Capehart Gets Triggered When Guest Blames Walz, Frey For Minneapolis

Alex Christy
January 31st, 2026 9:31 AM

Text to Speech

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When New York Times columnist David Brooks is absent from Friday’s weekly news recap on PBS News Hour with MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart, there is a good chance the latter may be forced to confront an actual conservative perspective. Such was the case this Friday when columnist Gary Abernathy declared sanctuary cities are not actually real and blamed Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey for the unrest in Minneapolis. Capehart did not take that well, as he claimed people are “being abused” and simply exercising their First Amendment rights.

Host Amna Nawaz asked Abernathy about a poll that said 59 percent of Americans think ICE is going too far, “Do you agree with the majority in this poll here that ICE has been too aggressive? What's your take?”

 

 

Abernathy blamed the media for giving them that perspective, “I'm sure that, you know, that's what they have been hearing. That's what—that's kind of the media narrative about it.”

By contrast, he urged, “Let's remember why there's a lot of ICE enforcement going on in Minnesota and in Minneapolis in particular, because people are led to believe that these sanctuary cities are a real thing. And I'm not—they're not a real thing… Sanctuary cities, there's no sanctuary for being in the country illegally. Federal agents are allowed to come in and do their job and enforce the law. The only thing sanctuary cities does is, it allows local leaders not to cooperate with them, with the law enforcement, not to—they can tell law enforcement, we're not going to cooperate with them.”

Abernathy then moved on to Minnesota officials:

I thought Tom Homan did a really good job yesterday of laying this out—when that happens, it requires ICE, Border Patrol, federal agents to also then do law enforcement and to do crowd control. And these are not things that they're good at. And, to me—and I know people look at this so differently whether you're kind of from the left or whether you're more conservative, as I am. I look at this and I say, why is Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, why are they encouraging people to come out and confront law enforcement and to confront ICE agents, to confront federal agents?

Conservatives who support ICE’s mission in Minnesota are often called hypocrites, but Abernathy suggested it was liberals who were being hypocritical, “You know, we were told back on January 6, 2021, how horrible it was that officers, that law enforcement had been attacked on that day of that riot. And I agree with that. I'm with you on that. But I'm also with you on it now. I'm saying it's terrible to confront these folks who are just trying to do their jobs to enforce the law that Congress passed.”

He concluded, “And we need governors and mayors to encourage citizens, stay out of the way while they do this enforcement. Don't put yourself in harm's way.”

Capehart did not approve, “Tell that to ChongLy Thao, U.S. citizen who everyone has seen the picture of him being hauled out of his home by federal agents clad in just boxer shorts and Crocs and a blanket thrown over his shoulder. Tell that to the—I can't remember the name of the young woman who had federal agents surround her car. And all she was trying to do was to get out of the way so she could get to a doctor's appointment, and had her window broken, forcibly removed from her car, cut—the seat belt cut away and hauled off by her arms and legs by federal agents.”

 

 

If anything, that helps Abernathy’s point about the consequences of state and local law enforcement staying on the sideline. Nevertheless, Capehart defended Walz and Frey, “You know, look, the governor and the mayor are concerned about the people who live in their state and the people who live in their city. I'm coming at this as an American. There is no way you can expect people to see their friends, their neighbors, their co-workers, maybe even people they don't know, but who live around them, being abused, treated roughly by a government that folks are paying taxes to pay for.”

Capehart was also offended by the idea people should not be demonstrating, “You're going to expect them to stay home and not exercise their First Amendment right to be, one, constitutional observers? Because that's what the folks in Minneapolis are doing when they're recording what's happening. They are making sure that people's rights aren't violated, even though they are right there on recordings.”

He further added, “I think that the governor and the mayor when they're telling people to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest and have their voices be heard, they are also saying in the same voice, do so peacefully.”

Eventually, Abernathy went again and listed off several examples of non-peaceful actions demonstrators have engaged in as well as urged viewers to go to DHS’s website to see all of the violent criminals being arrested. As for PBS, how many David Brooks substitutes is it going to take for them to realize that Brooks is not representative of the conservative half of America?

Here is a transcript for the January 30 show:

PBS News Hour

1/30/2026

7:43 PM ET

AMNA NAWAZ: Gary, what about you? Do you agree with the majority in this poll here that ICE has been too aggressive? What's your take?

GARY ABERNATHY: I'm sure that, you know, that's what they have been hearing. That's what -- that's kind of the media narrative about it.

But let's remember why there's a lot of ICE enforcement going on in Minnesota and in Minneapolis in particular, because people are led to believe that these sanctuary cities are a real thing. And I'm not -- they're not a real thing.

By the way, it's good to be back with you and Jonathan tonight.

Sanctuary cities, there's no sanctuary for being in the country illegally. Federal agents are allowed to come in and do their job and enforce the law. The only thing sanctuary cities does is, it allows local leaders not to cooperate with them, with the law enforcement, not to -- they can tell law enforcement, we're not going to cooperate with them.

And when that happens -- and I thought Tom Homan did a really good job yesterday of laying this out -- when that happens, it requires ICE, Border Patrol, federal agents to also then do law enforcement and to do crowd control. And these are not things that they're good at.

And, to me -- and I know people look at this so differently whether you're kind of from the left or whether you're more conservative, as I am. I look at this and I say, why is Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, why are they encouraging people to come out and confront law enforcement and to confront ICE agents, to confront federal agents?

You know, we were told back on January 6, 2021, how horrible it was that officers, that law enforcement had been attacked on that day of that riot. And I agree with that. I'm with you on that. But I'm also with you on it now. I'm saying it's terrible to confront these folks who are just trying to do their jobs to enforce the law that Congress passed.

And we need governors and mayors to encourage citizens, stay out of the way while they do this enforcement. Don't put yourself in harm's way.

NAWAZ: Jonathan?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Tell that to ChongLy Thao, U.S. citizen who everyone has seen the picture of him being hauled out of his home by federal agents clad in just boxer shorts and Crocs and a blanket thrown over his shoulder.

Tell that to the -- I can't remember the name of the young woman who had federal agents surround her car. And all she was trying to do was to get out of the way so she could get to a doctor's appointment, and had her window broken, forcibly removed from her car, cut -- the seat belt cut away and hauled off by her arms and legs by federal agents.

You know, look, the governor and the mayor are concerned about the people who live in their state and the people who live in their city. I'm coming at this as an American. There is no way you can expect people to see their friends, their neighbors, their co-workers, maybe even people they don't know, but who live around them, being abused, treated roughly by a government that folks are paying taxes to pay for.

You're going to expect them to stay home and not exercise their First Amendment right to be, one, constitutional observers? Because that's what the folks in Minneapolis are doing when they're recording what's happening. They are making sure that people's rights aren't violated, even though they are right there on recordings.

They're there standing at bus stops. They're there standing in front of restaurants ensuring that their neighbors can at least have some semblance of safety. The level of siege that is felt by the people in Minneapolis, and not just Minneapolis, down in Northfield, Minnesota, where my alma mater is. ICE has been roaming around the town.

The level of fear that is out there cannot be underestimated and cannot be discounted. And I think that the governor and the mayor when they're telling people to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest and have their voices be heard, they are also saying in the same voice, do so peacefully.

We saw it today in Minneapolis, when thousands of people took to the streets and in really cold temperatures in Minneapolis to make their voices heard. We saw it last Friday when thousands of people took to the streets of Minneapolis to make their voices heard.

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