October 1, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis officials increased security measures Thursday after a woman was fatally shot by a federal officer during an immigration enforcement operation, prompting protests, calls by state leaders to participate in the investigation, and precautionary school closures.
State and local officials demanded that the immigration agents leave Minnesota after an unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot a 37-year-old woman on Wednesday. But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said agents won't be going anywhere.
The Department of Homeland Security has deployed more than 2,000 officers to the area in what it says is its largest immigration enforcement operation ever. Noem said more than 1,500 people have already been arrested.
Dozens of protesters gathered on Thursday outside of a federal building on the edge of Minneapolis that is serving as a major base for the immigration crackdown. They shouted slogans as Border Patrol officers pushed them back from the gate, doused them with pepper spray, and fired tear gas to disperse them.
Gregory Bovino, a senior U.S. Customs and Border Patrol official who has been the face of the crackdowns in other cities, walked along the long line of officers, looking at the crowd as protesters yelled at him. Many activists tried to converse with the officers and persuade them that the job they were doing was wrong.
The anti-immigration enforcement protests weren't confined to Minneapolis, as demonstrations also took place or were expected to Thursday in New York City, Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Antonio, New Orleans, and Chicago. Protests were also scheduled for later this week in Arizona, North Carolina, and New Hampshire.
Bystanders captured video of the shooting incident in a residential neighborhood south of downtown. The videos show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to accelerate forward towards a different ICE officer in front of it, who pulls his weapon and fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
After the shooting the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.
In another recording made afterward, a woman who identifies the woman's spouse is seen crying near the vehicle.
Noem called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officers, saying the driver “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
President Donald Trump made similar accusations on social media and defended ICE’s work.
Noem alleged that the woman was part of a “mob of agitators” and said the officer followed his training. She said the FBI would investigate.
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey countered Noem’s version of events, saying, "They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense.” He also criticized the federal deployment and said agents should leave.
The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Thursday that the U.S. attorney’s office changed course Wednesday and barred it from taking part.
“Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands. As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation," Superintendent Drew Evans said in a statement.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday demanded that the state be allowed to take part, as it would be the only way the public could be confident in its findings, noting it would be “very, very difficult for Minnesotans" to accept that an investigation that excludes the state could be fair.
Asked about whether the state would be included, Noem said Minnesota authorities “don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”
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