On June 3, 2025, a tense clash erupted in Minneapolis when protesters confronted federal agents at Taqueria y Birrieria Las Cuatro Milpas, a Mexican restaurant on Lake Street, after elected officials falsely claimed a criminal search warrant was an ICE immigration raid.

The misinformation, spread rapidly on social media, fueled a chaotic scene where federal agents faced thrown objects and physical altercations.

Local law enforcement and city leaders now face a reckoning, with some slamming the “irresponsible” rhetoric and others questioning police involvement, as Minneapolis grapples with trust and transparency in a city still scarred by past unrest.

“The information that came out on social media from elected officials was highly irresponsible,” Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said at a June 4 press conference.

“There were ways for them to have accurate information, and instead of getting accurate information, being impulsive and putting out things that could potentially incite riots is senseless.”

The operation, involving ICE, DEA, FBI, and other agencies, was a drug and money laundering investigation, not an immigration sweep.

“Yesterday’s incident was a criminal investigation,” Witt clarified.

“So putting out the rhetoric that that was a raid, it was not a raid. Putting out the rhetoric that it was an immigration enforcement, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office does not participate in immigration enforcement.”

State Senator Omar Fateh, a Minneapolis mayoral candidate, posted on Facebook, “On scene are DHS, ICE, FBI, Sheriffs, and MPD,” calling it “blatant fascism on display.”

He also wrote, “No matter the reason, one thing is clear: this display of force is designed to strike fear at the very heart of MPLS. We stand in solidarity against it.”

City Council Member Jason Chavez, present at the protest, said, “We have people in ICE badges and we have MPD showing up, closing up the perimeter, and assisting, and helping with this situation. This is completely wrong.”

Their posts, amplifying fears of an ICE raid, drew crowds to Lake and Bloomington Avenue, where protesters tossed traffic cones and trash cans, clashing with agents.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, on scene to manage the crowd, expressed frustration. “The feds can leave, we are left behind to deal with the consequences,” he said, describing “heavily-armed federal agents getting into hand-to-hand situations with people who are protesting.”

He called the response “tone-deaf,” noting, “If a tragedy happened at Lake and Bloom yesterday, it doesn’t matter who is at fault. The community loses. The feds lose. We all lose.”

Mayor Jacob Frey admitted communication failures but pointed to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

“Trump has created an environment of understandable fear, created an atmosphere where distrust isn’t just a norm,” Frey said.

The operation, one of eight across the Twin Cities targeting a “transnational criminal organization,” yielded no arrests at Las Cuatro Milpas, but tensions lingered.

“When community members that are already rightfully afraid see some of these heavily armored vehicles, with people in fatigues getting out of them, look, I understand,” Frey said.

The Rev. Ingrid Rasmussen, a local pastor, added, “The fact that we see Minneapolis police escorting these tanks down the street does not instill a lot of confidence within a community that has been really badly traumatized by the Minneapolis police over the last five years.” As Minneapolis navigates this fallout, the clash exposes a city divided, where misinformation and mistrust threaten to unravel fragile community ties.

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