Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have targeted off-duty police officers in the Minneapolis area based on race, including one who said federal agents drew their guns on her, Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley.
He shared the encounter Tuesday during a news conference calling for accountability and oversight of the influx of ICE agents sent to Minnesota to boost immigration enforcement. Bruley said his department has received "endless" complaints from U.S. citizens, including off-duty police officers and city employees who said ICE agents stopped them "with no cause" and demanded proof of citizenship.
St. Paul police Chief Axel Henry, who said city employees have also been targeted, described the traffic stops as "clearly outside the bounds of what federal agents are allowed to do."
"We watch the news and we see very, very angry groups of people out protesting, but the people that we're dealing with as police chiefs are the people that are scared to death, that are afraid to go outside," Henry said at the news conference.
He said they're not afraid because of their status, but because they "are getting stopped by the way that they look, and they don't want to take that risk."
