Audit: MPD wasn’t warned of federal raid; ‘void of information’ fueled speculation

Minneapolis after action report on June 3 raid

An after-action review into Minneapolis officials’ response to a federal raid on a Lake Street restaurant confirmed that the mayor and police chief had no prior knowledge of the action.

The city auditor also found that City Council members were informed of the nature of the search warrant nearly four hours after Police Chief Brian O’Hara, a factor the report says likely fueled online speculation by elected officials at the scene.

June 3 raid

A crowd flocked to Taqueria y Birrieria Las Cuatro Milpas the morning of June 3 when word spread of federal agents in armored vehicles and military fatigues — including some wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement badges — at the Lake Street establishment.

The presence of ICE and Homeland Security brought out fears of immigration enforcement, but it was later revealed to be part of a transnational criminal investigation that included a 900-pound meth bust in Burnsville. While the Minneapolis Police Department was not directly involved in the operation, MPD officers did respond to the area for “crowd control.”

Related stories:

Crowd forms around federal raid in Minneapolis; MPD says it wasn’t related to immigration
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Federal authorities recover 900 pounds of meth from Burnsville storage locker

Some City Council members showed up at the scene after learning of a militarized federal law enforcement presence.

“They tried [to] lie about an ICE presence. MPD assisted with closing off the area. This is completely wrong,” City Council Member Jason Chavez posted on social media.

One day later, Mayor Jacob Frey chastised Chavez and other council members, accusing them of spreading misinformation and stoking fear and anger among the community.

“When you have a Trump administration that is simultaneously creating this atmosphere of distrust, what you’re going to get in these tense moments is more distrust,” Frey said. “And so it’s on us, again, not to counter that kind of narrative with more panic and chaos. It’s on us to get the right and correct information out.”

After-action review

Within days of the raid, council members unanimously called for the Office of City Auditor to conduct an after-action review of the city’s involvement in the Homeland Security Task Force operation.

The scope of the review was intended to lay out the timeline of internal and external communication among city staff about the events of June 3, as well as to determine whether MPD violated the city’s separation ordinance, which prohibits police from assisting in immigration enforcement.

City Auditor Robert Timmerman presented the advisory report to the City Council Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, which affirmed Frey and O’Hara’s assertion that they had no prior knowledge of the Homeland Security Task Force operation and that MPD did not violate the city’s separation ordinance.

The review found that Chief O’Hara first learned of the operation at 10 a.m., and he notified Mayor Frey at 10:45 a.m.; three hours elapsed before the City Council was informed the federal action was not related to immigration enforcement.

“Curiously, no member of the City Council was included in the initial information channels,” the report notes.

Over the course of those hours:

MPD was called to assist with the crowd gathering at the scene.

MPD reported it told Chavez they were there for crowd control and that the federal raid wasn’t related to immigration enforcement.

Chavez posted on social media that ICE was there and that MPD and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office were assisting.

MPD posted on social media that it was “still awaiting more information” about the operation.

Frey convened a Multi-Agency Coordination group to decide on how to communicate the event publicly and among city staff.

Homeland Security Task Force agents had already left the area by the time the City Council was informed of the nature of the federal operation, at 1:50 p.m.

“Council Members were left with a void of information and an urgency to respond to constituent concerns,” the report notes.

Overall, the auditor’s report recommends better communication between the Mayor’s Office and the City Council and an update to the separation ordinance, which was adopted in 2003 — before ICE existed as a federal agency.

“The events of June 3, 2025, are an illustration of what is permitted by current policy and ordinance,” the report states. “City leaders should collaborate to update regulatory language to reinforce their intentions to meet the needs of the current moment and the rapidly changing landscape of federal immigration enforcement.”

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