Vice President J.D. Vance called out the mainstream media and protestors during a Thursday afternoon press conference from Minneapolis.
“Frankly, a lot of the media is lying about these guys behind me,” Vance said, flanked by officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “These people are under an incredible amount of duress and chaos.”
This press conference was part of a visit meant to help restore “law and order” to the Twin Cities, following weeks of widespread unrest and protests.
During his remarks, Vance said it is time to end the chaos, but added that he still respects the right to peacefully protest.
“Tone down the temperature, reduce the chaos, but still allow us to enforce federal immigration laws,” he said. “These guys are unable to do their jobs without being harassed, doxxed and assaulted. Totally unacceptable.”
Vance did promise repercussions for violence though.
“Come out and protest,” he said. “Do it peacefully. If you assault a law enforcement officer, the Trump DOJ will prosecute you.”
Earlier today, federal officials announced three arrests in connection with a protest that disrupted a Sunday morning service in St. Paul.
The arrests were made by FBI agents and the investigative branch of ICE, who have had a strong presence in the city in the past few weeks.
This comes following widespread calls for arrests in the wake of the protest, which quickly captured attention far beyond Minnesota.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the protest, which was organized in part by members of Black Lives Matter Minnesota.
Video posted by the group shows protesters chanting “ICE out” and “justice for Renee Good” during the service at Cities Church. Another video circulating on social media shows one of the protesters, who was arrested today, calling congregants “pretend Christians” and “comfortable white people.”
Caleb Phillips, a congregant at the church, told The Center Square in an exclusive interview that the protestors were seated throughout the congregation before the service began.
The anti-ICE protests only escalated in the wake of the Jan. 7 killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good during an encounter with ICE officers conducting enhanced immigration enforcement.
Vance defended the surge of forces to the Twin Cities during the press conference.
“We are focused on Minneapolis because that’s where we have the highest concentration of people who violated our immigration laws, and that’s also frankly where we see the most assaultive behavior by our law enforcement officers,” he said.
Vance added that the chaos in Minneapolis is due to a lack of cooperation from local and state with federal officials.
“Why are we not seeing it anywhere else? We are seeing this level of chaos only in Minneapolis,” he said. “Maybe the problem is unique to Minneapolis, and we believe that it is, and it’s a lack of cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal law enforcement.”
Currently, Minneapolis is a ‘sanctuary city,’ which means law enforcement is not allowed to cooperate with federal officials or enforce federal immigration laws.
According to his schedule, Vance was expected to leave Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon.
