Federal Agents Use Pepper Spray to Move Through Crowd in Minneapolis’ Somali Neighborhood Amid ICE Enforcement

Federal agents used pepper spray Tuesday to force their vehicles through a crowd that had blocked their path while officers checked identifications in a heavily Somali neighborhood of Minneapolis, witnesses said. The confrontation occurred as federal immigration authorities intensified enforcement activity targeting the local Somali community.

City Council Member Jamal Osman, a Somali American who represents the neighborhood, and an Associated Press videographer both witnessed the incident. Osman said armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents checked IDs at East African restaurants, briefly detained at least one U.S. citizen and then moved to a nearby city-owned senior housing complex, where they faced a crowd that attempted to block their exit.

"Luckily everyone had their passport, because I've been telling them to have their passport with them," Osman said. He described mostly young, largely white residents who blew whistles and confronted agents to slow them down; agents responded by deploying pepper spray, Osman and other witnesses said.

Activists confronted a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the largely Somali neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

"I just don’t know what they accomplished today other than the chaos," Osman said, describing a young Somali American who was taken to an ICE detention center, fingerprinted, shown his U.S. passport and then released, told to find his own way home roughly six miles away in snowy weather.

ICE said by email that no arrests were made in the neighborhood on Tuesday but provided few additional details. Separately, the Department of Homeland Security has published a page listing at least six Somalis arrested in Minnesota in recent weeks; ICE also released a statement naming three additional Somalis arrested in the state and said the operation, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, targeted people convicted of crimes including sexual abuse of minors, robbery and domestic assault.

Wider Context

Tensions in the community spiked after President Donald Trump announced via social media that he was ending Temporary Protected Status for Somalis and after comments he reportedly made disparaging the group. Local Somali leaders and many Democrats, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, condemned the enforcement actions and rhetoric. Top state Republicans have been relatively quiet by comparison.

About 84,000 of the nation's roughly 260,000 people of Somali descent live in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, and the large majority are U.S. citizens: nearly 58% were born in the United States, and 87% of those born abroad are naturalized citizens.

As the situation continues to evolve, community leaders have urged residents to carry proof of citizenship or immigration status and to seek legal assistance if detained.