ICE Busts Kenyan Sex Offender Working For Minn. Gov. Tim Walz
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a Kenyan national with a prior sex offense conviction in Minnesota.
Wilson Tindi of Plymouth was taken into custody, ICE confirmed to Alpha News on Monday. More than a decade ago, Tindi pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman after breaking into her Twin Cities home. He spent 18 months in ICE custody but was not deported after a judge blocked his removal.
Following his release, Tindi secured jobs with two Minnesota state agencies, including a director-level post auditing taxpayer spending and overseeing internal accountability, according to Alpha News.
His employment came amid delays in deporting him in 2016, and another judge later ordered his release in 2018. Tindi has since claimed lawful permanent residency.
Sam Olson, ICE’s field office director in St. Paul, said agents conducted extensive research before arresting Tindi.
“With any type of lawful, permanent resident, we have to work with our legal team to make sure the conviction would qualify for removability from the U.S. So, it did take us a lot of time and a lot of research with help from our legal team, who are amazing,” Olson said.
During the arrest, Tindi opened his garage door, where agents moved in and placed him in handcuffs beside his BMW.
EXCLUSIVE: Alpha News captures the arrest of convicted sex offender Wilson Tindi during ICE ride-along
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) September 8, 2025
Tindi, a Kenyan national, was an employee in Tim Walz's Department of Education until he was exposed by Alpha News this summer. pic.twitter.com/IOKYUU1LZh
Olson said the operation unfolded without incident, which he described as a welcome outcome.
“We’ve been encountering a lot more resistance in the field. Assaults on officers and uses of force are up astronomically. I’ve seen it close to like an increase of 1,000 percent on assaults on officers,” Olson remarked.
He added that “one of the frustrating things we’ve seen is we’re not only getting the assaults from the people we’re arresting, but we’re starting to get them from bystanders, people not involved in the arrest.”
“That’s been very unfortunate when we’re out just trying to lawfully conduct an arrest that we’re getting bystanders who may not agree with what we’re doing, but they’re interfering and obstructing,” Olson continued.
“So, I’ve been instructing our officers when they get that resistance, if it rises to a level that we can arrest, we will arrest and prosecute people who are trying to impede us from doing our job,” he said.
The arrest is the latest in a series of incidents in Minnesota under Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who ran unsuccessfully last year as then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential running mate.
Late last month, Walz responded to an FBI raid on the state’s Housing Stabilization Services program, which is intended to help older adults and people with disabilities, including those with substance use disorders and mental illness, secure housing.
Investigators executed search warrants at eight locations tied to five Twin Cities providers accused of fraudulently billing for services they did not deliver.
“If you’re going to commit these crimes in Minnesota, you are going to get caught,” Walz said last month in an interview with WCCO.
The governor said new safeguards are in place to detect and prevent Medicaid fraud and pledged continued cooperation with law enforcement to hold “bad actors” accountable.
Also, last month, a letter from the Minnesota Catholic Conference to Walz and the Democrat-controlled legislature resurfaced following a deadly shooting at a Catholic school near Minneapolis in which the group requested extra security but was denied.
The $50 million funding request was made two years before the murders at Annunciation Catholic School, at a time when the state was running a multi-billion-dollar surplus.
