100 clergy arrested at icy Minneapolis ICE rally as thousands protest ‘federal occupation’
Law enforcement detained approximately 100 religious leaders protesting immigration enforcement at Minnesota’s biggest airport on Friday, while thousands assembled in downtown Minneapolis despite to demonstrate against the Trump administration’s crackdown.
The demonstrations are in opposition to President Donald Trump’s escalated immigration enforcement throughout the state, with labor unions, progressive groups, and religious leaders encouraging Minnesota residents to boycott work, school, and even stores.
Jeff Lea, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, stated that the religious leaders received misdemeanor citations for trespassing and failing to obey a peace officer before being released. He explained they were taken into custody outside the main terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for exceeding the boundaries of their protest permit and interfering with airline operations.
Rev. Mariah Furness Tollgaard from Hamline Church in St. Paul reported that officers commanded them to disperse, but she and others chose to remain and be taken into custody to express solidarity with migrants, including parishioners too fearful to leave their residences. She intended to return to her church following her short detention to conduct a prayer vigil.
“We cannot tolerate living under this federal occupation of Minnesota,” Tollgaard stated.
Protesters demand ICE leave Minnesota
The Rev. Elizabeth Barish Browne journeyed from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to join the rally in downtown Minneapolis, where temperatures peaked at minus 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 degrees Celsius) even under bright sunshine.
“What is occurring here is clearly immoral,” the Unitarian Universalist minister remarked. “It is certainly cold, but the type of ice that poses danger to us is not the weather.”
Demonstrators have assembled daily in the Twin Cities since January 7, when a 37-year-old mother of three by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Federal law enforcement officials have repeatedly confronted community members and activists who monitor their movements.
Sam Nelson said he missed work to participate in the march. He identified himself as a former student of the where federal agents apprehended someone following class earlier this month. That detention resulted in clashes between federal officers and onlookers.
“This is my community,” Nelson stated. “Like everyone else, I do not want ICE on our streets.”
Organizers announced Friday morning that over 700 businesses across the state have shut down in support of the movement, ranging from a bookstore in small Grand Marais near the Canadian border to the iconic Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis.
“We are accomplishing something historic,” said Kate Havelin of Indivisible Twin Cities, one of over 100 participating organizations.
DHS confirms the detention of a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old
A two-year-old named Chloe was taken into custody with her father while driving home from a grocery store in South Minneapolis on Thursday, according to a page established by Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez.
The Department of Homeland Security stated in a release that Border Patrol apprehended Elvis Tipan Echeverria of Ecuador and that the toddler’s mother declined to accept her, resulting in the child being reunited with her father at a federal detention center.
Based on an emergency petition submitted to federal court, a district judge approved an emergency injunction mandating Chloe’s release to her attorney’s custody. The child, an Ecuadorian citizen brought to Minneapolis as an infant, has an active asylum application and is not facing a final deportation order.
DHS reiterated its claim Friday that the father of deserted him during his apprehension by immigration officials in Columbia Heights on Tuesday, causing the child to be detained as well.
Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin explained that Liam was taken into custody because his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, “fled from the scene.” Both are being held together at the Dilley Detention Center in Texas, a facility designed for families. McLaughlin stated that officers attempted to have Liam’s mother take him, but she refused custody.
Family attorney Marc Prokosch suggested the mother declined to open the door to ICE officers because she feared being detained herself. Columbia Heights district superintendent Zena Stenvik claimed Liam was “used as bait.”
Prokosch discovered no evidence in state records indicating Liam’s father has a criminal background.
On Friday, Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino attempted to redirect attention away from Liam’s detention by criticizing the news media for what he considered inadequate reporting on children who have lost parents to violence perpetrated by individuals in the country illegally. After briefly referencing the five-year-old during a press conference, he discussed a mother of five who was murdered in August 2023.
Details from Good’s autopsy
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner published a preliminary autopsy report online for Good that categorized her death as a homicide and concluded she died from “multiple gunshot wounds.”
A more comprehensive independent autopsy commissioned by Good’s family revealed that one bullet entered the left side of her head and exited on the right. This autopsy, made public Wednesday via the Romanucci & Blandin law firm, indicated that bullets also hit her arm and chest, though those wounds were not immediately fatal.
Antonio Romanucci, a family attorney, stated in a release that the family is still waiting for the complete report from the medical examiner and “hope that they communicate with Renee’s family and share their report before releasing any further information to the public.”
A representative for the firm indicated there were no funeral arrangements to announce yet.
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Associated Press journalists Stanley in Washington and Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, contributed to this report.