A woman died this Wednesday (7) after being shot by agents from the United States Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) in Minnesota, during a mega operation against illegal immigration in the state, reported the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the woman was “a violent protester who used her vehicle as a weapon, trying to run over the agents with the aim of killing them,” which she described as an “act of domestic terrorism.” She added that an ICE agent, who “feared for his life,” fired “shots in self-defense.”
“The alleged perpetrator was shot and is dead. The injured ICE agents are expected to fully recover,” the official declared on social media, without revealing the identity or nationality of the victim.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, reiterated the accusations, saying that the woman killed by immigration agents committed “an act of domestic terrorism”, stating that the authorities acted in “self-defense” and that the incident demonstrates that, according to her, these operations are exposed to attacks “on a daily basis”.
President Donald Trump said the case is being investigated, but reiterated the thesis of self-defense.
“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, and then violently, intentionally and cruelly ran over the ICE agent, who apparently shot her in self-defense. Based on the video, it is difficult to believe that he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital,” the president wrote on the Truth Social network.
“The situation is being fully investigated, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the radical left is threatening, assaulting and attacking our police officers and ICE agents on a daily basis,” he charged.
The mayor of Minneapolis, Democrat Jacob Frey, rejected claims by immigration authorities that the agent acted in self-defense.
“They are not here to guarantee the security of this city. What they are doing is not providing security for the United States. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” Frey said at a press conference, according to information from the Associated Press.
“They are destroying families. They are sowing chaos in our streets and, in this case, literally killing people”, accused the Democrat.
“They are already trying to distort this case, saying it was self-defense. I saw the video [do incidente]and I want to tell everyone directly: it’s a lie”, said the mayor.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the woman killed was 37 years old, a U.S. citizen and not the target of any anti-illegal immigration operations.
The incident occurred during an operation in which American authorities detained more than a thousand immigrants, including people from Ecuador, Mexico and El Salvador, in the largest DHS operation in Minnesota, amid a fraud scandal with federal funds in social child assistance programs linked to the Somali community.
DHS announced in a statement the arrest of more than a thousand “murderers, rapists, pedophiles and gang members in Minnesota”, including more than 150 arrests of illegal immigrants on Monday (5), making it the largest immigration operation of 2026 to date.
The agency highlighted the arrest of Ecuadorians, including Tomás Espín Tapia, “a fugitive wanted for homicide in Ecuador and sexual predator”, whose arrest was personally supervised by Noem, who traveled to Minnesota, a state governed by Democrat Tim Walz.
DHS also released images of detained immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Laos, Vietnam and Liberia.
“We will expose and hold accountable those responsible for the rampant fraud and crime occurring in Minnesota,” Noem said.
