‘Very tense situation’: Clashes break out after second person shot in Minneapolis

Washington: Federal agents have shot another person in Minneapolis as the city rapidly becomes the epicentre of a national reckoning over President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and protests egged on by Democrats.

As protesters gathered at the shooting scene late on Wednesday night, clashing with law enforcement, the Minneapolis mayor and police chief told them to “go home”, warning the chaos in the city was draining police resources and was unsustainable.

The Department of Homeland Security said the shooting occurred when an illegal alien from Venezuela fled a targeted traffic stop and crashed his car, before attempting to escape on foot.

As law enforcement officers tried to apprehend the man, two people came out of a nearby apartment and “attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle”, as did the initial subject, the DHS said.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. “The initial subject was hit in the leg. All three subjects ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside.”

The department said the attacked officer and the target were both in hospital, while the other two people were in custody.

US television networks showed large crowds gathered at the scene of the shooting, a residential area that was being guarded by masked police with guns. Photos and footage showed tear gas and flash bangs being deployed against the crowd.

In a late night news conference, Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said the gathering was an unlawful assembly and the crowd should disperse. “This is already a very tense situation, and we do not need this to escalate any further,” he said.

Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Grey told the crowd not to take the bait and to go home. “We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos,” he said.

“This is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in. We are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe.”

The incident, which occurred about 7pm local time on Wednesday (midday Thursday AEDT), comes a week after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old US citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis at a protest against the immigration agency.

Good was driving her car and appeared to be attempting to leave the scene when Ross shot her in the head. The Trump administration said Good was using her vehicle as a weapon, and attempted to run Ross over. He walked from the scene but sustained injuries and was taken to hospital, the administration said.

ICE has dispatched more than 2000 agents to Minnesota, focused on Minneapolis, in what the agency called its largest enforcement operation ever. The city is now a tinderbox, with anti-ICE protesters gathering daily and frequently clashing with law enforcement.

In its statement on the latest shooting, DHS blamed Minnesota’s Democratic leaders – Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Frey – for “actively encouraging an organised resistance to ICE and federal law enforcement officers”.

“Their hateful rhetoric and resistance against men and women who are simply trying to do their jobs must end,” DHS said.

Walz on Thursday (AEDT) delivered a video message to Minnesotans saying ICE was conducting “a campaign of organised brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government”. He encouraged residents to keep protesting, though peacefully.

Walz alleged ICE agents were indiscriminately pulling people over, ordering people to point out where their “neighbours of colour” lived, breaking windows, “dragging pregnant women down the street [and] just plain grabbing Minnesotans and shoving them into unmarked vans”.

In the immediate aftermath of Good’s death, Frey said ICE needed to “get the f--- out of Minneapolis”.

The Trump administration has by-and-large maintained resolute defence of Ross and ICE agents, even declaring they enjoyed immunity from prosecution in the course of their duties, while branding Good and fellow protesters “domestic terrorists”.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said on Fox News: “To all ICE officers, you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties, and anybody who lays a hand on you, or tries to stop you, or tries to obstruct you, is committing a felony.

“You have immunity to perform your duties and no one – no city official, no state official, no illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic insurrectionist – can prevent you from fulfilling your legal obligations and duties.”

Trump has previously voiced full support for Ross and joined the condemnation of Good. But on Thursday he struck a more neutral tone.

“It’s sad to see on both sides,” Trump told newswire Reuters. “I don’t get into right or wrong. I know that it was a tough situation to be in … There was very little respect shown to the police, in this case, the ICE officers.”

Trump has, however, maintained his political pursuit of Walz. This week he called the Minnesota governor “moronic” over allegations of fraud by Somali immigrants in the state, and told Minnesotans: “The day of reckoning and retribution is coming.”

Responding to reports of the latest shooting, US deputy attorney-general Todd Blanche called the Minnesota protest movement an “insurrection”.

“It’s disgusting,” he said on X. “Walz and Frey – I’m focused on stopping YOU from your terrorism by whatever means necessary. This is not a threat. It’s a promise.”

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