Monday, January 19, 2026- The U.S. Justice Department has launched an unprecedented criminal investigation into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey amid fallout from the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
Federal officials are examining whether the two Democratic leaders unlawfully encouraged protests that interfered with federal law enforcement activities, a charge both officials strongly deny. The move marks a rare escalation of federal scrutiny into elected state and local officials during a period of civil unrest and political conflict.
The investigation comes as the department declines to open a civil rights probe into the ICE agent involved in the shooting, a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from legal experts and civil rights advocates.
Instead of focusing on the officer’s conduct, the Justice Department’s attention has shifted to whether Walz and Frey’s public comments and actions impeded federal operations, a stance that has deepened political tensions between Washington and Minnesota leadership.
Minnesota’s leaders have pushed back, calling the federal inquiry politically motivated and an overreach of authority during a highly charged moment of protest and debate over immigration enforcement.
The clash highlights broader national divisions over how federal law enforcement interacts with local jurisdictions and whether political speech by elected officials can be construed as unlawful interference.
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