In late 2025, the Department of Homeland Security zeroed in on the Twin Cities in Minnesota, supposedly in response to fraud allegations made by a right-wing influencer. In the months since, thousands of immigrants have been swept up by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. In January alone, two American citizens were killed while documenting ICE operations in the city. Two Customs and Border Protection agents deployed to Minneapolis fatally shot protester Alex Pretti on January 24th, triggering another wave of protests throughout the city — and another DHS crackdown.
One local who was arrested while protesting at the site of Alex’s killing talked to The Verge about his harrowing experience in custody at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building and how the community is fighting back. We’ve anonymized his identity due to safety concerns.
As told to Gaby Del Valle:
The first thing I saw when I opened my phone was the footage. It was two weeks after Renee Good was killed. As soon as I saw the video of Alex Pretti’s murder, I started putting on warm layers and let my partner know I was heading to the scene. I arrived around 11.
Federal agents had already started deploying chemical irritants: tear gas and pepper spray. I got shot in the chest by nonlethal rounds from about 30 yards away. Fortunately, I was wearing enough winter clothing that it didn’t hurt, but I most definitely felt the impact. I believe it was pepper balls. Still, they did not seem too pleased about it. I presume because it didn’t cause the injury they were hoping for.
I was only there for about 15, 20 minutes before they fixated on me and grabbed me. I remember two agents moving in a pair toward me. One of them already had their gun drawn and was pointing it at me. They tackled me to the ground, and then had my legs crossed. They put my arms behind my back and cuffed me, and then they brought me back to the very middle of everything, where the majority of the ICE agents and other officers were. They had both their military vehicles and unmarked cars.
They sat me on the ground and had one agent keeping an eye on me while they processed my stuff. They took my backpack, my balaclava and face mask, everything else I had on, so they could have my face out. As I was leaning up against one of the cars, another agent came up to me. He had a very large camera on a handle that had deflector bands on it, and he spent maybe 30 seconds to a minute filming me. They asked if I wanted water or anything, which I politely refused. I’m not necessarily too keen on breaking bread with people that I don’t agree with.
They put me in one of their unmarked SUVs. I was the first person they put in that vehicle, and shortly afterward, two other people were loaded into the car. One of the other people in the SUV had a chunk of their hair ripped out. I could see it on their lap. Another person in there, it was clear that their cuffs were painfully tight — all of ours were. My cuffs were excruciating, but I had no intention of letting them know, or even trying to imagine asking them, “Hey, could I get my cuffs loosened a little bit?” because I knew they’d immediately laugh it off. That’s exactly what they did to another person who was in the SUV. The agents were making a lot of disingenuous conversation with us, asking things like, “What kind of music do you want to listen to?” There was a lot of power-tripping going on.
The tear gas was getting into the vehicle. They had the doors open, and when they were closed, it was either lingering in the air or coming in through the air vents.
It wasn’t my first time smelling it and feeling it. The last time I remember was during the George Floyd protests. It’s a burning sensation in the lungs. This time, most of it was secondary and wafting through the air, so it wasn’t as noxious as it could’ve been. But it was very constricting on the lungs and throat and made it hard to catch your breath, as well as an irritant to the eyes.
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