Protests are erupting at the nation's largest yoga studio. Here’s why.

It was an icy January morning on the Saturday Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a U.S. citizen and registered nurse who worked at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Minneapolis. 

Soon, the moment would reverberate around the country, escalating heated protests about President Donald Trump’s wide-reaching immigration campaign.

But five miles across town, the studio in CorePower Yoga’s Northeast Minneapolis location was tranquil. An instructor there was finishing a power yoga class when she heard the news.

“I'm guiding students out of shavasana and finding out that somebody else has been murdered in the street,” says the teacher who requested anonymity, fearing retaliation at her job. Pretti’s death came less than three weeks after an immigration officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, also 37, in her car.

Teachers at the studio were already frustrated. In the previous weeks, fearing for the safety of immigrant instructors and clients, they had requested guidance from their national corporate executives on how to handle U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and they were growing impatient. 

After a video circulated of studio members confronting staff about the situation, CorePower Yoga, the largest yoga studio brand in the country, has found itself at the center of viral online discourse. At least two instructors have already quit, and several others told USA TODAY they're considering resigning. The video received nearly 500,000 views.

CorePower Yoga says it has since approved signage across its studios that states “law enforcement and ICE may only enter with a valid judicial warrant.” And on Jan. 31, the company hosted more than 1,800 free classes nationwide, with those in attendance given the option to donate to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM).

“The company has communicated multiple times that it does not condone the violent ICE raids, and it joins multiple other companies and their calls for de-escalation. The company does not support ICE in any way,” a CorePower Yoga spokesperson told USA TODAY.

Still, the viral moment, and the fallout after, is opening up a conversation about the role of activism in wellness spaces. 

“Minneapolis, it feels that no matter the political party, that most everyone is on the same page here in the way that you're in it, you are seeing it happen live,” says Sam Myers, who cancelled her CorePower Yoga membership over the company's handling of the issue. “There is no way that you can deny the hurt, and the harm that is happening in the city.”

How CorePower Yoga became a flashpoint in a conversation about ICE and wellness 

As protests across Minneapolis swelled, CorePower students started messaging their instructors with questions: Was class still happening? Was it safe to come? Could immigration authorities enter a yoga studio? 

The uncertainty weighed heavily on immigrant instructors. One Minneapolis Studio Manager, who is in the U.S. legally with a green card, decided to shelter in place at home after consulting with an immigration attorney.

“The heaviness of it, I've never experienced anything like that,” says the instructor who requested anonymity at the recommendation of her immigration attorney. “I've never been afraid… and suddenly I have to seclude myself completely because I don't feel safe in a neighborhood that I was always safe in.”

A district manager in a mid-January email told staff the company could help find coverage for instructors who felt fearful to come to work. But the green-card-holder said these solutions weren’t feasible in practice — taking time off meant relying on vacation days to maintain her income. Staff was also told to take down a sign they had posted with legal guidance from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center until CorePower Yoga distributed corporate language.

The immigrant instructor quit days later, writing in her resignation that CorePower Yoga’s “refusal to understand the severity of this situation” put students and employees at risk, and left in-studio staff members to handle “the burden of protecting their community.”

News of her resignation unsettled some in the studio’s community. Tension escalated further on Feb. 1, when another instructor announced at the end of her class that she, too, would be leaving over concerns about the company’s response to ICE's presence in the city.

After class, more than a dozen clients gathered in the lobby and pressed a studio manager and regional director for answers about the removal of anti-ICE signage and lack of protocols. In a video recorded by attendee Heather Anderson that later went viral, the tension was palpable. Some students asked questions but other cursed at staff. 

After a beat when the staffers struggled to respond, a voice calls out "the silence is deafening" as the room fills with snaps.

Some students were silently listening. Others didn’t know the incident happened. But come Feb. 3, all of the students on the class roster with memberships were notified via email of a 90-day suspension, regardless of if they took part in the conversation. Anderson's membership was permanently revoked.

“You were present at our Northeast Minneapolis studio while two of our employees were aggressively confronted with abusive and profane language,” an email to students read. “While you may not have initiated the confrontation, you were present and failed to take steps to de-escalate or remove yourself from a situation that created a threatening environment.”

A CorePower Yoga spokesperson told USA TODAY that was “not the right wording” to use in response, and clarified they "do not expect students to assume responsibility for de-escalating confrontation." More than half of the 40 students have since had their memberships reinstated following one-on-one conversations.

Can ICE enter a fitness studio?

To be clear, there have been no verified reports of ICE entering gyms or fitness studios. The backlash that erupted stemmed from students' and employees' concerns amid heightened ICE activity.

Former federal prosecutor Kenneth P. White says these concerns aren't without basis, though they do go against ICE's stated protocols.

Legally, ICE can only enter private areas with a judicial warrant. But federal agents have made arrests in quasi-public spaces of private businesses, such as the parking lot of a Target.

White told USA TODAY it’s plausible that ICE could enter a fitness studio. 

“A business has a good argument that if they forbid ICE, then ICE shouldn't go in without a warrant. However, White says there's a discrepancy between what ICE is legally allowed to practice and how they’ve operated.

Businesses have the right to post signage stating that ICE is not permitted to enter without a warrant, and ignoring that signage could technically violate the business’s rights, White says. The more complicated legal question, he adds, is whether such an entry would be found to violate the rights of the business or those of a customer in the space, meaning a person arrested in a fitness studio may not have legal standing to challenge the entry.

Core Power Yoga on Jan. 24 and 25 closed three of their Minneapolis studios and paid instructors for the time they would have taught classes.

Should fitness studios take a stand?

CorePower Yoga isn’t the only company navigating the situation. Crunch Fitness faced backlash after an internal memo offering front-desk employees guidance on how to handle ICE leaked on Reddit.

“Our Company policy is to cooperate with any law enforcement officer,” the memo advises, going on to explain in a section about “what to expect during a raid” that raids “can last hours.” 

The franchise shared an Instagram post addressing the memo, in which the company said the memo was intended to offer guidance “in the event of an unexpected law enforcement visit” and clarified their intent was “preparedness and safety, not partnership or participation.”

Fitness coaches and influencers have similarly called on companies like SolidCore, OrangeTheory and SoulCycle to address the situation. Chicago-based Barry’s instructor Joe Nicastro in a Jan. 29 Instagram reel shared that he’s had students cancel class due to concerns about ICE.

“Until there are signs on the doors that say ICE out, or until there is some kind of broadcast saying that we stand with immigrants, I will not be teaching,” Nicastro said in the reel.

Clients USA TODAY spoke with cited the yoga practice of ahimsa, or non-harming, and say yoga is “inherently political.” But others online say CorePower Yoga’s mission has never been to serve as a political advocacy platform, and that sometimes, “the mat is just the mat.”

Kyle Wilman, a CorePower Yoga instructor based in St. Paul says the “collective anger” in the viral video is reminiscent of what the Twin Cities saw during protests over George Floyd’s death in 2020.

“My heart kind of hurt for both parties,” Wilman says. “I was disappointed in how the students that were being boisterous in that situation showed up, and I felt bad for the women behind the desk, and I thought that it was uncalled for.”

Ultimately, though, Wilman says the viral outrage is “causing division within people with a similar viewpoint."

He'd like everyone to remember that the intention of yoga is to bring people together. 

This story has been updated to include additional information. 

Rachel Hale’s role covering Youth Mental Health at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Reach her at [email protected] and @rachelleighhale on X.