MINNEAPOLIS — Though President Donald Trump spoke to officials in Minnesota after federal immigration agents shot and killed a second person in Minneapolis, there was little evidence Wednesday of significant changes after weeks of harsh rhetoric and clashes with protesters.
Trump made a leadership change by sending his top border adviser to Minnesota to take charge of the immigration crackdown.
Federal agents knock on a door of a residence Wednesday in Blaine, Minn.
The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that the two federal agents who shot and killed Alex Pretti were put on leave after Saturday's shooting.
Trump said he and Gov. Tim Walz, whom he criticized for weeks, were on "a similar wavelength" after a phone call this week. After a conversation with Mayor Jacob Frey, the president praised the discussion and declared that "lots of progress is being made."
But on city streets, there were few signs of a shift as immigration enforcement operations and confrontations with activists continued Wednesday in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
A group of protesters blew whistles and pointed out federal officers in a vehicle on a north Minneapolis street. When the officers' vehicle moved, a small convoy of activists followed in their cars for a few blocks until the officers stopped again.
Associated Press journalists were in the neighborhood covering the enforcement actions. When the journalists got out of their car to document the encounter, officers with the federal Bureau of Prisons pushed one of them, threatened them with arrest and told them to get back in their car despite the reporters' identifying themselves as media.
Federal officers threaten AP video journalist Mark Vancleave with arrest Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Officers from federal agencies have been involved in the enforcement operations. From their car, the AP journalists saw at least one person being pepper sprayed and one detained, though it was unclear if that person was the target of the operation or a protester. Agents also broke car windows.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was in Minnesota, said 16 people were arrested Wednesday on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement in the state. She said more arrests were expected.
Messages seeking comment were left with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
A federal immigration officer knocks on the door of a residence Wednesday in Brooklyn Center, Minn.
'Good neighbors'
On Wednesday afternoon in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, half a dozen agents went to a house in a small residential neighborhood.
One agent knocked on the door of the home repeatedly. Another told the AP they sought a man who they claimed was twice deported and was convicted of domestic abuse. The agent said the man ran into the home and the agents lacked a judicial warrant to get inside.
Some federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant and instead are using a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest migrants considered illegally present or otherwise deportable.
The key difference is whether agents can forcibly enter a private property to make an arrest, as they were captured on video doing in Minneapolis earlier this month.
A handful of activists blew whistles at the agents in Brooklyn Center. As the agents prepared to leave, a woman called out to them saying, “You need to know they’re good neighbors.”
Kari Rod told the AP that she didn’t know these neighbors well, but they came to her garage sale, kept their yard clean and waved hello when she drove by. She didn’t believe enforcement agents about whom they arrest, including another neighbor whom she said was deported to Laos last summer.
“I don’t trust a single thing they said about who they are,” Rod said. “From my interactions, I know them way better than anyone else does, any one of those federal agents.”
A person is attended to Wednesday after federal officers used a chemical irritant in Minneapolis.
'Still very worried'
Many immigrant families are still fearful of leaving their homes, and Latino businesses are still closed, according to Daniel Hernandez, who owns the Minneapolis grocery store Colonial Market. He also runs a popular Facebook page geared toward informing the Hispanic community in the Twin Cities.
While Colonial Market is open, all but one of the dozen immigrant-run businesses that rented space inside to sell clothes, jewelry and toys closed since late December, and none has plans to reopen, Hernandez said.
"The reality is the community is still very worried and afraid," Hernandez said.
Hernandez referenced Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who helped lead the administration's crackdown in the Twin Cities and who has reportedly been assigned elsewhere.
A federal officer approaches observers and journalists Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Bovino "was removed, but the tactics so far are still the same," Hernandez said. "Nobody now is trusting the government with those changes."
Overall, the enforcement activity in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs appeared similar to recent weeks.
A federal law enforcement officer tried to enter the city's Ecuadorian consulate Tuesday before being blocked by employees.
Meanwhile, Trump said in a social media post that the mayor was "PLAYING WITH FIRE" by not participating in the enforcement efforts.
Vietnam veteran Donnie McMillan places a sign that says "In remembrance of my angel" Wednesday at a memorial set up at the location where federal agents shot and killed Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Veteran visits memorial
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Donnie McMillan placed a cardboard sign reading "In remembrance of my angel" at the makeshift memorial where Alex Pretti was shot.
The Vietnam veteran, 71, kneeled to pay his respects and saluted to honor the nurse whom he remembered seeing during his frequent visits to the Veterans Affairs hospital where Pretti worked.
"I feel like I've lost an angel right here," the disabled veteran said, pointing to the growing sidewalk memorial covered in flowers, candles and signs.
"This is not the way we should operate," added McMillan, who said he served in Vietnam and then in the military police for more than a decade. "I respect everybody, but I respect my angel more, and now he's no longer with us."
