‘We Help Our Neighbors’: Minnesota State Lawmaker Tries To Defend Group Attack On ICE Agent

Minnesota State Senator Bobby Joe Champion attempted to defend the men who jumped in to assault an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Wednesday, claiming that it was a clear example of Minnesotans pitching in to “help our neighbors.”

Champion joined CNN’s Laura Coates to discuss the scene that unfolded on Wednesday when an ICE agent chased down a suspect who was believed to be Venezuelan, and two others — one of whom was wielding a shovel — joined the suspect in assaulting the agent.

WATCH:

???? State Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (D) says last night’s vicious assault of an ICE agent “is just an example of Minnesota being a place where we help our neighbors.”

CNN: If they used weapons to attack the officer, would that change your opinion?

Champion: “Actually, no.”

SICK! pic.twitter.com/eWO8fPJzpl

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 15, 2026

“If there were neighbors and others who came out to help this person, that is just an example of Minnesota being a place where we help our neighbors,” Champion said. “And we are clear that the ICE agents have been coming here — and there’s over two thousand of them — and they’ve been attacking and terrorizing our state.”

“So yes, neighbors will come out and be helpful, I’m not certain if they had brooms or a shovel, that is to be further investigated,” he added.

Coates pushed back, asking, “If they did, in fact, have some sort of weapons to use to attack the ICE officer, would that change your opinion of whatever unfolded next?”

“Actually, no, right?” Champion replied. “Because from our vantage point, we want to make sure, and always want to make sure that Minnesotans are being dealt with properly. And when we think in terms of any pursuit or any apprehension of anyone, there’s a way for you to do your work where it’s respectful and it’s fair.”

He went on to claim that ICE was not being “respectful” or “fair,” and asserted that agents were choosing to be “illegal, and to attack, and to be very aggressive with Minnesotans.”

Champion concluded by claiming that the federal government was making things worse as more and more agents were surged to the area and allowed to “misbehave.”

“That’s a tragedy. And a travesty,” he claimed.