Federal Response to Minnesota Protests Faces Scrutiny Over Agent Training and Tactics
A surge in federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota is under fire following fatal encounters with U.S. citizens, raising questions about teh preparedness of federal agents for urban policing and crowd control.
President Trump has initiated a leadership change within the operation, replacing commander Gregory Bovino with Border Czar Tom Homan.However, concerns persist that the core issue – a mismatch between the training and experience of deployed agents and the demands of urban law enforcement – remains unresolved.
“The skills that these federal immigration agents are bringing to these cities are a complete mismatch for what we actually need,” stated Irene Vega, an associate professor of sociology at UC Irvine. “That’s not what their job has been, historically, and I just think it’s a very hazardous situation.”
Approximately 3,000 agents, largely from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), have been deployed to cities across the country, ostensibly to protect federal property. However, their actions have drawn criticism from local officials and civil liberties groups. A 2013 internal review of CBP’s use of force found that agents’ actions “do not appear to meet the test of objective reasonableness with regard to the use of deadly force,” and that agents sometimes unnecessarily placed themselves in harm’s way. The review prompted a policy change in 2014 requiring officers to carry less-lethal weapons, such as pepper spray.
In Minneapolis, CBP agents have increasingly relied on chemical irritants to manage protesters and observers. The use of pepper spray has been implicated in escalating tensions, including the events leading up to the fatal shooting of alex pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, on Saturday.
“There’s a duty of obligation that you have in policing, if you incapacitate someone,” said Leon Taylor, a retired Baltimore police officer and former military peacekeeper. “If [a pepper-sprayed person] stumbles out into traffic and gets run over and killed, that’s on me. There’s a duty of care.” taylor observed that videos suggest federal officers are escalating, rather than de-escalating, conflicts. He attributes this to a perceived “immunity” fostered by high-level officials, such as Vice President Vance.
David “Kawika” Lau, a former senior instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, acknowledged the increased emphasis on de-escalation techniques following the 2013 review. “We teach them emotional intelligence, self-regulation, self-awareness. Because you can’t bring calm to any situation if you yourself are not calm,” Lau stated.
However, Lau cautioned that these techniques are most effective in one-on-one encounters and may not be sufficient for managing large, raucous crowds. “They may have some training and expertise in urban operations,” he said, “But that is not what that position [CBP officer] was designed to do. Therefore,that’s not what the training is designed to produce.”
CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott defended the agency’s actions, stating that agents are facing a “new dynamic” where communities actively attempt to obstruct arrests. He told Fox news that the agency is “trying to evolve to it.” Federal officials have expressed concern that protesters are actively hindering enforcement efforts, potentially leading to charges of “impeding” federal officers or even “seditious conspiracy.”
Minnesota officials, however, argue that the federal presence is counterproductive, diverting resources from actual immigration enforcement. Governor Tim Walz stated on Sunday that federal agents had overlooked the arrest of a non-citizen with a serious criminal record while focusing on the protests. “They’re too busy up here, doing what they did yesterday [the Pretti shooting] to go pick up someone who actually should be removed from this country,” Walz said. “It’s their job to do immigration and customs enforcement. It’s law enforcement’s job to do law enforcement in Minnesota.”
Following a “productive call” with President Trump on Monday, Walz indicated that the president would consider reducing the number of federal officers deployed to Minnesota. The situation remains fluid, but the events in Minneapolis underscore the challenges of deploying federal law enforcement agencies into unfamiliar urban environments and the critical need for specialized training and a clear understanding of the duty of care owed to the public.
