MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday served six subpoenas to Minnesota officials as part of a probe into whether they obstructed or impeded federal actions during immigration raids in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The subpoenas, which seek records, were sent to the offices of Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, the source said.
The person was not authorized to discuss publicly an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The subpoenas are related to an investigation into whether Minnesota officials obstructed the raids through public statements, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday. They said then that it was focused on possible violations of an anti-conspiracy statute.
Walz and Frey have characterized the investigation as a intimidation tactic designed to threaten political opposition.
Frey, on Friday, described the investigation as an attempt to intimidate him for “defending Minneapolis, our local law enforcement, and our residents against the chaos and danger that this Administration has brought to our streets.”
The subpoenas arrived as the Trump administration was urging a judge to reject Minnesota’s and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul’s efforts to block the raids that have unsettled those communities.
The Department of Justice called the lawsuit, filed shortly after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a federal immigration agent, “legally frivolous.” The lawyers argued that the Department of Homeland Security is acting within its legal powers to enforce immigration laws.
The raids have made the state safer by detaining more than 3,000 people who were in the country illegally, the government said in a court filing on Monday.
“In short, Minnesota wants a veto over the enforcement of federal law,” DOJ lawyers wrote.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the government is violating freedom of expression and other constitutional rights with its raids. He described the armed agents as poorly trained and said the “invasion” must end.
The lawsuit filed on January 12 seeks an order to stop or limit the raids. More court action is expected, and it’s not known when Judge Katherine Menendez will rule.
Ilan Wurman, who teaches constitutional law at the University of Minnesota Law School, doubted the state’s arguments would succeed.
“There’s no doubt federal law is supreme over state law, that immigration enforcement falls within the federal government’s power, and that the president, within legal bounds, can allocate more resources to states that have been less cooperative in this space of enforcement than others,” Wurman told The Associated Press.
Julia Decker, policy director at the Minnesota Immigrant Law Center, expressed frustration that activists have no way of knowing whether the government arrest figures and the custody descriptions are accurate. U.S. citizens have been pulled from their homes and vehicles during the raids in Minnesota.
“We are talking about real people, about whom potentially we have no idea what is happening to them,” Decker said.
In a separate suit, Menendez argued on Friday that police cannot stop or use tear gas against peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities.
Renee Good, 37, was killed on January 7 while moving her vehicle, which had been blocking a Minneapolis street where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were operating. Administration officials say the agent, Jonathan Ross, shot in self-defense, though video of the encounter shows the Honda Pilot pulling away slowly from him.
Since then, the public has repeatedly confronted the agents, blowing whistles and shouting insults. They have, in turn, used tear gas and chemical irritants against demonstrators. Bystanders have filmed videos of officers using a ram to enter a home, as well as breaking vehicle windows and pulling people from cars.
Regional police, meanwhile, say off-duty officers have been racially profiled by federal agents and detained without cause. Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said he has received complaints from residents who are U.S. citizens, including his own officers.
“Each of these people is a person of color who has experienced this,” Bruley said at a news conference.
He said he believes the detentions have been carried out by a “small group of individuals,” and not by all officers in the area.
President Donald Trump threatened last week to invoke a law from 1807 and deploy troops to Minnesota, though he has since backed off, at least in his public remarks.
