The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, as well as other officials in the state, over allegations they conspired to slow federal immigration agents.
CBS News first reported the story, attributing “multiple sources familiar with the matter.” A U.S. official told the news outlet that the investigation stems from remarks Walz and Frey made about the almost 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents recently deployed to Minneapolis.
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This surge of federal immigration authorities to the state, as well as the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent on Jan.7, have been condemned by local leaders including Walz and Frey and led to protests not only in Minnesota but nationwide.
Federal inquiry
A U.S. official told CBS that the inquiry is focused on 18 U.S.C. § 372. The law says it’s a crime for two or more people to conspire to prevent federal officers from carrying out their duties “by force, intimidation, or threat.”
One source confirmed to The Washington Post that the DOJ planned to serve Frey and Walz with subpoenas Friday, though a spokesperson for Frey said he had not been served with one as of that evening. Walz said in a statement Friday that the office of the governor has not received any notice of the investigation.
“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic,” he said. “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.”
Frey, in a statement of his own, called the investigation “an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, local law enforcement, and residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our city.”
“I will not be intimidated,” he said. “My focus remains where it’s always been: keeping our city safe.”
Straight Arrow News reached out to the Department of Justice for comment. Though it has not specifically commented on the probe publicly, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X Friday: “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, earlier this week, addressed Walz and Frey in a tweet, calling them a “FAILED governor and a TERRIBLE mayor.”
“Walz and Frey — I’m focused on stopping YOU from your terrorism by whatever means necessary. This is not a threat. It’s a promise,” he said.
Aaron Terr, director public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said if elected officials’ basis for investigating Minnesota officials is for their criticism of federal immigration enforcement operations, “it is blatantly unconstitutional.”
“The right to condemn government action without fear of government punishment is the foundation of the First Amendment,” Terr said in a statement.
There are only a few exceptions to the First Amendment, he added, and these are narrow for a reason: “to prevent the government from wielding its power to squash dissent.”
“If criticism of government policy can be rebranded as a crime, then constitutional protections become meaningless and the government becomes unaccountable,” he said. “That is precisely the danger the First Amendment is meant to prevent, and it is a line no administration may cross.”
