Vice-President JD Vance on Thursday blamed local officials for failing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, saying that co-operation would 'lower the temperature' in Minneapolis amid ongoing protests and the detention of a five-year-old child by ICE agents.
Speaking in Minneapolis, Vance said he had spoken with federal law enforcement and local business leaders but not with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who earlier this week received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice as part of an investigation into whether state officials are impeding immigration enforcement. Walz called the move 'political theatre'.
Vance claimed the level of 'chaos and violence' in Minneapolis was unique and due to a lack of co-operation between state, local and federal law enforcement. He dismissed reports of the child's detention and aggression toward protesters as 'overblown or out of context', though he acknowledged that agents may occasionally make mistakes.
He urged protesters to take their grievances to the ballot box rather than confront federal agents, describing those who block ICE vehicles as engaging in 'cowardly bullshit'. Vance said the federal government is doing what it can to reduce tensions but that local officials are not meeting them halfway, adding that the 'number one thing' that would help is for officials to facilitate 'reasonable enforcement of the law'.
