
County jails may be reluctant to hold immigrants for ICE because of a 2025 state attorney general advisory opinion that Minnesota officials can’t hold someone on an ICE detainer alone if that person would otherwise be released from custody.
Courts have found in recent years that holding immigrants for ICE was unconstitutional.
Independent Minnesota journalist Georgia Fort and two others were released from law enforcement custody Friday afternoon after being arrested over what Attorney General Pam Bondi says was a “coordinated attack” involving anti-ICE protests at Cities Church in St. Paul earlier this month.
Prosecutors in court sought detention because, they say, Fort committed a crime of violence. Fort’s attorney, Kevin Rich, pushed back strongly, citing other recent arguments in the church protest that denied that detention. A judge agreed with Rich and denied a request from prosecutors that she stay away from the church.
Bondi also announced that former CNN anchor Don Lemon had also been arrested, alongside Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lyndell Lundy, the latter of whom is presently running for the state’s 65th senate district.
Crews and Lundy were released from custody on Friday afternoon.
Prosecutors say they were involved in a protest that arose upon the discovery that a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also serves as a pastor at the church.
Fort went live on Facebook for two minutes Friday morning, telling viewers that federal agents were at her door to arrest her, and she was going to go with them to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in south Minneapolis, which has served as the processing and detention center for those taken into custody during Operation Metro Surge.
“Agents are at my door right now. They’re saying that they were able to go before a grand jury sometime, I guess, in the last 24 hours, and that they have a warrant for my arrest,” Fort said in her livestream. “I’m gonna have to hop here and surrender to agents as a member of the press.”
In Fort’s video, children can be heard crying in the background.
“This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media,” Fort said. “It’s hard to understand how we have a Constitution, constitutional rights, when you can just be arrested for being a member of the press.”
Fort said she was aware that she was on a list of defendants, but did not publish it because it was sealed.
“It is an outrage that a vetted and credentialed member of the media would be in any way prosecuted for doing her appointed duty in covering news. If the federal government can come for Georgia no member of the supposed ‘free’ press is safe,” a representative for the Center for Broadcast Journalism said Friday morning. “Fort, who has been a frontline journalist in multiple media markets, is one of the more valued members of our Twin Cities media landscape. A three-time Emmy winner, Fort was one of the only reporters allowed inside the courtroom during the landmark trial of Derek Chauvin.”
Friday’s arrests aren’t the first connected with the protest at the church. Last week, former Twin Cities NAACP president Nekima Levy Armstrong, St. Paul School Board member Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly were also arrested and later released. The White House tipped further furor when it posted an altered photo of Levy Armstrong’s arrest to make it appear as though she was crying while in handcuffs.
Federal prosecutors in the Minneapolis-based U.S. Attorney’s office had significant concerns with the strength of the evidence in the church protests, a source familiar with the matter told CBS.
When the first defendants were initially charged, no career officials from that office appeared in court, and the Justice Department sent two lawyers from the Civil Rights Division in Washington to handle the proceedings.
The magistrate judge in the case only approved one civil rights charge in those original cases against Armstrong and Allen, but nixed a FACE Act charge against each person on the grounds that there was no probable cause. A third defendant was later charged in connection with the protest as well.
The magistrate judge, Doug Micko, also outright rejected five arrest warrants in the case for lacking probable cause, including Lemon’s, CBS previously reported.
Bondi also announced this week the arrests of 16 others for alleged assaults on immigration enforcement officers during Operation Metro Surge.
On Friday, faith and community leaders and other volunteers are set to demonstrate at the Whipple building over the Trump administration’s “moves to escalate its attacks on Minnesotans’ freedoms.”
The weed pardons sparks Gen Z dispensary boom with 40% licensing surge, fueling a youth-led green rush explosion.
In a seismic shift for the cannabis industry, the current president’s 2026 clemency initiative is handing Gen Z and Millennials the keys to a booming green economy. The administration’s pardons for nonviolent cannabis offenses have erased criminal records for millions, dismantling longstanding barriers to entry. The weed pardons spark Gen Z dispensary boom. This policy pivot is fueling a “Second Green Rush” where young hustlers are launching dispensaries, delivery apps, and pop-up weed vans at a record pace. With Gen Z and Millennials already accounting for roughly 60% percent of U.S. cannabis consumers, they’re perfectly positioned to capitalize on this moment, turning side gigs into seven-figure empires.
The numbers tell a compelling story. Federal data shows licensing applications from under-35 entrepreneurs have surged 40 percent since the pardons took effect in early 2026. In states like Washington and California, where recreational markets are mature, Gen Z founders are flipping the script on traditional dispensaries. Take 24-year-old Seattle native Mia Chen, who transformed her college dropout dreams into a thriving THC delivery service called “BlazeExpress.” Starting with a $5,000 loan and a retrofitted van, Chen now pulls in six figures monthly, delivering curated strain kits to gig workers craving quick, discreet highs after shifts. Stories like hers are going viral on TikTok, where #WeedHustle videos rack up millions of views, blending entrepreneurial flex with cannabis culture.
Photo by smodj/Getty Images
This boom ties directly into broader economic tailwinds. Wall Street analysts predict cannabis market growth hitting 30 percent by year’s end, accelerated by whispers of full federal rescheduling. For debt-saddled Millennials eyeing financial freedom, and risk-loving Gen Zers raised on hustle culture, the pardons offer a rare clean slate. No more background check rejections for jobs or loans—now it’s straight to business plans featuring NFT-backed strain drops and AI-powered budtender apps. In Lynnwood, Washington, local 27-year-old Alex Rivera just opened “Evergreen Pods,” a drive-thru dispensary with low-dose edibles tailored for wellness-focused young professionals. “Trump’s move leveled the playing field,” Rivera says. “We’re not waiting for boomers to retire; this is our lane.”
Critics argue the rush could oversaturate markets, but optimists see innovation. Expect more mobile “weed cafes” parked at music festivals, subscription boxes with celebrity collabs, and VR strain simulators for virtual shopping.
For Gen Z, who prioritize purpose-driven brands, these ventures align with values like sustainability—think hemp-based packaging and regenerative farms. Millennials, meanwhile, bring battle-tested marketing savvy, launching Instagram Live grow sessions doubling as masterclasses.
As January 2026 unfolds, this youth-led explosion isn’t just reshaping cannabis—it’s redefining ambition. With pardons unlocking talent long sidelined by outdated laws, the Second Green Rush proves timing, policy, and grit can turn a plant into prosperity. Will you join the wave? Share your startup dreams in the comments.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison will testify at a House Oversight Committee hearing on fraud and the “misuse” of federal funds in the state in March, Chairman James Comer, R-Kentucky, said on Friday.
Republicans on the committee launched an investigation into Walz’s handling of a series of multimillion-dollar fraud schemes in Minnesota last December. Members, at the time, asked in letters the governor and Ellison for “documents and communications showing what your administration knew about this fraud and whether you took action to limit or halt the investigation into this widespread fraud.”
“Americans deserve answers about the rampant misuse of taxpayer dollars in Minnesota’s social services programs that occurred on Governor Walz’s and Attorney General Ellison’s watch,” Comer said in a news release on Friday.
The hearing is scheduled for March 4. WCCO has reached out to Walz and Ellison for comment.
Republican Minnesota state Reps. Kristin Robbins, Walter Hudson and Marion Rarick, along with Brendan Ballou, a former prosecutor for the Justice Department who is appearing as the Democrats’ witness, testified in front of the committee earlier this month.
Robbins said, as chair of a fraud prevention committee in the Minnesota House, she’s been “working to uncover the massive fraud under Tim Walz, propose solutions and hold state agencies accountable.”
She also testified that her committee has evidence that, as far back as 2012, money has been sent back to al Shabaab, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization and al Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia. The Treasury Department said last month that it would investigate whether tax dollars from Minnesota’s public assistance programs made their way to al Shabaab.
Democrats on the committee acknowledged concerns about fraud during the Jan. 7 hearing, but said the response should not punish communities unjustly, while pointing to what they said was hypocrisy among their GOP colleagues in taking fraud allegations seriously.
Walz has defended his handling of the crisis, saying his administration has “spent years cracking down on fraudsters” and has accused President Trump of “politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans.”
On Dec. 31, A spokesperson for Walz said in response to the Jan. 7 hearing, without expanding, “We’re always happy to work with Congress, though this committee has a track record of holding circus hearings that have nothing to do with the issue at hand.”
Ellison’s office said on Dec. 31, without evidence, that the attorney general and the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit have “prosecuted over 300 Medicaid fraud cases and won over $80 million in recoveries and restitution for the people of Minnesota.”
