Minnesota authorities are suing the federal government to try to stop the deployment of thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota, the state’s attorney general said Monday.
“We assert that blatantly targeting Minnesota because of our diversity, our democracy and our differences of opinion with the federal government is a violation of the Constitution and federal law,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a news conference.
Calling the deployment a “federal invasion of the Twin Cities,” he said, “This has to stop.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, names officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Those agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday afternoon.
The complaint was filed one day after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said hundreds of additional federal agents are heading to the state amid protests over the killing of Renée Nicole Good by an ICE agent.
Noem said the federal operation in the state is now focused not only on detecting immigration law violations but also on combating ICE protesters.
Noem described the Good, an award-winning poetas a terrorist who “armed” his vehicle against the ICE officer who shot him in self-defense. Local and state officials disputed that claim, saying Good, 37, was only trying to leave the scene and calling federal officials’ characterization “propaganda.”
Good was driving an SUV in a residential area of Minneapolis on Jan. 7 when she was killed. Video obtained by NBC News this appears to have been recorded by Jonathan Ross, the officer who shot Good, captured Good and his wife talking to the officer moments before he opened fire.
Eyewitness video shows officers telling Good to get out of his car before starting to drive away. Several gunshots are heard and the SUV crashes into a parked vehicle.
Minnesota officials have criticized federal authorities for barring the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from participating in the investigation into Good’s death. Asked about the decision last week, Noem accused state investigators of allowing people to harass and incite violence against federal agents.
The Trump administration began increasing immigration-related arrests in Minnesota in December, after conservative commentators focus on years-old scandal in which federal prosecutors uncovered a massive fraud scheme within the Somali community.
Last week, more than 2,000 officers and agents from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations have been deployed to the city after a right-wing influencer accused several Somali-run daycares of fraud. The allegations were investigated by state officials who said they found no evidence to support the claims.
It’s a development history. Please check again for updates.
Tim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
