Hundreds clash with ICE outside Somali mall in St. Cloud

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ST. CLOUD - A raucous confrontation between hundreds of residents and dozens of ICE agents unfolded midday Jan. 12 in the parking lot of a strip mall that’s home to a number of Somali-owned businesses.

Abdi Abdullahi of St. Cloud said people started gathering at the Star City Mall parking lot after agents detained a man coming out of a deli. More federal agents, as well as local police, then responded after residents blocked ICE vehicles in the parking lot.

After a local Somali news station posted a live video of the events on social media, more people arrived at the mall to protest. Some held signs and blew whistles.

ICE asked people to move their cars so they could leave, but tensions escalated and agents deployed a chemical irritant, though no one seemed seriously injured in the event.

Some in the crowd, including Minnesota state Sen. Aric Putnam, a St. Cloud Democrat, asked people to let the agents leave. At times, he acted as a shield between protesters and agents, urging people to stay calm.

“It’s a stressful moment, a really intense confrontation. It’s a reasonable response when you see this in your neighborhood,” he said, referring to what he called a “lack of due process” where people don’t know where those being detained by ICE are being taken.

On Monday, after more than an hour of shouting and chanting, the crowd parted and federal vehicles trickled from the lot. As the last vehicle left, a few people banged on the hood before the driver sped away.

St. Cloud City Council Member Hudda Ibrahim, a Somali-born nonprofit director and small-business owner, stood at the front lines of the protesters trying to calm the hostility.

She said it’s hurtful to see this level of harassment and racial profiling taking place in her city.

“I never thought a day would come when I saw agents pointing guns at us,” she said after agents left. “I did what I could to make sure our citizens are safe.”

In St. Cloud, where Somali residents make up about 8% of the population — the third highest percentage in the state following Minneapolis and St. Paul — there’s been a flurry of ICE activity. Just last week, a man was arrested outside Star Market, a small store in Star City Mall.

Karen Larson, another member of the St. Cloud City Council, said she also showed up to act as a “peacemaker” at Monday’s clash.

“As a city official, I felt I needed to observe what was going on in my own city,” she said. “I understand how inflamed things are right now. We need to do everything we can to stay calm and protect the citizens.”

St. Cloud Police Chief Jeff Oxton, who was also on scene, said police responded to conduct traffic control due to the congestion on the busy streets and ultimately conducted crowd control “to ensure that the public could safely express their First Amendment rights while [ICE] conducted their business and left the area.”