Minneapolis schools close, citing safety concerns after federal agents clash with protesters at Roosevelt High School

Mara Klecker and Anthony Lonetree, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan 8, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Public Schools canceled classes and activities at all schools Thursday and Friday, citing “safety concerns” after two schools went into lockdowns.

Less than 3 miles from where a Minneapolis woman was shot by an ICE agent Wednesday, Jan. 7, Roosevelt High School instituted a lockout after armed federal agents showed up on the school lawn after classes had ended for the day, according to an email to families and a Facebook post from the school’s principal, Christian Alberto Ledesma.

Jennifer Newberg, a Roosevelt parent, was near the school and saw U.S. Border Patrol agents drag someone from a vehicle with smashed windows. Traffic started backing up on 28th Avenue and the law enforcement vehicles were boxed in, she said.

“A crowd grew and started yelling, telling agents that this was a school, which I found was actually kind of effective,” Newberg said.

Some students and school staff were in the crowd and there were several “flashpoints,” mostly with members of the crowd who approached the agents’ vehicles, she said. Newberg said she saw agents tackle and handcuff people and she saw the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Gregory Bovino, also at the scene.

“I really appreciate the effort that our school took to keep our kids safe,” Newberg said. “I know that the staff have all of their kids at heart. ... I believe that they’re very safe in school, which is why we need to keep them safe outside of the school.”

The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers posted a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, Jan. 7, confirming that an educator was arrested and released, and that agents had deployed tear gas on people at the scene.

“We will not tolerate ICE inhibiting our city’s youth from their constitutional right to attend school safely or inhibiting educators from doing their job,” the union said.

Minneapolis City Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, whose ward includes Roosevelt, arrived at the scene after receiving a flurry of texts from educators and community members, and learned that one educator was detained and taken to the Whipple Federal Building — and later released Wednesday night.

“There were moms who were really shaken up and who were hugging,” Chowdhury said in an interview Thursday, Jan. 8. “They’re my neighborhood moms. It was quite the scene.”

Federal authorities have no business being on school property and spraying chemical irritants, she added.

“There is no reason for them to go into attack mode in a place where children go to learn,” she said. “The best they can do is leave immediately.”

ICE says it will not raid schools or target children. Regardless, neighborhood sympathizers — often marked by the colorful plastic whistles that many observers wear on lanyards around their necks — are keeping watch over schools with high immigrant populations.

Parents gathered outside Richard R. Green Central Park Elementary School on Wednesday, Jan. 7, to keep watch to ensure ICE wasn’t in the area after the fatal shooting; the school has a majority Latino student population. The school also went into a lockout due to the shooting.

In a statement Thursday, Jan. 8, the school district said the incident involving federal law enforcement agents and is under investigation by the district, Minnesota’s third largest, which is working to support individuals who were affected.

“Minneapolis Public Schools is committed to maintaining a safe and welcoming learning environment for all of our students,” the district added.

At a news conference Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz urged elected officials to speak out against ICE’s presence at schools.

“I can’t say this strongly enough as governor, as a parent, as a teacher — to our elected representatives ... I beg you, I implore you, to tell them to stay out of our schools. This tragedy will be magnified a hundredfold if this fight moves into the hallways of our public schools among our youth.”

Walz added that his office had fielded a number of calls from parents asking if they should send their kids to school or not.

“Stay out of our schools,” he said of ICE.

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(Louis Krauss, Allison Kite and Susan Du of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.)

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