DOJ Reportedly Investigating Tim Walz, Jacob Frey For Obstruction
The Justice Department is reportedly investigating Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis for obstruction, a local media outlet reported.
Two federal officials told WCCO, a Minneapolis-area television station, on Friday that a federal investigation is looking into whether Walz and Frey tried to prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting immigration enforcement operations. The investigative reports follow heightened tensions in the region after an ICE agent fatally shot Renée Nicole Good during an immigration enforcement operation on Jan. 7 after she was struck by his vehicle and received hospital treatment for internal bleeding. (RELATED: Jonathan Turley Compares Anti-ICE Resistance to Southern Governors Defying Civil Rights Laws)
NEW: US officials confirm @CBSNews the Department of Justice is investigating both @GovTimWalz And @MaireFrey for conspiracy to obstruct law enforcement. Deputy AG Todd Blanche called on the two men to “encourage violence against law enforcement.” @WCCO
– Jonah Kaplan (@JonahPKaplan) January 16, 2026
Both Walz and Frey denounced the shooting, saying the agent murdered Good, despite cellphone video taken by the ICE agent who fired the fatal shots showing that Good appeared to ignore the commands of other ICE agents before reversing his car, looking straight at the agent and accelerating toward him after his girlfriend yelled, “Drive, baby, drive!”
ICE deployed hundreds of agents to the Minneapolis area following reports of welfare fraud in Minnesota, prompting President Donald Trump to announce in November that he would end “temporary protected status” for Somalis in Minneapolis. Federal officials estimate that at least $9 billion in funds were stolen by Somali scammers from various social programs, and the Treasury Department launched an investigation following a report that some of the money stolen in the fraudulent scheme went to the Somalia-based radical Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab.
The DOJ’s investigation is focused on whether Walz and Frey, among other Minnesota officials, violated 18 USC § 372, which prohibits conspiring “to prevent, by force, intimidation, or threat, any person from accepting or holding any office, trust, or place of trust in the United States, or from the discharge of his or her duties,” CBS News reported.
Frey said Minneapolis police would not cooperate with the federal immigration enforcement operation during an interview with WCCO that aired Dec. 7. Minneapolis police were criticized for failing to respond when anti-ICE rioters attacked federal agents and independent journalists.
Walz, during a livestream Wednesday, urged Minnesotans to film ICE agents and said Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were carrying out an “occupation” of the state and that ICE was “dragging pregnant women.”
“If you see these ICE agents in your neighborhood, pull out that phone and record. Help us create a database of atrocities committed against Minnesotans, not only to build a record for posterity, but also to store evidence for future prosecutions,” Walz said.
“This is a clear attempt to intimidate me for defending Minneapolis, our local law enforcement and our residents from the chaos and danger this administration has brought to our streets. I will not be intimidated. My focus will remain where it has always been: keeping our city safe,” Frey said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “America depends on leaders who use integrity and the rule of law as the guiding principles of governance. Neither our city nor our country will succumb to this fear. We remain rock solid.”
Walz and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to DCNF’s requests for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news service, is available free to any legitimate news publisher capable of delivering a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and DCNF affiliation. For questions about our guidelines or our partnership, please contact licenses@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
