- Oct 17, 2011
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MPR News has learned that the police chief in the small southern Minnesota city of St. Peter intervened [not clear if any real intervention occurred] Thursday to prevent federal immigration agents from taking a local resident into detention, although the city of St. Peter denied the intervention in a statement Saturday.
The resident, a woman, had been observing and recording video of immigration enforcement actions from her car Thursday afternoon when agents took her into custody.
She shared that video with MPR News. Agents in three vehicles began chasing her and trying to force her to pull over. Eventually they box her in, three agents get out of the car in front of her, with their guns drawn and they try to force her out of her vehicle.
The agents open the door, which unlocked automatically when she put the gearshift in park, they drag her out and force her to the ground.
The woman’s husband eventually arrives and tries to intervene, and he made a separate recording of the interaction on his phone. He tells the agents not to search her car because they don't have a warrant and it would be an illegal search. The agents appear dismissive of his constitutional concerns.
"I'm not getting into the legality of everything," one agent responds tersely.
after his wife was taken into custody, he called his attorney, and soon after, he got a call from St. Peter Chief of Police Matt Grochow, whom he said he has known for years.
The agents took the woman to the St. Peter police station, where she says Chief Grochow approached her, spoke with her, had her get into his squad car, and took her home.
MPR News reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about the incident. A spokesperson responded by asking for the woman's name, date of birth and “A-number,” or alien number, which DHS uses to track non-citizens who are living in the United States. The woman is a U.S. citizen. To protect the woman from retaliation, MPR News did not provide that information to them.
“The Saint Peter police department did not participate in, coordinate with or intervene in any federal enforcement activity,” the [city's] statement said.
The resident, a woman, had been observing and recording video of immigration enforcement actions from her car Thursday afternoon when agents took her into custody.
She shared that video with MPR News. Agents in three vehicles began chasing her and trying to force her to pull over. Eventually they box her in, three agents get out of the car in front of her, with their guns drawn and they try to force her out of her vehicle.
The agents open the door, which unlocked automatically when she put the gearshift in park, they drag her out and force her to the ground.
The woman’s husband eventually arrives and tries to intervene, and he made a separate recording of the interaction on his phone. He tells the agents not to search her car because they don't have a warrant and it would be an illegal search. The agents appear dismissive of his constitutional concerns.
"I'm not getting into the legality of everything," one agent responds tersely.
after his wife was taken into custody, he called his attorney, and soon after, he got a call from St. Peter Chief of Police Matt Grochow, whom he said he has known for years.
The agents took the woman to the St. Peter police station, where she says Chief Grochow approached her, spoke with her, had her get into his squad car, and took her home.
MPR News reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about the incident. A spokesperson responded by asking for the woman's name, date of birth and “A-number,” or alien number, which DHS uses to track non-citizens who are living in the United States. The woman is a U.S. citizen. To protect the woman from retaliation, MPR News did not provide that information to them.
“The Saint Peter police department did not participate in, coordinate with or intervene in any federal enforcement activity,” the [city's] statement said.
