U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi announced today that federal agents have arrested 16 protesters in Minnesota after alleged assaults on immigration enforcement (ICE) officers, CBS News reports.
"I'm on the ground in Minneapolis today. Federal agents arrested 16 protesters in Minnesota on suspicion of assaulting federal law enforcement, resisting and obstructing ICE agents, she wrote on the social media platform X.
Bondi warned that more arrests were expected if the escalation of protests in the city continues.
"I have said it before and I will say it again: NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law," the US attorney general wrote.
According to Bondi, the protesters were arrested under Art. 111 of the United States Code, a federal law that criminalizes assault, resisting, or obstructing federal officers.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents involved in the shooting of American citizen Alex Pretty during a raid on illegal immigrants in Minneapolis have been temporarily suspended from duty, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin announced, The Guardian reports.
According to McLaughlin, the two federal immigration agents involved have been placed on administrative leave. The identities of the officers were not disclosed.
On Tuesday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller acknowledged that Border Patrol agents may have violated protocol during the incident.
A new wave of protests erupted in Minneapolis on January 24 after an ICE agent shot and killed Alex Pretty in the city. The Department of Homeland Security said at the time that the man resisted federal agents when they tried to seize his gun.