By SCM Staff, January 28, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS — Breaking a period of relative political silence, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a blistering condemnation on Tuesday of recent federal law enforcement actions in Minneapolis, describing the escalation of government tactics as a “betrayal” of the nation’s core principles.
The remarks come in the wake of a month of rising tensions in the Twin Cities, punctuated by the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti and the death of Renee Good during federal operations.
The incidents, involving agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal tactical units, have sparked nationwide protests and a fresh debate over the limits of executive power.
”What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans,” Mr. Biden said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
“We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights.”
Mr. Biden’s comments were interpreted by many as a direct challenge to the current administration’s “law and order” mandate.
Without naming President Trump, the former president accused the federal government of overreaching in ways that mimic the very threats the U.S. traditionally monitors abroad.
”Violence and terror have no place in the United States of America, especially when it’s our own government targeting American citizens,” Biden said.
He added that the Fourth Amendment was being “trampled” and described the atmosphere in Minneapolis as one where neighbors are being “terrorized” by the agencies sworn to protect them.
The rhetoric mirrors the “soul of the nation” theme that defined Mr. Biden’s 2020 campaign, which was also galvanized by events in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd. However, the stakes in 2026 appear shifted; while 2020 focused on systemic police reform, the current outcry targets the use of federal “quick-response” teams in domestic settings.
Legal scholars noted that Biden’s use of the word “terror” to describe government action marks a significant escalation in his rhetoric.
“To hear a former commander-in-chief describe the actions of the federal government as ‘terror’ against its own people is nearly unprecedented,” said Elena Vance, a constitutional law professor.
