MINNEAPOLIS: Outrage is spreading in Minneapolis after an ICE officer shot and killed a woman during an immigration enforcement operation as President Donald Trump said the officer acted in self-defence.
Local leaders and residents have voiced 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 stance “bullshit” and urged 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 verified by AFP, shows a Honda SUV apparently blocking unmarked law enforcement vehicles as they try to drive down a snow-covered street.
The driver, whom the mayor said was a 37-year-old woman, tried to drive off as officers approached and attempted to open the door. One agent fired three times with a handgun as the vehicle pulled 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, obstructing and resisting,” he said on Truth Social, adding the agent “seems to have shot her in self-defence.”
The incident took place during protest action against immigration enforcement in the south 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 and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.
“The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased. The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will be involved in the investigation into the shooting, along with the FBI, officials said.
Minnesota’s governor Tim Walz called the federal government’s response to the incident “propaganda” and vowed the state would “ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious 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.
The DHS said the violence was a “direct consequence of constant attacks and demonisation of our officers.”
The shooting reportedly happened at 34th Street and Portland Avenue in Minneapolis.
Nearby, ICE officers pepper-sprayed and shoved protesters, footage broadcast by local CBS affiliate WCCO showed.
Dozens of protesters and bystanders were seen at the scene after the incident.
“There’s no way whatever this person did that they deserved to be killed for it,” one bystander told the broadcaster.
Trump has made preventing unlawful immigration and expelling undocumented migrants priorities during his second term, and has tightened conditions for entering the United States and obtaining visas.
During his campaign, Trump likened undocumented migrants to “animals”, frequently linking them, without evidence, to criminal behaviour.
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 “scumbag” over comments after the shooting in which he accused ICE of “causing chaos and distrust.”
US authorities said as many as 2,000 officers had been deployed to Minneapolis and surrounding areas to carry out immigration sweeps, partly in response to claims of fraud involving some Somali residents.
In November 2025, a judge threw out charges against two people accused of using their vehicle to ambush officers carrying out immigration enforcement in Chicago.
