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A federal judge on Friday sharply limited the tactics federal law enforcement officers may use while policing protests in Minneapolis sparked by the Trump administration’s surge of immigration enforcement resources to the city.
In an 83-page order, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez barred federal agents from using pepper spray or other nonlethal munitions against peaceful protesters and from arresting demonstrators who are not engaged in unlawful conduct.
The ruling also prohibits federal law enforcement from stopping or detaining drivers or passengers near protests unless there is “reasonable articulable suspicion” that they are forcibly interfering with federal operations.
Menendez, who was nominated to the bench by former President Joe Biden in 2021, described some of the allegations lodged against federal agents as “disturbing.”
She cited accounts from protesters who told the court that officers threatened to break car windows, waited for demonstrators outside their homes, followed them home or told protesters that agents knew where they lived.
“There may be ample suspicion to stop cars, and even arrest drivers engaged in dangerous conduct while following immigration enforcement officers, but that does not justify stops of cars not breaking the law,” Menendez wrote.
She noted that the protest activity unfolding in Minnesota presents unusual legal questions.
“There is little discussion in the caselaw about situations like the ones playing out all over the Twin Cities, in which small groups of protesters are mobile and gather wherever immigration officers are attempting to make arrests or otherwise enforce immigration law,” the judge wrote.
The order will remain in effect until the Trump administration’s mass deployment of federal law enforcement to the Minneapolis area concludes.
DHS Pushes Back
The Department of Homeland Security criticized the ruling, saying federal officers are facing escalating threats.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the agency “is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.”
McLaughlin said federal agents have encountered assaults, vandalism and other threats, but emphasized that officers have “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary.”
“We remind the public that rioting is dangerous—obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony,” she said.
Protests and Lawsuit
The ruling comes amid weeks of intensified immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, where thousands of federal agents have been deployed to arrest people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally and to investigate alleged fraud schemes in Minnesota.
The federal presence has triggered sustained protests, which intensified after Minnesota resident Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer last week. Demonstrations have at times devolved into confrontations, with protesters accusing agents of excessive force, including the use of pepper spray.
Last month, a group of Minnesota protesters filed a lawsuit against DHS, alleging federal agents had “violently subdued” demonstrations and engaged in a “campaign of constitutional violations.”
The plaintiffs argued that federal officers violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and their Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Menendez concluded that several plaintiffs were likely to succeed in showing constitutional violations, citing arrests and the use of chemical irritants against demonstrators who were not engaged in violent or unlawful conduct.
Federal attorneys denied those claims earlier this month, arguing that arrests and the use of pepper spray were necessary to stop “violent, obstructive, dangerous, and often criminal behavior” that impeded immigration enforcement. Government lawyers accused some plaintiffs of assaulting officers, obstructing operations or following ICE vehicles.
Broader Political Clash
The ruling lands amid a widening political and legal battle between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials.
Earlier Friday, CBS News reported that the Justice Department is investigating Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over an alleged conspiracy to impede federal immigration agents.
Both officials have condemned the probe. Walz accused the administration of “threatening political opponents,” while Frey described the investigation as an “obvious attempt to intimidate me.”
