Brian Arola
@brianarola.bsky.social
Greater MN Reporter at MinnPost. Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota-newsletter/
Initially unsure of how to curb ICE activity, Duluth and Mankato's city councils are now willing to answer public calls for action with policy. Mankato may ban mask wearing by law enforcement agents. Duluth wants to limit use of city resources by immigration agents. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
ICE presence prompts policy responses in Greater Minnesota cities
Uncertainty over how to react to ICE agents operating in Greater Minnesota towns has given way to a push for policy solutions.
www.minnpost.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Initially unsure of how to curb ICE activity, Duluth and Mankato's city councils are now willing to answer public calls for action with policy. Mankato may ban mask wearing by law enforcement agents. Duluth wants to limit use of city resources by immigration agents. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
The Minnesota man who tried to bust Luigi Mangioni out of jail is from Mankato, according to NY Times.
"He arrived at a federal jail in Brooklyn impersonating an F.B.I. agent while carrying a steel blade that resembled a pizza cutter and saying he had a court order to release Luigi Mangione"
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/n...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/n...
Man With Steel Blade Is Said to Have Tried to Break Mangione Out of Jail
www.nytimes.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:09 PM
The Minnesota man who tried to bust Luigi Mangioni out of jail is from Mankato, according to NY Times.
Gov. Tim Walz pushed back against border czar Tom Homan’s suggestion that Minnesota is obstructing ICE detainers in jails.
“We will honor every single detainer that is in our prisons to turn people over, just like we have for 30 years.”
“We will honor every single detainer that is in our prisons to turn people over, just like we have for 30 years.”
January 29, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Gov. Tim Walz pushed back against border czar Tom Homan’s suggestion that Minnesota is obstructing ICE detainers in jails.
“We will honor every single detainer that is in our prisons to turn people over, just like we have for 30 years.”
“We will honor every single detainer that is in our prisons to turn people over, just like we have for 30 years.”
Reposted by Brian Arola
A man wearing a black jacket has been tackled to the ground after spraying an unknown substance on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Man sprays unknown substance on Rep. Ilhan Omar at Minneapolis town hall
A man wearing a black jacket has been tackled to the ground after spraying an unknown substance on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
www.minnpost.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:02 AM
A man wearing a black jacket has been tackled to the ground after spraying an unknown substance on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Reposted by Brian Arola
As a journalist, I have concerns about how using words could result in "actions and consequences."
Bovino: "When politicians, community leaders, & some journalists engage in that heated rhetoric we keep talking about, when they make the choice to vilify law enforcement calling law enforcement 'Gestapo' or using the term 'kidnapping,' that is a choice & there are actions & consequences."
January 25, 2026 at 8:16 PM
As a journalist, I have concerns about how using words could result in "actions and consequences."
Reposted by Brian Arola
Guardian does an excellent job detailing the brutality of the murder on Eat Street. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Video contradicts Trump’s claim man killed in Minneapolis was a ‘gunman’
Video evidence reviewed by Guardian shows Alex Pretti, killed by agents in Minneapolis, held a phone, not a gun
www.theguardian.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:32 AM
Guardian does an excellent job detailing the brutality of the murder on Eat Street. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Brian Arola
While I also encourage you to follow (& financially support) local news orgs, I also highly recommend @dailyyonder.bsky.social for their coverage of rural areas that are often bypassed (though shoutout to @brianarola.bsky.social at @minnpost.bsky.social for his wonderful work in greater #Minnesota)
As ICE enters small towns across Minnesota, rural communities are stepping up.
Rural Communities Stand With Somali-American, Other Vulnerable Neighbors Amidst ICE Siege on Minnesota
President Donald Trump inaugurated his government’s massive ICE operation targeting Somali-Americans in Minnesota in early December by calling the entire group of people, among other racist and xenophobic slurs, “garbage.” In his tirade, Trump blamed the entire Somali-American population in Minnesota, which includes about 80,000 residents across the state, for the actions of a few dozen Somali-Americans involved in a…
dailyyonder.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:19 PM
While I also encourage you to follow (& financially support) local news orgs, I also highly recommend @dailyyonder.bsky.social for their coverage of rural areas that are often bypassed (though shoutout to @brianarola.bsky.social at @minnpost.bsky.social for his wonderful work in greater #Minnesota)
Can confirm that ICE took two sub-contractors (at least one reportedly a citizen born in the U.S.) from a construction site in Mankato today. The workers were outside VINE, an adult community center, when federal agents detained them in the parking lot and drove away.
January 15, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Can confirm that ICE took two sub-contractors (at least one reportedly a citizen born in the U.S.) from a construction site in Mankato today. The workers were outside VINE, an adult community center, when federal agents detained them in the parking lot and drove away.
ICE agents are especially active in Mankato, St. James and St. Peter today. Southern Minnesota still seems like the main focus of Operation Metro Surge's expansion into Greater Minnesota.
January 15, 2026 at 6:21 PM
ICE agents are especially active in Mankato, St. James and St. Peter today. Southern Minnesota still seems like the main focus of Operation Metro Surge's expansion into Greater Minnesota.
Mankato City Council members adjourned their meeting tonight as a crowd of 300+ called on them to do more against ICE.
January 13, 2026 at 1:12 AM
Mankato City Council members adjourned their meeting tonight as a crowd of 300+ called on them to do more against ICE.
David Mesta, a COPAL organizer, said construction workers were stuck on a roof over the weekend in Mankato as ICE waited to try detain them. At least one other person got stopped leaving Walmart.
January 13, 2026 at 12:37 AM
David Mesta, a COPAL organizer, said construction workers were stuck on a roof over the weekend in Mankato as ICE waited to try detain them. At least one other person got stopped leaving Walmart.
More than 300 people are at Mankato’s City Council meeting tonight, where residents are calling on city leaders to protect residents from ICE.
January 13, 2026 at 12:20 AM
More than 300 people are at Mankato’s City Council meeting tonight, where residents are calling on city leaders to protect residents from ICE.
Late last week and over the weekend I saw more and more reports of spikes in ICE activity in Greater Minnesota. Operation Metro Surge, it turns out, isn't limited to the Twin Cities metro. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
ICE takes Operation Metro Surge into Greater Minnesota - MinnPost
Reports of ICE agents in Greater Minnesota spiked over the weekend, particularly in the southern part of the state.
www.minnpost.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:22 PM
Late last week and over the weekend I saw more and more reports of spikes in ICE activity in Greater Minnesota. Operation Metro Surge, it turns out, isn't limited to the Twin Cities metro. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
Reposted by Brian Arola
I'm up in rural Stearns County taking care of some traveling family's animals. ICE is out in small towns, farms, ag. businesses too. Unfortunately not much opposition has been able to organize out in these parts of the state.
There's no doubt in my mind "metro surge" has gone statewide.
There's no doubt in my mind "metro surge" has gone statewide.
January 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM
I'm up in rural Stearns County taking care of some traveling family's animals. ICE is out in small towns, farms, ag. businesses too. Unfortunately not much opposition has been able to organize out in these parts of the state.
There's no doubt in my mind "metro surge" has gone statewide.
There's no doubt in my mind "metro surge" has gone statewide.
Groups in Mankato and Rochester demanded ICE agents to stay away from schools. The Mankato group, including educators and students, rallied Friday outside Mankato East High School.
January 9, 2026 at 11:41 PM
Groups in Mankato and Rochester demanded ICE agents to stay away from schools. The Mankato group, including educators and students, rallied Friday outside Mankato East High School.
Reposted by Brian Arola
Our Greater Minnesota reporter @brianarola.bsky.social attended a vigil in Mankato attended by ~100 people, and spoke with people involved in similar events in Duluth and Rochester. “Her name was Renee Nicole Good, and we should remember it so close to our hearts."
Vigils spring up in Greater Minnesota after ICE shooting rocks state - MinnPost
Attendees at vigils in Mankato, Duluth and Rochester called for ICE’s removal from the state.
www.minnpost.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:24 AM
Our Greater Minnesota reporter @brianarola.bsky.social attended a vigil in Mankato attended by ~100 people, and spoke with people involved in similar events in Duluth and Rochester. “Her name was Renee Nicole Good, and we should remember it so close to our hearts."
Purely hypothetically, could Gov. Tim Walz appoint himself to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat? To answer that question, I looked back on a fascinating period in Minnesota history.
www.minnpost.com/fact-briefs/...
www.minnpost.com/fact-briefs/...
Could a Minnesota governor appoint themself to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat? - MinnPost
Gov. Rudy Perpich appointed his immediate predecessor, Wendell Anderson, to the Senate in 1976.
www.minnpost.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Purely hypothetically, could Gov. Tim Walz appoint himself to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat? To answer that question, I looked back on a fascinating period in Minnesota history.
www.minnpost.com/fact-briefs/...
www.minnpost.com/fact-briefs/...
Department of Homeland Security agents are in Mankato, according to the city. Mankato has sizable Somali and Hispanic communities. A Somali leader recently told me locals were fearful of ICE coming to town, even though they’re legal residents.
December 27, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Department of Homeland Security agents are in Mankato, according to the city. Mankato has sizable Somali and Hispanic communities. A Somali leader recently told me locals were fearful of ICE coming to town, even though they’re legal residents.
Red Lake is one of only two closed reservations in the U.S., meaning the land is held in common by its tribal members. My Q&A with a man working to connect more tribal youth to the land: www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
In a nod to the New Deal, projects link Red Lake youth to their land
McKnight grantee Joshua Jones sees close alignment between his environmental work with young people and his cultural values.
www.minnpost.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Red Lake is one of only two closed reservations in the U.S., meaning the land is held in common by its tribal members. My Q&A with a man working to connect more tribal youth to the land: www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
More licensed cannabis transporters need to come down the pipe to get products from cultivation sites to dispensaries. As is, a scarcity of transporters is contributing to supply bottlenecks. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
Cannabis dispensaries in Minnesota stuck in transport bottleneck - MinnPost
Minnesota doesn’t have many transporters licensed to move cannabis, contributing to short supplies across the state.
www.minnpost.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:19 AM
More licensed cannabis transporters need to come down the pipe to get products from cultivation sites to dispensaries. As is, a scarcity of transporters is contributing to supply bottlenecks. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
Reposted by Brian Arola
Support MinnPost this Give to the Max Day and help us reach our $25,000 goal! We’ve raised over $14,000 so far - any amount you give will help us get one step closer to our goal AND you'll be supporting our local, independent news coverage. Donate now: buff.ly/6UglJEC
November 20, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Support MinnPost this Give to the Max Day and help us reach our $25,000 goal! We’ve raised over $14,000 so far - any amount you give will help us get one step closer to our goal AND you'll be supporting our local, independent news coverage. Donate now: buff.ly/6UglJEC
Appleton, a western Minnesota prairie city, lost half its population when a private prison closed in 2010. ICE's interest in the vacant facility for an immigrant detention center has locals weighing economic promise against moral compromise.
www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
Appleton residents weigh value of potential ICE detention center
Appleton’s private prison, once the town's biggest employer, has sat unused for 15 years. The Trump administration might have plans for it.
www.minnpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Appleton, a western Minnesota prairie city, lost half its population when a private prison closed in 2010. ICE's interest in the vacant facility for an immigrant detention center has locals weighing economic promise against moral compromise.
www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
Reposted by Brian Arola
Another excellent piece from MinnPost!
The end of SNAP benefits would likely lead to the loss of a massive number of rural grocery stores. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
The end of SNAP benefits would likely lead to the loss of a massive number of rural grocery stores. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
Rural Minnesota grocers sound the alarm over SNAP uncertainty - MinnPost
The government shutdown is likely to cause lapses in a key source of grocery store revenue, though court rulings could provide some relief.
www.minnpost.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Another excellent piece from MinnPost!
The end of SNAP benefits would likely lead to the loss of a massive number of rural grocery stores. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
The end of SNAP benefits would likely lead to the loss of a massive number of rural grocery stores. www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
Northern Lights shining bright over Mankato tonight.
November 12, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Northern Lights shining bright over Mankato tonight.
NDAs, used to keep information from the public, are being normalized in local government, including in connection to a proposed data center outside of Duluth.
www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
Why local MN officials are signing NDAs - MinnPost
Recent controversy in St. Louis County raised questions about how widespread NDAs are, why they’re used, and how open records laws apply.
www.minnpost.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:15 PM
NDAs, used to keep information from the public, are being normalized in local government, including in connection to a proposed data center outside of Duluth.
www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...
www.minnpost.com/greater-minn...