Operation Metro Surge

Timothy James Walz is an American politician, former educator, and Army National Guard veteran serving since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019, representing Minnesota's 1st congressional district, and was the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem is an American politician who served as the eighth United States secretary of homeland security from 2025 to 2026. A member of the Republican Party, she served from 2019 to 2025 as the 33rd governor of South Dakota and represented South Dakota's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019. During her tenure at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), her immigration policies generated controversies, particularly the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Renée Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old American woman, was fatally shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross, on January 7, 2026. Good was in her car, stopped sideways in the street, which led Ross to circle her vehicle on foot. Other agents approached, and one ordered her to get out of the car while reaching through her open window. Good briefly reversed, then began moving forward and to the right, into the direction of traffic. At this point, Ross was standing at the front-left of the vehicle and fired three shots, killing her, as her vehicle passed him, turning away from him. The killing sparked national protests and multiple investigations.

On January 24, 2026, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old American intensive care nurse for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, was shot multiple times and killed by two United States Customs and Border Protection officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The incident occurred amid widespread protests against Operation Metro Surge, especially following the killing of Renée Good on January 7 by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Jacob Lawrence Frey is an American politician and attorney who has served since 2018 as the 48th mayor of Minneapolis. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, he served on the Minneapolis City Council from 2014 to 2018 and was elected mayor of Minneapolis in 2017 and reelected in 2021 and 2025.

Don Renaldo Lemon-Clark is an American television journalist best known for being a host on CNN from 2014 until 2023. He anchored weekend news programs on local television stations in Alabama and Pennsylvania during his early days as a journalist. Lemon worked as a news correspondent for NBC on its programming, such as Today and NBC Nightly News.

US immigration operation

Gregory Kent Bovino is a United States Border Patrol officer who served as the commander-at-large of the Border Patrol from October 2025 to January 2026.

2026 protest song by Bruce Springsteen

Nicholas Shirley is an American right-wing YouTuber and influencer. In December 2025, his video alleging fraud at Somali-run child care centers in Minnesota went viral; the video's allegations were unsubstantiated. As of late December 2025, state officials said that investigations had not found evidence of fraud at the sites Shirley visited.