Minneapolis raid sparks protests: Woman charged with assaulting officers says she was assaulted too
Minneapolis raid sparks protests: Woman charged with assaulting officers says she was assaulted too originally appeared on Bring Me The News.
Protesters have demonstrated in cities across Minnesota following the arrest of a 27-year-old St. Paul woman during a narcotics raid in south Minneapolis.
Isabel Lopez made her first court appearance on Tuesday, facing four charges for physically assaulting federal agents and officers. She was arrested as search warrants related to narcotics, money laundering, and human trafficking were being carried out in south Minneapolis on June 3.
As the raid of Las Cuatro Milpas was carried out, protestors gathered under the assumption that an ICE deportation operation was underway. Instead, the criminal complaint charging Lopez reveals that the raid was one of eight carried out in the metro related to the drugs, money laundering and human trafficking. The operation yielded the seizure of 900 pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of $22-$25 million at a storage unit in Burnsville.
Since Lopez's arrest, additional footage from the protest was released by independent journalist Georgia Fort, and it shows Lopez being held down and pushed to the ground by law enforcement.
In a post on her Instagram account, Lopez says she was pinned down by an FBI officer, and was yanked off a trash bin and slammed to the ground. In the post, she also shares pictures of bruises on the back of her legs.
Lopez is accused of punching, kicking and shoving officers and agents during the protest. While she was being arrested, Lopez kicked an FBI agent and also threw a softball at a Hennepin County sheriff's deputy, according to the charges.
On Wednesday, demonstrators gathered outside the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River — where Lopez is being held — calling her a longtime artist and activist. At the same time, people rallied in Minneapolis, protesting ICE raids happening across the country.
Lopez was scheduled to appear in court in St. Paul, where protestors again gathered, on Thursday morning. She reportedly pleaded not guilty to the four charges and was released from custody with conditions.
This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 12, 2025, where it first appeared.

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Los Angeles Times
32 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
The ‘Mexican Beverly Hills' reels from Trump immigration raids, forcing some to carry passports
With its stately homes and bustling business districts, Downey has long been known to some as the 'Mexican Beverly Hills.' But the Southeast L.A. County city of more than 110,000 people has been roiled this week by Trump immigration raids in Southern California, sparking both fear and outrage. Downey Councilman Mario Trujillo said the raids are 'creating a culture of fear' that's prompting people, even with documents, to stay home out of concern they could be targeted by federal agents simply for being Latino. The downtown Downey area, which had already been hurting amid a tenuous economy, is now a ghost town, Trujillo said. While he understands that immigration agents have a job to do, Trujillo questions the necessity of grabbing workers trying to support their families and people just trying to go about their daily lives. 'We're supposed to be made to feel safe by this agency because they're removing bad people,' he said. 'That's what they're supposed to be doing.' On Wednesday, masked federal agents detained at least 12 people from businesses in Downey, but community members were able to discourage them from taking one man without proper documents. Downey has long been a landing spot for upwardly mobile Latinos, who make up 75% of the population. The median income is $97,000, above the California average. The Times reported in December that support for Donald Trump increased during the last election. While Democrats still dominated, The Times found Trump gained 18.8 percentage points in November compared with the 2020 presidential election. Paula Mejia, a Downey resident in her 50s who immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. more than 45 years ago, said that fewer people have been going to restaurants and to other businesses in Downey ever since the ICE raids began. 'I've been scared and I have to carry my passport,' she said. 'I have never done before and we are out of words. Even my kids, they were born here. Now, they're carrying their passports.' Mejia, who was wearing a green jacket with a 'Mexico' badge sewn to the front Thursday afternoon, said she's a U.S. citizen and has been disappointed by the way Mexicans have been treated under the Trump administration. 'They just look at our colors, our nationalities, and they're just profiling people,' she said. 'Colombians, Peruvians, Ecuadorians. They're just calling them Mexicans. They're denigrating us and want to use the term 'Mexicans' and we're not backing up. We work very hard in this country and for them to be treating us like criminals, we're not criminals. We're hardworking people.' In a video of the encounter, the unidentified man can be seen sitting on the ground surrounded by masked agents who had chased him down. The man spotted Immigration and Customs Enforcement at his job and rode away on his bicycle, but one of the masked men grabbed his tire, causing him to fall, ABC7 reported. Melyssa Rivas recorded community members peppering federal agents with questions about why they were chasing the man. It's unclear what prompted the agents to leave the scene. 'It looked like a full-on kidnapping scene out of a movie; it was scary,' Rivas told the outlet. Jose, 26, who declined to provide his last name because of safety concerns, is the son of the owner of Galaxy Auto Detail in Downey, which was targeted by federal agents on Wednesday. Two agents arrived shortly after 9 a.m. and attempted to quickly surround an employee in an apparent attempt to keep him from running away. But the worker saw what was happening and sprinted toward nearby train tracks. He was later detained along with another man. Only one of the individuals was undocumented, Jose told The Times. Jose said he tried to ask the agents if they had a warrant but was told he was going to be arrested for interfering if he kept asking questions. With only five workers remaining, the car wash was closed on Thursday and Jose said he doesn't know when it'll reopen. Jose's mother, an immigrant from Mexico, has owned the car wash for 12 years. She and her son said they believe federal agents are targeting businesses owned by Mexicans. 'I have my citizenship,' said Jose, who was born in the U.S. 'I feel unsafe, even if I have papers. I just saw them targeting brown people.' 'We're starting to feel that we're the only race that's being targeted because it's easy pickings because of the color of our skin,' Trujillo said. 'That's what it's starting to feel like — racial profiling.' Downey Memorial Church, the site of where a group of armed men wearing face coverings detained and drove off with a Latino man on Wednesday, was completely empty Thursday afternoon. All of the doors were locked and lights shut off. Estevan Phillipy, 22, works at the Around the World Learning Center, a preschool right next to the church. Phillipy is a teacher and was with the kids when the man was detained Wednesday, but his father, who owns the preschool, saw the entire incident unfold. 'All of a sudden, a bunch of vans and cars pulled up into the parking lot, and they just jumped on him,' he said. 'Some people from the church tried to stop it or were saying stuff, but the guy got detained and taken away.' Phillipy is half white, half Mexican and was born in the U.S., but said his Mexican relatives have been afraid to go outside since the raids began. 'My family's scared right now,' he said. 'We are all documented, but we just look the part. I know there's a lot of racial profiling going on.' Alex Cruz, a 43-year-old Downey resident who has worked at Papa John Car Wash for the past year, said the raids have been so unsettling that many have stopped coming to work. Cruz said the seven or eight undocumented workers who were employed at the car wash stopped showing up two weeks ago. 'Everybody is intimidated,' he said. 'Everybody is afraid to get out of their house. Everybody is afraid to go to work.' Cruz, the son of an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who came to the U.S. in the 1970s, said he's angered by the federal government's portrayal that anyone without documents living in the United States is a criminal. 'That's how they're categorizing every Hispanic or Latino,' he said. 'The president should have a little more humanity. If it wasn't for immigrants washing their dishes, nobody would do it.' 'This is not right,' he added. 'Everyone deserves the opportunity to work and support their families. A lot of these guys are missing out on a paycheck or a salary because of what's going on right now.' Some are continuing to work despite the uncertainty they feel leaving their homes each day. A man who identified himself only as Francisco, because he was undocumented and feared deportation, said he has been working as a taquero on the outskirts of downtown for over a year. He said he has never felt as worried as he does now, in the shadow of this week's ICE raids. 'We can't go out to work as much on the streets now,' the 23-year-old said in Spanish. 'We've heard from some colleagues who work in other positions, and they've even arrested a couple of them. We go to work afraid they might arrest us.' To stay safe, Francisco said he has limited his movement, turning to Uber Delivery for necessities such as groceries and medicine. But he continues to come to work. 'If we don't go out to work, how do we cover our expenses?' he asked. Staff writer Karla Marie Sanford contributed to this article.


Fox News
43 minutes ago
- Fox News
SEN CHUCK GRASSLEY: How Senate Republicans are restoring the rule of law and securing border for years to come
America is at a crossroads. During the Biden-Harris administration, over 10 million illegal immigrants – including violent criminals and potential terrorists – poured over our nation's border. After four years of chaos, Americans overwhelmingly elected President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a platform of securing the border, removing dangerous criminals and restoring law and order. Trump is standing on that platform and Senate Republicans are supporting him every step of the way. In Trump's first 100 days, illegal border encounters plummeted by 95%, illegal immigrant "gotaways" fell 99% and violent criminals and suspected terrorists were quickly removed from the country. During those same 100 days, Democrats fought to keep criminals in the country and took taxpayer-funded trips to El Salvador to defend an illegal immigrant who's facing charges of human trafficking, gang-related killing and domestic abuse. In the past week, thousands of rioters have taken to the streets of Los Angeles to violently protest ICE officers who are simply enforcing federal immigration law, as well as court-ordered search warrants. Rioters have lit cars on fire, looted mom-and-pop shops and attacked police officers with concrete slabs and Molotov cocktails. Yet Democrats insist the mob's actions are "peaceful." The nation is keenly aware of what happens when law enforcement is slow to respond to violent protests. During the Los Angeles riots of 1992, 63 people died, thousands were injured and the violence only stopped after the National Guard arrived. Thankfully, Trump isn't repeating the mistakes of the past. His quick decision to mobilize the National Guard protected innocent lives and valuable property. Hardworking and decent Americans know it's wrong to attack law enforcement officers, rob small businesses and break the law. While Democrat allies riot in the streets, Republicans are standing up for what's right. Today, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I released legislative text for my committee's section of the "One Big Beautiful Bill." The Judiciary Committee's provisions provide historic investments to strengthen our nation's border security and immigration system, support local law enforcement and protect American families from violence like we've seen in Los Angeles. It significantly boosts funding for local law enforcement and immigration agencies that were overwhelmed by the Biden-Harris administration's open border. The Department of Homeland Security will receive funding to hire more staff and enhance migrant screening and vetting processes, including background checks. It will also allow for the expedited removal of criminal illegal aliens and coordination with state and local governments to root out cartels and gangs. The costs of the judiciary section are offset by immigration application fees, which inject accountability into the immigration system. The Judiciary Committee's bill also preserves humanitarian protections by including fee exemptions for certain emergency or humanitarian purposes, and it makes fees paid by sponsors of migrant children 100% reimbursable, so long as the child safely appears in court as the law intends. When the Biden-Harris administration turned its back on border security, patriotic states stepped up to protect American communities. The Senate Judiciary Committee is giving these states the thanks they deserve by implementing the Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide (BIDEN) Reimbursement Fund. The BIDEN Reimbursement Fund will help states recoup the dollars they spent investigating, locating, apprehending and temporarily detaining criminal illegal aliens. It also helps cover the costs inflicted on local courts for prosecuting crimes committed by illegal aliens, like drug and human trafficking. American taxpayers spent billions covering for Biden's border breakdown. It's time they were compensated for their losses. Despite Democrat efforts to defund the police, Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans are unwavering in our support for local, state and federal law enforcement. That's why our legislation expands resources for these brave men and women in blue. While Democrat allies riot in the streets, Republicans are standing up for what's right. Finally, the Senate Judiciary Committee is advancing solutions in the "One Big Beautiful Bill" to restore the constitutional role of the federal judiciary and ensure courts follow current law when handing down decisions. Our bill will provide funding to the Department of Justice to hire additional attorneys focused on challenging universal injunctions and require courts to track the frequency of universal injunctions. It will also establish judicial training programs on universal injunctions' lack of constitutionality and enforce the existing, lawful requirement that courts impose a bond upfront when attempting to hit the government with a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order that results in costs and damages ultimately sustained by American taxpayers. The rule of law matters, and Republicans are committed to enforcing it. I look forward to helping turn this legislation into law and deliver on President Trump's promise of a secure border for years to come.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
New Jersey congresswoman LaMonica McIver charged with assault after clash at detention center
The US congresswoman LaMonica McIver, a Democrat, was charged with assaulting federal agents after a clash outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey, the state's top federal prosecutor announced on Monday. Alina Habba, the interim US attorney for the district of New Jersey, said in a post on social media that McIver was facing charges 'for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement' when she visited the detention center along with two other Democratic members of New Jersey's congressional delegation on 9 May. 'No one is above the law – politicians or otherwise,' Habba said in a statement. 'It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are. Now we will let the justice system work.' McIver on Monday blamed federal law enforcement for escalating the situation, saying that it was the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents who 'created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation' with lawmakers. 'The charges against me are purely political – they mischaracterise and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalise and deter legislative oversight,' she said. At the same time, Habba announced her office was dismissing a misdemeanor trespassing charge against Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, whose arrest instigated the clash with federal agents. Baraka, the mayor of New Jersey's largest city and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, was arrested and charged with trespassing as he sought to join the congressional delegation at Delaney Hall, a privately run federal immigration detention center. Habba, who served as Trump's personal lawyer before being named to the post, said she had dismissed the charge 'for the sake of moving forward' and offered to personally accompany Baraka on a tour of the facility, declaring the government had 'nothing to hide'. Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, wrote on X that McIver was being charged after a 'thorough review of the video footage and an investigation'. Body-camera footage released by the agency and shared with Fox News shows a chaotic scene outside the facility's chain-link fence as the mayor is arrested. During the scuffle, McIver walks through the gate and appears to make contact with a law enforcement officer wearing fatigues and a face covering. It is unclear if the contact is intentional, accidental or the result of being caught in the scrum. Meanwhile, footage from witnesses on the scene appears to contradict the government's claim that members of Congress stormed the facility. Paul Fishman, an attorney for McIver called the decision to charge the congresswoman 'spectacularly inappropriate', arguing she had the 'right and responsibility to see how Ice is treating detainees'. 'Rather than facilitating that inspection, Ice agents chose to escalate what should have been a peaceful situation into chaos,' Fishman, the former US attorney for the district of New Jersey, said in a statement. Democrats and legal advocates reacted with alarm on Monday, casting the prosecution of the congresswoman as an attempt to deter legislative oversight and stifle opposition to the Trump administration's immigration policies, which have included raids and deportations without due process. In a joint statement, House Democratic leaders on Monday condemned the charges as 'extreme, morally bankrupt and [lacking] any basis in law or fact'. Related: Newark mayor says prosecutors tried to 'humilate' him by forcing redo of fingerprints and mugshot 'There is no credible evidence that Rep McIver engaged in any criminal activity,' the Democrats said, noting that after the incident, Trump administration officials led the members of Congress on a tour of the facility, which they said would not have been permitted 'had she done anything wrong'. In a statement on Monday, Bakara welcomed the dismissal of charges against him, but said he would 'continue to advocate for the humane treatment of detainees' and 'continue to press the facility to ensure that it is compliant with City of Newark codes and regulations'. He also made clear that he stood with McIver, whom he called a 'daughter of Newark'. 'I fully expect her to be vindicated,' he said. Mike Zamore, the national director of policy and government affairs at the ACLU, and Amol Sinha, the executive director of ACLU-NJ, warned that the charges against a sitting member of Congress were 'more suited for authoritarianism than American democracy'. 'If the Trump administration can target elected officials who oppose its extreme agenda, it can happen to any one of us,' they wrote. 'We demand that they drop the charges against Rep McIver, and we implore her fellow members of Congress to call for the same.'