When masked federal agents in armored vehicles showed up in a south Minneapolis neighborhood on June 3, the rumors spread like wildfire. Rowdy protesters quickly took to East Lake Street, forcing the agents out of the area. 

Law enforcement and city leaders said the raid was focused on a drug and money laundering bust, but they weren't made aware of federal movements until after the incident.   

A new, 18-page independent audit of the operation is in response to community concerns about the actions of the city and the Minneapolis Police Department during the raid, which many of the protesters thought was tied to immigration.

On Tuesday, the City Council held an after-action review, digging into what role, if any, local officials had in the operation.

City Councilmember Jason Chavez was at the scene and sent a social media post saying "ICE was in the community."

"The report, after reading it, talks about that ICE agents were present for this federal action," Chavez said in Tuesday's meeting.

The audit says Chavez and others who did the same were telling the truth, but they would learn later it had nothing to do with immigration.

The report says City Council members learned about the action four hours after Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and three hours after Mayor Jacob Frey.

City police officers were there only to escort federal officers out of the area, the report notes, as they're not allowed to help with immigration enforcement due to the city's 2003 separation ordinance. A statement from the city said "MPD does not assist federal civil immigration operations – period." 

In a statement, Frey said the audit "confirms that the City did not violate its Separation Ordinance and acted with integrity, keeping public safety front and center. Transparency and accountability are essential to public trust, and this report reinforces both."

Chavez said the ordinance fell short.

"The separation ordinance did not protect us. The ordinance is not strong enough," he said. "It allows for collaboration with ICE."

One of the recommendations of the audit is to review and strengthen the separation ordinance, which has not been updated since it was first adopted. It also suggests improvement in communications across branches of government.

"I encourage you to take these findings and these recommendations that come from this report and this presentation to collaboratively improve processes to help prevent situations like this in the future," said city auditor Robert Timmerman.

The audit also concluded the City Council should have been notified faster so they could tell constituents what was happening. In response, the city gave WCCO the following statement:

"During quickly unfolding and escalating situations, it is prudent to confirm the accuracy of information before it is shared publicly, and sometimes that takes time. Because Minneapolis does not participate in civil immigration enforcement activity, we have no advance or immediate information about federal law enforcement actions in our community, whether related to immigration or not. Sharing inaccurate information in these moments could cause unnecessary alarm, confusion, or even compromise community safety. In this case, once information was confirmed, it was immediately shared with Council Members and members of the public."