Judge limits ICE crowd control tactics against protesters in Minnesota

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez ruled Friday evening that ICE officers couldn’t arrest or pepper-spray protesters if they weren’t directly engaging in violence. She also ruled that the stalking of ICE vehicles and agents couldn’t warrant a response, nor could crowds forming around officers during operations.

The order will remain in place until the operation concludes or “conditions change such that it is no longer necessary,” she ruled.

“Plaintiffs allege they have been subject to a variety of retaliatory behavior by Defendants, including traffic stops, arrests, the indiscriminate use of chemical irritants, and pointing of firearms,” Menendez wrote. “These kinds of conduct are those that undoubtedly give rise to an objective chill of First Amendment rights.”

She waved off earlier concerns from Department of Homeland