ICE agents fatally shoot woman in Minneapolis, DHS says

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents fatally shot a woman in her car on Wednesday on a residential street in Minneapolis, authorities said.

Videos of the incident that were posted on social media show the woman being shot within seconds by an ICE agent who was standing at the front of her SUV when she began driving off after being told to exit her vehicle.

The shooting occurred in front of other people on Portland Avenue who were opposing ICE activities in Minneapolis.

Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and another top DHS official both claimed that the dead woman, who police said had been shot in the head, was engaged in an “act of domestic terrorism” by intentionally trying to run down ICE agents.

“Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them — an act of domestic terrorism,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a post on X.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey scoffed at that account, citing video footage they had seen.

Frey called DHS’ claims “bulls—” and “a garbage narrative.” He said the woman was 37 years old. MS NOW, citing people familiar with the matter, said the woman was a U.S. citizen.

The shooting came during increased tension over a surge of more than ICE, DHS and other federal agents to Minneapolis and St. Paul for immigration enforcement, criticism of the city’s large Somali population by President Donald Trump, and the Trump administration’s focus on a series of frauds against social service programs administered by Minnesota that receive federal support.

Walz blasted DHS for saying they knew the motives of the dead woman without doing an investigation. The governor said he had issued a so-called warning order to state officials to prepare to deploy Minnesota National Guard troops.

“We have someone dead, in their care, for no reason whatsoever,” Walz said at a press conference.

“We’ve been warning for weeks that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety, that someone was going to get hurt. Just yesterday, I said exactly that,” Walz said.

“What we’re seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict. It’s governing by reality TV, and today that recklessness cost [someone] their life,” he said.

“I have a simple message: We don’t need any further help from the federal government,” Walz said. “To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: You’ve done enough.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his department secured the “crime scene” and that the incident is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

O’Hara said the state bureau will probe “whether any state laws … have been violated.”

Video from the scene posted on social media shows ICE officers pulling up to a group of cars parked on a residential street.

“Get the f— out of our neighborhood,” a woman is heard saying on the video, apparently from behind the camera.

ICE agents then quickly exited their truck and walked up to a vehicle blocking the road, saying, “Ma’am, get out of the car, out of the car, get out of the f—ing car,” the video shows.

One agent grabbed the handle of the driver’s side door and tried to open it, and reached inside the vehicle, the video shows.

The car then backs up slightly and begins pulling away, the video shows.

Another agent, who had been standing up the road from the woman’s vehicle, walks up to the front of the car and draws his pistol and quickly fires toward the car’s windshield as the vehicle begins moving forward at him, according to videos. He appears to have fired at least three shots.

One video aired by KSTP 5 in Minneapolis shows the agent who pulled his pistol appearing to lean on or toward the woman’s SUV vehicle at the time it began moving forward, and then firing.

Less than three seconds pass between the car reversing and moving forward, and the beginning of the gunfire.

“Oh f—ing, God!” a woman screams on the video.

The vehicle that was shot at quickly crashes into the back end of a car parked a short distance down the street.

“Dude, you did a murder, for what?” a man yells on the video.

Noem, the DHS secretary, during a speech said, “Our ICE officers were out in an enforcement action.”

“They got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis,” Noem said. “They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them, and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.”

Noem said, “An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him and my understanding is that she was hit and is deceased.”

There is no footage on the video supporting Noem’s claim that the officers were trying to push their vehicle out of any snow, or that the woman attacked them as they were doing so right before the shooting occurred.

The truck carrying the agents was driving up the street when it stopped and the agents got out. The street was clear of any snow.

Walz, in a tweet said, “I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine.”

“The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice,” Walz said.

Multiple elected officials from Minnesota demanded that ICE leave Minneapolis after the shooting.

Mayor Frey, during a press conference, blasted ICE and called the allegation that the dead woman was trying to kill agents “bulls—.”

“I have a message for ICE, to ICE: Get the f— out of Minneapolis,” Frey said.

“What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust. They’re ripping families apart,” Frey said.

“They’re sowing chaos on our streets, and in this case, quite literally killing people, so they are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” the mayor said.

“Having seen the video of myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bulls—. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed,” Frey said.

Trump, in a social media post, said, “I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch.”

“The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense,” Trump said.

“Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital. The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis,” the president said.

“They are just trying to do the job of MAKING AMERICA SAFE. We need to stand by and protect our Law Enforcement Officers from this Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate!”

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., in a post on X, wrote, “ICE must stop terrorizing our communities and leave our city.”

Omar’s House district includes all of Minneapolis.

In a later statement, Omar said, “ICE’s actions today were unconscionable and reprehensible. I am beyond outraged that their reckless, callous actions led to the killing of a legal observer in Minneapolis.”

“My heart breaks for the victim’s family, who will have to forever live with the pain caused by the Trump Administration’s reckless and deadly actions,” the congresswoman said. “This administration has shown, yet again, that it does not care about the safety of Minnesotans. Instead of protecting our communities, they are unleashing violence – terrorizing neighborhoods and now killing a civilian.”

“For weeks, ICE’s so-called ‘Operation Metro Surge’ has spread fear, chaos, and violence across our state,” Omar said, “”This is not law enforcement. It is state violence. It is simply indefensible, and ICE must be held accountable. That must include a full, comprehensive investigation and legal action against the agency.”

Walz called for any protests of the shooting incident to be peaceful.

“They want a show. We can’t give it to them. We cannot,” Walz said at the news conference.

“You protest and express your First Amendment rights, please do so peacefully, as you always do,” he said. “We can’t give them what they want.”

Correction: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called DHS’ claims about the incident “a garbage narrative.” A previous version of this story misattributed the quote.