Prosecutors allege man exited St. Paul home that ICE raided, rammed agent’s van while fleeing

Prosecutors say a man who exited a St. Paul home that was targeted in an immigration raid rammed a car into an agent’s van while trying to flee the scene, which eventually drew hundreds of protesters who clashed with police and federal agents.

Jeffrey Lopez-Suazo, 26, of St. Paul appeared in U.S. District Court last week on a charge of assaulting a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Nov. 25 in the 600 block of Rose Avenue E.

Lopez-Suazo was arrested that day and was set to be conditionally released on Dec. 3 on his own recognizance ahead of a Dec. 22 hearing.

But Lopez-Suazo was immediately taken back to the Sherburne County jail to be held for an immigration case at the order of the U.S. Marshals Service, according to Mary Anne Quiroz, a co-founder of the group Indigenous Roots.

Defense attorney Kate Adams said Monday that “Jeffrey Lopez-Suazo is an innocent man, and I look forward to defending him before a jury of the people.”

Quiroz was speaking alongside a crowd of police accountability activists, protesters and observers from the raid at a Monday afternoon news conference organized by Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB). The speakers denounced St. Paul police for using chemical irritants and rubber bullets on protesters and media members at the raid, and they decried the arrest of Lopez-Suazo, who was not the raid’s initial target.

Quiroz, who was with Lopez-Suazo’s family the day of the raid, said he was the main income earner and caretaker of his family members.

Lopez-Suazo and his family are all from Honduras, Quiroz said, and are here seeking asylum after fleeing persecution in their native country.

The Department of Homeland Security said ICE arrested Victor Molina Rodriguez during the raid, whom the agency described as a Honduran national previously removed from the U.S. and accused of re-entering illegally. ICE said Molina Rodriguez has domestic abuse and disorderly conduct offenses on his record.

City leaders have been pressed for answers about why police officers were on the scene — and why force was used — despite repeated assurances that the department would not participate in federal immigration actions.

In a statement Monday, Police Chief Axel Henry said that his department is “committed to a thorough review” that includes looking at “hundreds” of hours of body camera footage and footage from community members."

“We are also actively seeking to arrange meetings with local law enforcement leaders and federal law enforcement to create sustainable prevention strategies for our city and the rest of the state,” Henry said.

The chief said additional officers were called after word that some protesters were “arming themselves with rocks and sticks.” He said police were not participating in immigration enforcement but strictly enforcing local laws.

But Michelle Gross, president of CUAPB, said police were unfairly using force on people expressing their First Amendment right to protest and observe the raid.

“People who were not violating the law in any way were pepper sprayed directly in the face, as were the people around them, who again, had not violated any law,” Gross said.

According to the criminal complaint against Lopez-Suazo:

Agents saw a man, later identified as Lopez-Suazo, leave the home on Rose about 7:45 a.m. and get in a car. Agents in their vehicles attempted to box in the car as well as a pickup truck occupied by Molina Rodriguez, who left the house about the same time.

“Lopez-Suazo suddenly jerked his vehicle to the left, striking the passenger side of my vehicle,” according to the agent’s account. “From my perspective, it was clear that Lopez-Suazo had intentionally struck my vehicle in an attempt to get away.”