Minneapolis Police, Restaurant Manager Challenge Vance’s Account Of Protesters Mobbing Ice Officers

Vice President JD Vance relayed a “crazy” story on X about protesters mobbing immigration and Border Patrol officers at a Minneapolis restaurant following Alex Pretti's killing.

But Minneapolis police and the restaurant manager both disputed key parts of the vice president's account to POLITICO, which they say was incomplete at best.

The conflicting versions have come to light amid a deescalation in tensions between local and federal officials in the city and mixed messaging within the Trump administration over Pretti’s death. Two agents have been placed on leave and the administration said it’s investigating the shooting. The retellings of the incidents as reported here by POLITICO underscore the Rashomon-like nature of documenting an immigration enforcement operation unfolding in a major American city — one that partisans are eager to weaponize in almost real time.

On Sunday, hours after Pretti was shot by federal agents, Vance took to X, saying that on his visit to the city the week before he “heard a number of crazy stories,” then highlighted one that included two “off duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers” who “were going to dinner in Minneapolis.”

Vance said they “were doxed and their location revealed, and the restaurant was then mobbed.”

The officers, Vance said, “were locked in the restaurant, and local police refused to respond to their pleas for help (as they've been directed by local authorities). Eventually, their fellow federal agents came to their aid.”

An administration official familiar with the incident told POLITICO Vance heard about it from federal agents at a roundtable discussion on the ground in Minneapolis and his team confirmed the details. In an audio recording of that roundtable, a DHS official is heard telling Vance that 30-50 agitators “locked them inside the restaurant,” referring to two off-duty officers. The administration official played a portion of the audio recording for POLITICO and identified the speaker as a DHS official. A vice presidential pool report from Jan. 22 noted the roundtable included “local law enforcement, business owners, ICE officers and some people with opposing views.”

But a public information officer for the Minneapolis Police Department said “MPD monitored the situation and determined that the federal agents had sufficient resources available to manage the incident,” which the MPD said occurred on Jan. 19, at an address that matched the location of the restaurant — Darbar India Grill & Bar — in the southwest corner of the city.

“Records indicate the two individuals, and the assisting federal resources were able to leave the area within approximately 15 minutes of the initial 911 call. MPD was later notified that one of their vehicles had been left behind,” Sgt. Garrett Parten said in a statement. “MPD monitored the vehicle until the agents were able to return and recover it.”

The MPD said the incident report was recorded at 9:22 p.m.

Parten did not respond Thursday to additional questions about whether MPD initially visited the scene. It’s not clear how MPD determined the agents had “sufficient resources.”

A DHS report obtained by POLITICO includes additional information about the incident. It says that outside Darbar, “a young adult male wearing a black mask was seen walking around their rental vehicle, a white Ford Expedition, before entering the restaurant and approaching the agents.” At that point, “the subject accused agents of being ICE personnel, referencing the Ford Expedition as a known ICE vehicle and claiming access to a database of such vehicles," according to the DHS report.

Outside, by this point, 30 individuals had gathered, according to the report, and “a female subject behind the agents locked the restaurant doors, preventing exit.”

The whole encounter lasted nine minutes: At 9:30 p.m. local time, according to the report, the agents were “extracted.” The DHS report notes that local law enforcement weren’t notified until 9:38 p.m. — after the agents had departed. Of local law enforcement, the report notes “no response reported.”

“No injuries or use of force reported,” the internal document concludes.

Vance’s spokesperson declined to comment, but DHS said the vice president’s statement was accurate.

Parten said the presence of protestors alone is not sufficient reason for MPD to respond where ICE activity is occurring. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, has said the 3,000 to 4,000 federal forces in his city dwarf its local police force of 600. Trump administration officials have complained that their Minneapolis counterparts have stymied immigration enforcement actions and endangered local residents through the city’s so-called sanctuary policies.

In an interview with POLITICO, Balli Singh, the manager of the restaurant who was working on Jan. 19, said he did not witness anyone lock the doors. “Even after in my cameras,” he added.

Singh — who said he first realized his restaurant was the subject of an X post when contacted by POLITICO Thursday — said Vance’s post did not accurately describe events that night.

Singh said the two men came into his restaurant around 8:30 p.m. and were discussing why so many restaurants in the area were either closed or only offering takeout. Singh told the men it might be due to ICE activity in the city.

“And the guy told me, ‘ICE is not problem,’” Singh recalled of what he said was a Monday night conversation, which matches the Jan. 19 police report. Singh said the officers were in the middle of their meal when a few people came into the restaurant and told Singh they suspected ICE was there.

Singh said more people arrived outside and began congregating around the car. Meanwhile, the two agents told their server they were being harassed, he said.

“One guy actually told me, ‘Brother, don’t come between this,’” he said, referring to one of the federal officers in his restaurant. “‘We’ll teach them a lesson.’” Minutes later, Singh said more uniformed officers arrived outside and the two men left shortly after.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin provided a statement in response to questions about the discrepancies.

“We can confirm VP’s post is accurate,” McLaughlin said. “Here are the facts: On January 19, off-duty DHS law enforcement were dining at a restaurant in Minneapolis when agitators began to harass them.”

McLaughlin’s account matched the DHS report, and included the reference to approximately “30 agitators.”

Singh did not dispute the number of people in the end who had gathered, but said he never saw the doors being locked and did not believe they were.

“The officers called for more Border Patrol reinforcement and the Sheriff’s Department for assistance,” the DHS spokesperson continued. “As the additional Border Patrol agents arrived, they were unable to enter the restaurant because the doors were locked. Thankfully, once more agents arrived, the door was unlocked, agents cleared the scene and eventually the law enforcement vehicle was later recovered.”

McLaughlin said, “this type of behavior is un-American and disgraceful.”

Asked about what it was like to have Vance share the story on X, in a post that has so far garnered more than 22 million views, Singh said: “They are the authority, they are the administration. They can say whatever they want.”