MN Police Org Torches Department Leadership’s Handling of ICE [WATCH]

Hosts Marc Lotter and Sharla McBride discussed the fatal shooting of an ICE agent in Minneapolis during a Newsmax segment that featured Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police Executive Director Kevin Rofidal and Newsmax crime correspondent Jason Matta, with union leaders placing blame on sanctuary-style policies that restrict cooperation between local police and federal immigration agents.

Lotter opened the segment by referencing the ongoing federal investigation and the response from law enforcement groups.

“While the FBI continues investigating the deadly shooting involving an ICE agent in Minneapolis, the Minnesota chapter of the largest police union in the world says the incident wasn’t a surprise,” Lotter said.

McBride followed by explaining the union’s position that city leadership policies created the conditions that led to the shooting.

“Yeah, the union says this incident was predictable because of how city leaders have stopped cops from simply doing their jobs there,” McBride said.

“Newsmax, crime correspondent Jason Mattera has this special report for us.”

Kevin Rofidal said the rank-and-file officers believe city leadership has failed to support law enforcement and has instead adopted policies that undermine public safety.

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“They want strong leadership, and they’re not getting that,” Rofidal said.

“They’re getting just the opposite. They’re getting that weak leadership that is pandering to the left.”

Jason Matta reported that the Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police views the shooting as the result of escalating tensions tied to those policies.

“As the FBI investigates the fatal shooting involving an ICE agent Minnesota’s Fraternal Order of Police says this was a volatile situation that had been building over time,” Matta said.

Rofidal explained that sanctuary policies force ICE agents into more dangerous situations by preventing coordination with local police.

“But when these sanctuary cities and counties and state won’t cooperate with ICE, they’re forcing them to go out and arrest these people out on the street,” Rofidal said.

“So any situation where you have ICE, working with local police, uniformed officers, things are much safer. People know who’s there when you bring in Mark squad cars and you work together.”

Matta reported that Minneapolis police are barred from assisting ICE, even in limited roles such as crowd control, and said federal agents experienced the consequences of that policy during a December incident.

“But in Minneapolis, cops are barred from helping ICE, even for something as basic as crowd control,” Matta said.

“It’s a lesson federal agents learned the hard way less than a month ago, during an attempted arrest on December 15, ICE officers found themselves surrounded by a violent mob.”

Rofidal described how ICE agents sought help during that incident but were unable to get immediate assistance from Minneapolis police.

“The crowd turned violent on them. They called for help. They were calling from a command center that was outside of Minneapolis. They repeatedly tried to get through to Minneapolis,” Rofidal said.

Matta said that when help was finally requested from another agency, the response from Minneapolis police was limited.

“With no response, an agent urgently reached out to the sheriff’s office,” Matta said. “Instead, Minneapolis Police eventually arrived, but allegedly didn’t stay long.”

Rofidal said the officers were ordered to leave the scene despite ongoing danger.

“They responded, and within 10 minutes, Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell got on the radio, ordered the Minneapolis officers to leave, even though the situation was tense,” Rofidal said.

Matta reported that the same assistant chief had previously reinforced the department’s policy against assisting ICE.

“Back in June of 2025 that same Assistant Chief reportedly sent a memo reinforcing their position that personnel were not to assist ICE with any immigration related matters, including crowd control,” Matta said.

Rofidal said longtime cooperation between federal and local law enforcement has historically improved safety for both officers and the public.

“For generations, the rank and file uniformed officers on the street and the federal agents that are working have always found a way to work good together,” Rofidal said.

“They foster good relationships, good cooperation.”

Matta warned that abandoning that cooperation increases danger.

“And critics warn abandoning that cooperation doesn’t make the city safer. It makes it more dangerous,” Matta said.

In closing, Matta emphasized that honoring ICE detainers inside jails is significantly safer than forcing arrests into neighborhoods.

“Mark, Sharla, Minnesota’s current leadership likes to ignore this fact, but the reality is that the safest place for ICE to make an arrest is inside a city jail, where suspects have already been searched, handcuffed and secured,” Matta said.

“But in Minneapolis, as in other progressive run cities like Portland, ICE detainers are not honored, that forces arrest to take place into the community, all right, where risk of violence increases significantly, we did reach out to the Minneapolis Police Department for response to the Fraternal Order of police’s criticism against largest police union in the world, but we have yet to hear back.”

Lotter concluded the segment by agreeing with the assessment.

“Yeah, and you put the community, it’s safer for them to make arrests in jail rather than in the community, seems like common sense,” Lotter said.

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