Appeals court pauses restrictions on tactics federal agents can use on peaceful protesters in Minneapolis

A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily paused a judge’s ruling that restricted the use of force federal agents can use on peaceful protesters in Minneapolis.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals granted an administrative stay of the preliminary injunction, filed last week, while the federal government pursues an appeal. 

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez in a 83-page order blocked federal agents who are deployed to Minnesota as part of the Trump administration’s immigration operations from using pepper spray or nonlethal munitions on peaceful protesters. The order also barred them from arresting peaceful protesters. 

It also barred federal law enforcement from stopping or detaining drivers and passengers when there is “no reasonable articulable suspicion” that people driving near protests are forcibly interfering with law enforcement operations.

The ruling, now suspended, was in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of six community members, alleging federal agents violated their constitutional rights. 

CBS News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. 

One of the suit’s plaintiffs, Susan Tincher, said she went to observe ICE activity in her Minneapolis neighborhood on Dec. 9, and within 15 seconds of her arrival, she was “on the ground in handcuffs.”

Tincher said she was taken to a facility where she was “put in shackles” and “held for five hours” before being released.

Menendez’s ruling followed a weekslong uptick in immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Thousands of federal agents have been deployed to the area to seek out those suspected of being in the U.S. illegally and to investigate allegations of fraud in Minnesota. It was originally meant to remain in effect until the mass surge of federal agents concludes.