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Several dozen people protested in Elk River on Wednesday in support of a St. Paul woman, Isabel Lopez, who was arrested for alleged actions during a narcotics raid in Minneapolis last week.

The large law enforcement presence outside a restaurant at Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue on June 3 — which included ICE agents — drew protesters.

 the crowd appeared to be under the mistaken belief that law enforcement was there for an immigration raid.

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Lopez, 27, is charged with kicking and throwing a softball at law enforcement officers at the protest. On Monday, she allegedly punched an FBI agent who came to arrest her. 

Outside the Sherburne County Jail, where Lopez is being held, a crowd chanted, played a drum and carried signs reading, “Free Isa.” 

Little Crow Bellecourt of Minneapolis said he came to show support for Lopez, whom he met while she was working in the Little Earth community, where he grew up. Bellecourt said he thinks Lopez is being treated unfairly and didn’t like the way the raid was handled.

“I think it’s just that they’re trying to make an example of somebody,” he said. “These thugs come in with masks on. Some of them didn’t even have badges on, don’t even have uniforms on. And they come into our community, pushing people around. It’s not right.”

One protester at the Sherburne County Jail, who declined to give her name, said she is a close friend of Lopez and is “terrified” by what happened to her.

“They took our sister. She was not able to defend herself, represent herself. And they are trying to slander her name,” the woman said. “But we know who she is. This is her community out here … And we’re not going to stop fighting to clear her name, and until she’s free.”

State Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, attended the Elk River protest, saying she wanted to support the movement to free Lopez.

“We can't allow our federal agents to wage a campaign of terror like this across the country just making people afraid,” she said. 

Finke said she doesn’t know details of the case against Lopez, but said there’s a larger concern about federal agents provoking a community response, then using the response to justify continued escalation.

“So regardless of the individual person and what they may or may not have done in the moment, this kind of escalation is extremely dangerous, and we need to oppose it,” Finke said.

The search warrants remain sealed, but the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office says in a criminal complaint against the protester that the investigation began with a much earlier search of a storage unit in Burnsville, where investigators found more than 900 pounds of crystal meth worth $22 million to $25 million hidden inside spools of metal.

Lopez has a federal court hearing Thursday morning in St. Paul.

Kirsti Marohn

Author

Isabel Lopez, 27, of St. Paul was arrested for alleged actions during a narcotics raid in Minneapolis last week. Protesters rallied in support of her outside the Sherburne County Jail, where Lopez is being held.

Kirsti Marohn | MPR News

A woman in a blue jacket is seen in a video still in front of a crowd.

Protesters rally in support of jailed St. Paul woman charged with assaulting law enforcement during raid

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