ACLU asked judge to limit ICE weeks before Renee Good fatal shooting
ACLU suing ICE: Hearing canceled suddenly
The ACLU is in suing ICE regarding immigration tactics in Minnesota. FOX 9's Paul Blume has more.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Three weeks before the deadly shooting of Renee Good, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security over the tactics of its agents deployed in Minnesota.
Federal court hearing canceled
What we know:
A federal court hearing over a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against DHS and ICE was canceled this week hours after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in her vehicle.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit weeks before the deadly shooting.
The ACLU argued DHS and ICE are trying to intimidate, harass and threaten those who try to observe and protest ICE in Minnesota.
In the lawsuit, the ACLU asked a judge to limit ICE and other federal agents from the use of crowd control weapons like chemical irritants and flash-bang grenades.
"Our worry has been and continues to be the disproportionate reaction that we have been seeing with ICE," said Teresa Nelson, Legal Director of ACLU-Minnesota.
ICE operations and lawsuits
Dig deeper:
Large scale immigration operations have led to similar lawsuits in other cities where ICE agents were accused of using excessive force while responding to protests.
In Chicago, a federal judge recently noted that ICE officers do not "receive regular training on crowd control."
A video submitted as part of the Minnesota case shows a man being arrested during a chaotic scene in south Minneapolis last year.
The ACLU argued federal agents used overly aggressive tactics.
Lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security argued that the man was the aggressor, shouting obscenities and throwing rocks at ICE agents.
The Trump Administration has made similar arguments in other cities subjected to increased immigration operations and did so again after Wednesday’s deadly shooting.
Press Secretary reacts
What they're saying:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democrats are "impeding immigration enforcement operations daily" and creating "extremely heightened and dangerous circumstances."
Nelson said the ACLU recognizes the need to balance legitimate law enforcement activity and the rights of people to engage in protected speech.
"There does need to be a balance and the balance right now has been tipping toward really unprecedented violence against people who are engaged in that First Amendment-protected activity," she said.
What's next:
The next court date in the case has not been set yet.