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On the night of January 9, 2026, hundreds of protesters descended on the Canopy by Hilton in downtown Minneapolis, convinced a contingent of federal ICE agents was staying at the hotel during an expanded deportation operation. Videos from the scene show crowds banging on drums, blasting whistles and flashlights into windows in an effort to harass and intimidate guests and staff.
What began as a noisy demonstration quickly crossed the line into property destruction and attempted breaches, with footage and reports showing masked agitators pounding on doors, spray-painting windows and trying to force their way inside. Police and state troopers eventually declared an unlawful assembly and detained and cited roughly 30 people as officers tried to restore order to the chaotic scene.
The siege of the hotel did not happen in a vacuum — it followed the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer during a large DHS operation in Minneapolis earlier in the week, an event that has polarized narratives and sparked nationwide “ICE Out For Good” demonstrations. Local and federal investigations are now moving in parallel, while activists and some elected officials use the tragedy to stoke fury rather than calm a tense situation.
This was not peaceful protest but mob theater designed to intimidate federal personnel and any Minnesotans who value safety and the rule of law. Watching hotel lobbies turned into battlegrounds and guests forced to shelter in place should alarm every American who believes public safety matters, and it exposes the soft-on-order posture of local leadership that allows hostility toward federal agents to metastasize.
Make no mistake: ICE and other federal officers were sent to enforce the law at the direction of the administration, and they deserve protection while investigations proceed. Blaming those who carry out dangerous duties while mobs run riot is the sort of moral inversion that endangers communities and rewards lawlessness; elected officials who fan the flames instead of protecting citizens must be held accountable.
Governor Tim Walz’s decision to put the National Guard on alert was appropriate, but it should have been paired with clearer backing for law enforcement and firmer action to prevent hotels and private businesses from becoming targets. If local authorities cannot secure basic public spaces, federal support should be immediate and unapologetic to restore order and protect both agents and civilians from escalation.
Hardworking Americans watching these scenes from Minneapolis do not want cities turned into zones where the loudest, angriest voices get their way by intimidation. We can demand a full, transparent investigation into the shooting while also insisting on law and order — supporting those who enforce our laws and prosecuting those who use violence and destruction under the guise of protest.
