Minneapolis officials decry ICE arrest of Somali American citizen

Minneapolis leaders stood in silence as they watched footage of Mubashir, a Somali American, getting slammed against a metal door and put in a chokehold in the snow by federal immigration agents.

The security and bystander video of the arrest in the city’s Cedar Riverside neighborhood was shown at a Wednesday press conference, where Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara condemned the arrest of the 20-year-old man, which they said was for no reason other than his race.

“You can’t tackle somebody because they look Somali without knowing who they are, what their name is, and you can’t then detain them for purposes of immigration when they’re a completely legal American citizen,” Frey said.

Mubashir, who spoke at the press conference but declined to give his last name, said he is a citizen, a status both Frey and O’Hara corroborated Wednesday.

Last week, federal agents flooded the Twin Cities, arresting immigrants as part of what the government is calling “Operation Metro Surge.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the operation is focused on arresting criminals and aims to deport those with serious crimes on their records. But city officials and residents opposed to the operation say it’s broadly targeting Hispanic and Somali people, leading to the arrests of citizens such as Mubashir who didn’t commit a crime.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not immediately respond Wednesday afternoon to a request for comment on the arrest.

Mubashir said he was on his lunch break Tuesday when an agent who did not identify himself ran toward him. Footage shows the agents push Mubashir into the rear-entrance stairwell of a building near the intersection of Cedar and Riverside Avenues.

“I wasn’t even outside for mere seconds before I seen a masked person running at me full speed,” said Mubashir, who immigrated from Somalia when he was a young child. “I told him, ‘I’m a U.S. citizen. What’s going on?’ He didn’t seem to care.”

The two agents threw Mubashir against a stairwell wall, repeatedly asking, “Why are you running?” security footage provided by the city of Minneapolis shows.

A crowd of protesters are seen on bystander camera footage and in the security footage, filming Mubashir as he yells “I’m a citizen” and “I have my ID,” before the agents pull him out to the snowy street.

One agent with an ICE vest wrapped his arm around Mubashir’s neck as he pushed him to the ground before placing him in an unmarked vehicle.

Mubashir said he was then taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, put in leg shackles and placed in a jail cell. He was released about two hours later, after agents determined he was a citizen, he said.

Families, immigrant rights groups and officials have raised alarms over citizens getting arrested by ICE agents. Susan Tincher, a 55-year-old north Minneapolis resident, said she was arrested after refusing to move from where she was observing a small-scale ICE operation at a house early Tuesday morning.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz criticized the arrests of citizens in a statement Wednesday, saying it raises “serious concerns about civil liberties” and trust between local communities and federal authorities.

In a letter, Walz urged Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to “respect the constitution and for her administration to ensure that federal operations are conducted lawfully and with respect for the rights of all individuals.”

Walz also asked Noem to “review these arrests” and “place any federal agents who acted unlawfully on administrative leave.”

On Thursday the Minneapolis City Council will consider updating and strengthening the city’s separation ordinance, which prohibits city workers from assisting with enforcement of federal immigration.

Proposed changes include requiring all city staff to be trained on city policies and procedures related to federal immigration enforcement and requiring reports when local police provide crowd control at federal enforcement operations.

Council Member Jason Chavez said during a committee meeting Tuesday that the changes are needed, especially when Somali people in Minneapolis are being detained by “hostile federal government” and “cruel immigration system that is tearing families apart.”

The ordinance says “the city is safer, healthier and more vibrant when city personnel maintain a relationship of trust, respect and cooperation with city residents.”

St. Paul police will face scrutiny for their role in the chaotic November raid on the city’s East Side, where city officers sprayed chemical irritants and fired rubber projectiles on protesters and journalists.

The City Council passed a resolution Wednesday directing an outside investigation of officers’ participation in the federal raid. The review will focus on St. Paul officers’ use of force and how well they adhered to the separation ordinance that bars city officers from enforcing federal immigration policy.

The council also called for an accounting of the costs of the raid.

Protesters who wanted to speak about the raid and the investigation interrupted the council meeting with shouting. The process to pass a resolution does not typically include time for public comment, but council members recessed the meeting for over an hour to hear protesters.

_____

(Deena Winter and Josie Albertson-Grove of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.)

_____