37-year-old woman fatally shot by federal agent in Minneapolis during ICE operation

A federal agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday during an immigration enforcement operation, officials said. The shooting occurred in a residential neighborhood less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed in 2020. Three videos posted on social media and verified by The New York Times show two federal agents trying to get a woman to exit a vehicle that was partially blocking a street; the driver reverses, then pulls forward as a third agent draws a gun and fires three times.

Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said an agent opened fire after the woman “weaponized her vehicle.” Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem called the incident “an act of domestic terrorism,” while Mayor Jacob Frey described the federal account as “bullshit” and called the shooting “an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying.” Representative Ilhan Omar described the person as a “legal observer,” and Chief Brian O’Hara said there was “nothing to indicate that this woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation or activity.” Hundreds to about a thousand protesters gathered near the scene, and local leaders called for federal forces to leave the city.

Federal officials have defended the crackdown, saying roughly 2,000 agents could take part in an operation that might last weeks and arguing it responds to illegal immigration and fraud in state social service systems.

Key Topics

Politics, Ice Agents, Minneapolis, George Floyd Square, Jacob Frey, Kristi Noem