Law enforcement leaders in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region have accused federal immigration agents of targeting off-duty police officers, among others, amid a major enforcement operation. At a press conference on Tuesday, three police officials from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area raised concerns about “discrimination,” “profiling” and “civil rights violations” linked to the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Metro Surge.”
Mark Bruley, police chief of Brooklyn Park, said off-duty officers had reported being stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. In one incident, an off-duty officer was stopped with guns drawn and asked for paperwork, despite being a U.S. citizen. When she tried to record the encounter, her phone was knocked out of her hands. The agents left after she identified herself as a police officer.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said people in the area were being “stopped, questioned and harassed solely because of the color of their skin,” adding that the discrimination was now affecting law enforcement. However, Bruley noted the issues were “not widespread” and attributed them to a “small group of agents.”
A DHS spokesperson denied the allegations, calling claims of racial profiling “disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE.” The spokesperson said there was “no record of ICE or Border Patrol stopping and questioning a police officer” and that without a name, the claims could not be verified. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino defended the operation as “lawful” and “focused on individuals who pose a serious threat.”
