54 people were arrested after the protests became unruly and an unlawful assembly was declared outside the Federal Whipple Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday afternoon.

Law enforcement officials have provided clarification following the circulation of social media videos showing officers from the Minneapolis Police Department and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department confiscating cases of bottled water from anti-ICE demonstrators during protests outside the Whipple Federal Building over the weekend in Minneapolis.

Tensions flared in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon, January 17, 2026, after anti-ICE and pro-ICE demonstrators clashed during competing protests, prompting a heightened public-safety response and the mobilization of the Minnesota National Guard to support local authorities if needed.