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Update on St. Paul ICE protest, raid
New information has come out on the federal raid and following protests in St. Paul. FOX 9's Karen Scullin has the latest.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A man accused of ramming an ICE agent's vehicle during an immigration arrest that sparked a large protest last week in St. Paul has now been indicted.
ICE arrest in St. Paul
What we know:
An arrest warrant filed by ICE officer Benjamin Jorgenson outlines the incident on Rose Avenue in St. Paul that led to the charges against Jeffrey Josuee Lopez-Suazo.
Lopez-Suazo was one of two men arrested on Nov. 25 by immigration officers.
According to the complaint, ICE agents were on a surveillance operation near a home on Rose Avenue East near Payne Avenue.That morning, ICE agents saw the wanted man exit the home and get into a Ford F-150. At the same time, agents saw Lopez-Suazo walk out of the home and get into a blue Toyota Corolla.
Arrest attempt:
According to the complaint, officers chose to stop both vehicles with their squads. The ICE squads are unmarked, but agents say in the complaint that they are equipped with "flashing police lights" that make them "clearly identifiable as law enforcement vehicles."
The ICE squads moved to box in both the F-150 and the Corolla, but say the Corolla was able to squeeze around the squads.
Squad rammed:
Officer Jorgenson said he followed the Corolla for half a block with his lights. Jorgenson says he pulled alongside the Corolla at one point and Lopez-Suazo slammed the Corolla into the passenger side of the squad.
"From my perspective," Jorgenson writes, "it was clear that Lopez-Suazo had intentionally struck my vehicle in an attempt to get away.""
Jorgenson says Lopez-Suazo made a series of right turns and ultimately ended up back at the Rose Avenue home and ran back inside.
Raid sparks protest
The backstory:
Federal law enforcement agents swarmed the Rose Avenue home, which in turn led to people reporting online that an ICE raid was underway on Rose Avenue.
In the ensuing hours, protesters gathered on Rose Avenue to oppose the ICE presence, with the protest becoming unruly at times. St. Paul police were ultimately called in for help with crowd control. Tear gas and pepper spray were deployed during the protest to protect the federal agents.
Ultimately, Lopez-Suazo and the wanted man, later identified by the Department of Homeland Security as Victor Molina Rodriguez, were arrested that day. Lopez-Suazo faces a charge of assaulting and impeding a federal officer and improper entry of an alien. DHS said Molina Rodriguez is a Honduras national with previous deportations and previous convictions for domestic abuse and disorderly conduct.