ICE and Border Patrol agents on Nicollet Avenue on January 24, 2026. This follows the shooting death of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti. Photograph Source: Chad Davis – CC BY 4.0

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem calls for Minneapolis to “set up a peaceful protest zone so that these individuals can exercise their First Amendment rights and do so peacefully.” Since 9/11, “free speech zones” have been one of the biggest constitutional shams around.

Both major political parties have used “free speech zone” restrictions to seek to totally silence dissent. As I wrote in 2004 in the Baltimore Sun, the Democratic National Convention that year was downright bizarre:

In Boston, police and convention organizers aimed to restrict protesters to a large patch of asphalt in a dank and dark area below an elevated subway line, nearby highways overhead. Internet blogger Gan Golan described the area: “It’s like a scene from some post-apocalyptic movie — a futuristic, industrial detention area from a Mad Max film. You are surrounded on all sides by concrete blocks and steel fencing, with razor wire lining the perimeter. Then, there is a giant black net over the entire space.”

Federal judge Douglas Woodlock declared that the designated protest area looked like “an internment camp.” Convention organizers justified covering the area with netting because of the danger that protesters might throw something at convention........

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