A national watchdog group is seeking state records on an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) display that went up outside the Minnesota Capitol last week
The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) filed a data request with the Minnesota Department of Administration, seeking all internal communications related to the “Prosecute ICE” sculpture that was displayed on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol Feb. 5.
The request also seeks all permits related to the display and any communications with Common Defense, the organization that said it commissioned the sculpture.
The ice sculpture made news after it was vandalized by influencer Jake Lang, who kicked over the letters s-e-c-u-t-e so that the display read “Pro ICE.”
Lang is now facing a charge of felony damage to property in Ramsey County, where a charging document says Common Defense obtained a permit to display the sculpture between 6:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 5. The group said it paid $6,250 to a local artist to create the sculpture.
“CASA is seeking the records and communications surrounding the planning and permitting of the ‘Prosecute ICE’ ice sculpture that was recently displayed at the Minnesota Capitol Complex,” CASA Director James Fitzpatrick told Alpha News.
“Given that a conservative activist was arrested for destroying the sculpture, and in the past similar types of destruction of government property were not only unpunished but praised by various government officials in Minnesota, CASA seeks these records to inform the public on the conversations leading to this display and the records authorizing it,” he added.
Mike Forcia, an activist with the American Indian Movement, received 100 hours of community service and avoided trial after he tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus outside the Minnesota Capitol in 2020.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan welcomed the statue’s removal in a statement issued shortly after it was pulled down.
“I can’t say I’m sad the statue of Christopher Columbus is gone. I’m not,” she said.
Just last year, a man named Matthew Patrick Norby was charged with misdemeanor property damage for allegedly destroying a Christian Easter display on the Capitol grounds.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
