Incident details
- Date of incident
- January 24, 2026
- Location
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Targets
- Aaron Johnson (Independent)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Federal officers respond to an immigration protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026. Independent journalist Aaron Johnson was targeted with crowd-control munitions while documenting the protest.
Independent journalist Aaron Johnson was repeatedly targeted with chemical irritants deployed by federal officers while he documented an immigration protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026.
Demonstrators gathered in the city’s Whittier neighborhood shortly after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen. Johnson, who publishes his reporting on social media and contributes video with nonprofit newsroom Unicorn Riot, rushed to the scene.
By the time Johnson arrived, law enforcement had established a perimeter while federal agents remained in the area, Johnson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He began filming as officers used flash-bang devices, pepper balls and chemical irritants to disperse the crowd.
“They have now gassed this neighborhood,” he said in one video posted to Instagram.
Johnson, who was wearing a bulletproof vest with “PRESS” written on the front, said he believed agents deliberately targeted him with crowd-control munitions while he documented the response.
“They were shooting pepper balls at us. I got frost bite, I got gassed, they were waving guns in my face,” Johnson told the Tracker. “I was surrounded by gas grenades. They were landing everywhere around me.”
In footage he posted, Johnson coughs repeatedly as chemical irritants fill the air. At one point, a federal officer tells shouts at him, “Fake press! Fake news!” at Johnson.
“I’m not fake news. I’m credentialed,” Johnson responds.
Later, Johnson posted a video to Instagram saying that he inhaled tear gas into his throat and that street medics flushed the irritant from his eyes.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests concerning the agents’ actions that day.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
