Minneapolis City Council President Fears ICE Will ‘Kill’ Him While ‘Documenting’ Protester Takedowns

Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne told MS NOW that he “worried” that ICE agents are going to “kill” him while he’s “documenting” altercations with community members protesting raids after he said he was shoved by an agent on Monday night.

The comments come as additional ICE and Department of Homeland Security agents have been deployed in the city as part of a surge. Demonstrations in Minneapolis and beyond continue following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer on January 7, a case that has inflamed tensions and triggered lawsuits from state and city leaders alleging constitutional violations.

A video circulating on social media, captured by council member Jason Chavez, appears to show an ICE agent physically shoving Payne and another person at a bus stop on a public sidewalk in northeast Minneapolis as he attempted to intervene in what he described as the “harassing of a U.S. citizen.”

In an Instagram post sharing the video, Payne said agents had “indiscriminately stopped” a citizen before the shove.

Speaking to MS NOW reporter Britt Miller in a segment aired exclusively on Wednesday’s Morning Joe, Payne complained there was “a lot of direct assault” by agents who he said were “roughing up U.S. citizens and observers.”

“This is the most un-American thing I can imagine,” he said.

Payne retold his own story, how he introduced himself as a lawmaker and demanded the officer’s badge number only to be “refused” that information, all while other agents pointed tasers at him.

Asked by Miller whether he feared a further killing could happen, like the shooting of Good by an agent last week, he said he feared for his own life.

“Yeah, I’m worried that they’ll kill me because I’m out there and I’m witnessing and I’m documenting. And it seems that they are retaliating against us for asserting our rights,” Payne replied.

Watch above via MS NOW.