Democratic members of Congress, senators and state politicians held an accountability hearing at the Minnesota state capitol in St Paul on Friday, condemning what they described as the 'intense trauma and terror' caused by Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in the state. The panel, titled 'Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s deadly assault on Minnesota', was convened amid ongoing protests and clashes with federal officers following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
During the hearing, lawmakers warned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to preserve records for a future investigation into the administration’s use of deadly force. Ilhan Omar, the congresswoman for Minnesota, decried the aggressive treatment of residents, including US citizens, by federal agents, noting that 'dozens of US citizens have been taken into custody and released hours later' without charges. She added that 'abandoned cars with broken windows have become a normal sight of daily life in the Twin Cities'.
Washington state congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who chaired the panel, said the Trump administration had 'targeted and terrorized people of all immigration statuses, including US citizens, violating constitutional rights and court orders'. She quoted a local editorial suggesting Minnesota was 'under siege', describing 'battalions of armed federal agents moving through neighbourhoods, transit hubs, malls and parking lots'. St Paul Mayor Kaohly Her stated: 'We are ground zero for Trump’s war on America.'
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison criticised the FBI for excluding state and local investigators from the inquiry into Good’s death, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called on ICE to leave the city. A poll released by the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday found that 71 per cent of voters supported an independent investigation into the shooting, and 84 per cent affirmed the right to observe and document ICE activity in public. ICE agents have continued to engage in violent confrontations, with many incidents captured on video.
