The morning of Dec. 9, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted an immigration operation in near North 21st and North Oliver a
Snopes readers searched the site and emailed us asking whether the posts were accurate. We found that they were. We reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to ask for more information.
Following this story's publication, Jim Tincher, Sue's husband, contacted Snopes and provided a photograph of the cut wedding ring and said agents had indeed cut it while she was in custody.
In an emailed statement to Snopes, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said "Susan Tincher was arrested after she assaulted a federal agent, tried to break through a security perimeter set up for public safety, ignored lawful commands, and became violent."
McLaughlin told Fox News that ICE was at that location to arrest an Ecuadorian migrant but that a "violent group of rioters formed and began assaulting and obstructing law enforcement as they were arresting this dangerous criminal."
Snopes found several articles documenting the incident published by reliable outlets that contradicted McLaughlin's statements.
According to Minnesota Public Radio, Sue Tincher awoke at 6:30 a.m. to notifications on her phone that there was an ICE arrest happening in her area. She went outside to observe and document the arrests. After asking an officer whether they were ICE, Sue Tincher said she was told to "get back," MPR reported. She refused.
"And I stood my ground, I just stood there on the sidewalk, and other officers came up and I was thrown to the ground, tightly handcuffed, put in an unmarked truck," she told local TV station KARE. MPR reported that Sue Tincher insisted she was standing at a speaking distance from the agent and didn't impede authorities' actions. Sue Tincher and three others were arrested, according to KARE.
There were other observers present, one of whom recorded the incident. Videos posted by MPR and local outlet North News show Sue Tincher being handcuffed on the ground by three officers and taken to an unmarked van, all while repeatedly yelling for help. The videos did not show a "violent group of rioters." The footage, while low quality, showed no signs of tampering. Snopes was able to geolocate the videos to the corner of North 21st and North Oliver a
Sue Tincher was taken to the Whipple federal building in St. Paul, where she said she her legs were shackled for hours. Jim Tincher told media outlets he spent the entire morning trying to figure out where his wife was being held, even getting Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar involved.
In a statement on X, Omar called the arrest an "outrageous show of force," and said Sue Tincher was released just before noon. "ICE should never arrest US citizens for practicing their constitutional right to observe law enforcement activity," the statement said.
Sue Tincher was not charged upon release. The co-president of the North Minneapolis Rotary Club, according to North News, said the arrest had made her "more committed" to observing ICE actions.
"I'm just so concerned about our neighbors, our peaceable neighbors, being abducted, and the worries their families are going through," Sue Tincher told MPR. "I just don't want this to be happening in our country."
After the initial publication of this report, Jim Tincher contacted Snopes and said agents had indeed cut off his wife's wedding ring while she was in custody. He provided the following photo of the ring dated Dec. 13, days after his wife's arrest:
(Photo courtesy of Jim Tincher)