On Jan. 12, 2026, according to social media posts and reporting by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained special education classroom assistant Christina Rank
Snopes readers wrote in looking for more information about the incident. It was true that ICE agents detained Rank — a staff member at Concord Education Center in Inver Grove Heights, a southern suburb of the Twin Cities — in the school's parking lot, though the circumstances surrounding the detainment were unclear.
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) version of what happened differed from the social media posts.
At some point, ICE vehicles and a vehicle driven by Rank collided in the parking lot, according to DHS and bystanders' videos. But it was unclear who hit whom. Bystanders in footage shared online claim the ICE agents hit Rank, while agents in that footage and the DHS allege Rank hit the agents.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin provided the following email statement:
On January 12, while ICE law enforcement were parked in a parking lot in Inver Grove, MN a vehicle belonging to a U.S. citizen pulled up next to the agents, asked if they were ICE, and began honking her horn and yelling "you are terrorists."
ICE departed the parking lot and she proceed to stalk law enforcement officers and moved her vehicle dangerously getting close to them. As ICE agents attempted to turn, the individual tried to cut their vehicle off and collided with law enforcement's vehicle.
Officers then attempted to get her out of the vehicle and arrest her for obstruction—a federal crime. The woman refused and disobeyed commands. ICE officers followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to make the arrest.During this entire incident, a large crowd of agitators began to gather and blow whistles while yelling at officers. As the crowd grew and the situation became dangerous, the officers departed the area. Secretary Noem has been clear: Anyone who actively obstructs or impedes law enforcement will be prosecuted.
Snopes reached out to the school staff member and her mother Sarah Rank who had previously spoke about her daughter's detainment with the Pioneer Press newspaper. Sarah Rank responded to us with a brief comment, which we detail below. She declined to provide specific details about the incident citing privacy concerns.
Because Snopes could not independently verify the circumstances surrounding Christina Rank's detainment, we did not put a rating on this article.
Footage recorded by
After one ICE agent said the arrest was "because she rammed my vehicle," a bystander yelled back, "No, I was right in front of her. You rammed her vehicle."
According to the Pioneer Press, Sarah Rank said her daughter's car was damaged on the "passenger side door and the back window," claiming that the front bumper would have been damaged if DHS' version of events were true. No images of the allegedly damaged car were available online. Snopes was unable to independently confirm this detail.
The Pioneer Press reported that Sarah Rank said she received a phone call from her daughter on the morning of the incident, saying she did not know why she was being detained. According to that article, Christina Rank was released at
Sarah Rank told Snopes her daughter was released "pending further investigation," and no charges were filed as of Jan. 21.
Snopes was able to geolocate social media f
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Snopes has reported on other incidents involving agents with ICE or Customs and Border Protection in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in early 2026, including the arrests of Brandon Siguenza and Sue Tincher, a video showing agents kneeing a man in the face and the fatal shooting of Renee Good.