ICE Arrests 42 Anti-ICE Protesters in Minnesota For Hurling Sex Toys Like 'Dildos' to Officers

The ground outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on Saturday looked less like a city square and more like a field strewn with objects and mass arrests. The day began as a sombre gathering to honour Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother shot dead during a federal immigration enforcement operation a month earlier.

However, it later tipped sharply into chaos when elements of the crowd began hurling objects at officers — including bottles, chunks of ice and sex toys — prompting a police declaration of unlawful assembly. At least 42 protesters were arrested.

Good's death in early January had already become a rallying cry for opponents of Operation Metro Surge, the controversial federal initiative deploying immigration agents in Minnesota. For many, Saturday's vigil was meant to dissipate grief in the community.

By the time the crowd reached the federal building, fury had overtaken mourning, with some demonstrators throwing objects at lines of police guarding the property. A deputy was struck and a squad vehicle's windshield was damaged, authorities said.

What Protesters Threw and Why

At first, the gestures were recognisably protest‑like: chants of 'No justice, no peace' echoed against the federal walls and banners decried heavy‑handed policing. But then came the objects — not just rocks or bottles but odd, borrowed symbols thrown with theatrical cynicism.

Lewd sex toys, including dildos in different colours and in multiple numbers, arced through the air. They were targeted at vehicles and agents associated with the federal immigration operation during Saturday's demonstration outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis.

Some activists in Minneapolis have used satire and shock imagery to ridicule what they see as the absurdity of federal power over local life and liberty. These items were not random trash but, in their view, symbols of impotence — a visual metaphor mocking institutional authority.

Whether effective or not, it was undeniably a significant part of the protest. For the most part, law enforcement officers remained tucked safely in their vehicles until they were met with chunks of ice or bottles thrown with force in sub‑zero temperatures.

One deputy suffered a head injury from the impact, and a police vehicle's windshield was cracked, authorities said. Law enforcement sources, visibly tense in footage aired by local stations, repeatedly warned the crowd to desist. When they refused, police declared an unlawful assembly and made arrests.

Aftermath: Officials, Families and a City On Edge

Fox News reported that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey acknowledged the grief that brought people onto the streets, posting that 'thousands showed up to remember and honour Renee Good and Alex Pretti.' He described Minneapolis as a city that holds deep compassion, but made clear that throwing objects at officers was not an extension of that compassion.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, long critical of the federal enforcement strategy, used the arrests to reinforce his call for a rollback of the ICE presence in the state. He framed the day's events not just as isolated unrest but as a symptom of deeper mistrust between residents and federal agents, a mistrust only intensified by recent shootings involving local residents.

Anti-ICE Protestors 'Not Sorry'

For deployed ICE agents, there may be a clear lesson in Saturday's scenes. They may see the use of unconventional protest tools as misguided and self‑defeating. But for many Minnesotans, it was a raw, unfiltered expression of anguish that had no elegant vocabulary to match.

Whether intended or not, sex toys flying through crisp Minnesota air became one of the most surreal yet telling images of the city's confrontation with federal power. And for many in Minneapolis, what was meant to be a day of remembrance has become another tactic in a long, unsettled conversation about justice that the Trump administration has yet to address.

Renee Good's killer remains free to this date, and her death — along with that of another local resident, Alex Pretti — has continued to fuel protests and nationwide debate over federal immigration enforcement.