BRAINERD — One day after four people were arrested by a Homeland Security investigations team from El Potro Mexican Restaurant in downtown Brainerd, faith leaders and community members gathered outside in support.
The crowd of about 40 people began to gather shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, on the sidewalk along South Seventh Street. A woman poked her head out the front door.
“I just wanted to come out here and thank each and every one of you on behalf of the family as well. Thank you very much,” she said. “And I know it’s cold and you don’t have to be out here … ”
“We want to be out here,” someone replied.
“We’re very concerned,” another person said.
“Thank you, thank you,” she said. “I will let them know that you guys came out here and are so supportive of us.”
With those words, the woman in El Potro closed the door and stepped back inside.
Signs in the windows of the popular downtown restaurant also offer words of thanks for community support and announced the business’ indefinite closure. Handmade cards and signs posted on the outside by the public joined them.
Few details are available about the detentions beyond those shared in a news release from the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, which assisted with the operation. Federal agents reportedly possessed two arrest warrants; however, four people were taken into custody. The reasons are unknown and their identities have not been released.
The arrests come as “Operation Metro Surge” continues in the state and on the heels of two shooting deaths of U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Two requests by KAXE for additional information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement have not been returned as of Wednesday afternoon. Attempts to contact the owners and family members have been unsuccessful.
Those outside El Potro held candles and a banner stating “Immigrants and Refugees Welcome,” while singing songs and listening to a brief message from the Rev. Leslie Moughty of First United Congregational Church of Christ in Brainerd. She noted the community showed up on short notice and with little publicity.
“Look at the strength that is here. That is amazing,” she said. “I know that out in Brainerd, in this area, it can be pretty intimidating. … This is an unusual place to be as someone who is a justice-seeking person, because there isn’t that inherent network built in, that you can’t make that assumption that your neighbors are with you.”
Brainerd residents and El Potro customers Kirsten and Whitney Sjostrand brought their 11-year-old son Seth. Their household has kept close tabs on their state as the ICE surge is underway, and as a family, discussed their desire to go to Minneapolis and take part in demonstrations. But Kirsten Sjostrand said that felt very unsafe for her young family, while going to the vigil made them feel like they were making a difference.
“Even though this is small, Brainerd is small. And it doesn’t mean that it’s not strong and we’re not doing what we can,” she said.
“They belong,” Whitney Sjostrand added. “They’re part of us, you know?”
Seth said, “It was very inspiring, and I really liked it.”
Also in attendance were the Rev. Erika Nilsen of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Baxter and her daughter Mari Devine. She said she was motivated to show up because local families and a local business were being impacted, and people’s safety and well-being was at risk.
“We want to stand together as a faith community, as a beloved community, with a vision for a better tomorrow,” Nilsen said.
Devine, 22, said they were otherwise sitting at home, with the privilege of not having to be fearful as others in the community might be right now. She said it’s been challenging over her life to carry views that differed from what she felt like was the majority of people around her.
“Also moments like these make you realize that there are a lot of really, really good people in this town that are willing to show up and do this,” she said.
El Potro in Brainerd is a sister restaurant to a location with the same name in Grand Rapids. Owner Miguel Barboza was featured in a social media video posted by Grand Rapids State Bank in 2019. In it, he explained how the bank helped him realize his dreams.
“I’ve been in the United States for over 20 years … but when I moved to Grand Rapids, I feel like it was the right place to be at,” he said. “When I moved to Grand Rapids, I ask many different banks to help me out and knocked on many doors, and nobody believed in me. Grand Rapids State Bank, he opened a big, huge door for me. And, I did it. Like they say, the American Dream.”
