The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota in early December last year. In the following weeks, two U.S. citizens have been shot, journalists have been arrested, and a five-year-old has been detained. The ongoing Minnesota immigration crackdown has led to thousands of protestors across the country, demanding the withdrawal of federal agents from Minnesota.
White House Border Czar, Tom Homan, mentioned “draw-down” of the operation in a press conference in Minneapolis on Jan. 29. Contrary to Homan’s statement, President Donald Trump said that they were not pulling back when asked by a reporter on Thursday night, before the “Melania” film premiere event.
Contradictory views have been shared on what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen.
When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good while she was driving her SUV on Jan. 7, local state officials and thousands of people on the internet challenged the notion that she was trying to run Ross over.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said on social media, a few hours after the shooting and before any proper investigations were being done:
“Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism…”
The fatal shooting of Good was framed as a defensive act against ‘domestic terrorism’ through her weaponization of a vehicle in trying to run over an ICE agent. Different parts of bystander videos and the video taken by Ross during the incident circulated on social media in search of what actually happened.
“To ICE, get the f*** out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. You stated the reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite. People are being hurt,” Jacob Frey, Minneapolis mayor, said in the press conference on the day of the shooting.
Frey also criticized federal agents for hiding the truth after it had been revealed that the FBI was taking full control of the investigation, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had to withdraw from the investigation.
Following another fatal shooting of a U.S. civilian, Alex Pretti, on Jan. 24, NPR reported on the contradictions between the preliminary assessment of the incident and how White House framed Pretti’s death.
According to NPR, the initial death notification–that is not intended for the public–was shared with congressional sources and reviewed by NPR. The assessment described that Pretti resisted arrest before two officers fired shots, but did not mention a violent or armed struggle as Homeland Security suggested.
DHS narrated their side of the story on social media platform, X, of the day of the shooting:
“ … The officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect violently resisted. More details on the armed struggle are forthcoming.
Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on the scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject, but was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect also had two magazines and no ID– this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, also posted:
“A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement, and the official Democrat accounts side with the terrorists.”
In a news conference later that day, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem again referred to Pretti’s resistance to ICE agents as an act of domestic terrorism. “When you perpetuate violence against a government because of ideological reasons, and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism, “ Noem said. “The individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism.”
“That’s the facts,” she added.
Social media posts and news stories referred to the bystander videos and pointed out that Pretti was already disarmed by ICE officers before the shots were fired. The administration’s approach to Pretti’s death slowly changed as the initial framing of the incident received massive criticism.
CNN reported that in a statement they received from the White House, Stephen Miller said that the White House had provided guidance on how the extra personnel were sent for “creating a physical barrier between the arrest team and the disruptors.”
“We are evaluating why the CBP may not have been following that protocol,” Miller added.
As “ICE continues to Remove the Worst from Minneapolis Streets as DHS Law Enforcement Marks 3,000 Arrests During Operation Metro Surge,”whistles are being blown to warn ICE agents are coming and thousands of people across the country protest for the withdrawal of federal agents and proper investigations of the incidents.
Photo credits: https://chaddavis.photography/sets/ice-in-minneapolis/
