Federal Agents Fire Tear Gas and Pepper Balls After Protester Throws Snowball in Minneapolis

Five days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot activist Renee Good, tensions were running high in the Minneapolis neighborhood where she was killed. As federal immigration agents surrounded and questioned a man whose car they had stopped, residents emerged onto snow-lined sidewalks and streets, shouting obscenities, demanding the agents leave, and filming the scene on their phones.

A crew from FRONTLINE and ProPublica was also documenting the confrontation. The man being questioned, U.S. citizen Christian Molina, told ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson that federal agents had followed and rammed his car without cause. “They looked at me and they decided to pull me over for no reason,” Molina said.

Footage of the incident is featured in the new documentary “Caught in the Crackdown,” a joint investigation by FRONTLINE and ProPublica premiering on April 14.

Escalation After a Snowball Is Thrown

Someone threw a snowball toward the agents. One federal agent responded by tossing a tear gas canister into the crowd. “You’re tear-gassing a fucking neighborhood,” a protester yelled. “People live here.”

As the toxic haze spread, an agent pepper-sprayed protesters and a news photographer at close range. Another agent fired pepper balls into the crowd, striking Thompson three times—one shot hit him above the right eye. Federal guidelines generally instruct agents not to target people’s heads and faces with such weapons.

As the agents drove away, one of them shot pepper spray from a moving vehicle window, hitting members of the film team, including FRONTLINE director Gabrielle Schonder and director of photography Tim Grucza, who was sprayed in the face.

Documentary Exposes Federal Tactics During Immigration Crackdown

The January 12 confrontation is one of many chaotic clashes documented in “Caught in the Crackdown.” The investigation examines how federal agents handled protesters and bystanders during the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps in major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

Through on-the-ground reporting and interviews with officials, experts, insiders, and eyewitnesses, the documentary reveals how federal forces arrested hundreds of U.S. citizens who were protesting or observing the raids. Authorities routinely portrayed these citizens as domestic terrorists or extremists and deployed weaponry, including tear gas and pepper balls, in ways experts say violated officers’ own rules.

The Trump administration claimed its immigration crackdown was protecting U.S. citizens by targeting criminals and people who had entered the country illegally.

Key Details from the Incident

• Date of confrontation: January 12
• Location: Minneapolis neighborhood where Renee Good was killed
• Actions taken by federal agents: tear gas, pepper balls, pepper spray
• Victims: A.C. Thompson (ProPublica reporter), Gabrielle Schonder (FRONTLINE director), Tim Grucza (FRONTLINE director of photography)
• Premiere date of documentary: April 14