MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The American Civil Liberties Union filed an amended complaint in federal court alleging violence, intimidation and retaliation by federal immigration agents against Minnesota residents who document and protest enforcement activity, detailing what it calls escalating constitutional violations in the case Tincher v. Noem.
In its article, “New Filings Detail Harrowing Accounts of ICE and Border Patrol Violence and Intimidation Against Minnesotans,” the American Civil Liberties Union reports on newly submitted court documents in the Tincher v. Noem case that detail alleged violence, intimidation and retaliation by federal immigration agents against Minnesota residents. According to the ACLU, the amended complaint and more than 80 declarations further expose the harm Minnesotans are experiencing “daily at the hands of federal agents.”
It was reported that the ACLU, the ACLU of Minnesota and pro bono partners filed the amended complaint and the more than 80 declarations in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. According to the ACLU, these filings show that federal agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, are continuing to violate the rights of people who observe, document and protest ICE activity in their neighborhoods.
Alicia Granse, staff attorney with the ACLU of Minnesota, emphasized the scope of the alleged constitutional violations. She said, “The dozens of stories we shared with the court today only represent a small percentage of the Minnesotans whose constitutional rights were violated by federal agents since December.” As stated by the ACLU, many plaintiffs and declarants expressed fear for their safety after encounters with federal agents. Granse added that individuals are “boldly sharing their stories to demand accountability from the federal government” despite this fear.
The ACLU said the amended complaint adds five new plaintiffs, including TNG-CWA, described as the largest labor union representing journalists and media professionals, along with the independent news outlet Status Coup News. As stressed by the ACLU, the complaint “alleges a policy and pattern of retaliation against people for gathering information about, recording, and protesting federal immigration agents’ activity in public, including through the use of chemical agents, excessive force, unlawful arrest, and surveillance and intimidation.”
Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, underscored the constitutional protections at issue. “The First Amendment unequivocally protects the right to gather information about, record, and peacefully protest federal agents carrying out their duties in public view,” Kim said.
According to the ACLU, the Department of Homeland Security has engaged in “a relentless campaign to trample these rights in order to silence and cow those who expose their brutal immigration enforcement tactics.” Kim added that the ACLU will use “every legal means available to seek accountability for these abuses and to defend the right to document and criticize government lawlessness without fear or intimidation.”
The ACLU further said the declarations filed with the court come from a diverse group of more than 80 community members who recount intimidation, aggression and violence while documenting or witnessing ICE activity. These accounts reportedly illustrate a broader pattern of unlawful conduct.
One declarant described being pepper-sprayed without warning and said, “The ICE agent did not say anything to me. Instead, he lowered his window, and pepper-sprayed me directly in the face at extremely close range.” The individual added, “At no point did ICE give any kind of warning, order, or instruction—not even a verbal ‘back up’—before pepper spraying me.” The ACLU said the declarant stated they would have complied “immediately” had any instruction been given.
Another declaration recounts agents berating individuals during transport and telling them that they had interrupted a “secret operation to arrest a child abuser.” The declarant said that when they expressed concerns regarding humane treatment and family separation, the agents did not respond. One agent allegedly admitted that seeing families torn apart “did break his heart,” but added that “it did not matter.”
The ACLU also relays an account of a physical confrontation in which a declarant described being “body-slammed into a hard surface” and unable to breathe while being restrained by agents. The individual said, “I felt like George Floyd,” and recalled being told to “shut the fuck up” before being pepper-sprayed behind their glasses. The pain was described as “some of the most intense pain I have felt in my life,” especially since “I had not done anything wrong.”
According to the ACLU, the declarations also include allegations of surveillance and intimidation extending beyond immediate encounters. One community member recalled agents calling out their name and stating their home address, repeatedly saying that they would “take you home.” The declarant said, “I was freaked out,” and feared for their family since the agents had said “that they knew where I lived and could come and get me and my family at any time.”
The ACLU said Tincher v. Noem, first filed Dec. 17, 2025, has now expanded to reflect what it describes as escalating retaliation against Minnesotans exercising their constitutional rights. The organization is asking the court to confront what it characterizes as a coordinated effort to suppress public scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement by submitting additional plaintiffs and dozens of sworn declarations. Through this, the ACLU seeks relief for those affected and clear judicial limits on federal agents and their conduct in public spaces.
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