In temperatures reported at twenty degrees below zero, clergy in vestments knelt on the pavement at Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport while officers moved down the line, cuffing them one by one. Hours later, the people organizing the protest said more than one hundred faith leaders had been taken away, but local authorities still had not confirmed a number.
A Prayer Vigil That Turned Into Arrests
The protest at Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport, commonly known as MSP, was organized as part of an “ICE Out of Minnesota” campaign that targets the use of the airport for federal immigration enforcement. The account of what happened there splits quickly, depending on who is speaking, and not all of the basic figures have been verified.
According to reporting by Fox News, a crowd gathered at MSP to pressure airlines to stop cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The group Faith in Minnesota, which describes itself as a coalition of religious activists calling for racial and economic justice, said that more than one hundred clergy and faith leaders were arrested after they linked arms, prayed, and refused to move.
Fox News reported that a video posted by Faith in Minnesota showed participants lined up on their knees as officers escorted them to a waiting bus for transport to jail. In that same coverage, Fox referred to the demonstrators as “anti-ICE agitators.” Faith in Minnesota has described its action as a peaceful and prayerful protest, while accepting that participants knowingly risked arrest.
Law enforcement agencies had not publicly confirmed the total number of arrests at the time of that reporting. No official booking list or consolidated arrest tally has yet appeared in the public record that is cited in available news reports, which leaves the exact scale of enforcement action unresolved.
What Protest Organizers Say Is At Stake
Faith in Minnesota has framed MSP as a quiet but central site in the federal deportation system. In statements highlighted by Fox News, the group alleged that more than 2,000 deportations have been routed through the airport in recent years and claimed that MSP employees have been detained by ICE both at work and while commuting.
Those figures and accounts come from organizers, not from official airport or federal data cited in the available coverage. Neither Fox News nor local outlet FOX 9 Minneapolis reported corroborating statistics from ICE or the Metropolitan Airports Commission that would independently confirm the 2,000 deportation figure or the specific incidents involving airport staff.
Faith in Minnesota has urged airlines that operate at MSP, including Delta Air Lines and Signature Aviation, to cut ties with ICE flights. Their campaign argues that corporate decisions about contracts and ground services can either support or impede federal deportations. Airlines involved have not issued detailed public responses in the coverage reviewed so far, and no carrier is quoted directly agreeing with or rejecting the protesters’ demands.
Airport Officials Point To Permit Limits
Airport officials, for their part, emphasize that they worked with organizers in advance and that the problem was not the message of the protest but how it unfolded on the ground.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission, which operates MSP, told FOX 9 that it had coordinated with event organizers “to best accommodate their right to freedom of expression while also ensuring uninterrupted operations at MSP Airport.” According to FOX 9, the approved demonstration permit set limits on where protesters could gather and how many could attend. Those restrictions were framed as necessary to maintain public safety and airport operations.
In a written statement to FOX 9, the commission said, “When the permitted activity went beyond the agreed-upon terms, MSP Airport Police began taking necessary action, including arrests, to protect public safety, airport security and access to Terminal 1.” That account does not specify which terms were breached, how officers assessed the line between permitted protest and unlawful conduct, or how many people were arrested after that line was crossed.
Neither Fox News nor FOX 9 reported any serious injuries connected to the MSP airport arrests in the material currently available. Details about specific charges filed, such as misdemeanor trespass or obstruction, have not yet been published in the sources cited, which makes it difficult to see exactly how prosecutors are characterizing the actions of those taken into custody.
Unrest Spreads To A Federal Building
The same day as the airport arrests, protests also took place at the Whipple Federal Building, a nearby facility that houses immigration courts and federal offices. According to Fox News, demonstrators gathered there in response to the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent on January 7. That killing, which involved federal use of force, has intensified local scrutiny of ICE operations in the region.
At the Whipple Building, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office characterized the protest as unlawful. In a statement posted on X and quoted by Fox News, the sheriff’s office said, “Deputies have been on the ground for the last few hours and made several attempts to ask protesters to unblock an access road. The group was clear that they will not unblock the road. Deputies have explained what will happen if they do not comply with the lawful orders. We’ve given them time to move.”
The same statement continued, “There have been ice chunks thrown at multiple vehicles, breaking windows. Deputies have given three dispersal orders for an unlawful protest. Individuals who do not comply with orders and those who continue unlawful behavior have been and will continue to be arrested. Please avoid the area.” Those descriptions come from law enforcement. They have not been matched, in the reporting reviewed so far, with detailed accounts from protesters at the Whipple Building responding to the allegations of property damage.
Public details about the investigation into the shooting of Renee Nicole Good are limited in these reports. Fox News identifies the shooter as an ICE agent and describes the incident as a fatal encounter, but the articles available do not include investigative findings, video evidence, or prosecutorial decisions related to that use of force.
Politics, Business Closures, And A Wider Campaign
The MSP airport arrests and Whipple Building protests are part of a broader political and social conflict in Minnesota about how ICE operates and how local institutions respond. Fox News reported that hundreds of businesses in the Minneapolis area closed in coordination with an “ICE Out of Minnesota: A Day of Truth and Freedom” action to show support for people detained by ICE. That closure count comes from FOX 9, as cited by Fox News, and has not been independently tallied in public records.
National political figures have also taken notice. According to Fox News, Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to visit Minneapolis in connection with unrest over ICE operations. The article does not detail the agenda of that visit, whether the vice president plans to meet with protesters, law enforcement, or local officials, or whether any federal policy changes are under consideration.
Earlier reporting from Fox News on Minnesota law enforcement has highlighted separate concerns from some police chiefs who alleged that certain ICE agents racially profiled United States citizens, including off-duty officers, during previous operations. Those allegations, which involve potential civil rights violations, have prompted calls for further oversight, although the outcomes of any resulting investigations are not fully detailed in the coverage now available.
What Is Known, And What Is Not
Across these events, a few points are firmly established in the current public record. Protests occurred at MSP airport and at the Whipple Federal Building. Some portion of those protests took place under an approved permit, and some portion proceeded outside the boundaries of that permit. Law enforcement officers made arrests in both locations. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office publicly alleged property damage and road blockages at the federal building. Protest organizers say they engaged in deliberate civil disobedience at MSP and that their goal is to disrupt deportation flights and corporate support for ICE.
Other elements remain less clear. The total number of people arrested at MSP and at Whipple has not been released in a consolidated way in the news coverage cited here. The specific criminal charges, if any, that protesters are now facing have not been cataloged. The claim that more than 2,000 deportations have moved through MSP, and the assertion that airport workers have been detained at or near their jobs, rest on organizer statements that have not yet been backed by official data in these reports.
At the center is a narrower question that neither side has fully answered in public: exactly where did this particular protest, which began as a permitted vigil at a major airport, cross the legal line that transformed prayer and chanting into arrestable conduct. Until arrest records, charging documents, and more detailed timelines are released, the difference between civil disobedience and crime at MSP will remain largely defined by competing narratives rather than shared facts.
