For seven weeks, Minneapolis looked like occupied territory.
Roughly 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents descended on the Twin Cities, a force nearly five times the size of the entire Minneapolis Police Department, according to CBS News. They called it “Operation Metro Surge.” By the time it was over, two American citizens were dead, a governor had dropped his reelection bid, and the Department of Justice had subpoenaed the state’s top Democratic officials.
Now, in a new report from Politico, Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Attorney General Keith Ellison are sharing previously unreported details about how they navigated the crisis. The strategy, according to sources close to the officials: let Trump think he won while protecting the community from the worst of it.
The Human Cost
On January 7, ICE officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in south Minneapolis. Good was sitting in her car. Witnesses say she received conflicting orders from officers before being shot through the windshield, NPR reported. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called it self-defense. Video reviewed by NPR showed the officer walking after firing, contradicting the claim he was struck by the vehicle.
“Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is [expletive],” Mayor Frey said. “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying.”
Eighteen days later, ICU nurse Alex Pretti became the second American citizen killed by federal agents during the operation, according to CGTN/Reuters.
The Political Chess Match
Minnesota’s Democratic leaders had limited options. AG Ellison sued the Trump administration and issued a formal legal opinion that state law prohibited holding people solely on ICE civil detainers. Frey issued an executive order barring federal agents from using city property. Walz activated the National Guard as a precaution and launched a website encouraging residents to document ICE activity.
The DOJ responded by subpoenaing all three officials under 18 USC 372, the same statute used to prosecute Oath Keepers and Proud Boys after January 6, CBS News confirmed.
Eventually, Walz and Frey both spoke directly with Trump. Border czar Tom Homan took over operations, and some federal agents began leaving. Walz called the conversation “productive.” But the toll was already paid.
Why This Matters to the Culture
This was not just an immigration story. The operation disproportionately targeted Minneapolis’s Somali community, with the Trump administration citing the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal as justification. As Minnesota State Rep. Mohamud Noor told CBS, Trump’s tactic of displaying mugshots of Black and Brown faces “gives cover and legitimacy to an Islamophobic, xenophobic and openly racist campaign.”
When 3,000 armed federal agents can occupy an American city, kill two citizens, and then subpoena the local officials who objected, that is not immigration enforcement. That is a blueprint for authoritarian overreach in any community the federal government decides to target next.
The takeaway: Minnesota showed what resistance looks like when the federal government brings overwhelming force to a blue city. It also showed the cost. Two Americans are dead. No federal agents have been charged. And the midterms are the only remaining check on this power.
