MINNEAPOLIS: Outrage is spreading in Minneapolis after an ICE officer shot and killed a woman during an immigration operation, as President Donald Trump said the officer acted in self-defense.
Local leaders and residents have expressed anger over the incident, with calls for clear answers and accountability as tensions rise in the city.
Jacob Frey, the mayor, called the government’s position “bullshit” and called on ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers carrying out a second day of mass raids to leave Minneapolis.
A video of the incident, which has not been confirmed by AFP, shows a Honda SUV apparently blocking unmarked law enforcement vehicles as they try to drive down a snow-covered street.
The driver, who the mayor said was a 37-year-old woman, tried to drive away when officers approached and tried to open the door. An agent fired three times with a handgun as the vehicle sped away.
President Donald Trump, who has ordered nationwide anti-immigrant raids, accused the victim of “viciously” running over the agent.
“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructive and resisted,” he said on Truth Social, adding that the agent “appears to have shot her in self-defense.”
The incident took place during a protest against immigration enforcement in the southern part of the city in the midwestern state of Minnesota.
“Attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them — an act of domestic terrorism,” the Department of Homeland Security, which runs ICE, said on X.
“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement officers, and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.
“The alleged perpetrator was struck and has died. The ICE officers who were injured are expected to make a full recovery.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will be involved in the investigation of the shooting along with the FBI, officials said.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the federal government’s response to the incident “propaganda” and promised the state would “ensure there is a full, fair and prompt investigation.”
Large crowds chanting anti-ICE slogans gathered near the scene of the shooting.
Anti-ICE protests
There have been passionate protests against immigration operations under the Trump administration, which has vowed to arrest and deport what it says are “millions” of undocumented migrants.
DHS said the violence was a “direct consequence of constant attacks and demonization of our officers.”
The shooting reportedly happened at 34th Street and Portland Avenue in Minneapolis.
Nearby, ICE officers sprayed and shoved protesters with pepper spray, footage broadcast by local CBS affiliate WCCO showed.
Dozens of protesters and bystanders were seen at the scene after the incident.
“There is no way, whatever this person did, that they deserved to be killed for it,” an onlooker told the broadcaster.
Trump has prioritized preventing illegal immigration and deporting undocumented migrants in his second term and has tightened conditions for entering the United States and obtaining visas.
During his campaign, Trump compared undocumented migrants to “animals,” often linking them without evidence to criminal behavior.
ICE — which critics accuse of turning into a paramilitary force under Trump — has been tasked with deporting an unprecedented number of undocumented migrants.
Trump’s White House called Minneapolis Mayor Frey a “sugar” over comments after the shooting, accusing ICE of “creating chaos and distrust.”
US authorities said as many as 2,000 officers had been deployed to Minneapolis and surrounding areas to conduct immigration investigations, partly in response to fraud allegations involving some Somali residents.
In November 2025, a judge threw out charges against two people accused of using their vehicle to ambush immigration enforcement officers in Chicago.
