St. Paul police chief: Communication with ICE could prevent future clashes

St. Paul police chief addresses ICE raid on Rose Avenue

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry spoke about the events leading up to the clash between law enforcement and St. Paul residents during an ICE raid on Rose Avenue in late November. FOX 9's Amy Hockert spoke with him live during an interview on All Day.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said he believes communication with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations could prevent confrontations between the public and federal agents.

While St. Paul has a separation ordinance that restricts local police from enforcing federal immigration law, the chief believes the Rose Avenue clash between St. Paul protesters and officers could have been avoided if police had communication infrastructure in place with federal agents beforehand.

The full interview on the raid can be viewed above, while further discussion on the future of St. Paul can be viewed below.

St. Paul police chief on new mayor, city's future

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry spoke about the city's transition to a new mayor as well as the current violent crime rate.

Chief Henry recounts federal raid on Rose Avenue

Timeline:

Chief Henry recounted the sequence of events that led to a confrontation with protesters and law enforcement.

He said St. Paul police first became aware of the incident when ICE agents called them to report that one of their vehicles was hit by another vehicle. The driver of that vehicle then fled into a home on Rose Street, leading ICE agents to draft a search warrant in order to arrest him. Local police were called to draft an accident report.

It was during that time, around 10:30 in the morning, that a crowd began to gather and St. Paul police were called for crowd control.

"And so we made the decision to close off the street because there were vehicles going back and forth honking and yelling, and there were tons of people in the street," Chief Henry said. Law enforcement then closed the street for public safety. Police then controlled part of the crowd, so medics could access an injured person.

"And let's be honest, when you hear it was all peaceful, protesters, that's not true," Chief Henry said. "But if you hear it's all a mob of angry people, that's not true either. The composition of that crowd is mixed. There wasn't one monolithic opinion. I can tell you, that I personally saw a number of very agitated people who arrived there that way, literally carloads of people being dropped off."

The chief added that the live interview with FOX 9's All Day was scheduled before the raid happened, and he is limited in what details he can share during the active investigation.

Chief Henry speaks on ICE communication

What they're saying:

The chief believes that open communication and cooperation with ICE would allow local law enforcement to prevent confrontations between local residents and federal agents.

He spoke further about the circumstances leading up to the raid, including the federal operation and the St. Paul police response.

"They [ICE agents] know that we don't want to be involved in these. So they try to make sure that that doesn't happen completely," Chief Henry said. "That wasn't successful here in this situation, that escalated out onto our streets that day, but that our presence there was not in response to an immigration issue. It was a response to two felony-level crimes that happened and that escalated out."

St. Paul has a separation ordinance that restricts local police from enforcing federal immigration law.

"We just want local law enforcement to come together and start having a conversation, because right now there's like a tug of war happening between the two sides, and we're becoming the rope," the chief said. "We could be a leader here in Minnesota for the rest of the country if we found out a way to do this."

Nov. 25 federal raid on Rose Avenue

Federal raid in St. Paul sparks protest

A large crowd gathered in a St. Paul neighborhood amid a federal law enforcement operation in St. Paul that protesters believe was an ICE raid.

The backstory:

Federal agents were at a residence on Rose Avenue near Payne Avenue with a warrant for the arrest of Victor Molina Rodriguez, a Honduras native who had re-entered the U.S. illegally and had previous convictions for domestic abuse and disorderly conduct.

Rodriguez was taken into custody, and during that process, another man was arrested for allegedly ramming an ICE squad car. Jeffrey Josuee Lopez Suazo has since been charged in that incident, and is being held in the Sherburne County Jail.

Community leaders say jail officials have been pressuring him to sign deportation documents, and that he’s being mistreated.

Activists call for accountability

Community leaders call out St. Paul police actions at ICE raid [FULL]

Community leaders gathered in St. Paul Monday to call out the St. Paul Police Department's actions in response to a federal raid on Rose Avenue last week. The arrest of a Honduras man sparked a protest, and gathering residents say they were unlawfully pepper-sprayed, hit with chemical munitions and rubber bullets. They say journalists were also attacked, and are calling for a full investigation.

Local perspective:

Leaders from several community groups spoke at a news conference Monday to condemn the actions of the St. Paul Police Department officers on the scene of the raid that day. Local police cannot enforce immigration law, but they are often on scenes of raids so ICE and federal agents can do their jobs, and protesters can express their rights.

Community leaders said on Monday called the actions of St. Paul police that day "inhumane and outrageous."

Michelle Gross, the President of Communities United against Police Brutality, said officers violated policy in four different ways. Residents and protesters who were not violating the law were pepper-sprayed in the face. Chemical munitions were used as a form of punishment, being thrown in the street to create a fog. Officers then threw pepper balls, and fired rubber bullets through the smoke, not knowing who they were hitting.

They also targeted members of the media there covering the event lawfully.

"This is an attack not only on people who were engaged in protected First Amendment activities, but also an attack on the right of the community to know about those activities and to know about the conduct of ICE in our neighborhoods," Gross said. "We are demanding that something be done about this."

Gross is calling for the St. Paul City Council to have an open discussion about the incident at its next meeting, and that police should launch a full investigation. Mayor Melvin Carter has said body camera footage of the incident will be released.

"We’re waiting," Gross said. "This should never happen again."

What's next:

The St. Paul City Council investigation is still underway, and the police chief said his department reviews every use of force.

The Source: This story uses information shared during a live interview with the St. Paul police chief and previous FOX 9 reporting.

St. Paul Immigration Crime and Public Safety