A group of men enjoying lunch at a Minneapolis deli were bullied by a surging mob who mistook them for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, it has emerged.
Five software engineers had been dining at Clancy’s Deli when anti-ICE protesters gathered outside the restaurant’s front windows and shouted obscenities at them.
‘Get out of our f***ing neighborhood,’ one protester was heard yelling in video obtained by Alpha News. Another shouted: ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us.’
One demonstrator even went as far as calling them pedophiles and another screamed ‘I hope you die,’ Lee, one of the alleged victims, told the news outlet.
Lee claimed the mob’s ringleader said the group – who are not affiliated with ICE – deserved to be harassed because they were ‘white privileged males.’
The software engineer has alleged that the restaurant owner was responsible for the chaos by falsely claiming they were federal agents.
‘You don’t tell extremists that random customers are ICE agents. That’s how people get hurt,’ Lee said, adding how one of his friends feared ‘we were going to get shot.’
Lee added that the mob’s vile attack has changed the way some of his friend group feels about the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
A group of men enjoying lunch at a Minneapolis deli were bullied by a surging mob who mistook them for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents
‘Get out of our f***ing neighborhood,’ one protester was heard yelling in video obtained by Alpha News. Another shouted: ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us’
The five software engineers had been dining at Clancy’s Deli when anti-ICE protesters gathered outside the restaurant’s front windows and shouted obscenities at them
Dozens of protesters assembled outside of the restaurant after a message was sent in the ‘SW Minneapolis Rapid Response’ Signal chat claiming that plain-clothed ICE officers were dining at the deli.
One of Lee’s friends was in the chat and also received the message, which reportedly stated ICE’s presence at the restaurant was ‘confirmed by the owner.’
Lee claims it only took 15 minutes for the massive mob to arrive at the deli.
The software engineers were reportedly being photographed and filmed by the group as they ate.
When they stepped outside, Lee claims the group became hostile, hurling insults and blowing whistles at them as they tried to leave.
The diners told the crowd that they created apps for Minnesota businesses, but the mob seemingly refused to believe them.
One protester yelled ‘you look like a f***ing ICE agent’ and another screamed at them to ‘get the f*** out,’ video of the encounter showed.
‘This is what’s wrong with your guys’ cause,’ one of the engineers told the crowd, prompting a demonstrator to question if he would support them.
He replied: ‘The way you guys are acting? No. And I don’t support ICE either. I’m just trying to enjoy my lunch!’
Lee claimed that before the incident, one of the engineers was in support of ICE, one against and others on the fence.
‘After this, I think some of them are rethinking everything,’ he told Alpha News.
Dozens of protesters assembled outside of the restaurant after a message was sent in the ‘SW Minneapolis Rapid Response’ Signal chat claiming that plain-clothed ICE officers were dining at the deli
When they stepped outside, Lee claims the group became hostile, hurling insults and blowing whistles at them as they tried to leave
The software engineer has alleged that the restaurant owner was responsible for the chaos by falsely claiming they were plain-clothed federal agents
The incident comes amid a wave of anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation.
Demonstrations have erupted across the city and US as a whole after the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good.
Good, 37, was shot three times through the window of her car by ICE agent Jonathan ‘Jon’ Ross in Minneapolis on January 7 after she refused to get out of her vehicle.
Federal officials have launched an investigation into Good’s partner Rebecca following accusations that she impeded an ICE agent in the moments before the fatal shooting.
Those familiar with the investigation reportedly told The New York Times that the civil rights division of the Department of Justice, which typically investigates police-involved shootings, has not opened a probe into whether Ross violated Good’s rights under federal law.
Ross is ‘increasingly unlikely’ to face criminal charges, the Times reported.
The Pentagon on Sunday ordered about 1,500 active duty soldiers to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, two defense officials said Sunday.
Two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders, officials said. The unit is based in Alaska and specializes in operating in arctic conditions.
One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th century law that would allow him to employ active duty troops as law enforcement.
Anti-ICE demonstrators assemble outside a post office in Minneapolis on Sunday to protest immigration raids in the city
Federal agents detain a demonstrator in front of the BH Whipple federal detention center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday
The move comes just days after Trump threatened to do just that to quell protests against his administration’s widescale immigration crackdown.
On Thursday, Trump said in a social media post that he would invoke the 1807 law ‘if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job.’
He appeared to walk back the threat a day later, telling reporters at the White House that there wasn’t a reason to use it ‘right now.’
‘If I needed it, I’d use it,’ Trump said. ‘It’s very powerful.’
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act throughout both of his terms. In 2020 he threatened to use it to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests.
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell, in an emailed statement to AP on Sunday, did not deny the orders were issued and said the military ‘is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat and frequent target of Trump, has urged the president to refrain from sending in more troops.
‘I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,’ Walz said last week on social media.
