A person was shot to death by federal law enforcement officers on Saturday in Minneapolis for the second time in less than three weeks.
Minneapolis officials said on Saturday morning that they were aware of reports of the shooting.
The shooting comes after Renee Good, an American citizen, was shot and killed on 7 January by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis after video showed her trying to drive away from a confrontation, sparking protests nationwide.
City and local police officials said in their statement that the “shooting involving federal law enforcement” occurred in the area of West 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue South, and that they were “working to confirm additional details”.
“We ask the public to remain calm and avoid the immediate area,” the statement added.
A video circulating online on Saturday morning, which matches the reported location of the shooting mentioned by the officials, shows a man being wrestled to the ground by several law enforcement officers before being shot what appears to be several times. At least two officers can be seen with their weapons drawn.
Open-source experts have begun to parse the apparent video evidence online, which appears to capture the sound of an initial shot causing the agents to retreat from the man before one fires at him repeatedly on the ground. At least one analyst suggested that the video might show that the man who was shot was disarmed before the shots were fired.
As the analysis of the video continues, Eliot Higgins, the founder of the open-source investigative outlet Bellingcat, observed on Bluesky that it was hard to take at face value any statements from the Trump administration’s claims in the wake of the Good shooting. “Treat the US government and ICE claims like you’d treat a Russian government claim after they’ve shot down an airliner or bombed a hospital,” Higgins wrote. “America 2026.”
In a statement, assistant homeland security secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the shooting occurred at about 9.05am local time, “as … officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis” against a person they said was present in the country illegally and wanted for assault. McLaughlin’s statement said “an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun”, and that “officers attempted to disarm” him.
McLaughlin’s statement accused the man shot of having “resisted” and, without elaborating, said “more details on the armed struggle are forthcoming”.
“Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots,” she said. “Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.”
She added that the man also had “2 magazines and no ID”.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said the person who was shot is believed to be a 37-year-old man who lived in Minneapolis and was an American citizen.
“Our demand today is for those federal agencies operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement demands,” O’Hara said. “We urge everyone to remain peaceful and recognize there is a lot of anger and questions around what has happened.”
McLaughlin’s statement came after a government source directly briefed on the shooting provided the Guardian with a photo of a handgun next to a loaded magazine. “Suspect had a firearm with two magazines,” that source said. “Situation evolving. Will get … more information ASAP.”
Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, added in a statement shortly afterward that he has spoken with the White House “after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning”.
“Minnesota has had it,” said Walz, who was Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election that she lost to Donald Trump. “This is sickening.”
“The president must end this operation,” Walz also said, referring to the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement operation in the state.
“Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota,” he added. “Now.”
Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, also released a statement on the reported shooting.
“There has been another shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis, and I am working to get more information,” she said. “I will update as soon as possible. To the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress who have stood silent: get ICE out of our state NOW.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Guardian on Saturday morning.
The latest shooting by federal agents is likely to renew anger among Democrats over the decision this week by seven Democratic members of the US House to vote to extend funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the immigration and border patrol agents in Minneapolis.
Local county commissioner Angela Conley wrote on Saturday on Twitter/X claiming to have “witnessed … cold blooded murder”.
“Get them out,” Conley said. “Get them out now.”
Democratic national committee chairperson Ken Martin, who is from Minnesota, posted on X in response to Saturday’s shooting: “What the actual fuck is going on in this country?”
Live video of the scene after the shooting shows dozens of federal agents surrounding the scene, and a tense confrontation between hundreds of protesters who gathered in the area following the shooting as local police attempted to secure the area for crime scene investigators to move in. The agents were seen deploying what appears to be chemical irritants into the crowd. People were seen yelling at agents, honking horns and recording.
McLaughlin said that “crowd control measures were deployed for the safety of the public and law enforcement”.
She described the situation as “evolving, and more information is forthcoming”.
Ramon Antonio Vargas, Rachel Leingang, Edward Helmore, and Robert Mackey contributed reporting
