Mayor Jacob Frey Blasts 'Ridiculous' Report Of Pentagon Readying Possible Troop Deployment To Minneapolis

Frey argued to CNN's Jake Tapper that “the act was clearly designed to intimidate the people of Minneapolis.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) slammed the Pentagon for ordering about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for possible deployment to Minnesota where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation.

Appearing Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper mentioned the soldiers who are on standby, prompting Frey to respond that “the act was clearly designed to intimidate the people of Minneapolis.”

“Here’s the thing: We’re not going to be intimidated. If the goal here is safety, we’ve got many mechanisms to achieve safety,” he said. Frey did not specify the methods he was referring to.

The mayor argued that the “best way to get safety is not to have an influx of even more agents, and in this case, [the] military in Minneapolis.”

“Right now we have about 600 police officers, and they’ve got 3,000 or so ICE agents and Border Patrol,” he continued, “[They’re] now talking about deploying 1,500 military? This is ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government.”