Minnesota: More than 50 people arrested after violent anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis

At least 54 people were arrested Sunday during a demonstration against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple federal building in Minneapolis.

According to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, 38 people were cited and released, while one was booked into jail. Separately, Fox News reported that the Minnesota State Patrol confirmed an additional 15 arrests.

The protest unfolded in a climate of growing tension in Minnesota over the enforcement of federal immigration laws, following episodes such as the death of anti-ICE militants Renée Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents earlier this year and the break-in at a church service at Cities Church, in St. Paul, which ended in multiple indictments and arrests.

Criminal conduct "will not be tolerated"

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office statement noted that "deputies issued dispersal orders at an unlawful assembly outside the Whipple Building after individuals blocked roadways, blocked access to local businesses, dumped glass into the street, and threw rocks, ice chunks and water bottles at law enforcement," creating what authorities described as a "serious public safety hazard."

The office noted that arrests were being made and stressed that peaceful protest is a constitutional right, but that criminal behavior will not be tolerated.

"Freedom of speech and peaceful assembly is a right," the statement noted. "Endangering the public is not. Unlawful activity including blocking roads, intentionally creating hazards and assaultive behavior will not be tolerated."

ICE surveillance networks

The rally marked the close of a weeklong campaign, dubbed "Bring the Heat, Melt the Ice," coordinated by the left-leaning group Melt the ICE MN.

The event, organized by activists opposed to ICE operations in Minnesota, called for citizens to join both rapid response networks to monitor ICE activities and large-scale public protests.

On its website, the organization placed these actions within a broader strategy of resistance in the face of federal immigration operations.

"We will teach and demonstrate resistance tactics that can be replicated elsewhere, leaving no community undefended. We hope to force an end to ICE’s unprecedented siege of Minnesota—and further the movement to abolish ICE altogether while we do it," reads the organization's website.