Minneapolis Cancels School in an 'Abundance of Caution' After ICE Shooting, but Is That the Real Reason?

The shooting death of a woman in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Wednesday has given the Left renewed fervor in their targeting of ICE agents. Blue city mayors and governors like Mayor Jacob Frey and Gov. Tim Walz give a wink and a nod to increasingly violent protests. Minneapolis has another thing in common with other blue cities: It has a powerful teachers' union that may not have the best interests of its students as its first priority. A knee-jerk reaction to the shooting by the teachers' union may have just let that cat out of the bag.

Minneapolis public schools close for the rest of the week so that teachers and other staff can protest against ICE and Trump on the taxpayer dime.

The Democrats use government power in ways The GOP would never even dream of.

Time to level up.https://t.co/zZfEl4HNHe
— Jeremy Carl (@realJeremyCarl) January 8, 2026

On Thursday, the Minneapolis Public School District (MPS) sent out an email to parents announcing that all classes in the city would be canceled for Thursday and Friday over worries that unrest and protests would increase over the shooting. The email stated:

“Out of an abundance of caution, there will be no school on Thursday, January 8, 2026 and Friday, January 9, 2026 due to safety concerns related to today’s incidents around the city. All MPS-sponsored programs, activities, athletics, Community Education, including Adult Education, will be canceled.”

The email also stated that the district was “collaborating with the City of Minneapolis and other partners on emergency preparedness and response.” MPS claimed the decision for the school shutdown was because the shooting occurred in front of a high school. The email went on to say:

“This incident involved federal law enforcement agents and is currently under investigation. We are working with our partners including the City of Minneapolis and others to support the individuals directly impacted. Minneapolis Public Schools is committed to maintaining a safe and welcoming learning environment for all of our students.”

The obvious question is, why does the entire district need to be shut down? Closing the school in front of which the shooting took place might make sense, given the fact that there is an active investigation going on, and law enforcement might have all or part of the street blocked off. That could impede students and teachers from getting to class. In that case, why not treat it like a snow day, and have remote learning, and teachers and students all show up for virtual classes?

They closed schools in Minneapolis for the rest of the week because of a law enforcement involved shooting.

No word on if the daycare centers will also be ordered shuttered.
— Reza Chowdhury (@RezaC1) January 8, 2026

The obvious answer is that the reason for a shutdown of the entire district is likely a more nefarious one. Does MPS want to free up students and teachers — mostly teachers — to join protests going on all around Minneapolis? The decision to close down the district was not lost on social media, which immediately called it exactly what it appears to be. One X user stated, "They likely know the teachers want to protest and will all call in sick anyway." Another said, "No e learing either. Because the teachers will be busy rioting." Still another X user answered journalist and podcaster Karol Markowicz, who posted the email, and said, "The teachers side gig is paid protesting."

ALSO READ: Can We Get Rid of the Disgraceful American Federation of Teachers Yet?

But, given students' test scores, you might expect the teachers would want to spend a little more time in the classroom. As of September 2025, the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment data showed that under half of students failed to reach benchmarks in reading and math. According to the data, 49.6 percent were proficient in reading, and 45.2 percent were proficient in math. But none of that matters when your mayor tells ICE to "Get the eff out of Minneapolis," and your governor states that the entire state is at "war against the federal government." If you are a leftist teachers' union, that's an all-hands-on-deck situation.

If protests become increasingly violent in Minneapolis, taxpayers can be reasonably sure that their tax dollars are being spent on teachers who think it's more important to protest than be in the classroom.

Holding kids hostage to fight for illegal aliens.

"Minneapolis Public Schools just cancelled school for the remainder of the week, citing safety concerns. They will not even be allowing E-learning." https://t.co/vN0jLIHj9l
— William (@Will_USA_1st) January 8, 2026

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