Minneapolis tensions deepen again as Trump accuses mayor of ‘playing with fire’

(Corrected by deleting former paragraphs 22-23 with erroneous reference to criminal defendant Abdikadir Noor as plaintiff in civil case)

By Brad Brooks and Joseph X

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump warned Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday that he was “playing with fire” for insisting that local police stop enforcing federal immigration laws, a day after the president said he wanted to expand the city “a little bit less.”

Amid mixed signals from the White House, tensions remained high in Minneapolis, where observers and activists said deportation raids carried out by Trump’s “Operation Metro Surge” had not slowed but appeared more targeted on Wednesday.

Clashes between protesters and heavily armed immigration agents have rocked the city, with unrest escalating after two U.S. citizens were shot dead by federal officers — Renee Goode on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretty on Saturday.

Demonstrations have spread in cities large and small across the country in recent weeks, with Minneapolis releasing a protest song honoring Pretty and Good, singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen’s entry into pop culture on Wednesday.

In a sign of how immigration agents are changing their tactics, an internal memo reviewed by Reuters instructed officials to avoid unnecessary communication and engagement with protesters.

Trump and other top administration officials were talking tough again on Wednesday, a day after striking a conciliatory tone in their public comments following weeks of heated rhetoric.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that federal agents arrested 16 people in Minnesota on Wednesday on charges of assaulting, resisting or obstructing federal law enforcement.

“Nothing will stop Hammy from continuing to make arrests and enforce the law,” Bondi wrote.

A federal judge in Minneapolis said Wednesday that it was U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that was defying the law by ignoring dozens of federal court orders during an immigration enforcement escalation this month.

In canceling a contempt of court hearing for acting ICE chief Todd Lyons, after the agency’s late compliance with an order to release an Ecuadorian man wrongfully detained, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schlitz listed at least 96 court orders that he said ICE violated in 74 cases.

“This list should give pause to anyone — regardless of his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law,” Schlitz wrote. “ICE has probably violated more court orders in January 2025 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”

At the same time, the two immigration officers who shot Pretty have been placed on administrative leave, according to a U.S. Department of Interior spokesman, who said it was “standard protocol.”

Mixed messages, new strategy?

Trump’s administration signaled on Tuesday that it would soften its approach, sending border czar Tom Homan to take over operations from Border Patrol agent Gregory Bovino, whose aggressive tactics have drawn widespread criticism and legal challenges.

A senior administration official said Homan’s arrival would mark a shift from the broad street sweeps that Bovino has led in many cities to more traditional, narrow-minded operations.

That change appeared codified in a newly released internal ICE directive instructing agents to avoid engaging with “protesters” while on duty, warning that hostile posture “serves no purpose other than to inflame the situation.”

The guidance reviewed by Reuters also orders ICE officials to go after immigrants with criminal charges or convictions, a departure from previous tactics that involved randomly questioning people on the street about their immigration status.

Observers and activists told Reuters that ICE activity appeared to slow somewhat on Tuesday before fully resuming on Wednesday, albeit in a more targeted manner than before.

On Wednesday, ICE agents were seen driving around homes and businesses in several parts of the city in three-vehicle caravans of six to eight agents, then knocking on doors and looking around, looking for a specific person.

If that person isn’t found, observers said, agents are seen leaving. In the past weeks, agents may have begun visiting people and demanding documentary proof of legal status.

‘playing with fire’

Under mounting political pressure, Trump vowed to work with both Frey and Gov. Tim Walz to ease friction after speaking with both Democrats after Pretty’s murder.

But on social media Wednesday, Trump reiterated Frey’s position that the city will not enforce immigration laws. Trump wrote: “Can someone in his inner sanctum explain that this statement is a very serious violation of the law, and that he is playing with fire!”

Trump has threatened to cut funding for states that have so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, which limit how much they can help federal immigration authorities.

In response, Frey wrote on social media, “Our police job is to keep people safe, not to enforce fed immigration laws.”

Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, was shot during protests near her home on Saturday, and some administration officials quickly accused her of planning to kill the officer, citing a handgun.

But a video verified by Reuters shows Preeti with only her phone in her hand as Border Patrol agents push her to the ground. The video also showed that one agent found a gun in Pretty’s waistband and another agent removed it seconds before Pretty was shot in the back.

(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Minneapolis; Additional reporting by Maria Alejandra Cardona, Ted Hesson, Andrew Goudsward, Jana Winter, Andrew Hay and Jonathan Allen; Writing and additional reporting by Joseph X in New York and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Donna Perminsky and Donna Michael Jerison)