Tensions Flare in MN Amid Clashes      01/13 06:17

   

   MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Days of demonstrations against immigration agents left 
Minnesota tense on Tuesday, a day after federal authorities used tear gas to 
break up crowds of whistle-blowing activists and state and local leaders sued 
to fight the enforcement surge that led to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis 
woman.

   Confrontations between federal agents and protesters stretched throughout 
the day and across multiple cities on Monday. Agents fired tear gas in 
Minneapolis as a crowd gathered around immigration officers questioning a man, 
while to the northwest in St. Cloud hundreds of people protested outside a 
strip of Somali-run businesses after ICE officers arrived.

   Later that night confrontations erupted between protesters and officers 
guarding the federal building being used as a base for the Twin Cities 
crackdown.

   With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 
immigration officers into Minnesota in what Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
has called its largest enforcement operation ever, the state, joined by 
Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued the Trump administration Monday to try to halt 
or limit the surge.

   The suit filed says the Department of Homeland Security is violating the 
First Amendment and other constitutional protections. It accuses the Republican 
Trump administration of violating free speech rights by focusing on a 
progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants.

   "This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, 
and it must stop," state Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a news 
conference.

   Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state 
since December.

   The days after Renee Good was shot in the head by an ICE officer while 
behind the wheel of her SUV have seen dozens of protests or vigils across the 
U.S. to honor the 37-year-old mother of three and to passionately criticize the 
Trump administration's tactics.

   In response to Monday's lawsuit, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia 
McLaughlin accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety.

   "President Trump's job is to protect the American people and enforce the law 
-- no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is," 
McLaughlin said.

   The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who 
shot Good, saying she and her vehicle presented a threat. But that explanation 
has been widely panned by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey 
and others based on videos of the confrontation.

   The government also faces a new lawsuit over a similar immigration crackdown 
in Illinois. More than 4,300 people were arrested last year in "Operation 
Midway Blitz" as masked agents swept the Chicago area. The lawsuit by the city 
and state says the campaign had a chilling effect, making residents afraid to 
leave home.

   The lawsuit seeks restrictions on certain tactics, among other remedies. 
McLaughlin called it "baseless."

   Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, federal authorities filed charges against a 
Venezuelan national who was one of two people shot there by U.S. Border Patrol 
on Thursday. The U.S. Justice Department said the man used his pickup truck to 
strike a Border Patrol vehicle and escape the scene with a woman.

   They were shot and eventually arrested. Their wounds were not 
life-threatening. The FBI said there was no video of the incident, unlike the 
Good shooting.