Reporter hospitalized after hit by stun grenade at Minnesota protest

MintPress News reporter Jalyssa Dugrot suffered a concussion after she was struck in the face and legs by crowd-control munitions while reporting on an immigration protest in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Jan. 11, 2026.

Protests in the state have erupted after a federal immigration enforcement surge and the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have since sued the Trump administration, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.

Dugrot told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting outside the Whipple Federal Building, which houses ICE in a complex in Fort Snelling, bordering Minneapolis, when law enforcement declared the protest unlawful. They began deploying stun grenades, tear gas, pepper balls and rubber pellets into the crowd of journalists and demonstrators.

“When they deployed these munitions, they were targeting everyone,” Dugrot said. “It didn’t matter if you were press or a demonstrator, because we were kind of mixed in with the crowd.”

Dugrot said that as law enforcement surged forward, she was struggling to record on her phone with her gloved hand when a flash-bang grenade landed at her feet.

“I just looked right at it, and it detonated,” she said. “Having one detonate practically in my face was so surreal. My vision went completely white, and my ears immediately rang.”

The munition scattered shrapnel into Dugrot’s face near her eyes and made her dizzy and nauseous.

Dugrot said the blast also tore off her lavalier microphone, which was lost in the chaos, shattered her phone’s camera and cracked the phone’s screen.

Immediately after, however, while still in shock, Dugrot reported from the scene one more time.

“As you can see, I was flash-banged in my face. I have safety goggles on right now for my safety. And I was shot in the legs,” Dugrot reported in a video posted to Instagram.

She later lost consciousness and had to be taken to a hospital. Dugrot said she is taking the rest of the month off to recover, after being diagnosed with a concussion and suffering bruised legs, ongoing vision blurriness in her left eye and a painful ringing in her ears.

“This kind of shook me up a bit,” Dugrot said. “With my logical mind, I understand that it’s a job, so I will go back out again. But with my emotional mind, I’m worried that it could get worse.”

In an update the next day, MintPress reported that federal officers and the Minneapolis Police Department were deploying the munitions (a police spokesman denied involvement to the Tracker).

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in a statement released Jan. 12, defended the agency’s presence in Minnesota but did not address the reported use of munitions against journalists.