Minnesota authorities investigate arrest by ICE of a Hmong American man as a possible kidnapping

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota county is investigating the arrest of a Hmong American by federal agents that was caught on video as a possible case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials said Monday.

Ramsey County Prosecutor John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said in a news conference that they are seeking information from the Department of Homeland Security for their investigation into the Jan. 18 arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St. Paul.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents broke down the front door of Thao’s St. Paul home at gunpoint – without a warrant as far as Choi and Fletcher could determine – then led him outside in his underwear and a blanket in freezing conditions.

“There are many facts that we don’t know yet, but there is one that we do know. And that is that Mr. Thao is and has been an American citizen. There is no dispute about that,” Fletcher said. “There is no doubt that he was taken out of his home, forcibly taken out of his home and driven around in a car.”

The sheriff continued: “Is it good law enforcement to take an American citizen out of his home and drive him around aimlessly, trying to determine what he can say to him?

DHS, which oversees ICE, has so far refused to cooperate with Ramsey County or other state and local investigations into federal agents’ killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Representatives for ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Ramsey County’s announcement.

Choi said they were trying to determine whether crimes were committed and could be prosecuted under state or federal law. He also said St. Paul police were investigating another immigration enforcement-related case for potential violations, but he declined to provide details.

“This is not about any predetermined agenda other than seeking the truth and investigating the facts,” Choi said.

The agents who arrested Thao eventually realized he was a longtime U.S. citizen with no criminal record, Thao said in an interview with The Associated Press in January. They took him home after a few hours.

Homeland Security later said ICE agents were searching for two convicted sex offenders. But Thao told the AP that he had never seen the two men before and that they did not live with him. The Minnesota Department of Corrections later said one of the two wanted men remained in prison.

Videos captured the scene, in which people whistled and honked their horns, and neighbors shouted at more than a dozen armed officers to leave Thao’s family alone.

Thao declined to comment on the announcement Monday.

County Attorney’s Office Trial Division Director Hao Nguyen said he wrote to DHS, ICE and local federal prosecutors on March 20, outlining the evidence they were seeking.

“We know there are reports, but there’s no way there isn’t,” Nguyen said. “We also want to know who was working that day, who was working that month. Where were they reporting? Who were they reporting to? We also want to understand what records might exist in terms of digital records, witness interviews, video recordings.”

They set an April 30 deadline, after which they could file a lawsuit or convene a grand jury, Choi said.

The state and the chief prosecutor of neighboring Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, sued the Trump administration last month for access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

The lawsuit accuses the federal government of reneging on its promise to cooperate with state investigations after about 3,000 federal law enforcement agents arrived in Minnesota.

Choi urged members of the public who may have evidence about Thao’s case or other potential violations to come forward. Minnesota and Hennepin County have made similar calls.

The Trump administration has suggested that Minnesota officials lack jurisdiction to investigate the actions of federal law enforcement. But Fletcher said he thought that was the case.

“There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents,” the sheriff said. “There is qualified immunity for all law enforcement in many different areas. But in removing someone from their home who is a U.S. citizen, they are not immune from that.”

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Karnowski reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press reporter Jack Brook contributed to this story from New Orleans.