Tim Walz called ICE agents "undertrained" on live television, accused them of kidnapping innocent people, and told Minnesotans to build a database tracking their every move.
A grand jury subpoena landed in his office the next month.
Now a national watchdog group has formally asked Pete Hegseth to use Walz's own military record against him.
Walz's Military Record Now at Risk Over ICE Obstruction Accusations
The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA), a national security watchdog focused on holding public officials accountable for conduct that endangers federal law enforcement, sent a formal letter to the Department of War this week demanding Hegseth review Walz's conduct during Operation Metro Surge – the sweeping federal immigration enforcement action that deployed roughly 3,000 agents to the Twin Cities beginning in late 2025.
Walz didn't just criticize the operation.
He called ICE agents "undertrained" and accused them of "kidnapping innocent people with no warning and no due process." Then he went further – describing Operation Metro Surge as "a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government."
He announced that database call in a public address to the state of Minnesota.
CASA's letter calls that database initiative exactly what it is: a tool to identify, track, and potentially target federal law enforcement officers executing lawful arrest orders.
"All of this is designed to deter agents from doing their job, which is a de facto way of obstructing the operation itself," CASA wrote.
The group added that threatening federal officers with future prosecution for doing their jobs is a federal crime.
In January, the DOJ served Walz's office with a grand jury subpoena as part of a conspiracy investigation into whether he and other Minnesota officials obstructed Operation Metro Surge.
The FBI delivered identical subpoenas to five other offices – including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
CASA's letter to Hegseth makes the accountability demand explicit: initiate a formal review of Walz's conduct to determine what military-related punishment – "including any court martial proceedings or administrative measures" – should be administered.
Why the UCMJ Gives Pete Hegseth Power Over Walz's Military Pension
Walz isn't just a Democrat governor. He's a retired Army master sergeant who draws a military pension from the federal government he spent months publicly working to undermine.
Retired military members drawing federal pension pay remain subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice – and Hegseth has already demonstrated he's willing to use that authority.
When Senator Mark Kelly joined a video urging military personnel to refuse illegal orders, Hegseth moved to censure him and initiated proceedings to reduce Kelly's retirement rank and pension.
Kelly recorded a video. Walz – while already under federal conspiracy investigation – told citizens to track federal agents in real time.
Walz – while under federal conspiracy investigation – encouraged citizens to build a real-time surveillance database of agents doing their jobs. CASA's letter is blunt: if that database operates in real time, "the effort becomes overt obstruction of federal immigration enforcement activities."
The UCMJ holds retired servicemembers accountable long after they stop wearing the uniform. Congress has long held that retired pay is retained service, not severance – meaning soldiers who draw a pension remain connected to the institution and its legal framework.
What a Court Martial or Pension Reduction Would Actually Mean for Walz
The Department of War has not responded publicly to CASA's request.
But the mechanism exists. Hegseth can order a formal review. That review can recommend administrative measures up to and including reduction in retirement grade – which directly cuts pension payments – or recommend recall to active duty for court martial proceedings.
Walz spent 24 years earning those benefits. He called it honorable service.
Then he went on television and told the people of Minnesota that their own federal government was running a "campaign of organized brutality" – while a grand jury subpoena sat in his office.
Pete Hegseth is now the man who decides what honorable service is worth when the soldier who performed it turns around and wages political war against the agents those soldiers protected.
Sources:
- Luke Sprinkel, "Watchdog group asks Department of War to review Walz conduct for military punishment," Alpha News, April 9, 2026.
- Julia Ainsley, Ryan J. Reilly and Daniel Arkin, "DOJ serves subpoenas to Walz, Frey and other Minnesota officials amid immigration crackdown," NBC News, January 20, 2026.
- "Walz's office, 5 other MN government offices served subpoenas in ICE obstruction investigation," Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, January 20, 2026.
- "DOJ subpoenas Minnesota Gov. Walz and other officials in obstruction investigation," PBS NewsHour, January 20, 2026.
- "Mark Kelly says Pete Hegseth will 'take a hike' on court martial," Newsweek, December 7, 2025.