A Minneapolis couple says federal immigration officers deployed a tear gas canister under their family vehicle during a tense nighttime clash between protesters and agents, leaving their six-month-old baby struggling to breathe and prompting emergency medical care.
Shawn and Destiny Jackson told local media they were driving home with their six children when they became trapped between demonstrators and a line of federal officers. The couple said agents shouted at them to move, but they hesitated because officers were standing close to the vehicle and they feared a sudden movement could be misinterpreted in the chaos. (CBS News)
According to Destiny Jackson, after repeated commands, agents moved behind the vehicle and released a tear gas canister underneath it. She described a loud blast that jolted the vehicle, triggered airbags, and quickly filled the area with gas, locking the doors as smoke spread around the car. (CBS News)
The parents said bystanders helped pull the children out. Destiny Jackson said their infant son was the last to be removed and appeared unresponsive, with foam or bubbles coming from his mouth. She said she performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and CPR while struggling to breathe herself. (CBS News)
City officials separately said two children — including a six-month-old — were hospitalized after federal agents deployed tear gas during Wednesday night’s protests. The Minneapolis Office of Community Safety said the infant was inside a vehicle struck by tear gas and developed breathing difficulties. (ABC News)
CBS Minnesota reported it contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the family’s account. (CBS News) (As of the most recent updates available in the reporting I reviewed, no detailed DHS response about the specific family incident was included.)
Part of a wider wave of confrontations
The incident comes amid heightened tension in Minneapolis surrounding a major federal immigration enforcement push and protests that have drawn large federal presence into public-facing crowd-control situations.
The Associated Press has reported that federal immigration agents in Minneapolis have used tactics such as early deployment of chemical irritants, pointing rifles at demonstrators, breaking vehicle windows, and pulling occupants from cars — actions the government says are necessary for officer safety, but which critics argue risk escalating already volatile situations. (AP News)
AP also notes that the protests intensified after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman killed in her car by an immigration agent earlier in January — an event that federal officials have defended as self-defense. (AP News)
Civil liberties groups and legal advocates have raised concerns about whether agents who are primarily trained for immigration enforcement are being used in roles more typical of local public-order policing, including crowd management and protest response. (AP News)
