❓WHAT HAPPENED: Agitators attempting to block immigration enforcement operations at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, had shields and other gear distributed to them via U-Haul, suggesting a high level of organization.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: ICE officials, protesters, and the Antifa-affiliated group Unicorn Riot.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Friday, at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
💬KEY QUOTE: “I will tell you right now, they are going to fail.” – Marcos Charles, Acting Executive Associate Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), said of the agitators’ efforts to disrupt immigration enforcement.
🎯IMPACT: The blockade’s sophistication suggests anti-ICE activities are not spontaneous, and may be tied to nonprofits or other organizing forces.
A senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official said Friday that protesters attempting to disrupt federal immigration enforcement operations at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, had shields and other gear distributed to them by a U-Haul truck. Speaking at a press conference, Marcos Charles, Acting Executive Associate Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, said a group arrived at the building equipped to block access and prevent agents from leaving to carry out their duties.
“Moments ago, a group of agitators, a U-Haul van filled with shields… and gear decided to come over here to the Whipple building and block traffic. They are currently trying to impede us from getting out of the building and going to do our mission,” Charles said.
Charles stated that ICE would continue operations despite the obstruction. “I will tell you right now, they are going to fail because no matter what they put up in front of us, we are here to do a job to protect this community, to protect Minnesotans, and to keep the criminal illegal aliens off the street and put them where they belong: back into detention and remove them from this country,” he added.
🚨 BREAKING: Rioters showed up at the federal building in Minneapolis with a U-Haul truck full of RIOT SHIELDS to BLOCK agents from leaving the building, per ICE ERO head Marcos Charles
This CANNOT keep happening.
But they keep getting away with it! pic.twitter.com/MwwHNJXHmn
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 23, 2026
The Antifa-affiliated media group Unicorn Riot acknowledged the protest activity on social media, describing coordinated demonstrations across the Twin Cities amid extreme cold. “Today is #ICEout day in MN with high temps reaching -11°F & masses are protesting at MSP Airport while hundreds are outside the Whipple Federal Building. On one side, a blockade prevents ICE vehicles from driving thru while ice balls are thrown at vehicles on the other side,” the group posted.
Earlier this month, President Donald J. Trump blamed radical left-wing extremists for a rise in attacks and threats against law enforcement following the shooting of an anti-ICE activist who hit a federal officer with her car.
Department of Homeland Security officials have reported more than 10,000 arrests of illegal aliens in the Minneapolis area, drawing criticism from Minnesota’s Democrat leadership, including Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The Department of Justice has recently arrested several activists accused of orchestrating aggressive anti-ICE actions in Minneapolis, including the disruption of church services and federal operations.
Anti-ICE protesters gathered this afternoon at the Fort Snelling Metro Station near the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. As they marched north on Minnehaha Avenue toward the highway, state troopers declared an unlawful assembly. The group dispersed without incident. pic.twitter.com/JOsHmAe8zC
— 3JANE TV (@3janetv) January 23, 2026
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