A federal operation in St. Paul Tuesday morning led to a confrontation between federal agents and protesters. Federal agents used chemical irritants and projectiles on the crowd.

At a press conference Tuesday morning, St. Paul City Council Vice President Hwa Jeong Kim spoke in defense of people who gathered to observe and record the operation. “Concerned and caring residents were shoved, thrown to the ground. One observers’ foot was run over. This is not safety. This is not law enforcement. This is state violence,” she said.

In a statement to MPR News, an ICE spokesperson said the agency and law enforcement partners conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity and served a search warrant as part of a federal criminal investigation. MPR News asked for additional information about the chemical irritants used by agents, but have not received a response.

With growing ICE operations across the country under the Trump administration, advocates have called for community to respond to federal action that appears to involve ICE. It’s leading to more clashes, like the one that occurred Tuesday.

For more on this issue, MPR News host Nina Moini talked with ACLU of Minnesota Legal Director Teresa Nelson.