The Justice Department subpoenaed five top Minnesota state officials, including its governor, Tim Walz, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, for allegedly conspiring to obstruct the work of federal immigration agents, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), several media outlets reported Tuesday.
In addition to Walz and Frey, whom U.S. President Donald Trump accused of “not knowing what to do” to stop the protests unleashed against the actions of federal agents, the Justice Department also subpoenaed Kaohly Her, the mayor of St. Paul, the state capital; Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison; and Mary Moriarty, the prosecutor for Hennepin County, where Minneapolis is located.
Senior Minnesota officials in Trump’s crosshairs
The move marks a new step in the Department’s investigation against state leaders, with whom the Trump Administration is at odds over their rejection of the deployment of immigration agents, which the president ordered without their approval.
The subpoenas were delivered to the officials’ office on the same day that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi arrived in Minnesota, several sources told CBS News.
The investigation, which was released this weekend, seeks to determine whether the officials conspired to obstruct federal agents in the performance of their duties.
The law mentioned in the dossier is the same one that was used against some of the rioters who stormed the Capitol last January 6, 2021, whom Trump pardoned on the first day of his second term, which is now a year old.
State and local authorities stage the latest confrontation with the White House amid protests in Minnesota against immigration agents, in which demonstrators launched fireworks at the troops, who tried to deter them with stun grenades and chemical gas.
Although the decision to send in the agents was rejected by citizens and top state officials, demonstrations intensified after an American woman was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis and another ICE agent shot another man a few blocks down the street.
The mayor of the city assured in a statement released to CBS, that he is “not afraid” and that he will continue to work for what he was elected for: “to keep the community safe and defend values”.
The governor, for his part, said that the state “will not allow itself to be dragged into a political theater”.
“This Justice Department investigation, driven by demands for accountability in the face of the violence, mayhem and murder of Renee Good, is not seeking justice. It is a partisan distraction,” he added.
Filed under: Senior Minnesota Officials
With information from EFE
