Key events
Jeremy Barr
Cable news networks sprung into action on Wednesday to cover the breaking news of a woman killed by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis, rushing correspondents to the scene and bringing on former government officials and legal analysts to offer commentary.
The three main cable networks’ on-screen graphics framed the incident slightly differently. Fox News referred to it as a “Deadly ICE-involved Shooting”, while CNN said more plainly: “ICE Officer Kills Woman in Minneapolis.”
The progressive network MS NOW – formerly MSNBC – also characterized the incident in part as “Agent Kills Woman” in an on-screen graphic.
Both CNN and Fox News brought on former officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide analysis based on their government experience, though their conclusions differed.
John Sandweg, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the Obama administration, questioned whether the federal agents had been properly trained and vetted.
“My immediate concern is this: to what extent has this rushing of hiring of people – this shortcutting on our training – to what extent might that have informed what happened here,” he said on CNN.
Rachel Leingang
When a federal agent shot and killed a woman during a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday, the Guardian was nearby, shadowing observers who have trained for months to monitor and respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the state.
ICE vehicles, unmarked, lined the street, and yellow police tape cordoned off the area in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Dozens of protesters and community members were seen on the snowy street, shouting at ICE agents and at the local police. More agents arrived amid the chaos.
People yelled at Minneapolis police to arrest the ICE agent who shot the woman in a car.
“What were you taught by your parents?” one woman yelled at the agents.
A man on a bullhorn led some bystanders in a chant of “Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here.” People repeatedly yelled for ICE to leave, to go home and to get out of Minneapolis – a request that was echoed by Jacob Frey, the city’s mayor, in a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
“I do have a message for our community for our city and I do have a message for ICE. To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety and you are doing exactly the opposite. People are being hurt,” Frey said.
The mayor added: “Families are being ripped apart. Long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy are being terrorized, and now, somebody is dead.”
Wednesday marked the second day of an expected 30-day surge, which ICE has called its largest operation to date.
Witness footage appears to capture the moment a federal immigration agent shoots and kills the female driver of a dark red SUV in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
The incident occurred during a large-scale immigration enforcement operation.
The Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, disputed federal officials’ account of the shooting, and demanded ICE agents leave the city.
Protests take place across US after fatal shooting of woman by ICE officer
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours.
We start with news that protests have been taking place across the US following the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer taking part in the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown.
The shooting marked a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. Wednesday’s is at least the fifth death linked to the crackdowns, AP reported.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since the Department of Homeland Security announced the operation’s launch on Tuesday, at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
A crowd of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting to vent their anger at local and federal officers. In a scene that hearkened back to crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago, people chanted “ICE out of Minnesota” and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
Governor Tim Walz said he was prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary and expressed outrage over the shooting but called on people to keep protests peaceful.
“They want a show,” Walz said. “We can’t give it to them.”
There were calls on social media to prosecute the officer who shot Macklin Good. Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities.
In other developments:
US European Command said on Wednesday that it had boarded the Marinera, a Russian-flagged oil tanker, over alleged sanctions violations, bringing to an end a dramatic two-week pursuit that began in the Caribbean and concluded in the Atlantic. Separately on Wednesday, the US Coast Guard announced it had intercepted another dark-fleet tanker that is under sanctions, the M Sophia, in a pre-dawn operation in the Caribbean.
The operation is likely to strain relations with Vladimir Putin, coming at a sensitive moment as negotiations over a potential peace deal in Ukraine continue and after the US capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, a longstanding Kremlin ally. Initial reports suggest the ageing tanker is empty, having been en route to pick up Venezuelan oil before changing course.
An urgent meeting had been requested by the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmarkwhich has said that any invasion or seizure of the territory by its Nato ally would mark the end of the western military alliance and “post-second world war security”.
The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizationsincluding the UN’s population agency and the UN treaty that establishes international climate negotiations, as the US further retreats from global cooperation.
The full Senate on Wednesday heard details of the 3 January attack, which involved US special forces from Delta Force swooping into Venezuela before dawn to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Republicans have rallied behind Trump’s characterization of the raid as a straightforward law enforcement action to arrest an indicted drug trafficker. Democrats warn of an illegal act of war that could plunge Venezuela into chaos and set a dangerous precedent for unilateral presidential action.
