(Corrects by deleting former paragraphs 22-23 with incorrect reference to the fact that the criminal defense attorney Abdikadir Noor is a plaintiff in the civil case)
By Brad Brooks and Joseph Axe
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump warned Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday that he was “playing with fire” for insisting that local police would refrain from enforcing federal immigration laws, a day after the president said he planned to “decline a little” in the city.
Amid mixed signals from the White House, tensions remained high in Minneapolis, where observers and activists said deportation raids by Trump’s “Operation Metro Surge” had not eased but appeared more targeted on Wednesday.
The city has been convulsed by clashes between protesters and heavily armed immigration agents, the unrest heightened after two US citizens were shot dead by federal officers – Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on Saturday.
Demonstrations have spread to cities large and small across the country in recent weeks, with Minneapolis finding its way into pop culture Wednesday when singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen released a protest song honoring Pretti and Good.
In a sign of how immigration agents may change their tactics, an internal memo reviewed by Reuters directed officers to avoid unnecessary communication and engagement with protesters.
A day after striking a conciliatory tone in their public comments after weeks of heated rhetoric, Trump and other top administration officials talked tough again on Wednesday.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that federal agents arrested 16 people in Minnesota on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting, resisting or obstructing federal law enforcement.
“Nothing will stop us from continuing to make arrests and enforce the law,” Bondi wrote.
A federal judge in Minneapolis said Wednesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement broke the law by ignoring dozens of federal court orders during a surge in enforcement this month.
As he canceled a contempt of court hearing for acting ICE chief Todd Lyons after the agency delayed complying with an order to release a wrongfully detained Ecuadorian man, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schlitz listed at least 96 court orders he said ICE violated in 74 cases.
“This list should give pause to anyone — regardless of their political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law,” Schlitz wrote. “ICE probably violated more court orders in January 2025 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
At the same time, the two immigration officers who opened fire on Pretti have been placed on administrative leave, according to a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security, adding that it is “standard protocol”.
Mixed MESSAGE, new tactics?
The Trump administration indicated on Tuesday that it would soften its approach, sending border czar Tom Homan to take over the operation from Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official whose aggressive tactics have drawn widespread criticism and legal challenges.
A senior administration official said Homan’s arrival would mark a shift to more traditional, narrowly targeted operations rather than the street machine that Bovino has run in several cities.
The change appeared codified in a recently issued internal ICE directive instructing agents to avoid interacting with “agitators” while on duty, warning that an antagonistic posture “serves no purpose other than to inflame the situation.”
The guidance, reviewed by Reuters, also directs ICE officers to pursue only immigrants who have criminal charges or convictions, a departure from previous tactics that included randomly questioning people on the street about their immigration status.
Observers and activists told Reuters that ICE activity appeared to slow somewhat on Tuesday before fully resuming on Wednesday, albeit in a more targeted manner than before.
On Wednesday, ICE agents were seen in several parts of the city rolling up to homes and businesses in three-vehicle trailers with six to eight agents in total, then knocking on doors and looking around, apparently for a specific person.
If that person was not found, observers said, agents were seen leaving. In recent weeks, agents may have begun approaching people and asking for documented proof of legal status.
“PLAYING WITH FIRE”
Under mounting political pressure, Trump backed off his rhetorical attacks on Frey and Gov. Tim Walz after speaking to both Democrats in the wake of Pretti’s killing, vowing to work with them to ease friction.
But on social media Wednesday, Trump blasted Frey for reiterating the position of local leaders that the city would not enforce immigration laws. Trump wrote: “Could someone in their inner sanctum please explain that this statement is a very serious violation of the Law and that they are playing with fire!”
Trump has threatened to cut off funding to states that include so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, which limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
In response, Frey wrote on social media: “The job of our police is to keep people safe, not to enforce fed immigration laws.”
Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, was fatally shot during protests near his home on Saturday, and some administration officials immediately accused him of planning to kill officers, citing the gun he was carrying.
But a video verified by Reuters showed that Pretti was only holding a phone when Border Patrol agents pushed him to the ground. The video also showed an officer finding Pretti’s gun near his waist and removing it seconds before another officer shot a restrained Pretti in the back.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Minneapolis; Additional reporting by Maria Alejandra Cardona, Ted Hesson, Andrew Goudsward, Jana Winter, Andrew Hay and Jonathan Allen; Additional writing and reporting by Joseph Ax in New York and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Donna Bryson, Nick Zieminski and Michael Perry)