Days after a US federal agent killed a woman during President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, another agent has shot a man in Minnesota’s Minneapolis.
Days after a US federal agent killed a woman during President Donld Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, another agent on Wednesday evening shot a man in Minnesota’s Minneapolis. The victim continues to be in hospital.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the city’s Democratic mayor, Jacob Frey, traded blame over the incident.
While the DHS said the man resisted arrest and assaulting the officers, Frey condemned the shooting as “disgusting and intolerable”. He further urged people to not clash with federal personnel
“We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with more chaos … Anyone who is taking the bait tonight, stop. You are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city,” said Frey.
DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that federal agents were trying to arrest a man from Venezuela who was in the country illegally in a “targeted traffic stop” at around 6:50 pm, according to New York Times.
McLaughlin said that after the man fled from agents, an officer caught up to him and the man “began to resist and violently assault the officer”. She said two people came out of a nearby building and, along with the man suspected to be an illegal immigrant, attacked the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.
The shooting sparked protests and clashes with the police personnel. While the police said they had to resort to gas to disperse crowds, The Times reported that federal agents sprayed unidentified chemical agents at protesters.
Last week, an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good, a 17-year-old US national, after getting into an argument with her. Good and her wife, Becca, were part of a protest against Trump’s crackdown on immigrants at the time of the killing.
Trump administration doubles down on shooting
Even as Democrats condemned the shooting, the Trump administration doubled down in their justification. Currently, as many as 3,000 immigration officers are either in Minneapolis or are on their way to the city.
McLaughlin justified the shooting as an act of self-defence.
The officer feared for his life and fired shots, hitting the man who agents were seeking in the leg, according to McLaughlin.
The two other persons who allegedly helped the man who was shot were in custody, said McLaughlin.
She said the agent and the man who was shot were in the hospital, and the other two people she accused of attacking the agent were in custody.
Mayor Frey said that the activities of immigration officers were not “sustainable”. In recent weeks, as the Trump administration has ramped up raids and detentions in the city, several rounds of protests have been held in the city.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in. And at the same time, we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” said Frey.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said the crowd at the scene was “engaging in unlawful acts” and said “they have thrown fireworks at police officers and at multiple times, gas has been deployed”, according to The Times.
When several heavily armed Border Patrol agents arrived in a large, military-style vehicle at the site of shooting, protesters swarmed the vehicle, yelled at them, and threw snowballs at agents. While retreating, the agents fired at least two gas canisters that made it difficult for some to breathe.
A few minutes, two ICE agents returned and sprayed protesters with a chemical agent that led to one person complaining he was not able to see anything.
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