A Republican state representative in Minnesota proposed a solution to the clashes between immigration agents and protesters on the streets of Minneapolis.
State Rep. Kristin Robbins, 57, called for calm on Thursday as tensions continue to rise in Minnesota after ICE agents fatally shot a 37-year-old mom and injured a Venezuelan migrant during their sweeping operations.
“What’s your pledge to actually keep the peace on the ground in Minnesota?” NewsNation anchor Adrienne Bankert asked Robbins on Morning in America.
“I really think that we should encourage citizens to stay home to make sure that they’re not interfering with law enforcement,” Robbins replied, quickly pivoting to stress that she “fully” respects the right to peacefully protest.
“I think that’s an important First Amendment right that we all need to support, but we also need to do it without interfering with the actual legal work of law enforcement, and creating these tensions and creating these altercations with law enforcement is not helping our community,” she went on. “So I really think the most important thing to do is to cooperate with ICE and let them do their jobs.”
Minneapolis became the flashpoint for immigration protests after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7. The Trump administration flooded the city with thousands of ICE agents in the new year, in what DHS called the “largest immigration operation ever.”
Clashes between law enforcement and protesters intensified Wednesday night after another federal agent shot a Venezuelan national in the leg while he was allegedly attempting to flee from authorities during a traffic stop.
Robbins, who is running for Minnesota governor, wrote in an X post late Wednesday that “all leaders should be encouraging calm tonight.”
“Rather than telling citizens to interfere with law enforcement, Tim Walz could stop the chaos if he would allow federal authorities to pick up criminals at jails & courthouses,” she wrote. “Because of Walz’s failure to cooperate, federal officers are forced to track criminals through our neighborhoods. This endangers law enforcement officers & community members. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
Walz made an appeal to President Donald Trump and his own constituents on Thursday.
“I am making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” he said on X. “And an appeal to Minnesotans: I know this is scary. We can - we must - speak out loudly, urgently, but also peacefully. We cannot fan the flames of chaos. That’s what he wants.”
The Department of Homeland Security previously said ICE agents have been facing an increase in assaults and threats against them. Lawyers told the Minnesota Star Tribune that state laws do not prohibit motorists from trailing law enforcement officers on public roadways, and that doing so is legal as long as drivers obey local traffic laws, keep a safe distance, and don’t interfere with enforcement operations.
“You have a right to be there. You have a right to record and publish the information,” Isabella Salomão Nascimento, a First Amendment attorney, told the outlet. “What has been has been very stunning is how easily spooked and how easily triggered these guys are.”
