US immigration officer fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis

A US immigration agent fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, sparking a war of words as local officials rejected the Trump administration's theory that it was self-defense.

The Department of Homeland Security said the woman, Renee Nicole Goode, was a “violent rioter” who tried to run over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, “This was an agent who used power recklessly, resulting in someone's death,” and in expletive-laden remarks ordered ICE officials to leave the city.

Hundreds of ICE agents have been deployed to the city as part of the White House's nationwide campaign to crack down on illegal immigration.

Videos posted on social media by eyewitnesses show the shooting, which took place around 10:25 local time on Wednesday morning.

A maroon SUV can be seen from multiple vantage points blocking a residential street in Minneapolis.

A crowd of people lined up on the sidewalk, apparently protesting.

Law enforcement vehicles appear nearby. Immigration agents drive up to a car parked on the street, get out of the truck and order the woman behind the wheel to get out of the SUV. One of the agents pulls the driver's door handle.

Another agent is in the front of the car.

It is unclear how close the agent was standing or whether he was hit by the car, according to video immediately reviewed by the BBC.

This agent opens fire as the maroon SUV attempts to drive away.

Three bangs are heard and the car is seen losing control and crashing into a car parked nearby on the street.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the ICE officer was “maliciously” shot down. “It's hard to believe he's alive but is now recovering in hospital,” he wrote.

The Republican president also blamed the “radical left” for “daily threats, assaults and attacks on our law enforcement officers and ICE agents.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the driver was in his vehicle blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue. She was then approached on foot by a federal law enforcement officer, “and she began to drive away.”

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the woman spent the day “harassing and obstructing” officers and attempting to “weaponize her vehicle” in an attempt to run over an officer in an act of “domestic terrorism.”

The federal agent fired “defensive shots” and was himself wounded before being treated and released from a local hospital, Noem said.

However, the Minneapolis City Council said in a statement that Good was simply “caring for her neighbors” when she was shot.

The same agent was hit by a car while on duty in June, Noem said.

She added that ICE operations in the city will continue while the FBI is investigating Wednesday's incident.

Emily Heller told CNN she was at home when she saw ICE agents arguing with protesters in the street. She said she heard agents yelling at a woman driving an SUV, then one of the agents tried to open her car door and the driver put the vehicle in reverse and began to pull away.

“An ICE agent walked up to her car and said, 'Stop!' and then – I mean, she was already moving – and then he shot her point-blank through the windshield in the face,” Heller told the US channel.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also rejected federal reports of the incident.

“Don’t believe this propaganda machine,” Walz wrote in response to a Department of Homeland Security report about the shooting.

“The State will ensure a full, fair and expeditious investigation is conducted to ensure accountability and justice.”

Top Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, also released statements. Harris called the Trump administration's version of events “gaslighting.”

Protests and marches took place in several parts of the city as some outraged Minneapolis residents condemned the shooting and called for ICE to leave.

The main gathering took place near the site of the shooting, about a mile from where George Floyd was killed in 2020 by a city police officer, sparking worldwide protests against racism.

Protests were organized in other US cities, including New Orleans, Miami, Seattle and New York.

Minneapolis Public Schools announced that classes have been canceled for the rest of the week “due to safety concerns.” This comes after federal agents reportedly made arrests near the high school on Wednesday.

The Trump administration has sent 2,000 more federal agents to the Minneapolis area in recent weeks in response to allegations of welfare fraud in the state.

The mayor said at a news conference Wednesday that ICE is not making the city safer. “They are breaking up families, wreaking havoc on our streets,” he said.

The deployment, which began Sunday, is one of the largest concentrations of Department of Homeland Security personnel in a U.S. city in recent years.

It followed an immigration enforcement campaign launched by ICE late last year targeting individuals in Minneapolis who had been issued deportation orders, including members of the city's Somali community.

This community has often been criticized by Trump, who called them “trash.”

“I don’t want them in our country. I will be honest with you,” the president said. “Their country is bad for a reason. Their country stinks.”

Trump later escalated his remarks after a conservative online content creator posted a YouTube video accusing daycares run by Somali immigrants of massive fraud.

In response, Trump withheld federal child care funds from Minnesota.

The Trump administration has sent ICE agents to other U.S. cities where they have made thousands of arrests as part of what the administration says is a crackdown on crime and immigrants who entered the country illegally.