Amid escalating tensions in Minnesota, Immigration and Customs Enforcement scored a court win on Monday in staving off agitators.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a stay on a lower court ruling that restricted ICE agents from arresting, detaining, or pepper-spraying agitators without probable cause, Fox News reported.
“We accessed and viewed the same videos the district court did,” the appeals court ruling said.
“What they show is observers and protesters engaging in a wide range of conduct, some of it peaceful but much of it not. They also show federal agents responding in various ways.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that this was a “WIN AGAINST JUDICIAL ACTIVISM IN MINNESOTA.”
“The [Justice Department] went to court. We got a temporary stay,” Bondi said in the post. “NOW, the 8th Circuit has fully agreed that this reckless attempt to undermine law enforcement cannot stand.”
The federal complaint against the Department of Homeland Security and ICE alleged federal law enforcement violated the civil rights of six protesters.
On Jan. 16, U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and imposed a preliminary injunction to stop tactics used by ICE toward protesters who were demonstrating against immigration enforcement.
Menendez said plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their challenge that federal agents violated protesters’ First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights as part of Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities.