Judge rules ICE agents can't arrest or use pepper spray on peaceful protesters in Minnesota

A US JUDGE has restricted federal agents from interfering with peaceful protesters in Minnesota.

It comes after US President Donald Trump rolled back on a threat to invoke a centuries-old emergency law to deploy the military domestically over the demonstrations. 

US District Judge Katherine Menendez ordered immigration agents to dial back their aggressive tactics, barring them from “arresting or detaining persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity”. 

She also ordered agents not to use pepper spray “or similar non-lethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity”. 

The 83-page ruling gives the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) current operation in Minneapolis 72 hours to come into compliance, following two incidents where federal agents opened fire, killing one person and wounding another in the span of a week.

In a separate legal move that could inflame the standoff between the White House and Minnesota elected officials, CBS News reported that the US Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for impeding federal officers.

Both have called for peaceful protests against immigration sweeps in their state.

“This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, local law enforcement, and residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our city,” Frey wrote on X.

Walz said the Trump administration has moved to investigate other Democrats who have spoken out against the president’s policies and mentioned Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on 7 January.

“The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her,” Walz wrote on X.

The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X: “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.”

Insurrection Act ‘not needed right now’

Trump threatened the drastic measure of invoking the Insurrection Act earlier this week. 

The act allows a president to sidestep the Posse Comitatus Act to suppress “armed rebellion” or “domestic violence” and deploy soldiers on US soil “as he considers necessary” to enforce the 19th-century law.

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But when reporters asked him about it at the White House yesterday, the US President said: “If I needed it, I would use it. I don’t think there is any reason right now to use it.”

Crowds of protesters have clashed with immigration officers across Minneapolis, opposing their efforts to target undocumented migrants. Some officers have responded with violence.

The demonstrations have grown dramatically following the killing of Renee Good.

‘Organised brutality’

Federal agents fired their weapons in two separate incidents, wounding a man from Venezuela on Wednesday and in Good’s killing last week.

In a separate incident, DHS confirmed yesterday that Heber Sanchez Dominguez, a 34-year-old Mexican national, died while detained in ICE custody two days earlier.

At least four people have died in ICE detention so far this year, according to agency data.

Trump backers have also begun to face off with protesters who oppose ICE’s actions in the state, leading to tense encounters.

The Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reported that divisions within the anti-ICE movement were beginning to emerge over how aggressively to resist the enforcement efforts.

Activists have also become increasingly wary of “far-right provocateurs trying to bait demonstrators into rioting,” it said.

Minnesota’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter has reported an uptick in complaints against ICE officers.

Walz accused federal agents of waging “a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota” in a video posted to X on Wednesday night.

Good’s family announced on Wednesday that they had retained a top law firm to probe the killing ahead of launching possible legal action against the officer and the government.

The lawyers have demanded that federal officials – including the officer who shot Good – preserve records and evidence relating to the incident.

With reporting from © AFP 2026

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