County Officials Investigate ICE Detention of US Citizen as Possible Crimes
Authorities in Minnesota are examining the detention of a US citizen by federal immigration officers as a potential case of kidnapping, burglary, and false imprisonment.
The arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, in January in St Paul has become emblematic of Operation Metro Surge, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) intensified enforcement campaign in the Minneapolis-St Paul area.
This incident occurred during the same month when American anti-ICE protesters were shot and killed by government agents.
Masked ICE officers forcibly entered Thao’s residence in St Paul without a warrant, according to his family, and apprehended him while he was in his underwear, holding a blanket in freezing temperatures.
Thao, a Hmong American and naturalized US citizen, stated that agents transported him “to the middle of nowhere” and compelled him to exit the vehicle in cold weather to photograph him. After realizing their error, they returned him home nearly two hours later.
Video footage from the day of the arrest shows a chaotic scene outside Thao’s home, including people blowing whistles and horns, and neighbors shouting at over a dozen armed ICE agents to leave the family alone.
Local Officials Seek Information from DHS
On Monday, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher addressed the media in St Paul, revealing that DHS had not responded to their requests for information regarding Thao’s arrest and detention. They indicated that a grand jury could be convened in May.
“There are many facts we don’t know yet, but there’s one that we do know – and that is that Mr Thao is and has been an American citizen,” Fletcher said. “There’s not a dispute over that.
“There’s no dispute that he was taken out of his house, forcibly taken out of his home and driven around. Is that good law enforcement, to take an American citizen out of their home and drive them around aimlessly, trying to determine what they can tell them?”
DHS Responds to Allegations
A DHS spokesperson provided a statement to defending its agents’ actions.
“ICE does not ‘kidnap’ people,” the statement said. “This is nothing but a political stunt to demonize ICE law enforcement.”
The statement further explained that DHS law enforcement officers were executing a warrant based on surveillance and intelligence indicating that sexual predator targets had connections to the property.
It noted that the US citizen was present when the warrant was served and refused to be fingerprinted or facially identified. The statement added that it is standard protocol to detain all individuals at a location during such operations for the safety of the public and law enforcement.
Thao declined to comment when contacted by the Associated Press on Monday but has previously denied knowing the two individuals ICE agents were seeking and stated they did not reside with him.
The DHS statement did not address the claim by Ramsey County officials that it had failed to respond to their inquiry. Choi emphasized that the county’s objective is to establish the facts to determine if any crimes were committed that could be prosecuted under state or federal law.
“This is not about any type of predetermined agenda other than to seek the truth and to investigate the facts,” Choi said. He also mentioned that the St Paul Police Department is investigating another case related to the immigration crackdown for potential violations but declined to provide further details.
Requests for Evidence and Potential Legal Actions
Hao Nguyen, director of the trial division in the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, stated that on 20 March he sent letters to DHS, ICE, and local federal prosecutors requesting evidence.
“We know there are reports,” he said. “There’s just no way that there aren’t.
“We want also to know who was working that day, who was working that month. Where did they report to? Who did they report to? We also want to understand what recordings might be out there in terms of digital recordings, witness interviews, video recordings.”
Choi indicated that the county set a deadline of 30 April for responses from DHS and other agencies, after which it may file a lawsuit or convene a grand jury.
Related Investigations and Jurisdictional Issues
Neighboring Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, has sought access to evidence to independently investigate three shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis, including the deaths of Good and Pretti.
Earlier in April, the city of Minneapolis reopened a January case involving federal immigration agents that raised questions about their account of the shootings of two Venezuelans, following the collapse of a legal case against the men.
The DHS has asserted that Minnesota authorities lack jurisdiction to investigate federal officers and that federal agents have protection from prosecution.
Sheriff Fletcher rejected this claim.
“There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents,” he said.
“There’s qualified immunity for all law enforcement in a lot of different capacities. But seizing a person out of their home who’s an American citizen, they’re not immune from that.”
Context of ICE Custody Deaths
The developments in Minnesota occur amid a rising number of deaths in ICE custody, approaching 50 since Donald Trump resumed office in January last year.
Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, a migrant from Mexico, was found unresponsive on 11 April at the Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana. His death marked the 47th in ICE custody during Trump’s second presidency and at least the 15th in 2026.
In March, José Guadalupe Ramos, another Mexican national, died at the Adelanto ICE detention center in Los Angeles, California, after being pronounced dead in hospital.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
