Did a social media post correctly report that anti-ICE protesters at a hotel in Minneapolis started "beating up the staff because two ICE officers were staying there" and that local police were absent from the scene? No, that's not true: A receptionist told Lead Stories that the hotel's employees weren't harmed and that the police were present during the protest. The Minneapolis Police Department told Lead Stories that one of its officers happened to be inside the hotel the moment the first reports about the gathering arrived, even before the additional patrols were dispatched there. The department's representative said that the police made two arrests and that it was "federal supervisors on scene who refused further assistance from MPD" after that.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) published on the @RealAlexJones X account on Jan. 26, 2026. It opened:
Last night hundreds of craze lunatics broke into a hotel and began beating up the staff because two ICE officers were staying there.
After several hours, the two agents were able to push them out.
The police never came. Trump must declare the Insurrection Act or pull ice out of Minneapolis NOW!!
CALLING FOR HELP: Two federal officers were surrounded by a mob of Walz sponsored terrorist, in the lobby of the Home 2 Suites-Hilton in Minneapolis Sunday night.
One officer had a bloody hand and was heard calling for back up that never came.
The post included a video that was less than 2 minutes in length. This is how it appeared on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at x.com/RealAlexJones)
Anti-ICE protesters came to Hilton's Home2 Suites hotel on University Avenue in Minneapolis (archived here and here) on the evening of January 25, 2026. That was reported by multiple media organizations, as a search across Google News (archived here and here) shows.
However, Alex Jones, whose account posted the claim, did not accurately describe the incident.
On January 26, 2026, a Lead Stories reporter called the hotel. Receptionist Alejandra, who said that she was not allowed to give her last name, picked up the phone and said that the hotel staff was not harmed:
Everybody is fine. Everything is working for now. We have security people for now and a couple more days. We hired a private security company, and we already have police in the area.
When asked if the police were present at the scene on the day of the protest, Alejandra said:
Yes, they came, but for a little bit.
She added that the protest didn't last very long and was over shortly after 11 p.m.
That is consistent with the reporting by the local news outlet, the Minnesota Daily (archived here and here). According to the article, "for about an hour, over 40 police officers secured University Ave SE in front of the hotel".
When Lead Stories reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department, they replied via email on January 26, 2026. Public information officer Trevor Folke wrote to Lead Stories that one MPD officer was already inside the hotel when the department received reports about the protesters gathering outside. Folke continued:
MPD personnel on standby were recalled to duty, available patrols citywide were called in to assist, and mutual aid was requested from the Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and multiple metro area agencies to assist.
A plan was formulated, and MPD and assisting agencies began moving in to surround the crowd, give dispersal orders and prepare for mass arrests when federal law enforcement arrived without notice or communication and deployed chemical munitions. No chemical munitions were deployed by MPD.
MPD is aware that there were reports of a federal agent on scene who was injured. The MPD officer who was inside of the hotel attempted to provide aid to the agent.
Two men were detained on scene by MPD. They were identified and released pending further investigation.
An MPD supervisor communicated with federal supervisors on scene who refused further assistance from MPD. MPD officers then cleared from the scene.
A post by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (archived here) from January 25, 2026, also confirmed that the police were present on location. That entry read:
The Minnesota State Patrol and DNR were called to assist Minneapolis police with damage to hotel property at Home2 Suites Hotel on University Avenue.
While images of the scene -- published, for example, by the New York Post (archived here) -- capture the same Bureau of Prisons officer with a bloody hand who was seen in the video shared by Alex Jones, those photos also show a person with the word "police" clearly visible on his uniform:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of article at nypost.com)
Lead Stories additionally reviewed the 4-hour recording of the live stream published on YouTube on January 25, 2026: It showed multiple people wearing police uniforms and multiple, easily identifiable police vehicles within proximity of the hotel on the night of the protest:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at youtube.com)
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at youtube.com)
