Gov. Tim Walz encouraged Minnesota residents to carry their phones at all times to record federal immigration actions, promising during a statewide address on Wednesday night that “accountability is coming” for abuses by federal officers.
“Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity but to bank evidence for future prosecution,” Walz said.
Walz made the remarks during a six-minute address on Wednesday night, Jan. 14, as the state confronts a surge of between 2,000 and 3,000 agents, as well as widespread reports of violence against citizens and immigrants alike, including the killing of Renee Good last week.
“News reports simply don’t do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities,” Walz said.
The Trump administration has only intensified its focus on immigration actions in the state since Good’s killing and calls by Democratic leaders to end it.
Minnesota and the Twin Cities are suing the Trump administration, alleging that the increased federal actions are unconstitutional and a violation of federal law. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez said in a Wednesday hearing that there wasn’t enough time to make an informed ruling on state officials’ request for an injunction to stop “further legal violations and unlawful escalations” by federal agents reporting to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Walz renewed the call for ICE to leave on Wednesday evening, telling President Donald Trump and Noem: “End this occupation. You’ve done enough.”
Walz and Minnesota Democrats have also condemned the administration for ending a joint investigation into the Good killing; the Department of Justice kicked the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension off the case, though local prosecutors say they’ll continue to investigate.
A group of six federal prosecutors quit this week in protest over the U.S. Department of Justice’s push to investigate Good, her widow and their ties to anti-ICE activists, the New York Times reported.
Walz warned the federal focus on Minnesota may only get more intense in the near future, pointing to Trump’s recent Truth Social post that said, “FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!”
Walz encouraged Minnesotans to continue protesting peacefully and said this operation can’t last forever.
“We will not have to live like this forever,” Walz said. “Accountability is coming at the voting booth and in court. We will reclaim our communities from Donald Trump. We will reestablish a sense of safety for our neighbors, and we will bring an end to this moment of chaos, confusion and trauma.”
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.
