St. Peter nurse sues federal government over violent ICE arrest during Operation Metro Surge

A St. Peter, Minnesota, nurse is suing the federal government, alleging Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pointed guns at her, pulled her from her car and knelt on her back as she recorded them during Operation Metro Surge , court documents say. Jamie Martens, 47, filed the lawsuit Monday seeking $550,000 in damages for alleged assault, battery, false arrest, negligence and infliction of emotional distress. The documents say Martens was observing and recording ICE from her vehicle in the St. Peter area on Jan. 29 when four agents pointed their guns at her and "forcefully tore her out of her car." The suit says they dragged her across the pavement and knelt on her lower back. Martens was "terrified that the agents were going to murder her," the documents say. The suit says the agents' actions aggravated injuries from hip surgery she had just had. The agents began driving Martens to the Whipple Federal Building, the epicenter of the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, but returned her to St. Peter after the city's police chief contacted ICE and told them to bring her back. The suit calls the arrest "a complete failure of training and supervision" and says the agents "acted irrationally and conducted themselves unprofessionally." Video of Martens' arrest went viral on social media. The Department of Homeland Security responded in a post on X, calling her an "agitator" and claiming she tried to ram the agents with her car. Aliya Rahman , the Minneapolis woman who was pulled from her car by federal immigration agents while driving to a doctor's appointment, has also filed a lawsuit against the federal government, alleging excessive force, false arrest and negligence. In: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Minnesota Featured Local Savings