Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne said in a Bluesky video that he had just finished a “rapid response” call that drew “about twenty people” at 10 p.m. on a Sunday, urging residents to stay connected and vigilant amid ongoing federal immigration enforcement activity.
Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne posted a video to Bluesky in which he described participating in what he called a “rapid response” call.
In the video, Payne identifies himself as the council president and says the group “had about twenty people show up at 10pm on Sunday.” He adds: “Even as we think that ICE isn’t here, they are still abducting people and somebody got taken today,” and urges people to “stay connected with your neighbors” and remain “safe” and “vigilant.”
The Daily Wire, which reported on Payne’s post, described the rapid response networks as activist groups that train participants to document immigration agents, follow suspected ICE vehicles, and mobilize protests when agents are spotted. The outlet also asserted that some such groups have “thousands of members” and have “been known to dox ICE agents and share their license plates,” but it did not provide independent documentation in the story to substantiate those broader claims.
The report also tied Payne’s comments to the aftermath of “Operation Metro Surge,” a federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota that national outlets reported was being drawn down in February 2026 after an announcement by White House border czar Tom Homan. Those reports described large numbers of federal personnel departing Minnesota while a smaller ongoing enforcement presence would remain.
In Minneapolis, controversy over hotels alleged to have housed federal agents during the surge prompted City Council debate over whether to withhold or delay renewal of liquor licenses for two downtown hotels. Local reporting described the council’s deliberations and delays, and later votes to renew the licenses.
Separately, City Council Member Aisha Chughtai wrote on Bluesky on February 5, 2026, that she was “on the scene” near Franklin and 1st Avenue, where she said “a convoy” of ICE/HSI agents “broke the entryway” into an apartment building early that morning and that “No warrant presented.” Chughtai’s post did not identify the person agents were seeking or confirm whether an arrest occurred.
Other claims about the City Council’s internal motives, the extent to which activism is “integrated” into governance, and assertions about the networks’ fundraising or specific tactics beyond what is shown in the cited social-media posts were not independently corroborated by the single provided source.
