A US judge restricted federal agents on Friday from interfering with peaceful protesters in Minnesota, after President Donald Trump said there was no immediate need to invoke the Insurrection Act over the demonstrations.US District Judge Katherine Menendez ordered immigration agents to dial back their aggressive tactics, barring the detention or arrest of peaceful protesters and drivers and the use of pepper-spray against demonstrators.The 83-page order gives the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) current operation in the northern US city 72 hours to come into compliance, and follows two incidents where federal agents opened fire, killing one person and wounding another in the span of a week.In a separate legal move that could inflame the standoff between the White House and Minnesota elected officials, CBS News reported that the Justice Department (DOJ) was investigating Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for impeding federal officers. Both have called for peaceful protests against immigration sweeps in their state.”This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, local law enforcement, and residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our city,” Frey wrote on X on Friday.Walz said the Trump administration has moved to investigate other Democrats who have spoken out against the president’s policies and mentioned the 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on January 7. “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her,” Walz wrote on X.The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X on Friday: “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.”Trump threatened the drastic measure of invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy the military to police the protests, as the row escalated this week.”If I needed it, I would use it. I don’t think there is any reason right now to use it,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the move.The Insurrection Act allows a president to sidestep the Posse Comitatus Act to suppress “armed rebellion” or “domestic violence” and deploy soldiers on US soil “as he considers necessary” to enforce the 19th-century law.Crowds of protesters have clashed with immigration officers across Minneapolis, opposing their efforts to target undocumented migrants. Some officers have responded with violence.Demonstrations grew dramatically following Good’s killing as the Trump administration pressed operations to catch undocumented migrants.- ‘Organized brutality’ -Federal agents fired their weapons in two separate incidents, wounding a man from Venezuela on Wednesday and in Good’s killing last week.In a separate incident, DHS confirmed on Friday that Heber Sanchez Dominguez, a 34-year-old Mexican national, died while detained in ICE custody two days earlier.At least four people have died in ICE detention so far this year, according to agency data.Trump backers have also begun to face off with protesters who oppose ICE’s actions in the state, leading to tense encounters.The Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reported that divisions within the anti-ICE movement were beginning to emerge over how aggressively to resist the enforcement efforts. Activists have also become increasingly wary of “far-right provocateurs trying to bait demonstrators into rioting,” it said.Minnesota’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter has reported an uptick in complaints against ICE officers.Walz accused federal agents of waging “a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota” in a video posted to X Wednesday night. Good’s family announced on Wednesday that they had retained a top law firm to probe the killing ahead of launching possible legal action against the officer and the government.The lawyers demanded on Thursday that federal officials — including the officer who shot Good — preserve records and evidence relating to the incident.

Large demonstrations are planned across Denmark and Greenland on Saturday to protest against US President Donald Trump’s designs to take over the Arctic island. Thousands of people have indicated on social media that they intend to take part in marches and rallies organised by Greenlandic associations in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense and the Greenlandic capital Nuuk.”The aim is to send a clear and unified message of respect for Greenland’s democracy and fundamental human rights,” Uagut, an association of Greenlanders in Denmark, said on its website.The protests follow Trump’s warning on Friday that he “may put a tariff” on countries that oppose his plans to take over Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.The demonstration in Nuuk is scheduled to begin at 4:00 pm (1500 GMT), to protest “against the United States’ illegal plans to take control of Greenland”, organisers said. Demonstrators would march to the US consulate carrying Greenlandic flags.The Copenhagen rally was due to begin at 12:00 pm (1100 GMT), and make a stop outside the US embassy in the Danish capital around an hour later.”Recent events have put Greenland and Greenlanders in both Greenland and Denmark under pressure,” Uagut chairwoman Julie Rademacher said in a statement sent to AFP, calling for “unity”.”When tensions rise and people go into a state of alarm, we risk creating more problems than solutions for ourselves and for each other. We appeal to Greenlanders in both Greenland and Denmark to stand together,” she said. – ‘Demand respect’ -Uagut, along with the citizens’ movement “Hands Off Greenland”, and Inuit, an umbrella group of Greenlandic associations, were staging the demonstrations to coincide with a visit to Copenhagen by a bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers.On the event’s Facebook page, at least 900 people in Greenland said they planned to take part in the territory, which has a total population of about 57,000.”With this demonstration, we want to show that we are taking action, that we stand together and that we support our politicians, diplomats and partners,” Kristian Johansen, one of the organisers, said in a statement.”We demand respect for our country’s right to self-determination and for us as a people,” added Avijaja Rosing-Olsen, another organiser. “We demand respect for international law and international legal principles. This is not only our struggle, it is a struggle that concerns the entire world.”According to the latest poll published in January 2025, 85 percent of Greenlanders oppose the territory joining the United States. Only six percent were in favour.