Despite claims of a drawdown in Minnesota, suburban observers say ICE still active as ever
As federal officials have announced a drawdown of federal agents, those on the streets said they still have plenty of sightings.
On Friday, legal observer Collette Adkins said she spotted masked men in tactical gear and out-of-state plates in the parking lot of the Coon Rapids Police Department.
"I learned from a neighborhood watch group that there were multiple confirmed ICE vehicles," Adkins said.
Adkins said she also saw a man being handcuffed. She called out for him to say his name, but only heard him say his last name: "Martinez."
That's when Adkins said agents sounded their sirens and surrounded her vehicle with theirs.
"I felt absolute terror in the parking lot that day," Adkins said. "I absolutely was thinking about what happened to Renee Good that day, and I think a lot of observers have those images go through their minds."
Coon Rapids police said there was apparent ICE activity outside the Coon Rapids City Center on Friday, the same building where the police department is located, but they have no information beyond that. WCCO has reached out to DHS for more information.
After a visit inside the Whipple building Friday, Reps. Angie Craig and Ilhan Omar said a field office director told them that fewer than 500 federal agents remain.
"There has been a drawdown," Craig said to reporters Friday.
However, that alleged drawdown is not something Adkins said she is seeing in the northern suburbs.
"Every day, there's reports of abductions, of ICE activity. Just this morning, there were numerous confirmed ICE vehicles in the Fridley area," Adkins said.
"ICE is still in our community, they're still in suburbs," Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez said.
The Ward 9 councilmember said he, too, is still seeing confirmed ICE vehicles across south Minneapolis. He was part of a Phillips and Powderhorn neighborhood meeting Sunday, in part, to plan for the future with continued ICE activity.
"We're still asking our neighbors to be vigilant. We're still asking neighbors to support our neighbors, and ICE is still here and we're just developing next steps," Chavez said.