An ICE agent shot and killed a woman during an immigration raid in Minneapolis
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A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed a Minneapolis motorist on Wednesday during Trump’s latest immigration crackdown on America’s biggest city – an incident that federal officials said was an act of self-defense but the city’s mayor described as “reckless” and unnecessary.
A police officer shot the woman in her car in a residential area of Minneapolis, US Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, during a visit to Texas, described the incident as “an act of domestic terrorism” committed against ICE officers by a woman who “tried to run over them and hit them with her car. Our officer took immediate action to defend himself, he fired, to protect himself and the people around him.”
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey dismissed that description and the deployment of more than 2,000 officers as part of an immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St.
They separate families. They are sowing chaos in our streets and this time they are really killing people.– Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey
“They have not come to create security in this city. What they are doing is not providing security for America. What they are doing is creating chaos and mistrust,” said Frey, asking the federal agents to leave the city. “They are separating families. They are sowing chaos in our streets and this time they are really killing people.”
The mayor added: “They are already trying to do this as a defensive measure. Having seen this video myself, I want to tell everyone directly, that is stupid.”
The Minneapolis police chief disputes ICE’s position
The shooting comes amid a series of immigration enforcement operations in major US cities under the Trump administration.
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul has been on edge since DHS announced Tuesday it had begun the operation, with 2,000 agents and police expected to take part in a crackdown tied in part to alleged fraud involving Somali nationals.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara briefed reporters on the incident but, unlike government officials, did not say the 37-year-old driver was trying to hurt anyone. He said he was shot in the head.
“This woman was in her car blocking the road on Portland Avenue… At one point, a police officer came to her on foot and the car started moving,” said the king. “At least two shots were fired. The car then crashed on the side of the road.”
A crowd of protesters gathered at the scene after Wednesday’s incident, where they vented their anger at local and federal police who were there, including Gregory Bovino, the top US Customs and Border Patrol officer who has been dealing with criminals in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.
‘Shame, shame, shame’
In scenes like those in Los Angeles and Chicago, spectators did not hold back in expressing their anger, whistling and taunting federal agents.
“Shame, shame, shame” and “ICE out of Minnesota” they chanted loudly following the police tape.
The attack on immigrants in Minnesota is being met with organized opposition from people angry about Donald Trump’s anti-Somalia rhetoric in America. Nationally, CBC’s Katie Nicholson goes to Minneapolis and finds a community coming together to try to protect their neighbors.
The scene of the incident is a modest neighborhood in the south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets in the area and 1.6 miles from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.
“We were trying to live life to the fullest as we could because of the fear and anxiety we feel,” said Pastor Hierald Osorto, pastor of the St. Lutheran Church.
The Immigrant Defense Network, a coalition of immigrant advocacy groups in Minnesota, held a training session Tuesday night for about 100 people willing to hit the streets to monitor the organization’s operations.
“I feel like I’m a normal person, and I have the ability to do something so I should do it,” Mary Moran told KMSP-TV.
