BACKGROUND: As I understand it, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey have both backed sanctuary-style policies. Basically if an illegal immigrant was arrested they would not always hand them over to ICE as requested. Instead they released hundreds of detainees back onto the streets. This led the Trump administration to launch Operation Metro Surge in December 2025, sending thousands of ICE agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to try and round up and arrest these illegal immigrants. Anti-ICE activists responded with intense protests throughout January. On January 7 protester Renee Good was tragically shot and killed by federal agents, which further stoked community fears.

One of the pastors at Cities Church in St. Paul was also the acting field office director for ICE Enforcement. On January 18, 2026, a Sunday morning, former CNN journalist Don Lemon, local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, local independent journalist Georgia Fort (founder of BLCK Press) and other protestors arrived at Cities Church and disrupted a service that was underway. They marched into the sanctuary shouting chants such as “ICE out!” and “Justice for Renee Good!”, and displaying signs condemning immigration enforcement. Lemon also directly confronted the pastor on camera and attempted to interview several people. Congregants reacted with confusion and alarm while church staff and/or attendees moved to escort the demonstrators out.

The DOJ brought charges against Lemon, Armstrong, and other protesters. The federal case centers on whether the protest crossed the line from protected protest into unlawful interference with others’ exercise of religion. The protesters are accused of violating the FACE act which bars protestors from abortion facilities and houses of worship. (The FACE act was previously used by the Biden administration to prosecute protesters who had prayed and sang hymns in the lobby of an abortion clinic, allegedly obstructing access to the facility).

On January 22, 2026, Nekima Levy Armstrong was arrested for helping organize and lead the church protest. Federal Judge Douglas Micko heard the DOJ argue its case. He pushed back against some of the charges and released Armstrong pending her arraignment.

On January 30, Minneapolis journalist Georgia Fort was arrested at her home. She appeared in court for a detention hearing, was released, and later pleaded guilty “not guilty”.

On February 13 Don Lemon, Armstrong, and several others were arraigned in court. Lemon and the other protesters pleaded “not guilty”.

On January 27, 2026 US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) was speaking at a town hall in Minneapolis. A man (Anthony Kazmierczak) rushed up to the podium and sprayed an unknown liquid substance on Omar while shouting at her. He was immediately tackled by two security officers.

Kazmierczak was arrested and charged with assault. (The liquid was later identified as apple cider vinegar).

I sketched the brief preliminary hearing for Kazmierczak on February 3, 2026 before Judge David Schultz.

Deep disagreements about immigration enforcement have led to a lot of legal wrangling in Minnesota.

As I understand it, Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey have backed sanctuary-style policies in Minnesota. Basically if an illegal immigrant was arrested they would not always hand them over to ICE as requested. Instead they released hundreds of the detainees back onto the streets. This led the Trump administration to launch Operation Metro Surge in December 2025, sending thousands of agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to try and round up and arrest these immigrants.

This led to intense protests in January, including two tragic shootings. Protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti were each shot and killed by federal agents, which further stoked community fears.

On January 12, Walz, Frey, and other state officials sued in federal court, arguing that the Trump administration had overstepped its authority. This resulted in two court hearings both held on January 26.

In the first hearing, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and his team argued that Trump administration had violated the 10th amendment by using excessive force, aggressive tactics, racial profiling, and retaliation against critics. They asked Judge Katherine (Kate) Menendez (a Biden appointee) to bring an immediate halt to Operation Metro Surge.

The judge later issued a written opinion denying the state’s request, finding that plaintiffs had not met the high legal standard for blocking federal law enforcement, despite acknowledging the “profound and even heartbreaking” impacts.

Later that same day there was a second hearing in St. Paul before Judge Eric Tostrud (a Trump appointee) related to evidence in the death of Alex Pretti.

The State of Minnesota was concerned that the Federal government would not do a fair and thorough investigation into the shooting of Pretti by federal agents, and wanted to do their own separate investigation. A judge issued a quick temporary restraining order that prevented the Feds from altering or destroying evidence. This court hearing was a request to extend that restraining order.

Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Pete Farrell mentioned, as an example, a photo of the alleged firearm Pretti had on his person when he was tackled and shot. This photo was posted on X by the Department of Homeland Security and was shared by President Trump, who called it the “gunman’s gun” while criticizing Minnesota officials. Posting the photo online so quickly was irregular and potentially violated the proper chain of custody procedures.

Trump attorney Friedrich Siekert countered that the shooting was a federal matter involving federal agents during a federal operation. He said that all evidence was being handled properly, there was no proof of spoliation or bad faith, and asked the court not to micromanage the investigation.

On February 2 Judge Tostrud released an 18-page opinion denying the state’s request, finding that the evidence suggested the Feds were unlikely to destroy or improperly alter the evidence, and that extending the restraining order would unnecessarily clog up the investigation.

Shannon Gooden lost his rights to own firearms after a felony assault conviction in 2007. Gooden also had three different women seek orders of protection from him. He eventually began living with a girlfriend, Ashley Dyrdahl, in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville. He convinced Dyrdahl to purchase several guns for him, which she knew he was not allowed to have.

Early in the morning of Sunday, February 18, 2024 Dyrdahl called 911 to report a sexual assault by Gooden. Ten minutes later police showed up and began several hours of negotiations. Eventually Gooden opened fire. He killed two police officers (Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27) and a firefighter/paramedic (Adam Finseth, 40). He also wounded another police officer (Adam Medlicott, 38). Gooden fired over 100 rounds including through windows and then shot himself in the head. There were reportedly seven children present in the home.

Dyrdahl eventually pled guilty to two counts of straw purchasing. On September 12, 2025 I sketched her sentencing. She read a tearful statement apologizing to the families, accepting responsibility, and saying she will carry the burden of guilt with her every day for the rest of her life. Then multiple family members read statements describing how the deaths have devastated their families. Children will grow up without their fathers, wives will never again embrace their husbands, fathers will never again talk with their sons. It was a very heavy and emotional day in court.

Dyrdahl was sentenced by Judge Jerry Blackwell to 45 months in prison.

On June 14, 2025, Vance Boelter went on a shooting spree in an attempt to murder several Minnesota lawmakers. He impersonated a police officer with a costume, mask, and black cruiser with a fake “POLICE” license plate. First he went to the home of state Senator John Hoffman, shooting Hoffman, his wife, and their daughter. Then he drove to the home of State Representative Kristin Bahner but she was not home. At 2:36 a.m., he was found by a police officer near State Senator Ann Rest’s house but fled before an encounter could occur. Boelter then traveled to the home of Representative Melissa Hortman where he encountered more police officers. He entered the house, shot and killed Hortman and her husband, exchanged gunfire with police, and fled on foot. A large manhunt ensued and Boelter was arrested the next day.

While on the run Boelter scribbled a letter to the FBI in which, among other things, he claimed that he was asked to commit murder by governor Tim Walz.

So far Boelter has had several very brief preliminary hearings with no trial date set. Each of these hearings lasted about 10-15 minutes total so I had to draw fast.

One June 27 Boelter showed up for a bail hearing wearing a padded “suicide vest”, a long body-length smock with no clothing underneath. Boelter had been put on suicide watch but stated he was not suicidal. He said that the harsh conditions in the jail (constant lighting, a mat with no pillow, noisy prisoners, etc.) had left him sleep deprived, so he asked that the hearing be postponed. The request was granted.

On July 3 Boelter was indicted on six federal counts including murder, stalking, and firearms violations.

On August 7, 2025 Boelter was formally arraigned. He pleaded not guilty. As to the upcoming trial, the prosecution asked for an extended timeline due to the complexities of the case, which the judge granted. A trial date was not set but the judge said depending on how things go it could be as late as 2027.

The ‘Feeding Our Future’ scandal was the largest covid fraud in the nation. During the pandemic schools were closed but many parents still had to go to work and could not stay home to feed their kids. The Minnesota government set up a program whereby vendors would provide meals for children in place of school lunches. The vendors would provide the meals, then bill the government and be reimbursed for the cost of the food. Feeding Our Future was a nonprofit that scammed the state out of $250 million by pretending to provide meals to large numbers of children, then pocketing most of the money.

Abdiaziz Farah owned the restaurant Empire Cuisine in Shakopee, Minnesota. He and his co-conspirators falsely claimed to have served about 18 million meals to children, submitting fraudulent reimbursement requests totaling around $49 million. Dozens of people were involved in the scheme but Farah was considered one of the leaders. He personally pocketed over $8 million from the fraud, using the money to buy luxury vehicles and real estate in Kenya. He also attempted to flee the country and to bribe jurors.

On August 6, 2025 Farah was sentenced to 28 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $48 million in restitution.

A few days ago Minnesota Public Radio came to my studio to interview me about courtroom sketching. We talked for about a half hour. Some of it must have been usable because they edited it into a two-and-a-half minute segment that aired yesterday. If you want to hear me ramble it’s now available on their website.

The ongoing P. Diddy trial has people talking about courtroom sketch art. Although I’m not one of the artists sketching the Diddy case, CNN reached out to me and a couple of other established court artists to do a phone interview for an article on courtroom sketching. Then over the next two days I had four(!) radio stations call me to record interviews. They all asked about why we have sketch artists and what it’s like to do drawings in court.

Here’s the CNN article in which I am quoted:

Courtroom sketches of the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial are drawing quite a reaction

My first radio interview was with the nationally syndicated Anna & Raven Show. They called me up and edited my ramblings into a short segment. I made the newbie mistake of talking too fast but otherwise it was fun. Listen here.

I also did an interview with Logan and Sadie in the Morning on 96.9 WINK-FM (Fort Myers, FL). I don’t have a link to the other two interviews, but that’s OK because this was probably my best one. I actually talked at a normal speed:

Dogukan Gunaydin is a Turkish citizen who was attending the University of Minnesota’s graduate program at the Carlson School of Management. In June 2023 he pleaded guilty to a DWI. In March 2025 he was detained by ICE and his visa was revoked because of the DWI. His case drew significant media attention and sparked protests on the University of Minnesota campus.

On April 11, 2025 I sketched a brief hearing for Gunaydin’s case in immigration court. When I arrived there was a massive line of maybe a hundred or more college students waiting to go through security in hopes of attending the hearing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a line that big for a court case. The judge did not allow digital devices in the courtroom so instead of my iPad I had to draw the old fashioned way on paper. Gunaydin appeared via closed circuit TV from the jail where he remained in custody. The hearing was short so I only had time for one sketch, which I had to finish it in a conference room after the hearing ended.

The judge ruled that Gunaydin will remain in custody while ICE works on formalizing the charges against him.

In March 2025 Minnesota state senator Justin Eichorn was caught in a sting operation and charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution. On March 20 there was a brief hearing after his arrest. He was released to a halfway house with GPS monitoring and is awaiting trial. I only had time for one quick sketch.