Federal raid of Minneapolis restaurant 1 of 8 search warrants for ‘transnational criminal organization’
When a militarized Department of Homeland Security task force carried out a search warrant Tuesday morning at a taco restaurant in south Minneapolis, it sparked fear and confusion in a neighborhood with one of the city’s largest Latino populations.
Word spread quickly online that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was among the numerous federal agencies present at Las Cuatro Milpas on the corner of East Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue, prompting speculation that the raid was related to immigration enforcement.
A crowd swelled at the scene, and video showed a standoff between protesters and federal agents — many wearing facemasks and camouflage fatigues — that escalated to shoving and physical confrontation.
The chaos prompted local leaders on Wednesday to urge against misinformation that could tip a precarious situation into chaos.
“I think there’s no question everybody learned yesterday just how heightened and how tense the issue of immigration enforcement in this city is,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference. “That being said, when things are tense and heightened and spiraling out of control, you need leaders to step back and gather the facts and deal with the situation that was unfolding.”
O’Hara personally responded to the scene along with other Minneapolis police officers on Tuesday, a measure Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said was in the interest of crowd control and maintaining public safety. Deputies with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office were there, too, assisting with the search warrant.
In hopes of easing tensions on Lake Street, the Minneapolis Police Department, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and Frey all emphasized in messages on social media that federal agents were executing a search warrant related to a drug and money laundering investigation, not conducting immigration enforcement.
Several people who saw ICE officers at the scene, including Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, were skeptical of those claims.
“They tried [to] lie about an ICE presence,” Chavez said. “MPD assisted with closing off the area. This is completely wrong.”
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said her office was a part of this federal operation, including a deputy assigned to human trafficking.
“…And that’s why I can say for certain this was not an immigration enforcement status because I do have that knowledge,” Sheriff Witt said. “Yesterday’s incident was one of eight search warrants for a transnational criminal organization.”
In a statement, Jamie Holt, the special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations’ St. Paul office, said Tuesday’s action was part of a “groundbreaking criminal operation” carried out by a Homeland Security Task Force. No arrests were made.
“From drug smuggling to criminal labor trafficking, this operation showcases the breadth of our collective missions and the strength of a united front,” Holt said.
Holt listed numerous federal agencies involved: the U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, IRS-CI, DEA, ERO, ATF, USMS, DSS, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and TSA.
Frey and O’Hara both said on Wednesday they did not know about the federal operation ahead of time. They also said it was “tone deaf” for the task force to show up with a heavily militarized presence.
“When community members that are already rightfully afraid see some of these heavily armored vehicles come into their neighborhoods with people in fatigues getting out of them — I get it. That’s understandable fear. I had the same concern myself,” Frey said.
The mayor added that President Donald Trump’s actions have fomented “distrust” in what federal agents are doing.
“When you have a Trump administration that is simultaneously creating this atmosphere of distrust, what you’re going to get in these tense moments is more distrust,” Frey said. “And so it’s on us, again, not to counter that kind of narrative with more panic and chaos. It’s on us to get the right and correct information out.”
Sheriff Witt called the messages from elected officials such as Chavez “irresponsible.”
“There are ways for them to have accurate information, and instead of getting accurate information, being impulsive and putting out things that could potentially incite riots is senseless,” Witt said.
In a lengthy statement on Wednesday, Chavez defended his rhetoric during Tuesday’s incident and said MPD’s crowd control tactics were akin to “assisting ICE.”
“From my perspective, it felt like fear and intimidation were the point. It felt like the Trump administration was sending a message to Minneapolis and the Phillips and Powderhorn communities,” Chavez said. “And to see MPD right there alongside those federal agents felt like the ultimate betrayal.”