Report says hundreds charged with impeding feds amid ICE surge
Becky Ringstrom was following federal immigration agents in her Blaine, Minnesota, neighborhood last month, when they approached her car and told her to stop following.
Ringstrom said she went the other way, turning back home, but several minutes later, federal officers stopped and arrested her.
"Once they started to tap on my windshield, I did make the decision that I would roll down my window, and as soon as I did that, the agent on my driver's side reached in and unlocked my door himself," said Ringstrom. "They just told me they were going to extract me from the vehicle."
Ringstrom was taken to the Whipple Building, where an officer gave her a citation, charging her under a federal law that criminalizes impeding law enforcement.
"Assaulting and obstructing law enforcement is a felony," Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Reuters, that immigration officers "used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property."
"I will never stop believing that what happened on that day was nothing more than them trying to scare us," said Ringstrom.
According to Reuters, the Trump administration has prosecuted at least 655 people for interfering with federal agents since city-by-city enforcement began last summer. They report that's more than double the previous year.
WCCO has covered multiple instances of federal officers arresting observers.
Defense attorney Joe Tamburino was asked if following law enforcement is against the law.
"If what you're dealing with is simply someone who's following an ICE car and they are a safe distance away, I don't see a violation of any statute," said Tamburino.
"If we don't show the world what's happening, people will continue to think that this is like just something small and it's not. If anything, things are escalating even further," said Ringstrom.
