Anti-ICE agitators set up checkpoint in Minneapolis street to stop vehicles

Anti–Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agitators in Minneapolis set up a makeshift checkpoint on the streets to track federal agents, stopping vehicles and questioning drivers to determine if they were ICE agents, video shows.

Agitators could be seen standing on the roadway, near makeshift barricades and traffic cones, as they stopped or flagged down passing vehicles.

In one clip, an agitator wearing a black coat and black mask was seen approaching a stopped vehicle and directly asking the driver if he was “ICE,” before allowing the car to continue.

“It appears that in our system your plates are showing as ICE plates,” the agitator told the driver.

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Agitators at a barricade on Cedar Avenue near 34th Street as a checkpoint to screen ICE and federal immigration enforcement vehicles entering the Powderhorn neighborhood in south Minneapolis. (Richard Tsong-Taatari/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

“That doesn’t seem to be the case,” he added. “I just want to come and ask you what’s going on and see how you’re doing.”

The agitator also asked the driver his name.

“He’s clearly Somali,” someone is also heard saying.

Journalist Jorge Ventura captured video of the scene. Ventura asked the agitator what system they were using, telling him how the group identified vehicles and noting that the driver was not a federal agent.

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An anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agitator approaches a vehicle and questions the driver during a makeshift checkpoint on a residential street in Minneapolis, video shows. (X / @VenturaReport)

The agitator responded that ICE agents rent a large number of vehicles and that the car would be removed “from the list.”

The agitator acknowledged that the encounter was posted on social media, but said many nearby residents supported the effort.

“A lot of neighbors support what we’re doing,” the agitator said. “So happy to be here.”

Ventura said the agitators were stopping vehicles on Cedar Avenue, which runs through the Somali-heavy neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside, known as “Little Mogadishu.” He said they stopped vehicles, checked drivers’ identities and ran license plates in what they described as a “database,” adding that he did not observe any Minneapolis police officers at the scene.

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Agitators build a barricade on Cedar Avenue near 34th Street as a checkpoint to screen ICE and federal immigration enforcement vehicles entering the Powderhorn neighborhood in south Minneapolis. (Richard Tsong-Taatari/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

The activity appeared to take place entirely on public roads, with the agitators effectively setting up what appeared to be an informal checkpoint aimed at identifying or tracking federal immigration agents operating in the city.

The Minneapolis Police Department told Fox News Digital that the roadblocks have been removed. It is unclear whether any arrests have been made.

“The Public Works crew, with assistance from the Minneapolis Police Department, cleared debris and homemade roadblocks yesterday,” the department said. “Given the blockage of high-traffic, high-speed roads on Cedar Avenue, the City has cleared the streets to ensure the public safety of neighborhoods and emergency vehicles.

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The video surfaced amid heightened tensions over immigration enforcement in Minnesota, as anti-ICE activists have staged repeated protests and clashes linked to federal operations in recent weeks.

This comes after the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis during separate federal law enforcement actions, incidents that have increased unrest and surveillance surrounding ICE activity in the city.