Community still seeks answers nearly one year after Rose Avenue ICE raid
Nearly a year after a federal operation on Rose Avenue in St. Paul turned into a confrontation between the city’s police and protesters, community members are still demanding answers about what happened that day and will officers will be held accountable.
Residents, organizers and immigrant advocates gathered Monday, Nov. 2 at Roots Cafe on the East Side of St. Paul demanding the release of the investigation into the city’s police department’s response on Nov. 25, 2025.
The gathering also included a Day of the Dead observance honoring those who’ve lost their lives in connection to immigration enforcement.
"We're gonna continue repeating until we receive justice," said Mary Anne Ligeralde Quiroz, co-founder and executive director of Indigenous Roots. "At the minimum, some answers."
Federal agents conducted an enforcement operation in St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood last November. Community members gathered nearby on Rose Avenue to observe and protest.
Witnesses say tension rose and St. Paul police deployed chemical irritants. Several people, including journalists covering the incident, were hurt. Rebecca, a neighborhood resident who attended the protest, said she was sprayed with a chemical irritant and saw officers come in riot gear.
"It's been a year. I still have nightmares. I still can't walk down a street in my own neighborhood," she said.
Another attendee, Amber Mathwig, said she came to Rose Avenue to observe the federal raid around 9:14 a.m. and was handcuffed by St. Paul about 15 minutes later.
"Just like everybody else around me, I was standing there. I was observing. I was blowing a whistle," Mathwig said. She said she was detained for about two and a half hours and then released with a citation that was later dropped.
Cheenda Heng, an organizer with Minnesota 8, said she also witnessed officers deploy chemical irritants.
“We saw people pepper sprayed less than three feet away from each other, right into their eyes," Heng said.
Many of the speakers questioned why St. Paul officers were even there and why force was used against people observing the operation and whether the department assisted federal agents.
"There's no reason that St. Paul Police Department should have been there assisting the operations of ICE," said Satara Strong-Allen, a member of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities.
Police Chief Axel Henry said officers were called to the scene with reports of protesters throwing objects and that the department was not a part of the immigration enforcement operation.
In December 2025, the St. Paul City Council passed a resolution calling for an investigation into the department's response and if officers violated the city's separation ordinance, which limits local involvement in federal immigration enforcement.
In a statement to Power 104.7 FM the city confirmed that the police department completed its investigation and turned the report over to the Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission (PCIARC). The city’s response did not include a disciplinary decision.
PCIARC reviews complaints of police misconduct and recommends discipline to the police chief. A commission spokesperson said the case is still open and could not share details at this time.
Mathwing said she filed a complaint with the commission and said she was still waiting for answers.
"I believe that it was early September that I finally got to have a verbal testimony to give them, and I was told it could be a while yet," she said.
At the press conference, organizers demanded the release of the investigation findings, an independent investigation, accountability for the officers involved and reparations for the people injured. Teya Chino, an organizer with Indigenous Roots, asked how residents can feel protected during future enforcement operations.
"We need a report to come out yesterday," Chino said.
Organizers said they plan to keep pressing city officials leading up to the incident's first anniversary.
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