VP JD Vance to discuss "restoring law and order in Minnesota" in Thursday's visit

A Minnesota federal magistrate judge refused to sign a complaint charging independent journalist Don Lemon in connection with a protest inside a church in St. Paul on Sunday, multiple sources familiar with the proceedings told CBS News.

 "The attorney general is enraged at the magistrate's decision," said a source familiar with the matter. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been in Minnesota for two days, as the Justice Department has sought to surge prosecutorial and law enforcement resources there.

A different source stressed that the process is not over, and the Justice Department could find other avenues to charge Lemon.

On Thursday morning, Bondi announced two arrests connected to the church protest — Chauntyll Louisa Allen, who serves on the St. Paul School Board, and Nekima Levy Armstrong. Bondi alleged that Armstrong was involved in organizing the protest. 

A source familiar with the matter confirmed that a magistrate judge approved charges against Allen and Armstrong. 

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The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says it's continuing an investigation into a shooting last week, in which a federal officer shot a man in north Minneapolis.

The BCA says it responded to the scene to collect evidence, but were not able to finish their work "due to safety concerns" that night. The shooting had led to a protest, during which time Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said his officers were hit with rocks, fireworks and snowballs.

BCA investigators did recover a shovel and left the scene, returning Wednesday to execute a search warrant. The BCA says its agents recovered a broom, a shell casing and a bullet.

The BCA says an FBI investigation is running parallel to their own probe, but they say they have not been permitted to speak with the federal officer who shot the man. BCA officials say they have not been provided with the officer's identity, and the FBI has not shared whether the officer was wearing a body camera. 

"The FBI has communicated that they do not intend to share any results of their initial investigation with BCA agents," the BCA said in a release on Thursday.

The bureau is requesting that anyone with information, or anyone who captured video of the incident, send it to the BCA at bca.tips@state.mn.us. 

There have been more arrests in protests outside the Graduate by Hilton Hotel near the University of Minnesota. 

University police responded to the protest on Wednesday evening, and three people were later arrested for unlawful assembly, the university said. No injuries were reported. 

"The UMPD, as part of its mission, believes in the right to engage in peaceful protest and is committed to the safety of our campus community," the university said. 

Last week, three other people were arrested at the hotel. Protesters were making noise to disturb the federal agents they believed were staying at the hotel. The university said the protest resulted in property damage and "hazardous conditions for the public and law enforcement." 

U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, appearing at a press conference Thursday morning, took some time to criticize the Minneapolis Police Department for allegedly not helping out during Wednesday's protests, during which federal agents claimed they were being "stalked."

"Hey, folks, where were the cops yesterday? Where was Minneapolis Police Department during that eight-hour stalking events? Anybody care to venture a guess? I'd like to venture a guess. And it's: I don't know," Bovino said.

When asked if his agency explicitly called MPD for help, Bovino only mentioned they did at some point.

"We're here, and we are going to accomplish the mission. I'm glad to be here. Our agents are ecstatic to be here. ICE agents are glad to be here," Bovino concluded.

WCCO has reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department and are awaiting its response.

The White House says Vice President JD Vance has left and is now en route to Minnesota, where he plans to meet with ICE agents and defend their immigration operations.

Vance shared a preview of his message ahead of his travel.

"We're gonna talk with some of our ICE agents, talk with local officials about how we can turn down the chaos, and my simple piece of advice to them is gonna be, 'Look, if you want to turn down the chaos in Minneapolis, stop fighting immigration enforcement and accept that we have to have a border in this country.' It's not that hard," Vance said.

Vance's visit comes days after the Justice Department subpoenaed several Minnesota officials as part of an investigation into whether state and local leaders have obstructed federal immigration enforcement efforts.

"We're going to get illegal criminals out of our country and we're not going to let a few left-wing radicals stop us," Vance added.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday announced that two people have been arrested in connection with the disruption of services at a church where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor. 

Bondi announced the arrests of Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen on social media.

The incident happened on Sunday, as a group joined services at the Cities Church in St. Paul before chanting "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good." One of the church's pastors, David Easterwood, leads the local ICE field office, and one of the leaders of the protest and prominent local activist Armstrong said she's also an ordained pastor.

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School district officials in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, say their sense of security is shaken and their hearts shattered after four students from the district were recently taken by officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Operation Metro Surge started in the Twin Cities metro area nearly two months ago. The Trump administration says they've arrested at least 3,000 immigrants in Minnesota. But federal officials have released only limited information about those who have been detained.

When WCCO looked at cases online, most filed recently are habeas corpus, which an attorney clarifies means someone is in federal custody who maybe shouldn't be.

"Not a single one of my clients detained has a criminal record and all of them were in a process of some kind," said immigration lawyer Carrie Peltier.

Peltier says she's been working nonstop for the past year.

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