The Japan Times - US immigration agents shoot dead another person in Minneapolis

The death came less than three weeks after US citizen Renee Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE) officer involved in sweeps to round up undocumented migrants.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) insisted the man killed Saturday was armed with a pistol and its officers acted in self-defense.

But Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the shooting "horrific" and demanded that state authorities lead the investigation.

"The federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period," Walz told a press conference.

US President Donald Trump ratcheted up his war of words with Democratic Minnesota governor Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, accusing them of "inciting insurrection" over their response to the killing.

Trump has previously threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and send troops into Minnesota.

The victim was a 37-year-old white male US citizen from Minnesota who held a gun license, Minneapolis police said, while withholding his name.

Video circulating on social media -- and later confirmed by authorities -- shows several agents, including at least one wearing a vest marked "POLICE," surrounding a person on the ground and striking him multiple times. Several gunshots are heard.

Frey pulled no punches, urging Trump to end the federal immigration operation, which has sparked sometimes violent demonstrations.

"This is a moment to act like a leader. Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment -- let's achieve peace. Let's end this operation."

Police chief Brian O'Hara said an "incredibly volatile scene" had erupted after the shooting and urged residents to avoid the area.

Officers who declared the protest an unlawful assembly deployed clouds of tear gas as the crowd grew and used dumpsters to make blockades on the road in the busy south Minneapolis neighborhood known for its restaurants.

Local resident Maria, 56, told AFP the situation in the city was "escalating."

"They're attacking and terrorizing our communities right now," she said describing the situation as "white terror."

DHS wrote on X that "an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun" and that its officers tried to disarm the man who they say "violently resisted."

"Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene," DHS said.

O'Hara said police believed the victim was a "lawful gun owner with a permit to carry."

Minnesota allows the open carrying of firearms with a permit.

- 'Horrific shooting' -

Earlier, Walz said he had discussed "another horrific shooting by federal agents" with the White House.

"Minnesota has had it. This is sickening," he said on X.

"The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now."

Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, called the shooting "an execution" and accused Trump of transforming Minneapolis into a "war zone."

Thousands of ICE agents have been deployed to the Democratic-led city, as Trump presses a sweeping campaign to deport undocumented migrants.

Minneapolis has been rocked by increasingly tense protests since federal agents shot and killed Good, a US citizen, on January 7.

An autopsy concluded that the killing was a homicide, a classification that does not automatically mean a crime was committed.

The officer who fired the shots that killed Good, Jonathan Ross, has neither been suspended nor charged.

Public outrage was rekindled this week by the detention of a five-year-old boy as agents sought to arrest his father.

"Donald Trump and all your lieutenants who ordered this ICE surge: watch the horrific video of the killing today. The world is watching," Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said on X.

K.Okada--JT