FBI Director Kash Patel said more arrests are coming after multiple bureau vehicles were vandalized and broken into on January 14, as protests continued in Minneapolis.
In an interview Monday with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Patel said four people tied to the incidents have already been arrested this month. He added that another suspect was taken into custody Sunday night and that investigators are still working to identify others involved.
The latest arrest follows the earlier arrest of Raul Gutierrez, 33, whom authorities have described as a member of the Latin Kings gang. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said Gutierrez is accused of stealing FBI body armor and weapons and has a history of violent crimes. White House border czar Tom Homan said the suspect also allegedly stole a firearm from an FBI vehicle.
“In a vehicle, we discovered not just [FBI] firearms, which thankfully we recovered, but also personal information about law enforcement,” Patel told Johnson, in part. “That personal information was being used on the ground to issue threats of life to FBI agents, along with their wives and their children. There are going to be more arrests on that same matter, today and tomorrow. We’re not done.”
Patel also said investigators are looking into whether outside groups helped finance the protests.
“We’ve got also investigations ongoing into the funding of this [protests]. We’ve made substantial progress. We’ve actually found groups and individuals responsible for funding it cause it’s not happening organically,” he told Johnson.
FBI Vehicles Vandalized, Property Stolen
Patel said Sunday in a post on X that federal agents arrested another suspect in connection with the vandalism of FBI vehicles and the theft of government property during unrest in Minneapolis earlier this month.
According to the bureau, the break-ins happened January 14 while FBI agents were responding to a reported assault on a federal officer. Officials said federal property was stolen from inside the vehicles.
The alleged thefts occurred as unrest unfolded in the city following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an immigration agent, as well as a second incident in which a Venezuelan migrant was shot in the leg after allegedly attacking law enforcement.
Patel said the suspect arrested Sunday allegedly used identification materials taken from an FBI vehicle to threaten a Minneapolis-based FBI agent, along with the agent’s wife and child.
“Threatening law enforcement will never be tolerated,” Patel said in a post on X. “Nor will destroying and looting government property paid for by taxpayers.”
Who Was Renee Nicole Good?
Renee Nicole Good was a 37-year-old American citizen and mother of three who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on January 7 during a federal enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
Authorities have said Good attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon against federal officers. Friends and community members described her as a devoted parent and active member of her community. The Hennepin County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds.
The shooting, which occurred amid heightened tensions over federal immigration actions in the Twin Cities, sparked protests and renewed debate over the use of force by federal agents and the scope of immigration enforcement in the United States.
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and intensive care unit nurse, was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on January 24 during a federal immigration enforcement operation, marking the second such killing in the city in recent weeks.
