Posted January 27th, 2026 in Top Stories, News with Tags Firm Statements

NJL Statement Regarding Operation Metro Surge

Nilan Johnson Lewis demands justice for Renee Nicole Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, and an immediate end to, and accountability for, Operation Metro Surge.

We grieve for the family and friends of Good and Pretti. By blocking fair and impartial investigations into these killings, refusing to acknowledge and abide by judicial orders, and wrongly declaring that federal agents have “absolute immunity” to violate basic Constitutional rights in the performance of their duties, the federal government has effectively sanctioned extrajudicial executions of its own citizens. Our government must not deliberately stamp out free speech or punish citizens for lawfully exercising their First and Second Amendment rights.

As attorneys who swore oaths to support the Constitution, we are deeply troubled by the tactics used in Operation Metro Surge. Over the past few months, federal agents have committed unparalleled violations of fundamental Constitutional and legal rights: entering private homes and property without judicial warrants, using racial profiling to stop and question residents about their immigration status, physically assaulting American citizens and immigrants, refusing to look at evidence of citizenship, and deploying unjustified force against peaceful protestors and legal observers in an effort to chill their Constitutional rights. All the while, federal officials have lied to the American people in the manner of authoritarian regimes, urging us to reject the evidence of our own eyes and ears. These tactics must stop.

Operation Metro Surge has endangered and sown fear across our communities. Empty chairs fill our classrooms as ICE targets children and schools. Our streets are stained with pepper spray and clouded by tear gas as federal agents recklessly use chemical irritants to deter peaceful protestors and legal observers. Our neighbors grieve the sudden disappearance of family members and friends. As Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota put it, members of our community are being wrongfully detained or transferred out of state in blatant violation of court orders, including “many of whom have lawfully lived and worked in the United States for years and done absolutely nothing wrong.”

We abhor the violence and human rights violations being perpetrated against our friends and neighbors, both immigrants and citizens. When it comes to Constitutional rights and human dignity, this is not about taking a side. Our community and our nation deserve better than what Minnesota has endured during Operation Metro Surge. This must end.