Artist Izzy Brourman Shields Herself From ICE Pepper Balls With Drawing Board During Minneapolis Protests

Isabelle “Izzy” Brourman was on the front lines of Minneapolis protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violence on January 24, the same day federal agents killed nurse Alex Pretti. Alongside her partner Peter Hambrecht and friend Jeannette Berlin, Brourman was capturing the unrest through drawings and video for their project Starring America News, which tracks the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration tactics.

But Brourman became more than an observer that day. A masked federal agent spotted her sketching, dropped to one knee, and fired pepper balls at point-blank range. Thanks to her quick reflexes—honed by months of documenting immigration raids—Brourman raised her drawing board just in time to block the projectile. The board was dented, but her body was spared what could have been serious injury.

“I looked up and saw him looking right at me,” Brourman recalls. “Just thinking about what could have happened, my faculties are really important to me and should be for everyone. It’s such a callous thing to do, that lack of empathy or humanity.”

Berlin and Hambrecht, both experienced journalists, recorded the incident from multiple angles, showing Brourman had done nothing to provoke the attack. Berlin emphasizes that this kind of violence happens daily to protesters holding signs, but their cameras captured it for public scrutiny.

Despite the trauma, the trio remains undeterred in their mission to expose government abuses. Brourman’s drawings, often abstract and chaotic, and their short video portraits aim to deliver unvarnished truth to the public. They are also working on a longer documentary chronicling events since Donald Trump’s 2023 fraud trial.

Berlin highlights the critical role of local news in covering the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign but notes that independent media like theirs is stepping up to fill gaps left by shrinking newsrooms and declining public trust. “People are looking for coverage that reflects their reality, and they are finding that coverage in new places,” she says.

Looking ahead, the group hopes to tour the country with their art and videos, bringing their raw, authentic coverage to communities often overlooked by traditional media. “People need new ways to look at what’s happening because of how exhausted everyone is and how distrustful of one another people are,” Berlin explains. Their work offers a fresh entry point into the urgent stories of government overreach and resistance.

Brourman describes art as her survival tool, a way to preserve the reality of increasingly unbelievable events. Her experience underlines the human cost of ICE’s brutal tactics and the vital importance of holding power accountable through every available means—whether paintbrush or camera.