This trans street medic was among 67 protesters arrested at Minneapolis hotel hosting ICE agents

Police at the University of Minnesota arrested 67 protestors two weeks ago during a demonstration outside a hotel where ICE agents were staying, among them a street medic, a volunteer who is trained to assist protesters related to medical matters, who was there to "make sure that nobody got hurt."

Eli Purdy, 22, was one of the several dozen people charged with unlawful assembly for the rally at the Graduate Hotel in Minneapolis on January 29. He says that the protestors were making noise outside the hotel around midnight when "a cruiser came up, and I could not understand what he was saying through the megaphone."

"They were saying that the sidewalk we were on was now private property. So then we moved back, and then they said that where we were is also private property," Purdy tells The Advocate. "While we were trying to leave and get to our cars, they started kettling. They got at the end of the opposite street and then at the end of the other street, and slowly walked forward so we couldn't really leave. Then they said everyone on that block was under arrest."

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The Trump administration has deployed nearly 3,000 federal agents in the state since the beginning of the year as part of an aggressive crackdown on supposed fraud, dubbing the endeavor "Operation Metro Surge." Raids by ICE and the DHS resulted in the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet and mother of three, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA nurse.

Purdy, an out transgender man who is in his last semester studying illustration at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, has been involved in local grassroots activism for the past four months through MN50501. He says he attended the protest that night because he was the only street medic available.

"I've been doing a lot of training as a street medic, and that night no one else in the group I'm with was able to go," Purdy explains. "So, I went to make sure that nobody got hurt, or if they did, I'd have the supplies to help out. And thankfully no one did get hurt."

The U of M Public Relations team confirmed the arrests in an email sent out later that day, obtained by Kare11, but insisted "the University and UMPD, as part of our mission, support the right to engage in peaceful protest and are committed to the safety of our campus community."

Gregory Bovino, former commander-at-large for Border Patrol, was ordered out of Minnesota last month alongside about 700 agents, seemingly in response to Good and Pretti's extrajudicial killings and the massive protests that followed. His replacement, so-called "Border Czar" Tom Homan, announced during a press conference on Thursday that "Operation Metro Surge" is ending, and that the federal government will begin withdrawing agents.

Despite the killings of American citizens, Homan claimed that the Twin Cities will be "much safer" because of what ICE and the DHS have done. He clarified that "a small footprint of personnel will remain for a period of time to close out and transition full command and control back to the field office."

Related: Border Czar Tom Homan announces end to Minneapolis immigration operation, claiming success

Whether or not the agents actually leave remains to be seen, but Purdy says he's "not so sure about that." As of right now, local activists "haven't seen anything to say that there's a decrease" in the arrests being made daily. While Homan said that agents have arrested around 4,000 people, the groups believe it to be a much larger number, as Purdy estimates there have been about "180 to 200 arrests per day."

"I honestly don't believe it," Purdy says. "Even after, hypothetically, if they do leave, I feel like a lot of people are still going to be afraid of leaving their house just because it's not a definitive thing. They could still come back, and a lot of those people are still vulnerable."

Instead of pleading guilty and paying the fine, Purdy intends to fight the charge against him. He does not yet have a court date, but is represented by James Cook of Burris, Nisenbaum, Curry & Lacy (BNCL). The Minnesota native is offering his services pro bono to protestors and undocumented people whose civil rights have been violated amid the immigration crackdown.

"It isn't dying down. Not just ICE presence, but resistance to it," Purdy adds. "Protests are still happening. People are still working against it. Just because the media has kind of pulled back on some of the massive protests that have happened, doesn't mean people aren't still doing it. Everyone's looking out for each other."