Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday accused a Politico reporter of “inciting violence” against federal authorities in a social media post about the ongoing federal investigation of alleged fraud in Minnesota’s day cares.
Josh Gerstein, a senior legal affairs reporter, suggested Minnesotans have the right to stand their ground when federal officers approach their businesses.
“At some point, the amateur effort to knock on doors of home daycares intersects with robust stand-your-ground laws,” he wrote on X late Monday.
Stand-your-ground laws allow people to use deadly force for self-defense when threatened in public. Gerstein’s post suggests that deadly force could be used against ICE officers if they knock on the doors of day care centers.
ICE called out the reporter for making the insinuation.
“You would think a ‘Senior Legal Affairs Reporter’ for POLITICO would know better than to tweet something inciting violence against federal agents,” the agency posted on social media.
Gerstein wrote a message in response to ICE less than 10 minutes later: “To observe that something is likely to happen or there’s a serious risk of it happening is not to advocate for it happening.”
ICE JOINS FBI AGENTS IN INVESTIGATING SUSPECTED MINNESOTA FRAUD SITES
Minnesota does not have a broad stand-your-ground law, but the state does permit the use of deadly force without retreating in a person’s home, vehicle, or place of business as long as the person reasonably believes they’re in danger of serious bodily harm or death. Typically, a person must retreat first in public places.
The federal government is currently investigating alleged fraud schemes involving Minnesota’s social services programs and day care facilities. ICE is collaborating with the FBI to investigate suspected fraud sites in Minnesota. ICE is highly active in Minneapolis and St. Paul, where Somali immigrants are concentrated, as part of an immigration enforcement operation in the blue state.
