Anti-ICE Minneapolis agitators set up checkpoint to track federal agents

Agitators could be seen standing in the roadway near makeshift barricades and traffic cones while they stopped or flagged down passing vehicles.

In one clip, an agitator dressed in a black coat and black mask was seen approaching a stopped vehicle and directly asking the driver if they were "ICE," before allowing the car to proceed.

"It looks like in our system that your plates come up as an ICE plate," the agitator said to the driver.

"That doesn't seem like it's the case," he added. "I just want to come through and ask what's up and see how you're doing."

The agitator also asked the driver for his name. 

"He's clearly Somalian," someone is also heard saying.

The agitator responded that ICE agents were renting a large number of vehicles and said the car would be taken "off the list."

The agitator acknowledged that the encounter was being posted on social media, but said many nearby residents supported the effort. 

"A lot of the neighbors support what we're doing," the agitator said. "So happy to be here."

Ventura said the agitators were stopping vehicles on Cedar Avenue, which runs through the Somali-dense Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, known as "Little Mogadishu." He said they were stopping vehicles, checking drivers' identification and running license plates through what they described as a "database," adding that he did not observe any Minneapolis police officers at the scene.

"The Public Works team - with assistance from the Minneapolis Police Department - cleared debris and homemade roadblocks yesterday," the department said. "Given the high-traffic and high-speed block of roadways on Cedar Avenue, the city cleared the streets to ensure public safety for the neighborhoods and emergency vehicles."

It comes after the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis during separate federal enforcement actions, incidents that intensified unrest and scrutiny surrounding ICE activity in the city.