Video journalist shoved, threatened with arrest by federal agents in Minnesota

Mark Vancleave, a video journalist for The Associated Press, was pushed by a federal officer and threatened with arrest while reporting on an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 28, 2026.

Demonstrations in the Twin Cities area have been mounting since the beginning of January, following the expansion of an immigration enforcement crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

In a video account for the AP, Vancleave said that he and a colleague saw reports that federal agents were parked on the north side of the city, so went to document their actions.

“We arrived and saw a vehicle idling with a few observers standing at the ends of the block. Eventually, that vehicle left and was followed by a handful of observer vehicles,” Vancleave reported. The journalists did so as well, trailing behind by a couple of hundred feet.

After a few blocks, they noticed “a white minivan aggressively driving up behind us with armed agents inside,” he continued. “We pulled over and turned on our hazards to let them pass. They didn’t. We eventually continued driving down the street.”

That’s when they realized that the lead vehicle had stopped ahead and, when the journalists pulled over, Vancleave said the white minivan quickly boxed them in.

“We jumped out with our cameras and walked to the sidewalk,” he continued. “Agents came out of that vehicle — Federal Bureau of Prisons agents — and told us that we would be under arrest if we did not immediately get back in our vehicle. We identified ourselves as Associated Press journalists, said that we would remain on the sidewalk and wanted to film what was happening in front of us.”

In the first seconds of Vancleave’s report, the officers can be seen ordering him to get back in his vehicle and leave the area, when one suddenly reaches out and shoves him. Vancleave identifies himself as a journalist for the AP, and an officer responds, “I don’t care who you are, get back in your vehicle.”

When reached by email, the Federal Bureau of Prisons declined to comment because “this matter involves an active law enforcement operation,” and did not respond to inquiries concerning the agency’s training on interacting with the media or its role in the enforcement operation.

Vancleave declined to comment, directing requests to the AP. Patrick Maks, director of media relations for the wire service, praised the journalists in an emailed statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

“Our journalists conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism despite being forced back into their vehicle and threatened with arrest while covering an enforcement operation in a Minneapolis neighborhood,” Maks wrote. “This treatment of journalists is unacceptable. They were simply doing their job, which is to bear witness so that the public knows what’s happening on the ground.”