While reporting on the protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 14, 2026, a CNN news team was exposed to flashbangs and tear gas. The protest was a response to a shooting by a federal officer, who shot a Venezuelan man in the leg during an attempted arrest, exactly one week after an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good.
During the unfolding demonstrations, CNN reporter Whitney Wild and her crew found themselves amidst the chaos. The situation worsened when law enforcement started deploying crowd control measures in their area. The following night, on January 15, a tear gas canister exploded near Shimon Prokupecz, CNN’s senior crime and justice correspondent, during a live report outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building.
Wild got separated from her photographer and crew due to the tear gas-induced foggy conditions, which she described in her report. An immediate public response in Minneapolis followed the incident involving a federal officer, leading to protests on the streets.
Enforcement operations by ICE, a DHS department, have been conducted nationwide. The agency’s activities have increasingly led to public demonstrations in multiple cities, with the latest being Minneapolis, where tensions between protesters and law enforcement have heightened.
A family from Minneapolis reported that they found themselves caught between ICE agents and protesters while driving home on Jan. 14.
Destiny Jackson relayed how a tear gas canister exploded under their car during a grocery run. They reported that officers used tear gas and flashbangs for crowd control as the scene grew chaotic along their usual route home on Lyndale.
Destiny Jackson relayed how a tear gas canister exploded under their car. She stated, “The one that actually exploded up under the car, I watched them throw it, I seen the sparks, and it went, I was looking out the window, and just seen the sparks coming, and it hit the ground and it rolled.”
She mentioned how bystanders rushed her and her family into a nearby home when they realized their youngest, a six-month-old, was still in the car. She described how their last child brought inside appeared lifeless, with foam around his mouth. Destiny performed CPR on the infant after he stopped breathing. An ambulance arrived and transported them to the hospital, where the six-month-old was breathing and stable but in serious condition.
Wild’s separation from her photographer emphasizes the practical challenges journalists face while reporting volatile events. The dense fog from tear gas can hinder visual and physical contact, affecting both the safety of news teams and their ability to document unfolding events.
U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez issued a preliminary injunction on Friday, January 16, barring federal immigration officers involved in Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis from detaining or using tear gas, pepper spray, flashbangs, and other crowd-control munitions against peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities.
Resulting from a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Minnesota on behalf of six activists, the injunction explicitly protects demonstrators and bystanders observing and recording immigration enforcement operations, and also prohibits vehicle stops of drivers who are lawfully trailing officers at a safe distance. The Department of Homeland Security was given 72 hours to comply with the ruling, but a DHS spokesperson responded by stating the agency is taking measures to protect officers from what it characterized as “dangerous rioters.”