Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blames ICE agents for shooting
Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey addresses the I.C.E.-involved shooting in the city.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey—perhaps best known for fomenting Black Lives Matter riots and abandoning a police station to rioters in 2020—is using the tragic officer-involved shooting of a woman to reignite the same radical forces that led to such destruction just over five years ago.
"To ICE, get the f*** out of Minneapolis. We don’t want you here," said Frey this week, demonstrating the same reckless behavior that tragically helped destroy his city.
While this most recent statement was designed for social media clicks and attention-grabbing headlines, another made during the same press conference was even more irresponsible and detached from reality.
"They (ICE) are not here to cause safety in this city (…) they’re sowing chaos on our streets, and this case, quite literally killing people," Frey continued.
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These are not the words of a serious person.
Such a statement, made mere hours after a shooting, is erroneous and ridiculously places all blame on law enforcement while investigations are ongoing. With Jacob Frey in power, the "Defund the Police" movement is alive and well.
The truth is, without Mayor Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s radical sanctuary policies—which the Department of Justice is pursuing legal action to stop – this tragedy likely could have been avoided.
The state of Minnesota is listed as a sanctuary jurisdiction by the Department of Justice, which identifies localities that have "policies, laws, or regulations that impeded enforcement of federal immigration laws."
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In Minneapolis, the city’s so-called "Separation Ordinance" prohibits any participation in federal immigration enforcement and requires the city to "vigorously oppose any effort to require the use of city resources for the enforcement of federal immigration laws."
In reality, state and local cooperation in federal law enforcement operations is a critical element that keeps both law enforcement officers and citizens safe. When local law enforcement is involved, they provide crowd control, open roadways, make arrests, and share localized intelligence to better inform operational decisions.
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Consider Florida, a state where Gov. Ron DeSantis has mandated that every state and local law enforcement agency assist ICE operations through 287(g) agreements. Operation Tidal Wave, led by a coalition of state, local, and federal agencies, has resulted in over 10,000 arrests of criminal illegal aliens. Rather than actively impeding ICE operations, law enforcement across the state of Florida has partnered with the federal government to keep Americans safe and respect the rule of law.
Minnesota and Minneapolis could follow the Florida model, but their fervent anti-Trump and anti-law enforcement leadership would rather play politics than provide public safety to their constituents.
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In mere weeks, ICE has detained over 1,000 illegal aliens in Minnesota—including sexual predators, rapists, murderers, gang members, and other violent illegal aliens. These are the people that Mayor Frey and Governor Walz’s sanctuary policies are designed to protect, rather than law-abiding Americans.
Here’s our message to Mayor Frey: true "chaos" originates from policies that release dangerous illegal aliens into American neighborhoods, not from lawful immigration enforcement operations.
Unfortunately, Mayor Frey isn’t alone in his radical political posturing opposing federal law enforcement. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Gov. Gavin Newsom and countless other politicians have repeatedly called the men and women of federal law enforcement racists, Nazis, Gestapo, and illegal military occupiers.
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These statements should be disqualifying for public service.
No one who compares Americans to our historical enemies should be in any place of decision-making authority in our nation.
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ICE’s mission is incredibly dangerous—but it isn’t new. ICE agents have been enforcing immigration laws for decades. The only thing that has changed is the dangerous rhetoric from the radical Left that has resulted in a historic 1,300% increase in threats and attacks—including numerous vehicular ramming attacks—and an 8,000% increase in death threats. ICE is no different from any other law enforcement agency, and its officers deserve respect, due process, and political leadership that has their back.
Minnesota is in crisis—from historic fraud to the latest anti-law enforcement rhetoric. It’s clear to most Americans that Mayor Frey should resign before his dangerous rhetoric and policies cause more chaos and destruction.
Cooper J. Smith serves as director of Homeland Security and Immigration at the America First Policy Institute. He previously served as policy adviser at the Department of Homeland Security during the first Trump administration.
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