Minneapolis, Minnesota - Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has responded after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem called for him to implement a "peaceful protest zone" in his city.

On Sunday, Noem sat for an interview on the CBS News' Face the Nation, during which she said she would "love" for Mayor Frey to announce on the show the creation of such a zone so that Minnesotans can "still express their First Amendment rights."

Later in the same episode, Mayor Frey was asked to respond to Noem's demand. He argued that First Amendment rights are not conditional.

"You are allowed to protest, so long as you're doing it peacefully," the mayor explained. "We've got tens of thousands of people in Minneapolis that are grinning down the bear, that are peacefully expressing their First Amendment rights.

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"So no, you can't have just one section of a city. That's not the way First Amendment works," he added.

Frey's remarks come as President Donald Trump's administration faces backlash for sending federal agents into Democratic-led cities across the nation, sparking massive protests and civil unrest.

The presence of agents in Minneapolis, which has been occupied since December, has resulted in countless reports of violence and brutality being used against protesters, sparking widespread resistance.

The city has been especially on edge after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis resident who was reportedly protesting the agents' presence earlier this month.

The Trump administration has aggressively pushed the narrative that the protesters are "professional agitators and insurrectionists," and that Good, whom Noem called a "domestic terrorist," got what she deserved.