Additional Coverage:
St. Peter Woman Detained by ICE Agents After Filming Enforcement Activity
ST. PETER, MN – A St.
Peter woman experienced a harrowing encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Thursday after she filmed their enforcement activities. Video footage shows agents pointing their firearms at her, accusing her of “intervening in a federal investigation,” before forcibly removing her from her vehicle and taking her into custody.
The incident, initially reported by MPR News, depicts agents in three unmarked vehicles pursuing the woman and attempting to compel her to pull over. After boxing her in, three agents exited their vehicle, immediately drawing their weapons and shouting at her to exit her car.
The woman, a U.S. citizen who wishes to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisal, repeatedly refused to exit her vehicle. She can be heard on the phone, sharing her location and requesting that police be called.
She later told MPR News that she had been tracking the agents’ movements and recording them with her dash cam. While the act of filming federal agents in public is a protected First Amendment right, the Trump administration has previously claimed such actions are akin to “violence.”
Agents proceeded to open her car door, drag her out, and pin her to the ground, where she was handcuffed. She described the agents’ actions as overly aggressive and physical.
Upon his arrival, the woman’s husband advised agents against searching her vehicle, citing the absence of a warrant. An agent reportedly responded, “I’m not getting into the legality of everything.”
The woman recounted that agents placed her in one of their vehicles and began driving towards the Twin Cities, presumably to the Whipple Federal Building, an ICE immigration detention facility. Approximately 20 minutes into the drive, an agent received a phone call.
“I couldn’t hear what was being said, but within 30 seconds after they hung up, they exited on, an exit that goes into Le Sueur,” the woman told MPR. “And then turned around, didn’t say anything to me, and started heading back towards St. Peter.”
The woman’s husband, who also requested anonymity, received a call from St. Peter Chief of Police Matt Grochow, whom he has known for years.
“He asked me, ‘what was your wife’s name?’ I told him my wife’s name.
He said, ‘was she picked up in a bronco?’ And I said, ‘I’m not sure, but it was an SUV, dark colored.
I’d have to look at my video.’ He goes, ‘I think I got her.
I’ll call you back,'” he stated.
Agents subsequently transported the woman to the St. Peter police station, where Chief Grochow retrieved her and drove her home.
“He knew where I lived already, because he had already been in contact with my husband,” the woman told MPR. “He started talking to me like he just couldn’t [believe] how terrible it was, what was happening. And he was so sorry and so scared for me and that type of thing, and [he] was so upset by what they’re doing to our community.”
MPR News reported that this incident may mark the first instance of a local police department in Minnesota intervening in a federal law enforcement action since “Operation Metro Surge” commenced two months ago. The Mirror U.S. has reached out to the mayors of St. Peter and Minneapolis for comment.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the Mirror U.S. that the woman in the video was “an agitator” who “began stalking and obstructing law enforcement” as they attempted to arrest a “criminal illegal alien.” The spokesperson further claimed that officers attempted to pull her over to issue a warning, but she “ignored law enforcement commands, refused to pull over and began driving recklessly including running stop signs, nearly colliding with multiple vehicles, and driving directly at law enforcement in an attempt to ram their vehicle.” The spokesperson asserted that her actions “endangered law enforcement officers, the public, and allowed this violent criminal to remain at large,” but did not clarify how her behavior led to the target’s escape.
This incident follows recent events in Minnesota where federal agents have been involved in the deaths of two individuals observing immigration enforcement operations. Renee Good, a legal observer, and Alex Pretti, who was filming with his phone, were both killed.
In September, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin stated that “Videotaping ICE law enforcement and posting photos and videos of them online is doxing our agents,” adding, “We will prosecute those who illegally harass ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law,” according to The American Prospect.
Recent social media videos from Minnesota have shown ICE agents instructing observers to cease recording. The CATO Institute has reported “numerous reports from raid scenes suggest that ICE agents are already informally ‘enforcing’ their disapproval of at-the-scene recording by shoving, beating and even shooting (with less lethal munitions) journalists, freelance photographers, and others with cellphone cameras.”
The institute noted in an October report that despite these actions, “the courts aren’t on board with that sort of nonsense.” While the Supreme Court has not directly addressed the issue, all seven federal circuits that have-the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th, and 11th-have affirmed that the First Amendment protects the right to record police performing their duties in public.