Minnesota authorities are investigating the ICE arrest of a St. Louis man. Paul as a possible kidnapping
Listen to this article
Average 5 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
The state of Minnesota is investigating the videotaped arrest of a Hmong American man by state police as charges of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials announced Monday.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said at a press conference that they are following up on information from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) they need to conduct their investigation into the arrest of ChongLy (Scott) Thao, 56, on January 18. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers closed the front door of Thao’s St. With Paul at gunpoint – without a warrant that Choi and Fletcher were able to determine – they took him outside in his underwear and a blanket into the cold.
“There are many facts that we do not know yet, but there is one thing that we do know. And that is that Mr. Thao is an American citizen and has been an American citizen. There is no dispute about that,” said Fletcher. “There is no dispute that he was kicked out of his house, he was forced out of his house and wandered around.”
The police chief continued: “Is that a good law, to take an American citizen out of his home and drive him around aimlessly, trying to find out what we can tell him?”
No cooperation from DHS so far
DHS, which oversees ICE, has so far refused to cooperate with Ramsey County, or other state and local investigations into the killing of two US citizens in Minneapolis during the Trump immigration administration.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become a key tool in US President Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, but as CBC’s Jonathan Montpetit explains, that’s not what the agency was originally designed to do.
Representatives for ICE and DHS did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Ramsey County’s announcement.
Choi said they are trying to determine if any crimes have been committed that they can prosecute under state or federal law. He also said that the police in St.
“This is not about any kind of predetermined agenda other than seeking the truth and investigating the facts,” Choi said.
The agents who arrested Thao eventually realized that he had been a longtime American citizen and had no criminal record, Thao said in an interview with the Associated Press in January. They brought him back to his home a few hours later.
Homeland Security later said ICE officials were looking for two convicted sex offenders. But Thao told the AP that he had never seen the two men before and that they did not live with him. The Minnesota Department of Corrections later said one of the two wanted remains in custody.
Videos captured the scene, which included people blowing whistles and horns, and neighbors yelling at more than a dozen people armed with guns to leave Thao’s family alone.
Thao declined to comment on the announcement Monday.
Request for evidence
The director of the district attorney’s office’s criminal division, Hao Nguyen, said they wrote to DHS, ICE and local prosecutors on March 20 outlining the evidence they were looking for.
“We know that there are reports, there is no way to say that there is not,” said Nguyen. “We also want to know who was working that day, who was working that month. Where did they report? Who did they report to? We also want to understand what recordings there might be in terms of digital recording, witness interviews, video recording.”
They set a deadline of April 30, after which they can sue or call a grand jury, Choi said.
The state and the attorney general of neighboring Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, sued the Trump administration last month to obtain evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal officials in Minneapolis, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The lawsuit accuses the federal government of reneging on its promise to cooperate with the state investigation after an increase of about 3,000 law enforcement officers in Minnesota.
Choi appealed to members of the public who may have evidence about Thao’s case or other violations that may have come to light. Minnesota and Hennepin County have made similar complaints.
The Trump administration has suggested that Minnesota officials do not have the authority to investigate law enforcement actions. But Fletcher said he believes they do.
“There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents,” the sheriff said. “There is a reasonable immunity for all law enforcement officers in many different capacities. But taking someone from their home who is an American citizen, they are not immune to that.”
