US justice department investigating Minnesota Democrats over alleged obstruction of ICE

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 action ICE could carry out 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.

Protests continued in Minneapolis on Friday as US District Judge Katherine Menendez blocked federal authorities from using pepper spray and other non-lethal force on those demonstrating.

The 83-page order halts the thousands of federal officers currently deployed to the city as part of immigration operations from arresting peaceful protesters.

It also blocks them from stopping or detaining those who are driving or passengers in vehicles “where there is no reasonable articulable suspicion that they are forcibly obstructing or interfering”.

The judge notes that a person following federal law enforcement in their vehicle “does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop”.

Before she was killed, footage showed Good in her SUV, appearing to honk the vehicle to alert neighbours in the area of the presence of immigration authorities.

The Trump administration has said that Good was impeding federal law enforcement and tried to run the agent over before he opened fire. Local officials say Good was a legal observer who posed no danger.

Video of the incident show ICE agents approaching a car, which is blocking traffic and parked in the middle of the street. An officer instructs her to get out of the car.

As Good turns her wheel apparently trying to drive away, her Honda Pilot SUV pulls forward with one of the agents standing near the front of the vehicle. He pulls his gun and fires.

An incident report from the Minneapolis Fire Department, which was viewed by CBS News, said when they responded to the shooting scene last week, it appeared Good had been shot twice in the chest, once in her left forearm and a fourth wound, possibly from a gunshot, was seen “on the left side of the patient’s head”.

Paramedics found Good unresponsive with an irregular pulse, and she was pronounced dead in the ambulance on the way to hospital, according to the report seen by CBS.

Footage from the scene shows the agent walking off afterwards.

But Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have told CBS the officer suffered internal bleeding to the torso following the incident. No further details have been disclosed.

The FBI is investigating the incident, although there is no federal civil rights inquiry into the agent who opened fire. Local officials and authorities say they have been shut out of the investigation.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump blasted demonstrators and local leaders on Friday.

On Truth Social, he accused protesters of being “highly paid professionals”, adding that Walz and Frey had “totally lost control”.

Later, the Republican president told reporters at the White House that he did not plan to invoke the Insurrection Act and send in troops to quell unrest in Minnesota, after earlier this week suggesting he might do so.

“If I needed it, I’d use it. I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it,” he said. “It’s very powerful,” he added.

Thousands of ICE officers remain deployed in the state.

Democratic lawmakers travelled to the city for a hearing there and spent Friday condemning federal immigration operations in the state, accusing ICE of reckless and lawless actions.

Ilhan Omar, a congresswoman from Minnesota who has long feuded with Trump, said that ICE was trying to “provoke chaos and fear”.

Adriano Espaillat, a congressman from New York, said ICE had become a “deadly weapon”.

Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said ICE agents should not be allowed to wear masks, or make arrests without warrants, and should be required to have body cameras and name tags.

The Democratic lawmakers also interviewed several residents who alleged they had been shackled and detained by ICE for hours until they could prove they were US citizens.

The BBC has contacted the DHS and ICE for comment.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told CNN on Friday that if there was “reasonable suspicion” of someone who is “in the vicinity” of a person being detained by a DHS operation, they might be asked to confirm their identity.

She rejected suggestions such tactics could be discriminatory, saying “racial animus has no place in DHS”.