Drums outside their hotels, rocks and ice thrown at them, federal agents have been targeted on the streets of Minneapolis since December.
MINNEAPOLIS—Activists in Minneapolis are continuing to organize efforts to impede immigration enforcement as the Trump administration surges more agents to the Twin Cities.
Local efforts to disrupt the work of immigration officers in the area began weeks before a deadly shooting brought Minneapolis into the national spotlight on Jan. 7. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot a protester, Renee Good, in her SUV, which hit him at the same time, as she tried to flee after being asked to exit her vehicle during an ICE operation. Federal officials have said the officer opened fire in self-defense.
The shooting triggered a surge of protests in the area that have led to near-daily clashes between the protesters and federal officers. The activists have targeted hotels where ICE officers are believed to be staying and ramped up their efforts to interfere with the enforcement operations, such as by handing out free whistles used to alert others that officers are in the area.
The Department of Homeland Security responded by surging 200 more officers to Minneapolis, in addition to the 2,000 already operating in the area.
DHS arrested 10 illegal immigrants in Minnesota over the past weekend, who have been previously arrested or convicted for crimes including child abuse, drug trafficking, domestic violence, and credit card fraud. The illegal immigrants were from Somalia, Mexico, Honduras, Thailand, Laos, and Ecuador.
“As rioters and sanctuary politicians demonized and attempted to obstruct our brave ICE law enforcement, our officers continued to remove the worst of the worst from Minnesota,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Jan. 12.
Hotel Protests
Thousands of protesters have targeted hotels where they suspected that ICE agents were staying since December 2025. Some have played drums outside of hotels where they suspected officials were staying.
Minneapolis-based activist group Sunrise Twin Cities circulated weekly lists of hotels.
The group, which describes itself as “resisting authoritarianism and fighting for climate justice,” encouraged protesters to put on “noise demonstrations” outside of the locations as a way to annoy the hotel management enough to capitulate to their demands that they kick out the agents and cancel all future reservations.
Their “No Sleep For ICE” rally at Canopy by Hilton got out of control on Jan. 9 as hundreds of police officers responded to the area, declared an unlawful assembly, and detained 30 people.
Tensions escalated when a crowd of protesters swarmed Minneapolis police officers who responded to the protest area “to investigate a report of a vehicle being driven toward a building.”
They didn’t find visible damage to a building but did find a crowd of angry protesters who yelled slurs and insults at local police.
“Some people threw snow, ice, and rocks at officers, police vehicles and other vehicles in the roadway,” the city of Minneapolis said in a statement.
One officer sustained minor injuries.
“I felt like I was in ‘The Purge,’” a worker at the Canopy Hotel told The Epoch Times on Jan. 10.
One block away, the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel had approximately $6,000 of damage to its windows from graffiti on Jan. 9.
The Department of Homeland Security criticized Minnesotans who circulated a list of locations where federal agents were allegedly staying.
“Revealing their locations puts them at enormous risk of retaliation from these monsters,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement to The Epoch Times.
The DHS would not confirm or deny the accuracy of the hotel lists but has stated that aggression toward federal agents has surged. The agent who fired the shot at Good has received death threats, according to White House border czar Tom Homan.
One hotel, located in the southern part of the metro area, lost its partnership with Hilton after Homeland Security shared an email sent from the hotel that announced the ejection of ICE agents and cancellation of reservations.
Hilton quickly removed the brand signage from outside the hotel.
The business has since reopened as the Lakeville Inn and is working to build a website.
“We’re just not under Hilton anymore,” an employee confirmed to The Epoch Times.
The employee would not comment on whether the hotel is still rejecting ICE agents.
By Jacki Thrapp
