The Trump administration is increasingly trying to criminalize observing ICE
toggle caption Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images
Like many people in the Twin Cities, Jess has been observing ICE officers: following them in her car and documenting their actions. Earlier this month, she was in North Minneapolis, when immigration agents told her and another observer they were impeding a federal investigation.
"We followed at a distance. We never got in front of them. We never honked our horns. We never made any sort of noise. We were just keeping an eye on them," said Jess, who requested NPR only use her first name because she fears retaliation from the federal government.
She says she kept tracking the officers at a distance. But then the three vehicles she was following turned around and drove toward her. Federal agents hopped out.
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"They all had their guns drawn. I kept saying, 'What you're doing is illegal. You have no right to do this,'" she said. "At that point, they started breaking my window. All I could think about was not being shot."
One officer shattered her driver's side window with a baton.
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