MINNEAPOLIS — A St. Peter nurse has sued the federal government, alleging agents pointed guns and knelt on her during a viral arrest in the southern Minnesota town at the height of last winter’s Operation Metro Surge.

Jamie Martens, a 47-year-old nurse at St. Peter State Hospital, seeks $550,000 in damages as part of her lawsuit which argues that the government is liable for agents committing assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence during the Jan. 29 arrest captured on her dash camera.

When agents knelt on her, they “significantly agitated” Martens’ existing back injuries and created a tear in one of her lower back discs, the suit alleges.

Martens initiated the legal action in April when she filed what’s known as a tort claim against the government, a step other Minnesotans have taken over alleged excessive force and violent tactics by agents during the winter operation. Because the government did not issue a ruling on her claims in the six-month window after the tort claim, Martens can now pursue the lawsuit.

“Every part of this was just absolutely wrong,” Martens’ attorney Ian Bratlie said. “It keeps going back to that these officers just felt that they could do anything without any reprisals.”

Martens was observing agents and their immigration operations from her car on Jan. 29 when her dash camera footage showed a red Mazda SUV zoom in front of her in St. Peter before blocking the lane. The agents then got out and pointed handguns at her.

The masked men ordered Martens to “get out of the car.” She refused, and they pulled her from the vehicle while saying she was impeding their investigation. They then knelt on her hips, a few months after she had hip surgery, the lawsuit says. The injuries caused by the agents have forced Martens to seek additional treatment.

After the agents confronted her, Martens’ husband arrived and filmed the arrest. The agents attempted to stop him from recording it.

The agents violated multiple Department of Homeland Security policies including rules about pointing a gun and vehicle pursuits, the suit alleges. The agents also falsely accused Martens of “impeding” their investigations when she was legally observing them, the suit says.

The officers began driving Martens to the Whipple Federal Building. Martens’ husband then got a call from St. Peter Police Chief Matt Grochow, who contacted ICE and had them bring Martens back to St. Peter police station before she had even arrived at the federal holding center, the suit alleges.

The agents did not inform Martens why they brought her back, and after she was dropped off Grochow apologized to Martens for the arrest, the lawsuit said. The chief then drove Martens home. She was never charged for following the agents.

DHS and ICE did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday.

While he has not heard from Grochow to discuss what he told federal agencies, Bratlie said he is grateful for the chief’s response.

“I’m actually very happy that the police chief apparently did something to help her,” Bratlie said. “I mean, we don’t know exactly what, and he’s refused to comment, but it does sound like he did a lot to help her.”

The city of St. Peter denied afterward that the town’s police department intervened, and provided a statement to Minnesota Public Radio last winter that the local police “did not participate in, coordinate with or intervene in any federal enforcement activity.”

After Martens was dropped off at the police station, Grochow “ensured the resident was safely transported home and offered assistance, as we would for any member of our community,” the city statement read.

Grochow did not return a call or email seeking comment Wednesday.

_____

©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.