MINNEAPOLIS—Law enforcement officials arrested a handful of anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis on Friday after they did not leave the area when unlawful assembly was declared around 10:30 p.m. CT.

Multiple agencies were present at the demonstration at 3rd Street and Park Avenue, declaring that protesters leave or face arrest.

A handful of people were cuffed and taken into police custody just after 11:00 p.m. CT. The suspects did not appear to resist arrest.

A scattered crowd continued to move throughout the area for several hours, prompting unlawful assembly multiple times throughout the night and into the early morning hours.

Friday night’s police presence in downtown Minneapolis was much different than the scene at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building earlier in the day when federal law enforcement officers deployed non-lethal bullets and chemical agents on hundreds of protesters.

Tensions started to rise around 1:00 p.m. CT, when a truck carrying cement barriers and two trucks carrying large wire fences arrived on the federal property.

Minutes after federal agents placed the cement barricades, a verbal dispute erupted between a female protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a male pro-ICE supporter.

The woman, who was holding a red heart balloon and wearing a gas mask, attempted to stop the man, holding an American flag, from sharing his support for ICE agents on the ground.

The verbal dispute caused agents on the ground to fire a series of non-lethal bullets into the crowd.

Law enforcement surround anti-ICE protesters in downtown Minneapolis on Jan. 9, 2026, and demanded they disperse or be arrested. (Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times)

The crowd quickly moved back, as some of the protesters and members of the media were hit during the scuffle, including Epoch Times photographer John Fredricks.

Fredricks was hit by a non-lethal round in the shin, and another independent journalist was wounded in the foot.

Others on the scene briefly dispersed as they coughed from the gas that filled the air.

It’s not clear how many protesters and members of the media were injured during the incident.

Protesters face off with federal officers in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Jan. 9, 2026. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Federal officers shoot a woman with Pepper Ball Rounds in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Jan. 9, 2026. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

As night fell, so did the crowd.

By 8:00 p.m. CT, numbers dwindled down to around a dozen protesters.

One protester on scene even attempted to pile snow into a line on a nearby road as an effort to make it harder for federal officials to get out of the area.

An anti-ICE protester attempted to pile snow on the road near the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on Jan. 9, 2026, as an attempt to make it harder for law enforcement to exit the area. (Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times)

Federal officials at the scene included ICE officers, border patrol agents, and officers from the Federal Protective Service.

The protests started after an immigration officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good as she drove her car in his direction during an ICE operation on Wednesday.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the woman was trying to run over the agent, prompting the official to open fire on the driver.

The DHS said the officer was acting in self-defense, while protesters and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said self-defense was a “garbage narrative.”

The City of Minneapolis urged all staffers to be mindful of what government officials wear to work in a bulletin posted on Wednesday.

“With multiple federal agencies in town, you should be familiar with the uniforms worn by City of Minneapolis employees. Here’s what they look like—from police to animal control,” the bulletin said.

“Nobody in a City uniform will ever ask for your immigration status or participate with any federal immigration enforcement activity. Our officers do not wear masks to hide their identity. We work for and with our community, not against them.”

The notice then featured a series of pictures showing what the city uniforms look like.