Minnesota Lt. Gov. Flanagan Blasts Laken Riley Act at Sanders Rally

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan criticized the Laken Riley Act before a cheering crowd at a "Stop Oligarchy" rally headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., over the weekend.

Flanagan, who trails Rep. Angie Craig in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average for the Democratic senatorial primary, seeks to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith. Smith endorsed Flanagan at the Rochester rally.

Flanagan mentioned Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two anti-ICE activists shot and killed in law enforcement-involved shootings earlier this year, as Minnesota faced anti-immigration enforcement chaos.

"We’ve got to zoom out for a second and we have to talk about how we got here, because this also wasn't an accident. Donald Trump ran on an agenda where we knew that ICE would be more powerful," Flanagan said.

"This didn't just sneak up on us. It wasn't in the fine print. There were literally gigantic signs that said, mass deportees now. It was not a secret. And the very first vote in the second Trump administration that he brought forward was for the Laken Riley Act."

Flanagan attacked the law, sponsored by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., as a way to strip due process from immigrants and permit indefinite detention of adults and children.

"It was the green light to give ICE unprecedented power to totally terrorize our communities," she said.

Flanagan drew a "straight line" from the Laken Riley Act vote in Congress to unrest in communities like Minneapolis. She praised Smith and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., for voting against it.

She faulted Craig as the only Minnesota Democrat in either chamber to vote for the Laken Riley Act. Craig wrote in the Minnesota Star Tribune last week that she regrets the vote.

Craig said she voted when she believed her constituents in the suburbs of Minneapolis and Mankato largely agreed the Biden administration had fumbled the immigration issue.

Craig added that Trump now goes beyond the law with sweeping immigration raids that have terrorized Minnesotans, so she regrets her vote.

Sanders and Flanagan appeared at the rally with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a key figure in the Minneapolis unrest.

The winner of the Flanagan-Craig primary will face the Republican nominee. The GOP primary includes former Houston Rockets forward Royce White and former NBC Sunday Night Football reporter Michele Tafoya.

Walz picked Flanagan as his running mate. Several outlets, including the Minnesota Reformer, reported an alleged rift between them after Walz's failed vice presidential bid prevented Flanagan from becoming governor through succession.

Fox News Digital reached out to Flanagan for comment and to Walz for response to his deputy's remarks.