On January 18, 2026, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents broke down the front door of ChongLy "Scott" Thao's St. Paul, Minnesota home without a warrant, dragged him outside in freezing temperatures wearing only his underwear, and drove him around for hours — before realizing he was a lifelong U.S. citizen with no criminal record. He was returned home with no explanation and no apology.

Now, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher are doing something about it. On April 13, they announced a formal criminal investigation into whether ICE agents committed kidnapping, burglary, and false imprisonment of an American citizen. They have a deadline: if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not hand over the evidence by April 30, the county will sue or convene a grand jury.

DHS is refusing to cooperate.

This is not a political dispute — it's a basic question of the rule of law. A county attorney and a sheriff, doing their jobs, are asking for records about what federal agents did inside an American citizen's home. And the federal government is stonewalling them. As Sheriff Fletcher put it, "There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents."

Thao has lived in the United States since 1974 and became a citizen in 1991. He had no criminal record. He had no connection to the individuals ICE claimed to be looking for. One of those individuals, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, was still in prison at the time of the raid.

No American should be dragged from their home at gunpoint without a warrant. And no federal agency should be able to block a legitimate criminal investigation into its own agents' conduct.

Sign this petition urging the Department of Homeland Security to fully cooperate with Ramsey County's investigation — and to turn over the records, reports, and personnel information that investigators need before the April 30 deadline.

Photo: Leah Millis / Reuters