Unlock the free White House Watch newsletter
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in her car in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday, as federal and local officials gave conflicting accounts of the events.
The Department of Homeland Security said an ICE officer “fired defensive shots” in response to an “act of domestic terrorism.”
But those claims were roundly rejected by Minneapolis’ Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey, who accused the federal government of “trying to portray this as an act of self-defense.”
“After watching the video, I want to tell everyone straight away that this is nonsense,” Frey said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “This was an agent using force recklessly that resulted in someone dying, being killed.”
In social media video showing the events, a Honda Pilot blocked traffic on a residential street before several masked law enforcement officers approached the car. The driver reversed the car and then started moving forward. An officer fired several shots at the driver at close range.
The shootings come amid rising tensions between President Donald Trump’s administration and state and local leaders in Minnesota, where Democratic officials have been vocal in their objection to ICE conducting immigration raids.
“I have a message for ICE,” Frey said at Wednesday’s press conference. “Get out of Minneapolis. We don’t want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of security, and you’re doing the exact opposite.”
His comments were echoed by Minnesota’s Democratic Governor Tim Walz.
“We don’t need any more help from the federal government,” Walz said at a separate news conference Wednesday. “To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: You’ve done enough,” he said, referring to the head of Homeland Security.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said an investigation was being conducted jointly by the FBI and Minnesota state authorities.
Trump posted a clip on his Truth social platform, saying the woman driving the car was “grossly disorderly, obstructing and resisting” and “violently, intentionally and viciously drove the vehicle into an ICE officer, who shot her in self-defense”.
O’Hara said there was “nothing to indicate” that the woman “was the target of any law enforcement investigative activity”. Her name has not been released by law enforcement but Frey said she was 37 years old.
O’Hara said, “This woman was in her car, and it appears she had blocked the road due to the presence of federal law enforcement… She appears to be a middle-aged white woman.” “It’s obviously very concerning when shots are fired at a vehicle of someone who is not armed.”
O’Hara’s comments contradict earlier statements by Noem, who said at a news conference in Brownsville, Texas that ICE agents were “trapped in the snow due to adverse weather in Minneapolis” and were “attempting to get out of their vehicle and were attacked by a woman”.
At a news conference in Minneapolis on Wednesday night, Noem said the woman who was shot was “blocking officers with her vehicle” and “has been following them and hindering them throughout the day.”
The Secretary of Homeland Security said the woman refused to comply with orders from law enforcement officers and began arming her vehicle with a weapon and attempting to run over law enforcement.
Noem did not identify the ICE agent who fired the fatal shots. But she said she had “previously been dragged by an anti-ICE rioter, who hit her with a car in June.”
O’Hara called for peace and encouraged protesters to “demonstrate in a safe and lawful manner, to ensure that there is no further tragedy or destruction in the city”.
The shooting occurred less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020, an incident that sparked mass protests across the US.
Two days before the firing, Walz had announced that he would not seek re-election as governor amid a federal investigation into fraudsters allegedly exploiting state welfare programs. Trump has threatened to cut off federal funding to Minnesota over the scandal.
Noem vowed to continue ICE operations in Minneapolis, saying: “Our federal law enforcement officers are here to bring peace and bring public safety.”
