Dozens Arrested Outside Whipple Building During Anti-ICE Protest: Reports

HENNEPIN COUNTY, MN — Dozens were arrested Sunday outside the Whipple Federal Building after a protest against immigration enforcement activity in the area was declared unlawful, according to police and media reports.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reported 38 people were cited and released, with one person booked for rioting, citing the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. The Minnesota State Patrol, which was assisting the sheriff’s office, arrested 15 people, according to KSTP.

Deputies issued dispersal orders and determined the protesters’ assembly unlawful after people blocked road and business access, dumped glass in the street, and threw rocks, ice chunks and water bottles at police, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

“Freedom of speech and peaceful assembly is a right. Endangering the public is not,” the Facebook post said. “Unlawful activity including blocking roads, intentionally creating hazards and assaultive behavior will not be tolerated.”

The demonstration was part of the “Bring the Heat, Melt the ICE Week of Action,” with its march from Fort Snelling to Whipple intended to acknowledge the federal government’s history of violence against marginalized communities locally, the Tribune reported.

A protester who identified herself to the Tribune as Lexi told the newspaper the arrests were violent and police pepper-sprayed demonstrators at close range.