A federal law enforcement officer shot an illegal Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
DHS said the officer on Wednesday night was “conducting a targeted traffic stop” when the shooting victim fled the scene, then “began to resist and violently assault the officer” while two other subjects joined in the attack using a snow shovel and broomstick.
DHS said the officer then “fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” striking the initial suspect, who DHS said “got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick,” in the leg.
“The attacked officer and subject are both in the hospital. Both attackers are in custody,” DHS said in the statement.
Minneapolis city officials posted on X that they were “aware of reports of a shooting involving federal law enforcement in North Minneapolis” just before 9 p.m. and “working to confirm additional details.”
The shooting comes one week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renee Good in the same city, sparking protests across the country.
As tensions remain high in the Twin Cities, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) gave a live address on Wednesday evening shortly before reports of the shooting aired. He said to Minnesotans that what is happening in the state “defies belief” and asked President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “end this occupation.”
“News reports simply don’t do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities,” Walz said. “This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
FAMILY OF RENEE GOOD HIRES GEORGE FLOYD ATTORNEY ONE WEEK AFTER ICE SHOOTING
The DHS statement on Wednesday night hit back at Walz and Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey for “actively encouraging an organized 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. Federal law enforcement officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest criminals and lawbreakers,” DHS said in the statement.
