A U.S. immigration officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, according to local and federal officials.
The fatal shooting marks the latest incident in President Donald Trump’s countrywide crackdown on migrants. It’s at least the fifth person killed in a handful of states since 2024, according to the Associated Press.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said on X that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer began firing after a “violent rioter” weaponized her vehicle and attempted to run over ICE officers in ” an attempt to kill them.”
McLaughlin said it was an “act of domestic terrorism.” The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries, she confirmed.
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey said he had seen footage of the incident and accused federal authorities of spinning the shooting as an act of self-defence, an argument he said was “bullsh–t.”
“This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying,” he continued.
After the shooting, the priority then became to get ICE off the scene, whose presence he said caused “chaos” and was “problematic.”
“I have a message for ICE,” Frey continued, “get the f–k out of Minneapolis.”
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, having previously asked residents to remain calm, echoed Frey’s sentiments.
“I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine,” he wrote on X. “The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”
Videos taken by bystanders from different vantage points and posted on social media show an ICE agent approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The SUV begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing near the vehicle pulls his weapon and fires into the SUV, stepping aside as the vehicle moves toward him.
Federal authorities are in the midst of an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, following allegations of fraud among some Somali residents in the state and as part of a broader nationwide clampdown on immigration that began last year, which has targeted areas with large immigrant communities, including Chicago and Los Angeles.
Homeland Security’s stated goal upon entering Minnesota was to keep Americans safe, but Frey says their presence is achieving the opposite.
“People are being hurt, families are being ripped apart, long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy, are being terrorized and now somebody is dead,” he said.
“That’s on you,” he continued, addressing ICE directly. “It’s also on you to leave.”
Speaking at a press conference in Brownsville, Texas, on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed ICE agents were “attacked” by the woman while they were attempting to dislodge their vehicle, which was stuck in the snow.
“An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him,” she said, adding that the incident goes to show the assaults law enforcement officers face “every single day.”
More than 2,000 agents and officers are expected to participate in the Minnesota crackdown.
A large group of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting, where they expressed their anger to local and federal officers on-scene, including Gregory Bovino, a senior U.S. Customs and Border Patrol official who has been the face of crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.
“Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “ICE out of Minnesota!” they loudly chanted from behind the police tape.
As night fell, the protest shifted into a candlelight vigil. The shooting site is located just under two kilometres from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.
The area where the shooting occurred is a modest neighbourhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets in the area.
— With files from the Associated Press
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