Minnesota woman Sue Tincher was arrested by ICE while observing agents

Claim:

In December 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis arrested a 55-year-old American citizen named Sue Tincher who was observing their operation.

Rating:

Context

Snopes could not independently confirm that agents cut off Tincher’s wedding ring. That detail was reported by some local news outlets.

The morning of Dec. 9, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted an immigration operation in near North 21st and North Oliver avenues in Minneapolis. According to widely shared social media posts, agents arrested 55-year-old Sue Tincher, an American citizen observing the operations. While in custody, according to the posts, agents threatened to pepper-spray Tincher and cut off her wedding ring. 

Snopes readers searched the site and emailed us asking whether the posts were accurate. We found that they were, although Snopes could not independently confirm agents had cut off Tincher’s wedding ring while she was in custody. However, several local news outlets who spoke to Tincher about the incident reported that detail. Snopes reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to ask for more information. 

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, 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, 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 Tincher insisted she was standing at a speaking distance from the agent and didn’t impede authorities’ actions. 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 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 avenues, the same intersection named by news reports on Tincher’s arrest.

Tincher was taken to the Whipple federal building in St. Paul, where she said she her legs were shackled for hours. Her husband, 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 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. 

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,” Tincher told MPR. “I just don’t want this to be happening in our country.”

Sources

Bergey, Brock. “ICE Responds to KTTC Request, Provides Different Perspective on Minnesota Woman’s Detainment.” Https://Www.Kttc.Com, 12 Dec. 2025, https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/12/ice-responds-kttc-request-provides-different-perspective-minnesota-womans-detainment/.

“Donate to Justice for Susan Tincher’s Unlawful Detention, Organized by Dana Thompson.” Gofundme.Com, https://www.gofundme.com/f/justice-for-susan-tinchers-unlawful-detention?lang=en_US. Accessed 15 Dec. 2025.

“Federal Agents Arrest Citizen Observer Watching ICE Detain Neighbors on Her North Minneapolis Block.” MPR News, 9 Dec. 2025, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/12/09/federal-agents-arrest-citizen-observer-watching-ice-north-minneapolis.

“ICE Arrests Three, Then Detains Northside Rotary President.” North News, 13 Dec. 2025, https://mynorthnews.org/stories/2025/12/13/ice-arrests-three-then-detains-northside-rotary-president.

“Minneapolis Woman Recounts Being Detained by ICE.” Kare11.Com, 9 Dec. 2025, https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/minneapolis-woman-recounts-being-detained-by-ice/89-bfc97c7d-9dc1-4eb2-a963-dcbf7c890766.

Pinedo, Peter. “DHS Unleashes Scathing Response after Walz Asks Agency to ‘Reassess’ Enforcement.” Text.Article. Fox News, 11 Dec. 2025, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dhs-unleashes-scathing-response-after-walz-asks-agency-reassess-enforcement.

“US Citizen Speaks out after She Was Detained by ICE.” Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/us-citizen-speaks-out-after-she-was-detained-by-ice-11189654.