Federal authorities said the FBI is investigating the assault of Turning Point USA journalist Savanah Hernandez after protesters attacked her Saturday outside the Whipple Building in Minneapolis during an anti-ICE rally. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office also said it is investigating the incident outside the federal building, where deputies said four people will be charged in connection with the protest.
Videos posted by Hernandez show protesters yelling, making noise and blowing whistles before the confrontation turned physical. In the footage, one woman threw punches and Hernandez was knocked to the ground, then a man came up behind her and shoved her down again. In a later scuffle, she was tackled to the pavement before good Samaritans in the crowd stepped in, calmed tensions and got her to safety.
The case moved quickly because the building houses Minnesota's local ICE field office and an ICE detention facility, putting Saturday's rally at the center of a broader fight over immigration enforcement. Deputies said three people will be charged in connection with the assault of a journalist and a deputy, while a fourth person faces a gross misdemeanor obstruction charge involving force against a deputy.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon confirmed in a tweet Sunday that the FBI had opened a federal criminal investigation into the attack. Hernandez said in another tweet that she woke up with a headache and a stiff neck, and said charges would be filed against the man who shoved her to the ground, his wife and his daughter. She also thanked attorney Mike Davis with the Article III Project.
Hernandez said she did not speak to the man all day, yet he repeatedly called her a bitch and appeared to want to hurt her more than he already had. With federal investigators now involved and county charges pending, the attack at the Whipple Building is no longer just another protest scuffle; it has become a criminal case with consequences for the crowd, the deputies and the journalist at the center of it.
