A US immigration agent shot and killed a woman in her car in Minnesota on Wednesday during an operation in Minneapolis.
The woman, 37, has been identified as Renee Nicole Good. Her mother described Ms Good to The Minnesota Star Tribune as "extremely compassionate" and "one of the kindest people I've ever known".
Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a post on X that the ICE officer began firing after a "violent rioter" tried to run over agents in an "act of domestic terrorism". The agent, the statement asserted, saved many lives.
US President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the woman who was killed was "very disorderly, obstructing and resisting".
"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," Mr Trump wrote.
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The car, with a bullet hole in the windscreen, in which a woman was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis. EPA -
First responders at the scene. Reuters -
Border Patrol agents use chemical irritants to disperse a crowd at the scene of the shooting. Reuters -
Protesters clash with police after the incident. Reuters -
Flowers and an upside down US flag on the pavement. EPA -
A memorial for the victim, named as Renee Good, in Minneapolis. AFP -
Mourners at the memorial. AFP -
Border Patrol federal agents detain a demonstrator at a protest in Minneapolis. Reuters -
A man kneels at a memorial for Renee Good near the site of her shooting. Getty Images -
Federal agents stand guard in Minnesota. AFP -
A picture is displayed at a makeshift memorial for Renee Good. AFP
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey rejected the Trump administration's assertion, saying video of the shooting directly contradicted what he called the government's "garbage narrative".
Mr Frey blamed federal immigration agents for sowing chaos in the city, using an expletive to tell Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to leave the city.
“The presence of federal immigration enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city,” he said. “We’re demanding ICE to leave the city immediately. We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities.”
The shooting drew hundreds of protesters into the streets near the scene, some of whom were met by heavily armed federal agents wearing gas masks who fired chemical irritants.
Videos of the shooting posted on social media have raised doubts about the government's account. In one widely circulated video, the woman can be seen partially blocking a road before agents approach her vehicle and attempt to open her door. She appears to try to reverse briefly and then move forward in an attempt to get away, with the bumper coming close to another agent, who fires at the vehicle.
Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who ran alongside Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential elections as her proposed vice president, also rejected the federal government's account and placed the blame for the shooting on the Trump administration. He told a media conference that he had put the National Guard on alert for possible posting.
"What we are seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict," Mr Walz said. "It's governing by reality TV. And today that recklessness cost someone their life."
