January 26, 2026 — Morning Report (8th Circuit / Minneapolis Protest Injunction)

A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit stayed a lower court injunction that had blocked ICE and federal agents from using force (including pepper spray and crowd dispersal tools) against peaceful protesters in Minneapolis. Two judges agreed; the third concurred only in part. The majority's reasoning: (1) the plaintiff class had not been certified and probably wouldn't be — although the concurring judge noted the Supreme Court has held that class certification is not required for an injunction to stand, weakening this rationale; and (2) the description of the conduct to be restrained was not specific enough, even though the order named specific tools like pepper spray — the majority found that insufficient. The government argued it was suffering irreparable harm from the restraint on its ability to enforce the law. The concurring judge would have left the pepper-spray portion of the injunction intact, finding it a "perfectly reasonable" restraint against use of non-lethal munitions on peaceful, unobstructive protesters. Bryan noted the timing: the ruling came in the wake of events that weekend that seemed to directly contradict the majority's factual characterization of the protests.