Use of force questioned after federal raids

Two federal raids in two weeks, including one at Bro-Tex in West Midway, are prompting calls for action. St. Paul City Council members are poised to vote as soon as Dec. 10, 2025 on a resolution tied to a late November raid on the city’s East Side. The council is calling for an investigation of police department conduct at that raid.
Police officers are accused of spraying chemical irritants and firing non-lethal projectiles at a crowd of about 200 people who came to protest the ICE actions. At least one person was detained by federal agents. Three journalists were injured.
Council members said the police actions overstepped in what has been defended as an action to keep everyone safe. Outgoing Mayor Melvin Carter has also asked for a review of police body-worn camera footage.
Council President Rebecca Noecker had hoped to bring in a resolution calling for an investigation as soon as Dec. 3. She said that day that the resolution was still being worked on.
Several people attended the council’s Nov. 25 truth-in-taxation hearing to protest police conduct and ask that the police budget be scrutinized. A few people still had watering eyes from chemical irritants used.
A key focus of the upcoming resolution will be the police department use of force policies and a policy to not have police assist in such federal actions. The city’s police-civilian review group will be involved in the investigation.
The council is reviewing police actions at a time when President Donald Trump has targeted Minnesota and its large Somali community with an extensive immigration enforcement operation here.
Three journalists were injured in the Payne-Phalen raid Nov. 25. At least one person was detained by federal authorities. Police Chief Axel Henry issued a statement saying police were called to the scene to keep everyone safe after reports that things were thrown at federal agents.
A smaller crowd gathered to witness and protest the raid on the West Midway’s Bro-Tex.
In the raid at Bro-Tex (800 N Hampden Ave.) on Nov. 18, 14 people were detained. Immigrant rights group leaders said that federal action ranks as the largest workplace raid this year in the Twin Cities. That raid didn’t draw complaints of police misconduct.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement after the Bro-Tex raid, indicating that those arrested include an individual with past domestic abuse charges and a person suspected of illegally reentering the country. The latter crime is a felony.
No further details were provided but in the days since the raid several people have named family members and friends who were detained.
The statement did not provide more information about those arrested.
A vigil that drew more than 100 people was held the following evening at Bro-Tex. The company has been in St. Paul for many years, founded as the Minnesota Rag and Paper Stock Company, Inc. It became Bro-Tex, Inc. in 1957. Its focus is paper and cloth wipes, as well as sorbent products.