The US justice department has issued subpoenas to Democratic Minnesota officials, alleging they conspired to impede federal immigration officers in the state.
The offices of Governor Tim Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey were among those served with legal summonses as US Attorney General Pam Bondi visited Minnesota following intense protests.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile said he “felt horribly” about an ICE agent fatally shooting protester Renee Good, 37, describing her death as a “tragedy”.
Walz called the probe a “partisan distraction”, saying the justice department “does not seek justice” in the killing Good, whose death sparked unrest.
In a statement to the BBC, Frey said the justice department was pursuing him for disagreeing with the Trump administration. Ellison accused Trump of weaponising the justice system.
The justice department did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
Ellison, the state’s top prosecutor, said on X that the justice department sent him a grand jury subpoena for records and documents related to his office’s work with respect to federal immigration enforcement.
“Everything about this is highly irregular, especially the fact that this comes shortly after my office sued the Trump administration to challenge their illegal actions within Minnesota,” he said.
A spokesman for Minneapolis city hall confirmed to the BBC that “the Office of Mayor Jacob Frey was subpoenaed”.
“When the federal government weaponizes its power to try to intimidate local leaders for doing their jobs, every American should be concerned,” Frey said in a statement.
“We shouldn’t have to live in a country where people fear that federal law enforcement will be used to play politics or crack down on local voices they disagree with.”
Subpoenas were also sent to St Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County prosecutor.
Bondi threatened legal action against state leaders on Sunday if they refused to “act responsibly to prevent lawlessness” after a church was targeted during protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Justice department officials, who accuse the activists of “desecrating a house of worship”, have said they will investigate them for alleged civil rights violations.
Tensions have been rising in the state since ICE ramped up operations in Minneapolis this month as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown, with federal officials saying they are targeting the “worst of the worst” there.
But unrest escalated after the fatal shooting on 7 January of Renee Good by an ICE agent.
The Trump administration says the ICE agent acted in self-defence, but local officials argue the woman posed no danger.
Around 3,000 federal officers have been deployed to Minnesota in recent weeks and 1,500 troops are reportedly on standby.
The US Department of Homeland Security says it has arrested 3,000 “of some of the most dangerous offenders” in the past six weeks under Operation Metro Surge.
At a news conference on Tuesday, officials for the Twin Cities – the Minneapolis–St Paul metropolitan area – accused federal agents of racial profiling.
They said off-duty officers had been stopped and asked for proof of citizenship.
“Every one of these individuals is a person of colour,” said Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley.
Walz and Frey have demanded that ICE leave the area and the state has sued the Trump administration to block the deployment of immigration agents.
Last week, Trump raised the prospect that he could invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act following a night of protests and vandalism in the Minnesota city.
The disorder erupted after an agent was allegedly attacked with a shovel by three Venezuelan migrants and he shot one of them in the leg.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, the president spoke sympathetically about Good and, having learnt that her parents were Trump supporters, he said he hoped they would still vote for him.
He also doubled down on his criticism of the protesters, calling them “professional agitators and professional people that want to see our country do badly”.
Trump has repeatedly linked the ICE surge in Minnesota to fraud cases that the justice department says involve mostly defendants from the state’s large Somali community.
On Tuesday, Trump said Somalia is “a backward country, probably the worst country”.
By BBC News
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