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On January 23, 2026, a massive anti-ICE demonstration in Minneapolis spilled into the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, where organizers say more than 100 protestors — many of them clergy — were arrested after disrupting operations and blocking access. The spectacle played out in subzero temperatures as activists filmed their arrests and boasted about interrupting flights, apparently more proud of viral theater than public safety.
Airport officials and police say the protesters exceeded the terms of a permitted demonstration and that officers had to step in to protect passengers, employees, and essential airport operations. Americans who travel for work, medical care, and holidays have little patience for performative civil disobedience that risks lives and delays commerce in one of the nation’s busiest hubs.
Reports show a notable number of those detained claimed to be clergy, kneeling and praying as officers led them away in what organizers framed as a moral stand against ICE. No one disputes the right to peaceful protest, but there is a difference between lawful advocacy and intentionally breaking laws that endanger others; when pastors trade church pews for airport runways they lose the moral high ground.
This airport sit-in was only one piece of a broader campaign that shut down schools, kept workers home, and closed businesses across Minnesota in what organizers called a statewide economic blackout on January 23. Tens of thousands marched in freezing conditions to demand that federal immigration enforcement be pushed out of the state, turning local grievances into a statewide disruption of ordinary life.
The protests were stoked by outrage over a recent ICE operation and the killing of a Minneapolis resident earlier in the month, events that understandably stirred strong emotions and questions about law enforcement conduct. But anger and grief do not justify reckless attacks on the rule of law or turning airports into stages for political theater while families and travelers are put at risk.
Let’s be blunt: law and order matters. When activists weaponize airports and transportation hubs to score points, they are gambling with safety and commerce and showing contempt for the livelihoods of ordinary Americans who depend on those systems functioning every day.
Local leaders should stop applauding chaos and start enforcing the rules that keep citizens safe. If a protest crosses the line into obstruction or trespass, elected officials and law enforcement must act decisively — the right to assemble does not include the right to shut down other people’s lives.
Conservative patriots know the country can debate immigration policy vigorously without succumbing to mob tactics that normalize lawlessness. We can demand accountability for any misuse of force while also insisting on secure borders, functioning enforcement, and respect for the institutions that keep our communities running.
The message to Washington and Minneapolis should be clear: stand with working families, not with radicals who put headlines above human safety. America thrives when order, common sense, and decency prevail over spectacle and disruption.
