A U.S. federal officer shot a Venezuelan man in the leg during a violent confrontation in Minneapolis on Wednesday night, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. The incident occurred against a backdrop of severe tension in the city, where thousands of federal agents have been deployed as part of a sweeping immigration enforcement operation by the Trump administration.
Details of the Violent Encounter
The events began with a targeted traffic stop shortly before 7 p.m. Central Time on January 13, 2016. According to Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, the man fled the scene in his vehicle, crashing into a parked car. He then attempted to escape on foot.
The pursuing officer caught up with him and attempted to make an arrest. The situation escalated when the officer and the suspect struggled on the ground. At that point, McLaughlin stated that two other individuals emerged from a nearby apartment and joined the confrontation, striking the federal officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle.
The suspect then broke free and began swinging one of the objects at the officer. "Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired defensive shots," McLaughlin said. One shot struck the Venezuelan national in the leg.
Aftermath and Escalating Political Tensions
All three individuals retreated into the apartment but were later taken into custody. Both the wounded man and the officer were transported to a hospital. Their conditions were not immediately disclosed. The DHS confirmed the man who was shot had entered the United States without authorization from Venezuela. Potential charges for him and the two others were not immediately clear.
The shooting followed the fatal shooting of a local woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent just one week prior, which had already sparked angry protests. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz delivered a stark address around the time of the latest shooting, condemning the federal presence. He accused agents of indiscriminately pulling over people, including U.S. citizens, and described the operations as "a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government."
Local Officials Call for Calm and Withdrawal
At a late-night news conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara reported that a demonstration near the shooting scene had become an unlawful assembly, with protesters shooting fireworks at officers. Mayor Jacob Frey, standing beside the chief, reiterated his calls for ICE and other federal agents to leave the city.
"This is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in," Frey said, while imploring residents not to escalate the situation. "We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos," the mayor urged, asking people to go home. City officials also took to social media to demand ICE's immediate departure and reaffirm support for immigrant communities.
The incident underscores the heightened and volatile climate in Minneapolis, where the large-scale deployment of federal agents for immigration enforcement continues to fuel clashes between state leaders, local officials, and the federal government.
