Things are getting a little out of control in Minnesota — and that’s putting it mildly.
After a week that included an ICE agent being attacked, federal vehicles damaged and destroyed, and even weapons stolen from those vehicles, the chaos has now spilled over into everyday life. This time, the targets weren’t federal agents at all — just five software engineers trying to eat lunch.
According to the report, the group of tech workers was dining at a local deli in Minneapolis when things suddenly went sideways. One of the men happened to be part of an anti-ICE Signal chat group and received an alert from what was described as a “rapid response group” claiming ICE agents were inside the restaurant. The reason for the confusion? The men were white, wearing sweatshirts and jackets. Apparently, that now qualifies as “probable cause.”
When the group left the deli, they were immediately harassed by activists blowing whistles and hurling insults — a tactic used by anti-ICE groups to alert others that immigration agents are supposedly nearby. One of the men tried to calmly explain who they actually were. “We do custom apps for a whole bunch of companies around Minnesota and the country,” he said. Not exactly a covert federal operation.
The irony here is impossible to miss. These activists frequently accuse ICE of wanting “papers,” yet they are now openly harassing random people based on how they look and demanding ideological conformity. That’s not activism — that’s profiling, intimidation, and something that starts to resemble a political struggle session. Apparently, lunch is now a high-risk activity.
In the end, the encounter didn’t quite go the way the anti-ICE crowd may have hoped. One of the tech workers, identified as Lee, summed it up plainly: “One of us is pro-ICE, one anti-ICE, others on the fence. After this, I think some of them are rethinking everything.” Well done, activists — mission accomplished, just not the one you planned.
Adding to concerns, another report revealed an email stating that the city of Minneapolis is “tracking reports of ICE activity, and working with community groups to share accurate information and resources.” If accurate, that suggests the city itself may be aiding in tracking ICE activity — a deeply troubling claim given the violence and harassment already unfolding.
This is exactly what happens when Democratic leadership tolerates and encourages radical behavior. Republicans have every reason to point to Minnesota as a warning sign of what unchecked activism turns into when law enforcement is undermined and chaos is excused.
The good news? Incidents like this are waking people up. When ordinary Americans start getting harassed just for existing, the madness becomes impossible to ignore. With real leadership that stands for law, order, and basic common sense, there’s still a clear path back to sanity — and plenty of Minnesotans are starting to see it.
