Chaos as federal agents make arrest in St. Paul

ST. PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul Police deployed chemical irritant on a crowd of protesters Tuesday during and after a federal enforcement action at a residential address in the Payne-Phalen area.

One person was removed from a house and placed in detention by federal agents in the 600 block of East Rose Avenue that morning.

A protester who was apparently knocked down left the area on a stretcher and police later used heavy amounts of a chemical irritant on nearby Payne Avenue.

Two state lawmakers — state Rep. Athena Hollins of St. Paul and Rep. Liish Kozlowski of Duluth — were among those hit by gas, spray or projectiles, as were at least three journalists and St. Paul City Council vice-president HwaJeong Kim.

“We’re trying to figure out what happened. ICE agents showed up in St. Paul, the way they have before,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, talking to the media and people who remained at the scene about an hour after the individual was removed from the residence.

“Community members are frustrated … We just saw chemical munitions and things like that that were used. I have questions, same as everybody else does, as to what precipitated that and why … That’s why we have body camera footage.”

The residential block sits near the intersection of Payne and Maryland avenues. On social media, the Immigrant Defense Network alerted activists Tuesday morning to an “ICE raid” and protesters quickly amassed around the house where authorities had placed police tape.

Agents wearing federal Homeland Security Investigations gear were present.

Kim, who was at the scene, said she was told that it began when two men were trying to go to work. She said she believes one was arrested and the “other fled in fear and took refuge inside that house. Whether or not they knew each other, I do not know.”

There was a family and child inside the home, and the man who went inside the house later voluntarily turned himself over to federal law enforcement, Kim said.

Two people who wore gear saying “Police Federal Agent” had two other men in custody at the side of the house. Kim said they’d been in the group of observers and protesters who gathered.

As for the person who was taken away on a stretcher, people had their arms linked and two federal agents grabbed the individual, “yanked down and they went head first into the ground,” Kim said.

Minnesota Public Radio photographer Kerem Yücel was later placed into an ambulance after suffering exposure to irritants that appeared to be pepper balls or similar projectiles deployed by St. Paul Police, and another MPR reporter also was hit but not as badly. Sahan Journal video journalist Dymanh Chhoun was treated by people at the scene after being hit in the face with chemical irritant.

A crowd had formed a line behind the residence, while a larger group of protesters assembled out in front of it. St. Paul Police officers wore helmets and gas masks and carried police batons and cans of chemical irritant in hand, and it appeared it was St. Paul officers who deployed spray and gas as protesters surged, yelling “Shame! Shame!”

Kim was speaking with a crowd of protesters at around 11:45 a.m., urging them to stay calm and not intervene shortly before an individual exited the residence with authorities to be transported into detention on an arrest warrant.

“We have a finite window of time,” Kim told the crowd, over vocal retorts from some protesters. “Everyone needs to stay calm … You’re fighting on the right side of history. Right now we’re working with that person to work with lawyers.”

“The options right now are one person voluntarily leaving this house,” Kim continued. “We can’t speak for the other people on the property. Allegedly, there is someone with child and a young child in the house. Right now there is someone who is voluntarily choosing to leave this property … They are connected to legal services. They are connected to advocate groups. … When and if this happens, please stay calm. Please try not to intervene.”

“I also got tear-gassed today,” she said, as one protester yelled “Don’t tell us to stay calm!”

Shortly afterward, federal agents could be seen with two people in handcuffs, who were apparently protesters or observers. At least one person was then transported from the house to detention. As St. Paul police officers backed away on Rose Street, protesters walked toward them shouting, “Pigs go home!” and “Shame on you!”

Most officers left, but as a police vehicle started driving away on Payne Avenue and people walked after it, an officer exited and began shooting a chemical irritant. Someone threw an object at the vehicle’s back window, breaking it. Police deployed canisters of pepper spray before leaving the area.

On Tuesday afternoon, a woman who answered the door at the Rose Avenue home where a person was taken into custody said the family was not commenting.

Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement on X: “We are monitoring the situation in St. Paul and working to understand what unfolded. We received no heads up from federal authorities on this operation. While we are always willing to work together on public safety, that is clearly not what this chaotic situation was about.”

» Pioneer Press