Transcript · Minneapolis City

Minneapolis CityTranscriptMonday, January 12, 2026

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[0:00] Let me welcome all the, ladies and gentlemen, the press.Thank you all for being here today. [0:05] My name is Keith Ellison.I'm the attorney general for the State of Minnesota. [0:09] And I'm so honored to be joining in partnership, with the City of Minneapolis under the leadership of my friend Jacob [0:17] Frey and the City of Saint Paul, under my under the leadership of MayorHer, who, is also a dear friend of many years. [0:25] We've come together and we're here to announce a lawsuit [0:29] we're filing against the United States Department of Homeland Security,to end the unlawful, unprecedented [0:35] surge of the federal law enforcement agents into Minnesota. [0:41] Because this has to stop. [0:44] It just has to stop. [0:45] We allege that the obvious targeting of Minnesotafor our diversity, for our democracy [0:52] and our differences of opinion with the federal governmentis a violation of the Constitution and of federal law. [1:00] We allege that the surge, reckless impact on our schools,on our local law enforcement is a violation [1:07] of the 10th Amendmentand the sovereign laws and powers of the Constitution grants to states. [1:14] We allege that DHS’s use of excessive and lethal force,their warrantless racist arrests, their targeting of our courts. [1:27] Our churches, [1:28] houses of worship and schools are a violation of the AdministrativeProcedures Act on Arbitrary and capricious federal actions. [1:37] And we ask that the courts will endthe surge of thousands of DHS agents into Minnesota. [1:45] We ask the courts to end the DHS unlawful behavior in our statethe intimidation, the threats, the violence. [1:52] We ask the courts to end the tactics on our places of worship,our schools, our courts, our marketplaces, [1:59] our hospitals, and even funeral homes. [2:03] The deployment of thousands of armed,masked DHS agents to Minnesota has done our state serious harm. [2:11] This is, in essence,a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and it must stop. [2:17] DHS agents have sown chaos and terror across the metropolitan areaand in cities across the State of Minnesota. [2:25] Schools have gone on to lockdown. [2:27] Entire districts have had to cancel school for tens of thousandsof students to ensure safety and offer online education [2:36] because of these students’and the parents’ fear of coming into the school. [2:41] Local businesses are struggling. [2:43] Revenues are down and some retail stores, daycaresand restaurants have actually closed because people are afraid to go out [2:52] and to do their shopping, whether they're immigrantsor whether they are citizens of many generations. [2:58] This surge has made us less safe. [3:01] Thousands of poorly trained, aggressive and armed agentsof the state of the federal government have rolled into our communities, [3:09] overwhelmed our local police departments and law enforcementagencies should be focused on our public safety. [3:15] But instead, many are dealing with the aftermath of DHS agentschaos and violence. [3:21] I want to thank our law enforcement officers for doing a tremendous jobunder very difficult circumstances, not the people, [3:29] but the federal government. [3:32] Minneapolis Police have had to respond [3:33] to more than 200 - 20,excuse me, 20 ICE related incidents like witnesses seeking people [3:40] being pulled into unmarked vehicles by men in masks, or ICEabandoning vehicles on the street with people detained inside. [3:48] This is an unlawful commandeering of police resources. In just two days, [3:52] responding to the chaos ICE has caused by it has costthe city $2 billion in law enforcement and overtime expenses. [4:00] Two days, [4:01] and I wish I could stop there, but I can't because these poorly trained,aggressive and armed agents of the of the federal state [4:08] have terrorized Minnesota with widespread unlawful conduct. [4:12] They're acting they're they're making unconstitutional arrestsand using excessive force. [4:18] DHS agents have barged into restaurants asking to access secure areas. [4:23] And when asked to present a warrant,which is required by law, they respond, we don't need one. [4:30] DHS agents have arrested peaceful bystanders. [4:33] They have fired chemical irritants at people obeyinglawful, lawful orders while exercising their First Amendment rights. [4:41] They have even done so at some of our most sensitive places,like Roosevelt High School here in Minneapolis. [4:52] They have detained law abiding citizens, leaving them handcuffed forhours just because of the color of their skin or what they're wearing. [5:01] Or they speak English with an accent. [5:04] And on January 7th, 2026, a DHS agent shot and killed [5:10] Renee Nicole Good, leaving her children [5:16] without a mother and her six year old son without either parent. [5:23] This has to stop. [5:25] So let's be clear it never should have started. [5:28] These agents have no good reason to be here. Minnesota. [5:31] Minnesota's non-citizen immigrant population is just 1.5%,which is a half, which is half the national average. [5:40] Our state's percentage is lower than Utah, Texas and Florida. [5:44] But none of those states have thousands of federal agentsswarming their streets or harming their people. [5:51] The administration says that they're focused on finding criminals. [5:55] Worst of the worst, they say. [5:57] But many of the people that DHS is arresting in Minnesotahave no criminal history. [6:03] That fits a pattern. [6:05] In 2025, 93% of the people arrested by ICE had no violentcriminal history, 65% had no criminal convictions at all. [6:15] And randomly stopping people in the streetbecause their skin color isn't, [6:19] the one that they expect or want,isn't doing a thing to help public safety. [6:27] I've heard the administration talk about fraud. [6:29] No, not the 43 fraud convictions the president has or the $43million fraudsters the president has pardoned [6:38] that instead saying that ICE is here to look for fraud somehow. [6:43] You know, we work with federal government all the time. [6:45] And if the federal government wants to help uswith forensic accountants, we're open to that conversation. [6:52] But these ICE agents who are engaged in the behaviorthat they're engaged in are not helping public safety at all. [7:02] Immigration enforcement agents aren't trained to investigate fraud [7:06] and randomly stopping people on the streetbecause you don't like their accent isn't going to stop fraud. [7:12] So enforcing federal immigrationlaw and fighting fraud are just pretext for this surge. [7:18] The real reason? It's no secret. [7:20] Donald Trump and his administration have been targetingpeople, cities and states that don't agree with them politically. [7:29] He singled out Minnesota countless times. [7:32] He's called us corrupt and crooked. [7:34] He's attacked our funding to the tune of billions of dollars,which we are challenging. [7:39] And we fought back. [7:40] Of course, he's attack programs that Minnesotans rely onand try to shut them down and pay taxes for. [7:47] And he's attacked Minnesotans with despicable, racist,xenophobic language. [7:53] The truth is, Donald Trump doesn't seem to like our state very much. [7:58] But what's that about?He doesn't like our best in the nation safe and secure elections? [8:04] And sometimes, he doesn't like who we choose in them. [8:07] Just last week, Trump claimed that he won Minnesota [8:12] three times, [8:14] when in fact he's never won Minnesota. [8:17] He doesn't like how we take care of each other,or how we make sure our kids have enough to eat. [8:22] He doesn't like the strength that immigrant communitiesbring to our state, and he doesn't seem to like that [8:27] we protect our neighborsno matter where they were born. In short, Trump's tar- [8:32] Trump's tar- [8:34] The Trump administration's decisionto target Minnesota and Twin Cities is motivated by a desire [8:39] to retaliate against Trump's perceived political opponents,who are the people of the State of Minnesota and Twin Cities, [8:45] rather than any good faith concernsabout immigration enforcement, public safety or law enforcement. [8:51] In conclusion, [8:54] I didn't have the pleasure and the benefit of knowing Renee Nicole Good,but her friends and family knew her as someone who was kind, [9:03] someone who loved her family deeplyand someone willing to stand up for her neighbors. [9:10] That sounds like the Minnesota that I know. [9:14] The administration wants to paint false political narratives about us,but we know who we are and we know our rights. [9:20] The Constitution gives Minnesota the sovereign authority to protecthealth and well-being of every single person who lives in our borders. [9:29] The Constitution gives us the right to vote for who we want, prayhowever we want, and be whoever [9:34] we want without fear of being racially profiled, assaulted,or killed in our own communities. [9:41] We're going to defend those rights,because as much as they'd like to believe it, [9:45] DHS is not above the law, [9:48] and the people of Minnesota are certainly not beneath it. [9:53] Let me now bring forward, my mayor, [9:57] the mayor who's where I go to go home at nightand is doing a wonderful job protecting our city. [10:03] Mayor Jacob Frey. [10:11] Thank you, Attorney General Ellison, for your leadershipand your incredible team's work around this issue. [10:16] Thank you to Mayor [10:18] Her, of Saint Paul for your partnership. [10:23] These are not normal times. [10:26] And so the response that we are asking for from the judicial system andfrom the courts, requires that we file suit at this particular moment. [10:37] What we are seeing right now is not normal immigration enforcement. [10:43] We are not asking ICE not to do ICE things. [10:47] We are asking this federal government [10:49] to stop the unconstitutional conductthat is invading our streets each and every day. [10:56] You've seen the videos. [10:58] At times, there are as many as 50 agents arresting one person. [11:03] The scale is wildly disproportionate.It has nothing to do with keeping people safe. [11:09] In Minneapolis, [11:10] we've done work extensively with the federal governmentunder multiple administrations to keep people in our city safe. [11:19] We have worked with the DEA, the ATF, the FBI, the attorney. [11:24] The attorney General's office as well as the US Attorney's officeto successfully drive down crime in our city. [11:32] We've seen the results of that work. But let's be clear. [11:35] The stated reason of this federal government for bringing in this fullinvasion of ICE and border control is not safety. [11:44] If it were safety, there would be other mechanisms to achieve safety. [11:49] By the way, [11:52] crime is down in virtually every categoryin virtually every neighborhood of this city. [11:58] If this were about fraud,then you'd see an invasion, perhaps, of accountants. [12:02] But that's not what you see. [12:04] What you see is people being indiscriminately taken off our streets. [12:09] Discrimination only takes place to the extentthat a determination has made that somebody is Somali or is Latino, [12:15] or at least they look that way.And then there is virtually no discrimination thereafter. [12:21] Here's the thing. [12:22] You can't indiscriminately take people offour streets, American citizens off our streets. [12:30] You cannot drag pregnant women through the snow. [12:33] You're not allowed to take teenagers out of their carand detain them when they are, in fact, American citizens. [12:40] That is against the law. In every state.That is against our United States Constitution. [12:47] And we're feeling the impact here in Minneapolis. [12:49] Schools have closed. [12:50] People are afraid to go to work, shop or seek medical care. [12:54] 9-1-1 calls are up. [12:56] Police resources are indeed stretched thin. [13:00] We have approximately 600 officers in the City of Minneapolis. [13:05] Mayor Her has approximately 600 officers in the city of Saint Paul. [13:11] The number of ICE agents in border control are now in the thousands. [13:17] They are in the thousands. [13:19] If the goal was immigration enforcement, if the goal were simply to look [13:25] for people that are undocumented, Minneapolisand Saint Paul would not be the place where you would go. [13:31] There are countlessmore people that are undocumented in Florida and Texas and Utah. [13:39] Why are they in these much smaller cities in the middle of the Midwest? [13:43] The answer is very clear. [13:45] It is politics. [13:46] Florida and Texas and Utah are Republican states. [13:52] The reason that Minnesota and Minneapolis are being targeted [13:55] is because you've got a Democratic governor,a Democratic attorney general, and you got Democratic mayors. [14:02] We are doing everything possible to keep our cities safethrough this unprecedented time. [14:07] And at the same time, we have police officers that are tired. [14:12] We've seen damage substantiallybecause we're now having to pay a ton of overtime. [14:19] Millions of dollars of emergency overtime for law enforcement. [14:23] Emergency operations have been activatedacross our city and state agencies, [14:28] pulling focus on daily core servicesthat we, by the way, are tasked with providing. [14:32] Local police officers are being diverted from the very workthat we need to be doing. [14:37] And small businesses are losing significant revenuewith some, worried that they may not survive this at all. [14:46] People are scared to take their kids into schoolor daycare to go into work. [14:51] They're going to have difficulty paying rent. [14:54] There is no doubt in my mind the kind of action that the federalgovernment is taking is not just mean spirited, it's unconstitutional. [15:04] And every one of us need to be standing up. [15:08] Let me give you another example. [15:09] Just last week, a group of our city's public worksemployees were stopped by ICE agents. [15:15] Three of the four employees were not white. [15:18] The ICE agents asked to see the IDs of the three nonwhite employees,and didn't even bother to ask the white employee for the identification. [15:27] Minneapolis is being treated targeted because we stand up for ourneighbors, and we welcome immigrants because we believe in the law. [15:36] And as I [15:36] said, frankly, because we are in a blue city, in a blue state. [15:42] Donald Trump should know as long as federal agents are in our cityacting unconstitutionally against our neighbors, [15:50] we will continue to push back with everything we got. [15:54] And let me just take a momentto say how grateful I am to the residents of our city and of our state. [16:02] We are not victims in the city of Minneapolis. [16:05] We've got heroes that are standing up for each other,that are standing by the neighbors that they love. [16:12] And one thing that I can tell you for certainis that we aren't backing down. [16:16] We don't retreat in Minneapolis. We don't back down in Minnesota. [16:21] We stand up against bullies. [16:23] And right now, what we are asking for is an intervention from the courtto push back on this unconstitutional conduct, pure and simple. [16:33] I'll now turn it off to Mayor Her. [16:42] Good afternoon everyone. [16:44] Today, I'm proud to stand with Mayor Frey and Attorney General Ellisonto fight for our residents. [16:49] This federal occupation of our cities needs to end immediately. [16:54] Federal law enforcementis racially profiling our residents, creating mass chaos [17:00] and undermining the relationship between local governmentand our communities. [17:04] We will not stand idly by and watch this happen. [17:08] With this collective action, we are taking a firm stanceto tell federal law enforcement that this cannot happen in our country. [17:15] It cannot happen in our state, and it cannot happen in Saint Paul. [17:20] Federal law enforcement is going far beyond what they canand should be doing to enforce immigration laws. [17:26] They are endangering our community's safety,straining our resources and sowing distrust. [17:34] While we know we can't control [17:35] federal agents,we will pull every lever we have to fight back in every way that we can. [17:41] They've come into Saint Pauland needlessly invaded our neighborhoods and homes. [17:46] They're targeting us based on what we look and sound like. [17:49] Our residents are scared, and as local officials,we have a responsibility to act. [17:55] I want to thank Attorney General Ellison and Mayor Freyfor taking a united stance for the people of Minnesota [18:01] and to our immigrant and refugee communities. Let me be clear. [18:05] You are a vital part of our city. [18:08] You are loved and you are wanted,and you are important to the fabric of our state. [18:14] As a refugee who came to this country,this is the state that welcome my grandparents here in the late ‘70s [18:20] allowed our family to break the cycle of povertyin one generation, educated us, allowed us to build wealth [18:26] and within one generation have a new a new family,a new family members that are educated and a part of this economy [18:34] and this workforce that we need to continue to make surethat our state stays that, and that can't happen if this continues [18:40] to run amok of our city and our state.And so, we cannot let this federal administration divide us. [18:46] We need to come together now more than ever.Thank you. Thank you. Great job. [18:51] So now we have a few minutes for questions. [18:55] I want to acknowledge, the the vital presence of President ElliottPayne of our Minneapolis City Council [19:03] here on behalf of all of the council members,I think, in the council representing the council. [19:07] Thank you for your presence here, sir. [19:09] And I also want to say thank you to all of our staff memberswho've worked so hard to prepare us for this moment. [19:15] They all are very, very critical to, the work that we do every day. [19:19] And we're grateful to them as well. [19:21] And they may help us, answering some of your questions. [19:24] We have about, 15 minutes for questions. [19:27] And so, I'll, I'll select the first person who I see, Tom?Attorney General Ellison, [19:33] there's been some success in getting the National Guard [19:36] out of some states with lawsuits like this,but that was over a question of what the role of the National Guard is. [19:43] It's pretty clear what what ICE’s role is. Is that going to be make this, [19:49] legal challenge more difficult? [19:51] I don't think so, because I since I think that Mayor Frey said it very well,ICE has a statutory responsibility to do a certain job. [19:59] What our argument is they are exceeding that dramatically,in unconstitutional, unlawful ways, [20:06] violating our first and 10th Amendment rights, our equal sovereigntyprinciple, and, the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act. [20:13] They have to obey the law themselves as they carry forth their statutoryduties. [20:19] We argue they're not doing that. [20:20] They have to do they have tothey have to operate within the law and the Constitution. [20:25] Yes, sir.[Questions] Thank you for being here. [20:30] Thank you. Is this, litigation aimed at restrainingthe use of crowd controlled weapons? [20:35] Less lethal weapons?Our whole crew got pepper sprayed today by federal agents. [20:39] Are you aiming to do anything about that? [20:41] Well, one thing I'd like to ask you to do is to make a complaintand make sure people know what happened to you and your your crew. [20:48] The, you know, part of what our case is aboutas First Amendment protection, [20:52] we believe that the federal governmentis persecuting the State of Minnesota because of our political views. [20:57] And that goes, and look, the First Amendment, the press is protectedby the First Amendment and is vitally important in this moment [21:04] when, freedom of the press and every First Amendment rightis under a threat by the federal government. [21:10] So I might ask you to let us know what happened. [21:14] But, yeah, you know, we're we're trying to restore lawful conduct [21:18] and make sure that, the federal government operateswithin the boundaries of the law, which they're required to do. [21:25] Yes, sir. [21:26] You know, this is really something that's,obviously really ramped up in the last week. Right. [21:30] What kind of timeline can we expect on this suit?What are you looking at? What is your office kind of expecting here? [21:36] Well, we're. We filed a lawsuit already.It's in. It's on file right now. As far as results. [21:41] Well, you know, you know, it's hard to predict exactlywhat the court schedule will be, but we are anticipating, quick action. [21:50] I don't know what any of my team members want to. Brian,you want to respond to that? [21:55] Brian Carter, special counsel to the attorney general. [21:59] I don't know if we filed quite yet. [22:01] But we do have a motion for a temporary restraining orderthat's going to be filed today. [22:07] We're going to ask that the court, hear that motion tomorrow morning. [22:13] There is another similar motionin, in a separate but related lawsuit that's scheduled for that time. [22:20] We're going to try and piggyback on that,and we're going to be asking for immediate relief. [22:25] Brian Carter, everybody. Way in the back. [22:28] Saint Paul, have any specifics on overtime for police officersin the way that Minneapolis, had some stats? [22:34] We do know that our, we have had, more,we've had to open our command center in order to monitor the city. [22:40] We've had to have all of our officers in uniformso that we do have information as well. [22:45] And we'll be sharing more of that information in the daysto come as it relates to this lawsuit. [22:51] Yeah. [22:51] Those overtime costs are likely to reach into the millionsif this continues. Yes. [22:55] The question is, are those overtime costs for MinneapolisPolice and Saint Paul Police likely to reach into the millions? [23:02] The answer is absolutely. [23:04] We have normal core functionsthat we are tasked with doing on a daily basis. [23:08] We are required to respond to 9-1-1 calls. [23:11] We are trying to prevent murders from happening and carjackingsfrom taking place. [23:16] And by the way, the work of our police has been driving downthose numbers substantially. [23:21] Our police officers have performed admirablybecause they're not just doing their day to day job. [23:28] They're also responding to countless9-1-1 calls that people are being kidnaped, [23:33] that agents in unmarked uniforms, in unmarked carsare simply taking people off the streets that are American citizens. [23:42] They're required to do the work to keep the peace. [23:45] Our police officers are doing the work to keep the peaceand to keep people safe. [23:50] With 600 officers,we can't do all of those things all of the time. Not to mention, [23:56] our officers are human beings,and therefore there is a point where they get tired. [24:00] And when we've canceled all days off, when our chief is workingtirelessly, [24:06] and he deserves a ton of credit here, too, where we've got officersthat are working incredibly long hours and long shifts. [24:15] The truth is, is that when you get to a certain point,you start making mistakes. [24:19] Not because you're a bad cop,but because you're a human being. And so we need relief. [24:23] We're asking the court for it. [24:25] But the damage that we are suffering right nowin Minneapolis is not limited to overtime costs. [24:31] It's schools shutting down. It's businesses closing. [24:34] It's people being afraid to go out and get groceriesand therefore are going hungry. [24:39] It's their inability to get money so that they're unable to pay rent. [24:43] There is a snowball effect that is happening right here. [24:46] And it's not just because we're in Minnesota and there's a lot of snow. [24:50] The snowball effect is because what is ICE is doing is intentional. [24:54] This is intentionally putting us in a very difficult positionthat is not pro business and is not pro safety. [25:03] The only thing that I can see it being is pro politics, [25:07] [Questions] [25:09] A little bit concerned about some of the tactics that have been usedin the streets, which only a couple protestors have done. [25:15] Some very heavy handed use of force toward them. [25:19] Are you guys concerned about what you're hearingfrom the public in terms of not only when you talk about pepper spray or, [25:25] or how people are being tackled and handled or whatyou saw at the high school. [25:28] Can you elaborate on what you guys are hearing about?Well, I'll let I'll let the mayor's jump in here. [25:32] But I can tell you that this whole lawsuit is partially driven,not not exclusively, but partially driven by exactly what you just said. [25:42] And and again, you know, look, ICE was operating here before this surge. [25:48] We didn't file a lawsuit before. That's right. [25:51] This is because of this surge. [25:54] And, you know, quite honestly, [25:58] you know, it is it's it is because of the accumulated accumulationof so many stories that are just so far out of the range of normal. [26:09] You know, some of y'all saw the, you know, tape and target. [26:13] Some of y'all saw that video tape [26:15] at, at Roosevelt High School. [26:19] And I can tell you how many people who've called me and said,I am afraid to go to work. [26:25] And I'm not talking about people who are non-citizens. [26:28] I'm saying citizens, because when you when when a woman like Renee Goodgets shot down, then everybody, citizens, non-citizens are terrified. [26:39] And I'll leave it to the mayors to fill in there. [26:42] I will say that the question is, if we're hearing about it,we are absolutely. [26:45] I mean, I think that we are really lucky here in, our stateand specifically Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minneapolis, [26:50] is that we have a strong network of community organizerswho've been working together. [26:54] We hear almost every instance that happens,you know, whether it's texted to us personally and we're looking into it [27:00] or whether it's coming into our neighborhood groups. [27:02] We are hearing it and we are seeing and we are looking into.Every time I get one, I inquire into it to see. [27:08] But I think that what's more importantall of this is that it's not just the tactics are being used, [27:12] it's the attack on the American people who are citizens. [27:15] I'm. I wasn't born here. [27:16] I'm carrying my ID with me. [27:17] I'm carrying my passport card and my ID with me all the timebecause I don't know [27:21] when I'm going to be detained, when I'm going to be approached. [27:23] The fact is, is that it doesn't have to like the tactic doesn'teven at this point really matter, right? [27:27] It's the fact that we are being attacked as American citizens rightnow, and we are hearing of it, [27:31] and we are inquiring into itevery single time we get, we get something sent to us. [27:37] Last question. [27:39] A lot of lawsuits against the federal governmentthat have been ongoing, led by your office. [27:45] We also do have the backdrop of fraud investigations happening as well. [27:49] Can you just speak about [27:50] how resources are being doled out in the attorney General's office,and who's being dedicated to fighting the federal government? [27:56] Our our Medicaid fraud unit is hard at work. [28:01] We've we've prosecuted and convicted over 300 peoplesince I've been attorney general for Medicaid fraud. [28:07] And other people in our office who work on who do agency representation,they're working hard. [28:12] But we have but but the people who work on what I callfederal accountability, they're busy too, [28:19] because, the state the federal government has triedto deprive our state of money that we're entitled to by statute [28:26] that has been appropriated to our state.And if we don't fight for it, we won't get it. [28:30] And that will deprive the people of the State of Minnesota of resourcesand money that they deserve. [28:35] And I'm talking about things like Snap benefits, housing benefits,child care benefits, all kinds of benefits. [28:40] National Institute of Health benefits, FEMA benefitsthat they've tried to unconstitutionally deprive us from. [28:47] So, do we have resource pressure? [28:50] Yeah.My folks are working really hard. Harder than they should have to. But, [28:57] we're also. [28:57] But we. But we can walk and chew gum,and we're fighting fraud. Every single day. [29:01] And let me just say this about fraud. [29:02] Anybody who steals from a program designed to helppoor people is no friend of mine. [29:07] And I'm all good to hold them accountable. [29:10] And, you know, the federal government,you know, they're doing all this stuff that we don't need them to do. [29:15] I wish they'd do some more things we do need them to do. [29:17] Now, I'm not talking about local federal officials.They're doing their job. [29:21] We work with the U.S. Attorney's officeand the FBI to fight fraud. And I'm very glad of their partnership. [29:26] What I'm referring to is the substance of this lawsuit right now.This is not what we need. We don't need this. [29:32] But we could use we need all the help we can to can get to helpmake sure that every dollar that the generous people of Minnesota devote [29:39] to helping others gets to those others. [29:41] [Questions] [29:45] Are you confident that DHS and the federal governmentwould abide by the judge's orders? [29:50] And what would be the next? [29:51] Yes I am. No, I believe that they will abide by the ordersbecause I believe that anybody who stands below [29:57] an American flag lifts up their hand and swears an oath to supportand defend the Constitution of [30:02] the United States will abide by the lawful orders of a court. [30:06] And if they don't, I want everybody in this room to know that they arethe ones who are expressing contempt for the rule of law. [30:15] Now, having said that, you ask the what if question. [30:18] Well, you know,there are ample, ways to make, a miscreant violator of a court order [30:25] obey that court order. One of them is a contempt of court. But, let's not jump there. [30:31] Let's make let's expect good conduct and obedience to law.And that's what we expect. [30:36] That's what we expect we're going to get. [30:37] And I think there's a possibility that Mayor Frey wanted to talka little bit more about what your citizens are going through, [30:44] or maybe you covered that already. I canI can add. Yeah, but I just think, I just yeah. [30:49] Well, you want to go for it? Just in general? Yeah.Just just like what people are dealing with. Yeah, yeah. I mean, [30:58] We don't use the word invasion lightly. [31:02] What we are seeing is thousands, plural, thousands of federal agentscoming into our city. [31:10] And, yeah, they're having a tremendous impact on day to day life.And it's a negative one. [31:15] And whether that's kids that are trying to get to school or businessesthat are trying to open, that's police officers [31:21] that are responding to 9-1-1 calls, it'sjust about being able to conduct daily life right here in our city. [31:30] And look in [31:33] this is not about fraud. [31:35] When you have a fraudster, you investigate, you charge, you prosecute, [31:41] you hold the person accountable,and then they get put in jail as an individual. [31:46] They get put in jail as an individual. [31:49] You do not hold an entire communityor an entire city accountable for the actions of the fraudsters. [31:57] That's not a novel concept.That's just the way this works in American society. [32:02] And we should be abiding by that. [32:05] Good. [32:05] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [32:06] And let me say thank you, Mayor [32:08] Her. Let me saythank you to the men and women of the Independent Press of America. [32:13] The, the reality is that, the work you do is, is critically importantto get the word out to the people. [32:21] And we are grateful for it. [32:22] And with that, we're going to conclude,but I'm sure any of us will be willing to talk to you all offline. [32:29] Bye bye.
Transcript — Minneapolis City - Minneapolis Recorder