Minneapolis continues to have a tense relationship with ICE. Steven Saari, a Marine Corps combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was detained by agents less than an hour after Alex Pretti was fatally shot while he was visiting the scene.
Saari carried his legally owned 9mm Glock handgun on his right hip and he said he was there to observe the scene. However, his attire, which consisted of Marine camouflage, along with the gun, drew the ICE agents’ attention. They repeatedly asked him which agency he was with and when Saari said that he was not with any agency, they grew suspicious of him.
Talking to The Intercept, Saari said that the agents “thought I was undercover,” adding, “they kept asking what agency I was with.” When it was established that he was not affiliated with any agency, Saari said, “more and more Border Patrol and ICE agents gathered around me.”
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ICE agents also held M4-style rifles at his head, despite the fact that he had not done anything apart from just being present at the site where Pretti was shot and killed. Saari was not recording any of the agents and did not engage in any kind of conversation with them. It was the agents who approached him and the situation escalated from that point.
After the agents approached and apprehended Saari, their instructions appeared unclear, and they attempted to handcuff him without first taking his gun away. However, according to standard law enforcement practice, a person’s firearm or any other weapon that they might be possessing is supposed to be taken away before making an arrest.
Because the agents did not take away Saari’s gun at first, he said that he felt scared thinking he might meet the same fate as Pretti. Following his arrest, he was brought to Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis by the agents. There, he was detained for nearly six hours, though he was ultimately released without any charges.
Saari also faced dire situations while being at the Federal Building as he mentioned that agents tied up his hands and legs and scanned his face. They also forcefully took his DNA sample by taking a swab from the inside of his mouth. Moreover, he was not allowed to call an attorney while all this happened.
According to Saari, “I asked for an attorney probably a hundred times and was never given one. I was never told why I was being arrested.” He then added, “They took my cell phone and cloned it. They actually told me they did that.” It should be noted here that there was no warrant involved in this case.
Shauna Kieffer, the vice president of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, who is now representing Saari, commented on the matter, saying, “Every step of this process raises red flags. You don’t get to detain someone without cause, deny them access to counsel, seize their phone, and then search or copy it without a warrant.”
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Nathan Wessler, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, agreed with Kieffer as he highlighted the fact that while law enforcement officials might seize a phone during an operation, unlocking or cloning it can generally not be done without legal authorization.
Saari was eventually released after over six hours in freezing cold. He was not provided any transportation and was not told whether he remained under investigation. He also did not know if his DNA sample and phone data would be retained by agents or what was to happen to them.
The case has raised questions about ICE enforcement practices and detainee rights.
