Pro- and anti-ICE protesters clash amid Minneapolis immigration crackdown

Protesters for and against the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown clashed in Minneapolis on Saturday (January 17, 2026) as the Governor’s office announced that National Guard troops had been mobilised and stood ready to assist state law enforcement, though they were not yet deployed to city streets.

There have been protests every day since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers.

A large group of protesters turned out in downtown Minneapolis and confronted a much smaller group of people attending an anti-Somali and pro-Immigration and Customs Enforcement rally. They chased the pro-ICE group away and forced at least one member to take off a shirt they deemed objectionable.

Jake Lang, who organised the anti-Islam and pro-ICE demonstration, appeared to be injured as he left the scene, with bruises and scrapes on his head. He said via social media beforehand that he intended to “burn a Quran” on the steps of City Hall, but it was not clear if he carried out that plan.

Lang was previously charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for January 6 defendants last year. Lang recently announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in Florida.

In Minneapolis, snowballs and water balloons were also thrown before an armoured police van and heavily equipped city police arrived.

“We’re out here to show Nazis and ICE and DHS and MAGA you are not welcome in Minneapolis,” protester Luke Rimington said. “Stay out of our city, stay out of our state. Go home.”

National Guard staged and ready

The state guard said in a statement that it had been “mobilized” by Democratic Governor Tim Walz to support the Minnesota State Patrol “to assist in providing traffic support to protect life, preserve property, and support the rights of all Minnesotans to assemble peacefully.”

Major Andrea Tsuchiya, a spokesperson for the guard, said it was “staged and ready” but yet to be deployed.

The announcement came more than a week after Mr. Walz, a frequent critic and target of Mr. Trump, told the guard to be ready to support law enforcement in the state.

During the daily protests, demonstrators have railed against masked immigration officers pulling people from homes and cars and other aggressive tactics. The operation in the deeply liberal Twin Cities has claimed at least one life: Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, was shot by an ICE officer during a January 7 confrontation.

On Friday (January 16, 2026), a federal judge ruled that immigration officers cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including while observing officers during the Minnesota crackdown.