‘Warfare in the street’: Minneapolis mayor claims authority to arrest federal law-enforcement officers

The mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, who along with other officials in Minnesota have allowed to develop what apparently is a multi-billion dollar social services fraud industry in the state’s Somali immigrant community, says he has the authority to arrest federal law enforcement agents.

They have been flooded into the state to enforce federal immigration laws and investigate those cases of fraud, which apparently were no more complicated sometimes than claiming to have set up a daycare and billing the government for millions of dollars without actually serving any children.

Frey said, in a recent podcast that promotes leftist talking points, “Can our cops arrest them? From a legal perspective, yes. From a practical perspective, to state the reality, it does get kind of hard when they drastically outnumber us, and they have bigger guns than we do. We don’t want to create warfare in the street.”

He said no one is allowed to act “illegally” and he’s working to “find the best way to prevent these ICE agents from acting illegally while not causing a firestorm on the street.”

Actual instances of ICE agents acting illegally have not been in evidence.

Frey’s comments, from a transcript in Real Clear Politics: “Give some credit to our police officers, because they are exhausted. They are working tirelessly. They are getting all kinds of calls. ‘My friend or family member is being kidnapped. There is an illegitimate use of force taking place.’

“Not to mention, they have the regular day-to-day stuff that happens when ICE isn’t here that they need to deal with. We have fewer officers per capita than we need, and so they’re doing a great job, but they’re tired.”

He continued, “We have worked so hard to generate trust between officers and community members over these last several years since George Floyd was murdered here. And we’ve made huge strides. I mean, community members—some of the most intense activists who did not like cops very much, probably still don’t—are saying that our officers are doing the right thing.

“But I think the question that you’re getting to, which I have not wholly answered yet, is that you’re basically asking: can our cops arrest them? From a legal perspective, yes. From a practical perspective, to state the reality, it does get kind of hard when they drastically outnumber us and they have bigger guns than we do.

“We don’t want to create warfare in the street. We want to keep our communities safe. We’re trying our very best to do that. So nobody—our police officers, ICE agents, civilians—nobody can act illegally. Nobody can.”

Frey claimed he’s working to protect residents, “And where illegality is taking place, where people are being mistreated and hurt, our officers are going to be there to help the best they can to keep people safe.”