Tim Walz Demands Trump End ‘Organized Brutality’ of Minnesota’s ICE ‘Occupation’ in Prime-Time Address

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz demanded President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “end this occupation” of Minnesota in a rare prime-time address on Wednesday, as he accused the administration of unleashing “organized brutality” in its latest ICE push.

The six-minute speech aired just hours after the Department of Homeland Security announced that Operation Metro Surge had resulted in 2,500 arrests across the state since last month. Federal officials said that roughly 800 Customs and Border Protection agents are now operating in the Minneapolis area, in addition to about 2,000 ICE and other federal agents already deployed in what the administration has described as the largest DHS operation in history.

“What’s happening in Minnesota right now defies belief,” Walz said, accusing the federal government of unleashing “chaos and disruption and trauma” on local communities.

He argued the operation had “long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” calling it instead “a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”

“Donald Trump intends for it to get worse,” he continued, citing the president’s recent online promise that “the day of RETRIBUTION & RECKONING IS COMING.”

The governor called that language “a direct threat” against Minnesotans who have voted against Trump and continue, he said, to “stand up for freedom with courage and empathy and profound grace.”

Walz also urged residents to protest “loudly, urgently, but also peacefully,” and to document federal activity.

“If you see these ICE agents in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record,” he said, encouraging people to help create “a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans” and to “bank evidence for future prosecution.”

To Trump, Walz said: “You’ve done enough.”

The White House mocked Walz in return, taking to X to post a moment from the video where audio of the governor’s speech appeared to play over itself. The White House called the governor a “loser” and “buffon” while calling on him to resign:

Walz’s address came as state and city lawyers sought a temporary restraining order in federal court to halt ICE operations, a request the judge declined to grant immediately while awaiting further filings.

Watch above via YouTube.