Two prominent Minnesota democrats are being investigated over alleged attempts to impede federal immigration operations, in an escalation of the Trump’s administration’s clash with the state’s leaders.
Gov Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are facing a US justice department inquiry over comments made about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
The probe comes as a federal judge limited what tactics ICE and other law enforcement officials could use in Minneapolis, blocking the use of pepper spray and arrests of peaceful protesters.
Protests have ramped up in the city after Renee Good, 37, was shot and killed by an ICE agent last week.
New details also came to light on Friday about Good’s death. The Minneapolis woman was found by paramedics with at least three gunshot wounds and possibly a fourth to the head, according to official reports viewed by CBS.
Governor Walz responded on Friday to news of the inquiry against him by posting on X: “Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic.
“The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.”
In a statement to the BBC, Mayor Frey said “I will not be intimidated”.
“This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, our local law enforcement, and our residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our streets,” he said.
The BBC has reached out to the justice department about the apparent investigation.
The governor has urged Minnesotans to protest peacefully, but members of the Trump administration have accused him of inflammatory rhetoric, like describing ICE as a “modern-day Gestapo”. Frey has demanded that immigration agents get out of Minneapolis.
The inquiry is focused on a federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 372, which makes it a crime for two or more people to conspire to prevent federal officers from carrying out their official duties through “force, intimidation or threats”, a US official told CBS.
