A group of Minnesota police leaders raise concerns about off-duty officers of color being racially profiled by ICE
A group of Minnesota police leaders spoke out on Tuesday about off-duty officers of color being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid a surge of federal agents in the state under the Trump administration.
“I am seeing and hearing about people in Hennepin County being stopped, questioned, and harassed solely because of the color of their skin – solely being the operative word here,” stated Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt during a Tuesday press briefing. “Now that same discrimination is also spilling into the law enforcement community.”
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley shared how off-duty members of his team have been stopped by ICE and asked to provide documentation of their legal status without any valid reason.
“Every one of these individuals is a person of color who has had this happen to them,” said Bruley. “If it is happening to our officers, it pains me to think how many of our community members are falling victim to this every day. It has to stop.”
One incident described by Bruley involved an off-duty officer being surrounded by ICE agents, who demanded her papers. Her attempt to record the encounter was disrupted when her phone was knocked out of her hands. The agents even had their guns drawn, leading her to reveal her identity as a local police officer in an effort to de-escalate the situation.
“We demand more from our federal government, more professionalism, more accountability, more humanity. We demand lawful policing that respects human dignity,” Witt emphasized.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment.
