Minneapolis Mayor Rejects Kristi Noem's Call for Protest Zone [View all]

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Newsweek

Published Jan 18, 2026 at 02:46 PM EST updated Jan 18, 2026 at 02:47 PM EST


Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey rejected Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's proposal to establish a designated protest zone in the city during separate Sunday morning appearances on CBS News' Face the Nation.

Noem called for creating a "peaceful protest zone" to balance public safety with First Amendment rights, while Frey countered saying, "First Amendment speech is not limited to one park or one section of the city."

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded to Frey's comments, telling Newsweek on Sunday in part, "The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly–not rioting," defending federal operations as "appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law."

The exchange occurred amid escalating tensions over federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, where nearly 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents have been deployed in what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has called its largest operation in history.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/minneapolis-mayor-rejects-kristi-noems-call-for-protest-zone-11379009

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Redux of Shrub's fenced "Free Speech Zones - Free Speech Under Fire: The ACLU Challenge to "Protest Zones (where the SCOTUS ruled that they were okay for Presidents (although I don't know if that was applicable for other situations, which had their own suits)).