Topline
A federal agent shot and injured a man while trying to make an arrest during an immigration operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday, as protests in the city continue one week after an immigration agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good.
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Key Facts
In an X post, the Department of Homeland Security claimed the man was an Venezuelan migrant who was in the U.S. illegally, and an agent fired a “defensive shot” that struck the person in the leg.
The DHS said the incident occurred during a “targeted traffic stop” and alleged the person attempted to evade arrest by first fleeing the scene in his car and then on foot.
The DHS alleged that when an officer caught up with the man, he “began to resist and violently assault the officer,” and claimed that two people from a nearby building attacked the officer with a “shovel or broom stick.”
As news of the shooting spread, more than 200 protestors gathered near the scene, prompting federal agents to deploy “chemical irritants,” the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
According to the New York Times, some protestors yelled and threw snowballs at a group of “heavily armed Border Patrol agents” who arrived at the scene.
What Happened After The Shooting?
After the shooting, the DHS said the three people—the person being pursued and the two people who allegedly attacked the federal agent—“ran back into their apartment and barricaded themselves inside.” A witness told the Minnesota Star Tribune officers breached a home in the area with tactical gear, breaking down the door and tossing at least two flash-bang devices. The DHS said the officer and the man who was shot are both in the hospital and the two other individuals are in custody.
What Have Minneapolis Authorities Said?
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a press conference the shooting happened in the north side of the city. Frey said there is “still a lot that we don’t know” about the shooting, but added, “this is not sustainable,” as he once again urged ICE to leave the city. Frey also pointed out that the federal agents’ presence was “certainly not creating safety when a huge percentage of the shootings that have taken place so far this year in Minneapolis have been by ICE.” O’Hara urged the crowd that gathered at the scene to leave immediately and claimed some of them had thrown fireworks at police officers and they are “attempting to disperse this unlawful assembly.” The police chief also clarified that only one person has been shot, and they have sustained a non-life threatening injury and have been transported to the hospital.
Chief Critic
Shortly before the shooting, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz delivered a video address on the large presence of federal agents in the state, saying: “Armed, masked, undertrained ICE agents are going door-to-door ordering people to point out where their neighbors of color live. They’re pulling over people indiscriminately, including US citizens, and demanding to see their papers…This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.” Walz then told the Trump administration to “end this occupation.”
Tangent
A federal judge ruled Wednesday the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps can continue in the state for now. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the state seeking an injunction on “further legal violations and unlawful escalations” by federal immigration and Homeland Security agents there. President Donald Trump hailed the ruling in a Truth Social post on Thursday morning, saying: “A highly respected judge declined to block I.C.E. operations in the very politically corrupt State of Minnesota. I.C.E. will therefore be allowed to continue its highly successful operation of removing some of the most violent and vicious criminals anywhere in the World, many of them murderers, from the State.” Despite Trump’s remarks about ICE tackling “violent and vicious criminals,” both Frey and Walz have pointed out that ICE agents have been stopping and detaining American citizens as well. Frey said people are “terrified because American citizens are getting picked up off the street by people in masks.” In his speech, Walz accused ICE of “breaking windows, dragging pregnant women down the street…kidnapping innocent people with no warning and no due process.”
Further Reading
Federal officer shoots man in Minneapolis after authorities say agent was ‘attacked’ with shovel (Minnesota Star Tribune)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/01/15/federal-agent-shoots-man-in-minneapolis-as-protests-continue/
