Federal agent shoots Minneapolis man in leg after shovel attack, officials say

A federal officer shot a man in the leg in the US city of Minneapolis after he was attacked with a shovel while trying to make an arrest, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

In a statement on X, DHS said Wednesday’s shooting occurred after a chase involving a Venezuelan national who was in the country illegally.

It ended in a crash and the driver was joined by two other people who all attacked the officer, according to the release. DHS said the man who was shot was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Tensions have been high in the city since an immigration officer fatally shot a woman last week, sparking protests that have spread to other U.S. cities.

On Wednesday evening, clashes broke out between demonstrators and law enforcement in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Minneapolis, near the scene of the shooting.

City Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his officers were hit by fireworks, ice and snowballs.

Local media, including the Minnesota Star Tribune, reported that a number of vehicles believed to belong to the federal government were damaged during the unrest.

In a social media post Thursday morning, US President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesota officials did not act to “stop the professional agitators.”

It’s a 200-year-old law that allows the president to use active-duty military personnel to enforce the law in the United States, and which Trump has previously said he could invoke elsewhere.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, said the situation in the city, where federal agents were deployed against the wishes of local authorities, was “unsustainable.”

The man injured in Wednesday’s shooting was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and an ICE agent was also taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, DHS said.

The DHS statement said that after the chase, the man got out of his car and an altercation broke out between him and the federal agent.

The agency added: “While the individual and law enforcement officers were fighting on the ground, two individuals came out of a nearby apartment and also attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.

“As the officer was ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, the initial subject broke away and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom handle.”

The DHS statement went on to add that “fearing for his life and safety while ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired defensive shots,” and added that “both attackers are in custody.”

Law enforcement officials who spoke to the BBC’s U.S. partner, CBS News, offered additional details about what happened following the shooting.

They said the slain Venezuelan national fled into a house and barricaded himself inside with three other people.

This resulted in additional agents being called to the residence, which was then burglarized with the assistance of a specialized ICE team, officials said. All the people who were inside the house were reportedly taken into custody.

The BBC could not immediately verify the details of these statements.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters at the White House on Thursday: “Our agent is beaten, he’s bruised, he’s injured, he’s treated, and we’re grateful that he made it out alive.”

She added that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were “following protocols that we have used for years” before the Trump administration.

About 3,000 federal agents have been deployed to Minnesota in recent weeks.

In a statement on It’s disgusting. »

Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz made a direct appeal to Republican Trump on Thursday.

“Let’s lower the temperature,” Walz wrote on X.

The governor also urged Minnesotans to make their voices heard “peacefully.”

“We cannot fan the flames of chaos,” said the governor, who once called ICE a “modern-day Gestapo.”

Tensions over immigration enforcement have been high in the city since the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renée Nicole Good, 37, by an ICE agent.

The Trump administration says the ICE agent acted in self-defense, while local authorities say the woman posed no danger.

Videos of the incident show ICE agents approaching a car that was in the middle of the street.

As Good attempted to leave, one of them in the front of the vehicle pointed his gun at the driver and fired three shots. The FBI is investigating the incident.

An online fundraiser held for Good’s widow and family raised more than $1.4 million. Another online fundraiser for Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent at the center of the deadly confrontation, raised $740,000.