US judge restricts federal agents over Minnesota protests

A US judge on Friday restricted federal agents from interfering with peaceful protesters in Minnesota, after President Donald Trump said there was no immediate need to invoke the Insurrection Act over the demonstrations.

In the 83-page order, US District Judge Katherine Menendez ordered immigration agents to dial back their aggressive tactics, barring the detention or arrest of peaceful protesters and drivers, and using pepper-spray against demonstrators.

The order gives the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) current operation in the northern US city 72 hours to come into compliance, and follows two incidents where federal agents opened fire, killing one person and injuring another in the span of a week.

In a separate legal move that could inflame the standoff between the White House and Minnesota elected officials, CBS News reported that the Justice Department was investigating Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey for impeding federal officers.

They have both called for peaceful protests against immigration sweeps in their state. The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.

Amid the escalating row between Trump and Minnesota leaders this week, the president threatened the drastic measure of invoking the Insurrection Act, allowing him to deploy the military to police the protests.

"If I needed it, I would use it. I don't think there is any reason right now to use it," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the move.

The Insurrection Act allows a president to sidestep the Posse Comitatus Act to suppress "armed rebellion" or "domestic violence" and use deploy soldiers on US soil "as he considers necessary" to enforce the 19th-century law.

Crowds of protesters have clashed with immigration officers across the city of Minneapolis, opposing their efforts to target undocumented migrants with some officers responding with violence.

Demonstrations grew dramatically following the killing of Renee Nicole Good, 37, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on January 7 as the Trump administration pressed operations to catch undocumented migrants.

Federal agents fired their weapons in two separate incidents, wounding a man from Venezuela Wednesday, and in Good's killing last week.

In a separate incident, DHS on Friday confirmed Heber Sanchez Dominguez, a 34-year-old Mexican national, died while detained in ICE custody two days earlier.

At least four people have died in ICE detention so far this year, according to agency data.

Trump backers have also begun to face off with protesters who oppose ICE's actions in the state, leading to tense encounters.

The Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reported that divisions within the anti-ICE movement were beginning to emerge over how aggressively to resist the enforcement efforts.

Activists have also become increasingly wary of "far-right provocateurs trying to bait demonstrators into rioting," the publication reported.

Minnesota's American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter has reported an uptick in complaints against ICE officers.

Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accused federal agents of waging "a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota," in a video posted to X Wednesday night.

On Wednesday, the family of Good announced that they had retained a top law firm to probe the killing ahead of launching possible legal action against the officer and the government.

The lawyers demanded Thursday that federal officials, including the officer who fired the shots that killed Good, preserve records and evidence relating to the incident.