Washington, Jan 24, (dpa/GNA) – Tension was mounting in Minneapolis in the US state of Minnesota on Saturday, after a man died after being shot by a federal officer in the second such incident in the city this month.
US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, said in a press conference that DHS officers on Saturday morning “were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien” wanted for crimes including violent assault, when they were approached by a person “with a 9 millimetre semi-automatic handgun.”
Noem said one of the officers fired their weapon after the individual “reacted violently.”
“Fearing for his life and for the lives of their fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics were on the scene immediately and attempted to deliver medical aid to the subject, but he was pronounced dead at the scene,” Noem said, as a photo of the weapon was shown on a screen next to her.
The DHS secretary said that the man was also carrying additional ammunition and had no ID on him.
“This looks like a situation when an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
The Minneapolis Police chief contradicted this account and said that the person died shortly afterwards in a hospital.
The police chief added that the individual was a 37-year-old white male citizen of Minneapolis, who was presumably a US citizen.
The New York Times reported, citing eyewitnesses, that at least 300 demonstrators gathered at the scene of the incident in Minneapolis within a short period of time. The officers also reportedly used tear gas and pepper spray.
Following the fatal shootings during the federal operation in Minneapolis, US President Donald Trump attacked the city’s mayor and the governor of the state of Minnesota.
“The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.
Trump also wrote regarding the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): “LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, urged Trump in a press conference to withdraw federal forces from the state. “Remove this force from Minnesota, they are sowing chaos and violence.”
On X, Walz had written earlier: “Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”
“Minnesota has had it. This is sickening,” Walz posted.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, also a Democrat, posted on X: “How many more people need to die or get shot before this ends? President Trump, I am calling on you to put the American people and this American city first & get ICE out.”
If the mission’s goal is to ensure peace and security, then it is achieving exactly the opposite, Frey said.
Earlier in January, an officer from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis. The case caused great outrage and protests.
The Republican US administration described the action as self-defence, while opposition Democrats and demonstrators spoke of excessive force and a lack of transparency in the investigation.
The ICE operations are part of the toughened deportation policy in Trump’s second term, which started in January 2025.
Since the start of intensified operations in Minnesota, around 3,000 people have been arrested, according to the administration.
Several lawsuits by local authorities against the actions of federal agencies are currently pending in courts.
GNA