An Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed a Minneapolis driver during the Trump administration's latest immigration crackdown on a major American city — a shooting that federal officials said was an act of self-defence but that the mayor described as reckless and unnecessary.
The 37-year-old woman was shot in front of a family member during a traffic stop in a snowy residential neighbourhood south of downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday (local time), just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets and about a 1.6km from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. Her killing quickly drew a crowd of hundreds of angry protesters.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, while visiting Texas, described the incident as an "act of domestic terrorism" carried out against ICE officers by a woman who "attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him".
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blasted that characterisation as "garbage" and criticised the federal deployment of more than 2000 officers to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of the immigration crackdown.
Outrage after US immigration officer shoots woman dead in Minnesota - Watch on TVNZ+
Federal officials claimed the shooting was an act of self-defence, but Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described it as "reckless" and unnecessary. (Source: Reuters)
"What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust," Frey said, calling on the immigration agents to leave.
"They're ripping families apart. They're sowing chaos on our streets, and in this case, quite literally killing people."
"They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defence. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit," the mayor said.
Frey said he had a message for ICE: "Get the f--- out of Minneapolis."
A shooting caught on video
Videos taken by bystanders with different vantage points and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It was not clear from the videos if the vehicle made contact with the officer. The SUV then sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop. Witnesses screamed obscenities, expressing shock at what they'd seen.
After the shooting, emergency medical technicians tried to administer aid to the woman.
"She was driving away and they killed her," said resident Lynette Reini-Grandell, who was outdoors recording video on her phone.
The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major American cities under the Trump administration. It's at least the fifth person killed in a handful of states since 2024.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced that it had launched the operation, which is at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. Noem confirmed that DHS had deployed more than 2000 officers to the area and said they had already made "hundreds and hundreds" of arrests.
A large throng of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting, where they vented their anger at the local and federal officers who were there, including Gregory Bovino, a senior US Customs and Border Patrol official who has been the face of crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.
In a scene that hearkened back to the Los Angeles and Chicago crackdowns, bystanders heckled the officers, chanting "Shame! Shame! Shame!" and "ICE out of Minnesota," and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
Governor calls for calm
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he's prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary. He said a family member of the driver was there to witness the killing, which he described as "predictable" and "avoidable". He also said like many, he was outraged by the shooting, but he called on people to keep protests peaceful.
"They want a show. We can't give it to them. We cannot," the governor said during a news conference.
"If you protest and express your First Amendment rights, please do so peacefully, as you always do. We can't give them what they want."
Minneapolis Police chief Brian O'Hara briefly described the shooting to reporters but, unlike federal officials, gave no indication that the driver was trying to harm anyone. He said she had been shot in the head.
"This woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue. ... At some point a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot and the vehicle began to drive off," the chief said.
"At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway."
There were calls on social media to prosecute the officer who shot the driver. Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities.
"Keep in mind that this is an investigation that is also in its infancy. So any speculation about what has happened would be just that," Jacobson told reporters.
The shooting happened in the district of Democratic Represent Ilhan Omar, who called it "state violence," not law enforcement.
For nearly a year, migrant rights advocates and neighbourhood activists across the Twin Cities have been preparing to mobilise in the event of an immigration enforcement surge. From houses of worship to mobile home parks, they have set up very active online networks, scanned license plates for possible federal vehicles and bought whistles and other noisemaking devices to alert neighbourhoods of any enforcement presence.
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