A woman is dead following a shooting involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
ICE agents were conducting operations in Minneapolis when rioters attempted to block their path, according to the local news outlet FOX 9. The woman was driving her vehicle when she was shot and subsequently crashed, according to witness reports and federal law enforcement.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the woman was attempting to run over ICE agents “in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism.” An ICE officer fired shots in self-defense at the vehicle, killing the driver, according to the agency’s X account.
However, witnesses denied the DHS account of the incident to local news, telling FOX 9 that ICE agents were attempting to enter the woman’s vehicle when one of them opened fire. One witness told FOX 9 that the vehicle was not moving toward ICE agents when the shooting occurred.
ICE officers were injured in the incident but are expected to make a full recovery, DHS reports.
A video posted to social media by ABC 5 Eyewitness News Minneapolis appears to show the incident.
WARNING: The video below contains sensitive content.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, has been critical of ICE activity in the city.
“The presence of federal immigration enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city,” Frey wrote on X following the shooting.
“We’re demanding ICE to leave the city immediately,” Frey added. “We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara called the incident “very tragic,” telling reporters at a press conference Wednesday that a full investigation will be conducted.
“I am obviously very concerned that I have been told that a woman who was sitting in her car blocking [the] street, and not the target of any enforcement activity, is now deceased,” O’Hara said.
The police chief added that he did not know the “exact circumstances of the shooting,” telling reporters “it’s obviously very concerning whenever there’s a shooting into a vehicle of someone who’s not armed, but it also is something that is possible, at times it is justified.”
According to Reuters, protesters entered the streets near the scene after the incident, and “heavily armed federal agents wearing gas masks” responded by firing chemical munitions at the crowd.
The Trump administration is deploying about 2,000 federal agents to Minnesota following an investigation that revealed large-scale fraud in the Twin Cities area.
ICE agents arrived in Minneapolis in force this week.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that the incident comes amid a “1,300% increase in assaults” against immigration officials.
DHS is continuing to gather information on the shooting, according to Secretary Kristi Noem, who called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism.”
“We will continue to protect our ICE officers and in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies as well,” Noem said during a press conference at the southern border in Texas on Wednesday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
