Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is suddenly calling for peace. That alone would be unremarkable—except for the fact that it comes just days after he stood at a podium and told Immigration and Customs Enforcement to “get the f— out” of his city. The whiplash is hard to miss, and it speaks volumes about how badly the situation in Minneapolis has spiraled.
Frey made his latest remarks during a late-night news conference following another explosive confrontation tied to federal immigration enforcement. An illegal immigrant from Venezuela was shot in the leg after allegedly ambushing a federal agent with a shovel. That incident only added fuel to an already volatile environment, one Frey now insists is “not sustainable.”
“I’m calling for peace,” the mayor said, urging everyone to play a role in calming tensions. Yet even as he pleaded for restraint, he continued to condemn ICE and repeated his demand that federal agents leave Minneapolis altogether. He described the situation as “impossible,” claiming city residents are now asking a limited number of local police officers to confront federal agents in the streets. In the same breath, he accused ICE and Border Patrol of “creating chaos,” despite acknowledging that federal agents have been repeatedly confronted—sometimes violently—by protesters.
That framing is difficult to reconcile with Frey’s own recent rhetoric. Only last week, following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, he unleashed a profanity-laced tirade telling ICE they were not wanted in the city and accusing them of making Minneapolis less safe. On Wednesday, however, Frey insisted he has never engaged in violent rhetoric and challenged critics to point to a single instance where he encouraged anything other than peace.
The contradiction is glaring. Calling for federal law enforcement to leave while accusing them of “disgusting and intolerable” conduct, then expressing shock when residents take that message as a green light for confrontation, is not leadership—it’s evasion.
The backdrop to all of this is a rapidly escalating standoff between Minnesota’s political leadership and the Trump administration. After repeated attacks on ICE agents and widespread vandalism of federal property, the administration announced it would send an additional 1,000 immigration officers to Minnesota. President Trump has since threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if local officials fail to restore order, a move that has unsettled even some Republican lawmakers.
Several GOP senators have urged caution, warning that deploying troops could further inflame tensions reminiscent of Minneapolis in 2020. Others, while acknowledging the risks, have expressed frustration with protesters who are blocking agents, harassing officers, and openly attempting to disrupt lawful enforcement operations.
Meanwhile, Gov. Tim Walz has asked Trump to “turn the temperature down,” a request ICE responded to bluntly by reminding him that “the buck stops with you.”
