(Crankers) Two Minnesota Democrats said they were pepper sprayed during a protest against ICE raids. So basically the Democrats are admitting that they stand up for criminals who break into the country, instead of Americans.
That’s all I hear out of this. What about you?
Two Minnesota state lawmakers say they were hit with pepper spray during a tense protest in St. Paul on Tuesday night, after police moved in to break up a crowd gathered around what many believed was an immigration-related federal operation.
According to FOX 9, the protest formed on Rose Avenue after federal agents arrived to arrest a man allegedly wanted for re-entering the country illegally after a prior deportation. People living in the neighborhood quickly came outside, and the scene grew into a larger demonstration as word spread that ICE or federal task-force officers were involved.
As the crowd pushed closer to the police perimeter, St. Paul officers were called in to support the federal team. Police say some individuals in the group armed themselves with rocks and sticks and tried to block law-enforcement vehicles. That’s when officers deployed tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
State Reps. Athena Hollins and Liish Kozlowski were among the people on the street at the time. Both lawmakers later told FOX 9 they were pepper-sprayed during the chaos, saying they were attempting to observe the situation when they were caught in the cloud. Neither reported serious injury, though both said the moment was unexpected and alarming.
The St. Paul Police Department released a brief statement confirming that crowd-control chemicals were used but did not comment specifically on the lawmakers’ claims. Police Chief Axel Henry said officers responded after receiving reports that parts of the crowd had become aggressive and that the situation was starting to spiral.
Mayor Melvin Carter said his office would review the use-of-force during the incident and look into how the federal operation was coordinated. State leaders also said they had no prior notice that the raid was going to take place in a residential neighborhood.
As of now, there’s no independent verification, such as released bodycam footage, showing the exact moment Hollins or Kozlowski were sprayed, and it’s not yet clear whether the department will conduct a full internal investigation. In other words, no one is sure if they really got pepper-sprayed at all. Maybe they were lying.
The man federal agents came to arrest was taken into custody, and the protest eventually dispersed. Local officials say they expect more information in the coming days as they review what happened and why the situation escalated so quickly.
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