Twelve arrested after anti-ICE protest swells outside Graduate by Hilton near University of Minnesota
Arrests follow repeated dispersal orders outside Stadium Village hotel
Twelve people were arrested late Thursday, Feb. 5, after a large protest formed outside the Graduate by Hilton hotel near the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus, university officials said. Eleven arrests were for disorderly conduct and one was for damage to property. No injuries were reported.
The hotel sits on university-owned land but is not owned or operated by the University of Minnesota, a jurisdictional detail that placed primary law-enforcement responsibility with the University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD) during the incident.
How the demonstration unfolded
Video from the scene showed a small group gathering around 9 p.m., with the crowd later growing to an estimated 150 to 175 people. The demonstration was noisy, with participants using whistles and household items such as pots and pans; footage also showed people shaking metal barricades set up outside the property.
University officials said officers issued five separate orders to disperse before making arrests. After police declared an unlawful assembly over a loudspeaker, the crowd began to thin; footage showed a brief standoff with some remaining demonstrators before arrests were made.
The University said it supports peaceful protest while also citing a duty to maintain public order and safety, and said demonstrators across four separate protest events were allowed to assemble outside the hotel for more than 13 hours before police intervened.
Why this location has become a recurring flashpoint
The protest fits a pattern of repeated demonstrations at or near the Graduate by Hilton since January, often on Thursdays, driven by claims that federal immigration officers have stayed at the property. A similar “noise demonstration” outside the same hotel on Jan. 13 drew hundreds and resulted in arrests by university police, as well as reports of property damage and hazardous conditions that prompted additional law-enforcement agencies to assist with crowd management.
More broadly, hotels in the Twin Cities metro have become focal points for protests tied to immigration enforcement activity, including demonstrations by people who believe federal officers are being housed at specific properties. These actions have ranged from late-night noise protests intended to disrupt operations to confrontations that prompted chemical irritants to be used during crowd dispersal in other incidents.
What is known—and what remains unclear
Known: Twelve arrests were reported by the University of Minnesota; charges cited were disorderly conduct (11) and property damage (1).
Known: The Graduate by Hilton is located on university-owned land, and UMPD handled law enforcement at the site.
Unclear: The identities of those arrested, whether any were booked into jail or cited and released, and the extent and location of the reported property damage.
Unclear: Whether any federal officers were present inside the hotel during Thursday night’s protest.
What to watch next
The arrests are likely to add scrutiny to how public-safety agencies manage recurring demonstrations in Stadium Village, including how dispersal orders are communicated and enforced on university-controlled property leased for private use. Court records and charging documents, if filed in coming days, are expected to clarify the specific conduct alleged for the disorderly-conduct and property-damage cases stemming from Feb. 5.