Walz, other MN officials served subpoenas amid protests, ICE raids
Subpoenas were served at the offices of multiple Democratic officials in Minnesota on Jan. 20, multiple news outlets reported, as tensions escalate between local officials and the federal government amid protests and intensifying immigration enforcement in the state.
The Department of Justice served grand jury subpoenas to the offices of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, according the outlets, including Reuters, The New York Times and Fox News, which cited anonymous sources.
The alleged criminal violations associated with the subpoenas remain unclear. The Department of Justice and Ellison's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The subpoena to Frey's office reportedly asked for multiple categories of documents and ordered the office's records custodian to appear for testimony next month. In a statement to NBC News, Ellison said the subpoena to his office was for "records and documents, not for me personally."
The subpoenas were delivered days after the Department of Justice announced it was launching an investigation into Walz and Frey in connection with a suspected conspiracy to impede federal immigration enforcement in the state. Both officials denied the allegations and said the probe was political.
Walz on Jan. 20 called the investigation a “partisan distraction.”
“The Justice Department investigation, sparked by calls for accountability in the face of violence, chaos and the killing of Renee Good, does not seek justice,” he said on X, adding, “My focus has always been protecting the people of this state, not protecting myself.”
Frey alleged the Trump administration was weaponizing law enforcement "to play politics or crack down on local voices they disagree with."
The legal development comes amid a growing feud between Minnesota’s Democratic leaders and President Donald Trump. Since December, the Department of Homeland Security has sent some 3,000 federal agents to the state in what it’s called the "largest immigration operation ever" to combat fraud in social welfare programs and conduct immigration enforcement.
Tensions came to a head after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7, when protests broke out nationwide and DHS sent more agents to the Twin Cities.
Walz and Frey have called for immigration authorities to leave the state, accusing federal officers of terrorizing communities and creating chaos. The state as well as Minneapolis and St. Paul sued to halt the immigration operations, but a judge declined to expel the thousands of officers.
The aftermath of the fatal shooting also saw at least six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resign amid pressure to investigate Good's wife, multiple news outlets reported, and drop any probe into the agent who shot and killed the mother of three. The Department of Justice has said there's no basis for an investigation into the agent's conduct.
DOJ officials also said they would investigate a protest over the weekend that interrupted a Sunday church service.
3K 'criminal, illegal aliens' arrested in Twin Cities, DHS says
Homeland Security officials at a news conference on Jan. 20 said the agency has arrested 3,000 "criminal, illegal aliens" in the Twin Cities in the past six weeks, including around 110 over the holiday weekend.
"They’re not random and they’re not political," Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino said of the arrests, adding they’re "focused on individuals who pose a serious threat to this community."
Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to requests for information on the names of people arrested by the agency. Bovino said the agency has arrested 10,000 people in the Minneapolis metropolitan area over the past year.
Studies and federal court cases have found that a small portion of the people arrested by immigration authorities have criminal records.
According to a study by libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, around 3 out of 4 people placed into ICE custody have no criminal convictions; nearly half had no conviction or pending charges, and 5% had a violent criminal conviction.