#StPaulMN - US citizen says ICE removed him from his Minnesota home in his underwear after warrantless search
By JACK BROOK
Updated 2:18 AM EST, January 20, 2026
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — "Federal immigration agents forced open a door and detained a U.S. citizen in his #Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family and videos reviewed by The Associated Press.
"ChongLy 'Scott' Thao told the AP that his daughter-in-law woke him up from a nap Sunday afternoon and said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were banging at the door of his residence in #StPaul. He told her not to open it. Masked agents then forced their way in and pointed guns at the family, yelling at them, Thao recalled.
" 'I was shaking,' he said. 'They didn’t show any warrant; they just broke down the door.'
"Amid a massive surge of federal agents into the #TwinCities, immigration authorities are facing backlash from residents and the local leaders for #warrantless arrests, aggressive clashes with #protestors and the fatal shooting of mother of three Renee Good.
" ' #ICE is not doing what they say they’re doing,' St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, a Hmong American, said in a statement about Thao’s arrest. 'They’re not going after hardened criminals. They’re going after anyone and everyone in their path. It is unacceptable and un-American.' "
