Street takeovers and traffic control by agitators in Minnesota cross legal lines, retired detective says

Agitators directing postulation and impeding instrumentality enforcement enactment successful Minnesota are drafting crisp disapproval from a erstwhile constabulary official, who warns the scenes awesome a unsafe normalization of obstruction that threatens nationalist information and the regularisation of law.

Retired NYPD detective and adjunct prof Mike Alcazar told Fox News Digital the behaviour would ne'er person been tolerated during his career, calling the deficiency of involution a wide departure from long-standing enforcement standards.

"It would person been unopen down immediately. It ne'er would person happened," Alcazar said.

Drawing connected decades of acquisition policing large-scale demonstrations successful New York City, Alcazar said protesters were historically permitted to workout their First Amendment rights, but lone wrong intelligibly enforced boundaries intended to forestall upset and violence.

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Residents barricade the 3300 artifact of Portland Avenue successful Minneapolis, Minn., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, wherever Renee Nicole Good was changeable the time earlier by an cause with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

He said civilians were not allowed to instrumentality implicit roadways, nonstop postulation oregon artifact pedestrian access, and officers routinely utilized barriers, separation tactics and a disposable uniformed beingness to support control.

"You cannot instrumentality implicit a roadway. That is not portion of your close to protest," Alcazar said. "That’s wherever we gully the line."

Alcazar said those lines present look progressively blurred, allowing demonstrations to drift into obstruction. When enforcement standards are not intelligibly maintained, helium said, agitators exploit the lack of consequences — surrounding officers, escalating confrontations and introducing items that tin beryllium utilized arsenic weapons, specified arsenic woody poles.

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An onlooker holds a motion speechmaking "Shame" arsenic instrumentality enforcement officers enactment the country pursuing a suspected shooting by an ICE cause during national operations successful Minneapolis, Minnesota, connected Wednesday. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

According to Alcazar, the risks intensify erstwhile national agents are operating without disposable section instrumentality enforcement support. Immigration enforcement operations, helium said, are not designed to negociate hostile civilian crowds and alternatively trust connected section departments to unafraid scenes and forestall interference.

"ICE agents are trained for enforcement operations — not assemblage control," Alcazar said. "When section constabulary propulsion back, you’re leaving national agents exposed."

Those risks were disposable connected the ground. Fox News analogous Matt Finn captured a tense infinitesimal successful downtown Minneapolis erstwhile a nonmigratory utilized a conveyance to concisely artifact Border Patrol agents during an progressive enforcement operation, forcing agents to bid the operator to move. Finn reported that Border Patrol units often debar remaining successful 1 determination for extended periods due to the fact that agitators often effort to situation oregon impede them, making adjacent little delays a information risk.

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Tensions escalated successful Minneapolis aft a fatal shooting Wednesday during a national migration enforcement operation, erstwhile 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was changeable and killed by an ICE agent.

Federal officials said Good attempted to thrust her conveyance toward agents during the encounter, a assertion disputed by household members and immoderate section leaders. The shooting led to agitators taking to the streets and heightened scrutiny of national enforcement enactment successful the city, contributing to repeated confrontations betwixt demonstrators and national agents.

City officials, however, said caller demonstrations person mostly remained peaceful and that steps are being taken to guarantee nationalist safety.

A spokesperson for the Minneapolis Police Department said lawful assemblies had been peaceful and comparable to different small- and large-scale demonstrations that regularly hap successful the city. Police emphasized that keeping streets wide is captious to protecting lives, spot and archetypal responders.

Minneapolis City Council subordinate Jason Chavez (L) addresses onlookers pursuing a shooting by an ICE cause during national instrumentality enforcement operations connected Jan. 7, 2026, successful Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

The metropolis said it was removing barriers blocking streets adjacent the tract of Wednesday’s shooting to guarantee exigency access.

Minneapolis Fire Department Interim Chief Melanie Rucker warned that blocked streets tin hold exigency effect and endanger lives.

"Safety has to travel archetypal — each 2nd matters erstwhile lives are connected the line," Rucker said, noting crews precocious responded to a three-alarm occurrence conscionable blocks from the area. "When streets are blocked, it slows our effect and puts some residents and exigency responders astatine risk."

City officials said residents person raised concerns astir vicinity access, with aggregate 311 calls requesting obstruction removal. While memorials created by assemblage members volition stay intact, the metropolis said surrounding streets indispensable enactment wide to guarantee exigency access.

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Residents barricade the 3300 artifact of Portland Ave. successful Minneapolis, MN, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. The artifact is wherever Renee Nicole Good was changeable by an ICE agent. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has sharply criticized the beingness and actions of national migration agents pursuing the shooting, telling ICE to "get the f--- retired of Minneapolis" and rejecting the Department of Homeland Security’s relationship of the incident. Frey said the metropolis does not privation national agents there, arguing their beingness has contributed to chaos and undermined nationalist safety.

Additional concerns were raised by Adam Swart, CEO of Crowds connected Demand, who told Fox News Digital his steadfast declined to enactment successful Minneapolis demonstrations due to the fact that galore crossed into amerciable activity, including blocking streets and obstructing national instrumentality enforcement.

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Fox News big Laura Ingraham speaks with an agitator during a objection successful Minneapolis, Minnesota. The agitator claimed she is being paid "right now" to be the demonstration. (The Ingraham Angle)

Swart said mixing peaceful protesters with individuals engaging successful obstruction creates superior information risks, arsenic officers cannot easy separate betwixt lawful demonstrators and agitators.

"When you’re blocking streets, clashing with instrumentality enforcement, and obstructing national agents, those are amerciable protests," Swart said. "Law enforcement can’t easy separate betwixt peaceful protesters and radical creating those obstructions."

Swart rejected claims that blocking roadways oregon restricting instrumentality enforcement question constitutes "nonviolent resistance," informing that preventing national agents from moving freely puts officers, protesters and exigency responders successful danger.

He added that specified tactics are often counterproductive, saying efforts to obstruct ICE operations are much apt to trigger an accrued national beingness alternatively than deter enforcement.

Mark Ross, president of the St. Paul Police Federation, besides weighed in, sharply criticizing section governmental enactment and the interaction of alleged separation ordinances connected nationalist safety.

"It’s a look for disaster," Michael Alcazar said astir leaving national officers to run amid disorder. "That’s however civilians get hurt, officers get wounded and situations spiral retired of control." (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Ross said metropolis leaders person conflated regular assemblage power enactment with "working with ICE," contempt section constabulary departments having nary relation successful national migration enforcement.

"As acold arsenic I’m concerned, these mayors and councils person immoderate humor connected their hands and carnivore immoderate responsibility," Ross said.

Ross argued that allowing section constabulary to supply basal assemblage power — alternatively than restricting coordination — could person reduced risks during caller confrontations. He said constabulary assistance focused solely connected keeping crowds from interfering with national agents mightiness person prevented unsafe escalation.

Ross added that his section has repeatedly offered assistance constricted to assemblage management, not deportations oregon national enforcement duties, to guarantee the information of some agents and demonstrators.

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Alcazar said the unrest underscores the information of leaving national agents to run amid upset without section instrumentality enforcement support, informing that the lack of a disposable constabulary beingness increases the hazard of escalation and wounded for officers and civilians alike.

"It’s a look for disaster," helium said. "That’s however civilians get hurt, officers get wounded and situations spiral retired of control."

Alcazar warned that allowing obstruction to spell unchecked sends a unsafe awesome that enforcement standards nary longer apply.

"Once civilians commencement controlling the streets, constabulary suffer power of the streets," Alcazar said. "When radical don’t cognize wherever the limits are, they’re going to instrumentality advantage."

Fox News' Matt Finn and Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send communicative tips to [email protected].