Was Christina Rank taken away by ICE?
Executive summary
Christina Rank was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside Concord Education Center in Inver Grove Heights on the morning of Jan. 12 and held at the Fort Snelling ICE facility for nearly 12 hours before being released, according to multiple local reports and family statements [1] [2]. Details about why she was detained, any formal charges and ICE’s official account remain unclear because ICE did not provide a public statement in the reporting and family members say there was little communication during the detention [1] [3].
1. The basic timeline: detained at school parking lot, held at Fort Snelling, then released
Witnesses and Rank’s mother say federal agents took Rank into custody after an apparent collision in the Concord Education Center parking lot early Monday; she was then held at the Fort Snelling ICE detention facility for nearly 12 hours and released close to 7 p.m., according to reporting that cites her mother and family statements [1] [2]. Multiple outlets repeat the account that Rank phoned her mother from detention saying she didn’t know why she was being held, and that U.S. Rep. Angie Craig’s office was working to learn more about the case [1] [2].
2. Conflicting witness accounts about what happened at the scene
Video and on‑site accounts circulated online and to reporters: an ICE official in footage claims Rank “rammed” his vehicle, while Rank’s colleagues and her mother dispute that and say the damage suggests ICE agents struck her car then broke a window to remove her—accounts that directly conflict and remain unresolved in public reporting [2] [3]. Reporters note witnesses confronting officers at the scene and coworkers posting video on social media, but no independent, public surveillance or law‑enforcement statement has yet corroborated either version [2] [4].
3. Questions about identity, citizenship and “sensitive locations” invoked by lawmakers
Some outlets report that Rank is a U.S. citizen and describe her as a classroom assistant at a special education school, not a long‑term classroom teacher, while family members call the detention “wrongful,” highlighting fears about ICE presence at schools [5] [3]. Rep. Angie Craig described the detention as “shocking” and used Rank’s case to raise broader concerns about ICE activity in sensitive locations, though the congressional office itself was seeking more details from authorities [1] [6].
4. What reporters could not verify and where the record is thin
ICE did not offer a public comment in the stories cited and the outlets relied primarily on family, coworkers and social video; reporters explicitly note the absence of an ICE statement and that investigators or school officials had not publicly provided a complete account, leaving the motive for detention, any formal charges and the precise sequence of contact between the vehicles unverified in the reporting [1] [3]. Family and local lawmakers are pursuing surveillance footage and legal counsel to try to fill those gaps, but those materials were not yet available in the cited coverage [2].
5. Bottom line — direct answer to the question
Yes: multiple news reports and Rank’s family state that Christina Rank was taken into ICE custody at the Concord Education Center parking lot and held at the Fort Snelling detention facility for nearly 12 hours before being released [1] [2]. The reporting also makes clear that key factual disputes—what caused the initial vehicle contact, whether force used was appropriate, and the legal basis for the detention—remain unresolved publicly because ICE did not provide comment and investigators have not released corroborating evidence [2] [3].