Vice President JD Vance in Minneapolis: What he said

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Vice President JD Vance made an appearance in Minneapolis on Thursday amid the federal surge in the Twin Cities, saying in part that he sought to "better understand what’s going on, so that we can tone down the temperature a little bit, reduce the chaos and still allow the federal government to enforce immigration laws."

You can watch the full speech in the player above.

Vance in Minneapolis

What we know:

The vice president said he took part in a meeting with local business leaders, law enforcement and immigration officers as part of the visit.

'Learned a few things’ in Twin Cities

Dig deeper:

As part of the visit, Vance says he "learned a few things" about the efforts being made in Minneapolis, saying that ICE agents "are doing an incredible job, and frankly, a lot of the media are lying about the job they do every day."

"Come out and protest, but do it peacefully," Vance said on Thursday. "If you assault a law enforcement officers, the Trump administration is going to prosecute you under the fullest extent of the law."

Vance referred to officers being harassed and doxxed as "unacceptable" while describing the scene in the Twin Cities as "chaotic."

"We want to enforce the laws on one hand, while on the other, making sure people in Minneapolis are able to go about their day," Vance said, while claiming that he does not see "this level of chaos in ‘red’ cities and states."

In part, Vance pitted that "chaos" as the result of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's "lack of cooperation turning up the temperature."

"Local authorities have been told do not cooperate," Vance said. "This is disgraceful. The number one thing I learned today is that the best way to facilitate the law would be for state and local officials to cooperate with us."

Vance said he hopes better cooperation would occur in the "weeks and months to come."

Columbia Heights 5-year-old arrested

Vance response:

Referring to the story about the arrest of a 5-year-old in Columbia Heights, Vance said that he first thought it was "terrible" before he "did a little more follow-up research." 

"I came to find that the 5-year-old wasn't arrested, but that his dad was an illegal alien, and that when they went to arrest him, the father ran," Vance said. "What are they supposed to do? Let a 5-year-old freeze to death? Not arrest an illegal alien? If the argument is that you can't arrest people who have violated federal laws because they have children, then every single parent is going to be given complete immunity. That doesn't make any sense."

ICE agent immunity after Renee Good shooting

Vance response:

Following the Jan. 7 shooting of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, Vance clarified his stance on whether immigration enforcement agents are given "complete immunity."

"When federal law enforcement officers violate the law, that is typically something that federal officials would look into… We want them to actually have real due process, real investigation," Vance said. "And it turns out, when you learn the context, they didn't actually do anything wrong. Rene Goode's death is a tragedy. I also think that she rammed an ICE officer with her car. So the tragedy here is multilayered. The tragedy is there was a misunderstanding. The tragedy is that Rene Good lost her life. The tragedy is that you have ICE officers who are going into communities where they're worried that if they call 911, no one's going to come to help them. That is what produces this terrible situation, and it's something state and local officials here in Minnesota could solve."

Federal communication with local law enforcement: ‘We can do better’

Vance response:

When asked about the level of communication between federal and local law enforcement agencies, Vance responded that he believes there is room for improvement.

"We absolutely want to ensure there's good communication between federal officials and state and local officials. And I'm sure that we can do better on that. We absolutely want to make sure that we are communicating, but that also requires a two-way street," Vance said. "And that's the point that I make about state and local officials. These guys will absolutely communicate with state and local officials. They'll tell people if they have to do an enforcement operation in a particular municipality, but part of that is they also want to ensure that if they're communicating about their whereabouts, that's not being used as a weapon against them. Sometimes they tell people where they're going, and then they find out that their agents' faces are on Reddit or on some social media thread."

ICE and warrants

Vance response:

Seeking to clarify whether ICE ageists are required to serve a judicial warrant prior to any arrest, Vance explained the administration's current stance.

"There are very narrow exceptions to the warrant requirement, where law enforcement officers don't need a warrant. For example, there is an imminent threat to their lives," Vance said. "We're never going to enter somebody's house without some kind of a warrant, unless, of course, somebody is firing on an officer, or they have to do something in order to protect themselves."

Insurrection Act in Minnesota

Vance response:

Answering a question about whether President Trump would seek to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, Vance said he didn't believe its power would be needed — at least not yet.

"The Insurrection Act would allow the federal government to use the military for local law enforcement operations. We don't think that we need that now. The president could change his mind. Of course, things could get worse. But right now, we think that federal law enforcement officers can do the job of federal law enforcement," Vance said. "I do worry about if the chaos gets worse, if more and more ICE agents start getting assaulted, if other law enforcement officers start getting assaulted, that would be a real problem. But again, we have so much federal law enforcement resources here right now. We have so many people here that we do not want to have here."

The backstory:

Vance has been vocal in his support of the ICE surge in Minnesota and was quick to come to the defense of ICE officer Jonathan Ross following the shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7.

At a White House press briefing the day after the shooting, Vance said Ross had acted in self-defense in the shooting. But, regardless, Vance argued Ross couldn't face charges because he was protected by immunity.

Dig deeper:

Vance last visited the Twin Cities in September to meet with families after the shooting at Annunciation Church and School. Prior to that, Vance made a campaign appearance at the former Minneapolis Third Precinct in October 2024 during which he criticized Gov. Walz's handling of the 2020 riots.

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