Senator Jim Banks Talks Minneapolis Unrest, ICE and IU
INDIANAPOLIS – In an interview on Thursday, U.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) critiqued Minnesota leadership following the violent protests against federal immigration agents, while pivoting to celebrate Indiana University’s unprecedented ascent to the college football national championship.
Speaking on the Hammer and Nigel Show, Banks addressed the escalating chaos in Minneapolis, where recent ICE operations have been met with nightly disruptions and attacks on federal officers. Banks did not mince words regarding the backlash against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who have reportedly arrested over 400 undocumented immigrants in the region, including individuals with violent criminal records.
“It’s disgusting,” Banks said. “These ICE agents are there to keep us safe, to deport criminal illegals. That’s exactly what Donald Trump was elected to do. He was elected to get these criminal illegals off of our streets.” The Senator pointed a finger directly at Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing them of fueling the fire with “violent rhetoric.” Banks specifically said that Governor Walz has called for the doxing of federal agents, a move he believes leads directly to the harassment and physical assaults seen in recent days.
“You have Tim Walz, the crazy idiot governor of Minnesota who’s calling for violence, and we can’t put up with that,” Banks stated. “There’s obviously a direct link between the violence that’s occurring toward these officers and the violent rhetoric of the governor and the mayor.” Banks compared the current unrest to the 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd, suggesting that the radical wing of the Democratic Party is intent on recreating that era of disruption. “I don’t know if they want it, but their type of rhetoric is what’s going to lead to it,” he warned.
A New Era for Hoosier Football
Transitioning from national security to state pride, Banks reflected on his time as an IU student in the late 1990s—a period when football was an afterthought to Bobby Knight’s basketball program. “I was there at the tail end of the Bobby Knight era,” Banks recalled. “The football program was so bad that they gave away free football tickets to students who lived in dorms just to get us to show up…1 the only time the stadium ever was full was when Ohio State came to town.”
The Senator credited current star quarterback Fernando Mendoza as a “classic” and a role model for the next generation. Banks is so confident in the Hoosiers’ upcoming matchup against the Miami Hurricanes that he has already placed a wager with his colleague, Florida Senator Ashley Moody. “She’s going to bring me in my office Cuban coffee when the Hoosiers win,” Banks joked, noting that if the unthinkable happens, he owes her Albany’s gummy bears, a staple of Indiana confectionery.
Banks plans to be in Miami on Monday to cheer on the top-ranked Hoosiers in person as they play for their first-ever football national title. “This is so cool for our state,” he said. “I’m not even nervous about it. These Hoosiers are going to be so well prepared.”
