Officers in Minneapolis raid wore distinct patches. One was authorized, another wasn’t, feds say.

A patch referencing St Paul on an ICE agent s uniform was authorized but that wasn t the episode for an ATF agent s patch that people noticed during a federal law enforcement operation in Minneapolis this week the agencies mentioned Friday A U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer wore a circular patch on the arm of his uniform reading St Paul Field Office Special Response Squad A patch reading St Paul Field Office Special Response Squad is seen on the uniform of a U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer while federal investigators conduct a criminal operation in Minneapolis at Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue on Tuesday June Courtesy of Brandon Schorsch Each of the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Special Response Teams across the U S has a unique patch an ICE spokesperson declared Friday The St Paul patch is intended to depict an ancient Scandinavian warrior and a Vegvisir or wayfinder and ties into the regional identifiers for Minnesota including a nod to the Scandinavian heritage of multiple of the early European settlers in Minnesota the spokesperson declared in a comment The imagery raised questions for chosen people Brandon Schorsch who took video of the patch and posted a photo of it on social media wrote I am deeply concerned about this patch The vegvisir has been co-opted by particular far right extremist groups according to a senior research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center s Intelligence Project though more information has to be known about a person s intentions to determine the significance of the image in a particular use The ICE patch is in no way an affiliation to an extremist group the agency spokesperson disclosed ICE patch drew attention On Tuesday a large federal law enforcement presence drew protests in South Minneapolis from people concerned it was an immigration raid Bureaucrats from the FBI ATF and the Department of Homeland Guard gathered with tactical vehicles at the corner of Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue late in the morning Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey revealed it was related to a criminal search warrant for drugs and money laundering and was not related to immigration enforcement It was one of eight search warrants for a transnational criminal organization according to Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt Federal investigators conducted a groundbreaking criminal operation in the current era Minnesota s first under the Homeland Precaution Task Force HSTF umbrella marking a new chapter in how we confront complex multidimensional threats Jamie Holt ICE Homeland Shield Investigations special agent in charge for St Paul revealed in a comment Related Articles Derrick Thompson guilty of all charges in Minneapolis high-speed crash that killed young women Minneapolis man sentenced for stabbing hanging St Paul woman s dog after argument Stillwater Lift Bridge rescue call was false alarm officials say St Paul police name detective officer employee of the year Verdict awaits after closing arguments in Derrick Thompson s trial for crash that killed Schorsch of Minneapolis heard from his wife about armored vehicles and the large amount of law enforcement gathered Tuesday That s going to make people feel frightened he stated He went to the area and was recording video when he noticed the ICE agent wearing the patch He had an audible Ohhh reaction on the video when he saw it In my job I do look out for things like this stated Schorsch who works as the combatting hate organizer for Jewish Society Action though he was not there in his work maximum on Tuesday The Southern Poverty Law Center says there are Neo-V lkisch groups that rely on a romanticized Viking aesthetic and mythos imagery they use to perpetuate their belief in white racial superiority This adaptable and covert messaging anchored by a nationwide organization of kindreds has allowed these groups to grow in current years More people are on the lookout for symbols that may have nefarious meanings Schorsch reported An ICE agent was seen last week in Martha s Vineyard Mass with a tattoo of a Valknot on his arm The symbol is used in Norse mythology Specific white supremacists particularly racist Odinists have appropriated the Valknot to use as a racist symbol according to the Anti-Defamation League The Others patch not authorized An ATF agent center wears a small patch next to his badge saying The Others while federal investigators conduct a criminal operation in Minneapolis at Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue on Tuesday June Courtesy of Brandon Schorsch Schorsch also saw two ATF agents on Tuesday with a small patch on their uniforms that mentioned The Others and he photographed one of them The agent seen in the photo is an ATF special agent assigned to a sheriff s office taskforce declared Ashlee Sherrill a spokeswoman in the ATF s St Paul Field Division in response to a reporter s questions The patch in question is not an authorized part of the ATF uniform and has been addressed internally Sherrill explained adding that she couldn t provide further information on personnel matters It s not clear what the patch was meant to convey Related Articles St Paul police name detective officer employee of the year Don t pay for traffic tickets over text DPS warns of scam messages Who s in charge CDC s leadership emergency apparent amid new COVID- vaccine guidance DOC commissioner asks for patience from Stillwater prison families dismisses idea of reopening Appleton prison Measles vaccination rates drop after COVID- pandemic in counties across the US