A police chief from Minnesota had to step in to stop some federal agents from illegally taking a woman from her car.
There’s a video from a dashboard camera showing the moment three men, who were wearing masks, drove up behind a woman who was alone in her car.
They forced her to stop by cutting her off. The men then got out of their dark, unlit car and pulled out guns, telling her to get out of the car.
The officers didn’t tell her she had the right to remain silent or ask who they were.
They pulled her out of the car, held her down, and put her in handcuffs.
The woman, who didn’t want to be named, shared the video with a local news station and said she had cuts and bruises after the incident.
Later, her husband arrived and told the agents that they were acting illegally.
One agent replied, “I’m not getting into the legality of everything.”
After the woman was taken, her husband called his lawyer.
Then he got a call from Matt Grochow, the chief of police in St. Peter, someone he had known for a long time.
“I was talking to him, kind of venting some of my frustrations,” the husband said.
He encouraged the chief to make sure local police were more visible during these operations. “If [local police] were present and they could see you, I promise you their behavior more than likely, or hopefully, would, you know, be appropriate and law-abiding,” he said.
After the officers put her in their car and were driving toward the Twin Cities, they got another call and turned around quickly.
“I saw her, and I gave her a ride home,” Grochow said in a statement to the news station.
The city of St. Peter released a statement saying it didn’t interfere with federal enforcement.
“Shortly after the call was received, federal immigration authorities dropped the individual off at the Police Department,” the statement said.
“Police Chief Grochow then ensured the resident was safely transported home and offered assistance, as we would for any member of our community who experiences distress or needs support.”
The video of the incident has caused a lot of anger online.
People are saying that the federal agents haven’t learned from past tragedies, like the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
“This is a) really dangerous driving b) indistinguishable from a kidnap,” wrote a technology journalist.
“This is terrifying.
This is like a gang of armed bandits or desperados. Masked highwaymen. Something from the 1600s, 1700s, or 1800s,” wrote a Trump biographer. “Nothing about this is even 1% American—at least not as we have known America to be over the last 50 years.”
“There’s no sign that ICE or DHS have moderated their behavior.
They continue to blatantly and willfully violate the Constitutional rights of Americans,” wrote a science fiction author. “This is a rogue and criminal agency. Defund, disband, and detain ICE.”
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the woman was an “agitator” who “stalking and obstructing law enforcement.”
“Law enforcement officers attempted to pull her over using their emergency lights to issue her a warning,” the statement says.
“Ignoring law enforcement commands, the agitator refused to pull over and began driving recklessly, including running stop signs, nearly colliding with multiple vehicles, and driving directly at law enforcement in an attempt to ram their vehicle. Her actions endangered law enforcement officers, the public, and allowed this violent criminal to remain at large. Our officers arrested the agitator.”
“Obstructing law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime,” the statement continued.
After the public responded to the killing of VA nurse Pretti, 37, last week, a border official took over ICE operations in Minnesota, which have been ongoing since the start of the year.
“You’re going to see some massive changes occurring here in this city,” the official said in a press conference.
“The mission is going to improve because of the changes we’re making internally.”
The person leading the federal operations in Minnesota was suspended after the killing of Pretti.
President Donald Trump promised to “de-escalate” tensions in the Twin Cities.
The president later changed his mind and said there would be “no pullback.”
“It remains the expectation of President Trump that officers carry out their
“I want to be clear: ICE and CBP officers are performing their duties under tremendous circumstances, but they’re trying to do it with professionalism,” he said.
“If they don’t, they’ll be dealt with.”
Video credits: MPR News
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