4 Indicted After Federal Officers Targeted During Protests
Near 24th Ave. N. & Lyndale Ave. N. in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. MN CRIME PHOTO
BY MN CRIME STAFF
24th Ave. N. & Lyndale Ave. N. on Jan. 14, 2026. MN CRIME PHOTO
Four people have been indicted in federal court after allegedly threatening or injuring federal law enforcement officers following unrest in Minneapolis last month.
A federal grand jury returned indictments in four separate cases, including three tied to threats made after authorities say FBI-owned vehicles were vandalized and sensitive employee information was stolen and later posted online.
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According to court documents, authorities say the Jan. 14 incident involved damage to FBI vehicles, theft of weapons and ammunition and the seizure of government equipment and documents containing federal employees’ phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses and driver’s license numbers. Prosecutors say FBI personnel were at the scene to investigate an officer-involved shooting and not for any immigration enforcement activity.
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A fourth indictment stems from a separate Jan. 24 incident in Minneapolis, where prosecutors say U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Homeland Security Investigations agents were establishing a secure perimeter following an officer-involved shooting when a federal agent was injured during an arrest-related confrontation.
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Jose Alberto Ramirez, 29, of Illinois, is charged with one count of interstate transmission of threats to injure a federal law enforcement officer. Prosecutors allege that on Jan. 15, after an FBI special agent’s personal information was compromised, the agent began receiving a series of threatening texts and voicemails on a government-issued cell phone. Authorities say one voicemail and two text messages were traced to a phone number belonging to Ramirez. The messages allegedly asserted that the sender knew where the agent’s parents and children lived and advised the agent to “get home safe and fast.”
James Patrick Lyons, 45, of California, faces a five-count indictment charging interstate transmission of threats to injure five federal law enforcement officers. Prosecutors allege that on Jan. 18, five FBI special agents whose personal information had been broadcast online received threatening text messages on their government-issued phones. According to court documents, investigators traced one of the messages to a phone number belonging to Lyons. Authorities say all five messages used similar language and asserted in part that the sender knew who the agents were and where to find them.
Brenna Marie Doyle, 18, of Washington, is charged in a three-count indictment with threatening to murder a federal law enforcement officer, threatening to murder members of the officer’s immediate family and interstate transmission of communications threatening to injure the agent and family members. Prosecutors allege that on Jan. 16, an FBI special agent whose personal information had been posted online received a series of threatening voicemails on a government-issued phone. Investigators say three of those calls were traced to a phone number belonging to Doyle and that the messages threatened to kill the agent and members of the agent’s immediate family.
Claire Louise Feng, 27, of Saint Paul, is charged with inflicting bodily injury on a federal law enforcement officer in the performance of his official duties. According to court documents, on Jan. 24 CBP officers and HSI agents were attempting to establish and maintain a secure perimeter near Nicollet Avenue between 27th and 28th streets in Minneapolis following an officer-involved shooting. Prosecutors allege that as a CBP officer attempted to arrest a person who threw a chemical canister toward deployed federal officers, Feng tackled the CBP officer. A HSI special agent then took Feng to the ground and, as the agent gained control of her, she forcibly bit his right ring finger, severing the tip and leaving the bone exposed.
The FBI is investigating the threat cases. The Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating the assault case.
