WATCH: Jake Tapper stunned as Minnesota business owner suggests ICE agents could start ‘putting people in ovens’

A Minnesota business owner left CNN host Jake Tapper stunned Friday after he compared federal immigration enforcement’s detention facilities to concentration camps.

A handful of Minnesota businesses closed to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, including Moon Palace Books, whose co-owner Jamie Schwesnedl appeared on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” Tapper pushed back during the interview after the Minnesota business owner used the term “concentration camp” to describe immigration detention facilities, saying the phrase carries a specific historical meaning.

“Just one note, I’m not here to defend ICE, but I’m not a big fan of people using the term ‘concentration camp’ to describe detention camps. That has a very specific meaning,” Tapper said.

Schwesnedl responded.

“I understand that, but they take people to Fort Snelling here, which literally was built as a concentration camp, and Alligator Alcatraz, which I think we can all agree is a concentration camp. I’m not saying they’re Dachau. I’m not saying they’re putting people in ovens — yet — but these are concentration camps. I don’t need to argue with you about that,” Schwesnedl said.

Prior to that conversation, Schwesnedl claimed Minneapolis had been “invaded by masked gunmen” sending neighbors to “concentration camps.”

WATCH: 

“We can’t do business as usual right now, anyway, because our city has been invaded by masked gunmen kidnapping family members and friends and neighbors of ours to send them to concentration camps,” Schwesnedl told Tapper when asked about the importance of closing their business. “Additionally, there’s a lot of businesses in our area that have staff or customers or owners who are afraid to come to work, afraid to come in and shop. People are closing down today, and we felt like it wouldn’t be kind or fair for us to stay open, so we’re closing in solidarity to help send a message.”

A concentration camp is a detention facility where large numbers of civilians are confined, often without trial and under harsh conditions, because authorities consider them a security risk or they belong to a targeted group, outside normal judicial protections. Historically, Nazi Germany’s network of concentration camps incarcerated and exploited prisoners and became central to systematic oppression and mass murder during the Holocaust.

ICE detention facilities are civil immigration custody centers where ICE holds noncitizens who have been apprehended while unlawfully present in the country or who are awaiting immigration proceedings or removal. These facilities can include dedicated ICE centers, county jails, or other sites contracted to house detainees until their legal cases are resolved or they are deported.

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