Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley says Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been stopping people without cause, demanding proof of citizenship, and in some cases, pointing guns at off-duty police officers who are people of color. He described the incidents as serious civil rights violations and called for an immediate change in how immigration enforcement is being carried out.
Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Bruley made clear that his criticism was not about dismantling ICE, but about its conduct. He said complaints have surged in recent weeks from residents who believe they are being targeted simply because of how they look.
“Recently, as the last two weeks, we as law enforcement community have been receiving endless complaints about civil rights violations in our streets from US citizens,” he said. “What we’re hearing is they’re being stopped in traffic stops or on the street with no cause and being forced to show paperwork to determine if they are here legally.”
Bruley said the reports became even more alarming when officers from his own department began sharing similar experiences while off duty. “As this went on over the past two weeks, we started hearing from our police officers the same complaints as they fell victim to this while off duty,” he said. “Every one of these individuals is a person of color who has had this happen to them.”
He described one incident in which ICE agents “boxed in” an off-duty officer while she was driving. “They demanded her paperwork, of which she’s a US citizen and clearly would not have any paperwork,” Bruley said. When the officer tried to record the encounter on her phone, she was stopped. “When she became concerned about the rhetoric and the way she was being treated, she pulled out her phone in an attempt to record the incident, the phone was knocked out of her hands, prevented her from recording it.”
The situation escalated further. “The officer had their gun drawn during this interaction,” Bruley added. “And after the officer became so concerned, they were forced to identify themselves as a Brooklyn Park police officer in hopes of slowing the incident and de-escalating the incident down.”
According to Bruley, the agents left immediately after hearing her identity. “The agents then immediately left after hearing this, making no other comments, no other apologies, just got in their vehicles and left.”
He stressed that this was not an isolated case. “In fact, many of the chiefs standing behind me have similar incidents with their off-duty officers,” he said. Bruley warned that if trained officers are being treated this way, the impact on ordinary residents could be far worse. “If it is happening to our officers, it pains me to think of how many of our community members are falling victim to this every day. It has to stop.”
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