Another immigration-related shooting fuels chaos in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS – A Venezuelan man who fled a traffic stop in Minneapolis was shot in the leg on Jan 14 by an immigration agent, amid a surge that has spurred dramatic resistance in the city.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is overseeing President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration, said the shooting came after two people attacked the federal agent with a broomstick and snow shovel as he wrestled with the Venezuelan. DHS said the Venezuelan was in the United States illegally.

Protesters throwing rocks, ice and fireworks clashed with law enforcement agents who fired tear gas and crowd-control munitions late into the night following the shooting. This came a week after an immigration officer

fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good

, a US citizen, in her car in Minneapolis.

Reuters journalists photographed law enforcement agents and protesters on dark streets obscured by clouds of tear gas and occasionally illuminated by beams from agents’ headlamps and flashes from crowd-control munitions.

People in the streets near the shooting threw fireworks, ice and rocks at law enforcement and were “engaging in unlawful acts”, Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference at which he and Mayor Jacob Frey urged the crowds to disperse.

“We do not need this to escalate any further,” Chief O’Hara said.

DHS, which oversees Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), accused Mr Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, both Democrats, of encouraging resistance to ICE with “hateful rhetoric”, a contention Mr Frey rejected.

“We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos,” the mayor said.

Shovel, broomstick and gunshots

The latest shooting unfolded in sub-freezing weather late on Jan 14 when the Venezuelan targeted by federal law enforcement officers in the traffic stop tried to get away and crashed his vehicle into a parked car before fleeing on foot, according to a DHS statement.

A pursuing officer caught up with the man, who then “began to resist and violently assault the officer”, DHS said.

As they struggled, two people emerged from a nearby apartment and attacked the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle, it added.

The Venezuelan broke loose and started striking the officer with one of the tools, DHS said.

The officer, “fearing for his life and safety”, fired and wounded the Venezuelan in the leg, it added.

The wounded man and the two others fled into the apartment where they barricaded themselves before all were taken into custody, the government said.

The man who was shot and the officer were both hospitalised, DHS said. A person familiar with the situation said the wounded suspect was in stable condition. The condition of the officer was not immediately known.

City on edge

Minneapolis has been on edge since Ms Good, a mother of three, was shot dead behind the wheel of her car on Jan 7, during an encounter with ICE agents while taking part in a neighbourhood patrol network of local activists tracking and monitoring the activities of federal officers.

Opponents of the ICE surge say Ms Good posed no physical threat to officers, and they have disputed US government assertions that the agent who shot her feared she was trying to run him over.

Rather than end the ICE surge, as demanded by state and local leaders, the Trump administration instead said it would

send hundreds more agents

to bolster a force of about 2,000 deployed to the city earlier.

The latest shooting followed days of chaotic clashes in Minneapolis between heavily armed federal agents and civilians they stop in the streets, as well as with activists, such as Ms Good, who have shown up to observe and record such encounters.

Governor Walz has encouraged such recordings.

“Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution,” he said in a videotaped message posted online on Jan 14.

ICE agents vs community members

Agents appear to be conducting roving sweeps and arresting people without warrants, based on resident accounts and videos.

Reuters journalists have documented scores of agents carrying weapons through the icy streets of residential neighbourhoods, wearing military-style camouflage gear and masks that cover their faces.

They are often met by residents blowing whistles and shouting at the officers.

On occasion, the agents have smashed car windows and pulled people from their vehicles, videos show.

Some have confronted non-white US citizens, demanding to see their identification before walking away, drawing angry jeers and accusations of racism from bystanders.

The agents have used chemical irritants on protesters, sometimes firing orange pepper spray into faces at close range or igniting flash-bang grenades near groups in the street.

Disputing accusations of misconduct, DHS has said its agents have increasingly been subject to assaults while trying to find and detain immigration violators.

DHS also has rejected accusations of racial profiling, saying arrests are based on reasonable suspicion that individuals lack legal immigration status.

Immigration officers have also arrested US citizens for allegedly disrupting enforcement. Groups of agents have chased protesters, including at least one dressed in a giraffe costume, before wrestling them to the ground to detain them.

Legal refugees swept up

The non-profit World Relief said dozens of weekend arrests of legal refugees in the state, including children, were part of a Trump effort to re-vet refugees who entered under Mr Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Mr Joe Biden.

Asked about such arrests, DHS referred to accusations of fraud against members of Minnesota’s Somali community.

“The Trump administration will not stand idly by as the US immigration system is weaponised by those seeking to defraud the American people,” a DHS spokesman said.

Mr Trump has seized on the fraud accusations, calling Somali immigrants in Minnesota “garbage” whom he wants deported. Administration officials have sought to tie the Minneapolis crackdown to the scandal.

Mr Trump, a Republican, has argued that large-scale surges in Democratic-led cities such as Minneapolis are necessary as the authorities there do not sufficiently cooperate with immigration enforcement.

He has threatened to

cut off federal funding

in February for any state that includes sanctuary cities. REUTERS