Is ICE rolling back operations in Minnesota? It’s hard to tell.

The abrupt change in oversight of Operation Metro Surge in the aftermath of the killing of Alex Pretti has local leaders and activists hoping for a drawdown in federal forces, but on the ground in Minneapolis, it was hard Tuesday, Jan. 27, to see if it’s happening.

At the federal Whipple Building near Fort Snelling, the epicenter of ICE activity in Minnesota, about a dozen regular demonstrators brandished American flags and raised middle fingers to a steady trickle of heavily tinted vehicles entering and leaving from two main gates.

“Whipple Watch” observers, people who record the license plate numbers of federal vehicles coming and going from the building’s garage, noted about 30 vehicles left between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. — a number they said was fairly normal for that time of day.

Media and constitutional observers were still out in force, following reports still circulating in the encrypted neighborhood group chats used to track ICE activity.

But protesters and state and local officials said they were hopeful that President Donald Trump’s decision, announced Jan. 26, to assign “border czar” Tom Homan to oversee the ongoing immigration enforcement in Minnesota while sending Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino elsewhere would reduce tensions.

Trump said he spoke with Gov. Tim Walz on Monday and informed him of that change. Afterward, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he also spoke with the president and learned some federal agents will begin leaving the area this week.

Both Walz and Frey said they then talked with Homan on Jan. 27, and repeated their demands for federal agents to exit Minnesota.

Walz asked for “impartial investigations” into the fatal shootings of Pretti and Renee Good and “an end to the campaign of retribution against Minnesota,” his office said.

Frey said he told Homan about the “serious negative impacts” that Operation Metro Surge has had on the city, surrounding area and local police. He also said he reiterated that Minneapolis will not enforce federal immigration laws. City leaders plan to keep talking with Homan and his team, Frey said.

Questions to ICE officials about the future of Operation Metro Surge were not returned on Jan. 27.

In a short video Q-and-A with journalists reported by the Associated Press, Trump said he would review the federal investigation into Pretti’s death himself and called the shooting “a very sad situation.”

“We’re doing a big investigation. I want to see the investigation,” Trump said when asked by reporters on Jan. 27 if Pretti’s death was justified. “I’m going to be watching over, and I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself.”

“With that being said, you know, you can’t have guns, you can’t walk in with guns. You just can’t,” Trump said.

Still, he called Pretti’s death “a very unfortunate incident.”

Trump also said that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would not be stepping down from her position.

But Bovino, who helmed an unprecedented influx of thousands of federal agents at the start of this month, is reportedly on his way out of Minnesota.

Dan McGregor, who does Whipple Watch data entry, said on Jan. 27 that it “feels like” there were slightly fewer cars that morning, but it was too early to tell if the federal government was actually in the process of winding down operations in Minnesota.

As one full-sized SUV rolled past with its windows rolled down, revealing masked agents pointing their recording devices back at the demonstrators, McGregor scooped up his megaphone and started yelling at them. He also had a loudspeaker propped against the cement barrier separating protesters from the roadway, which broadcasts a constant stream of demoralizing messages encouraging ICE agents to quit.

Inside the Whipple Building, it appeared to be business as usual.

Several groups of immigration agents were seen entering with lunch or putting their masks back on to go back out at around 1 p.m. More were milling about inside. Workers inside the building said they were not aware of plans to reduce the number of agents working in the state, or if they were, they were not talking about it.

The Whipple Building is also where immigration court is held and home to other federal offices. Immigration court was busier than usual on Jan. 27, though fewer immigrants have been showing up for in-person hearings in recent weeks.

Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies continued to provide security and have a mobile command truck in the parking lot.

“You’re afraid that everybody’s energy would settle down a bit, and that’s not what we need,” Powers said. “But I’ve heard [Homan] do interviews with the New York Times, and just listening to his voice versus whenever I’ve heard [Greg] Bovino talk, Homan seems to bring a little bit more sensibility to things, a little bit more calm.”

For example, Powers said he couldn’t imagine Homan throwing tear gas at protesters, as Bovino has done in Minneapolis.