Democrat mayor’s tirade at ICE after white woman, 37, was shot dead when she ‘stopped to film raids’ then drove car at agents in Minneapolis
Mayor Jacob Frey demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents leave Minneapolis in an explicit tirade just hours after a woman who was allegedly filming an anti-raid protest was shot dead inside a car by federal agents.
The democratic politician told Donald Trump’s ICE agents to ‘get the f**k out of Minneapolis’ after a woman, 37, was killed at a protest Wednesday.
Witnesses claimed the woman and her wife were acting as legal observers and filming the protest when she was shot. But ICE insisted the woman tried to use the SUV as a deadly weapon.
Frey reiterated, after the death this morning: ‘We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is safety and you are doing exactly the opposite.’
Federal agents descended on the Midwestern city this week to continue their removal of hundreds of thousands of immigrants living illegally in America.
Minneapolis in particular has faced particular heat recently, amid reports of its Somali population orchestrating a $250 million welfare fraud scandal.
Mayor Frey today highlighted how ‘people are being hurt’ and ‘families are being ripped apart’ by immigration officials.
He said on Wednesday: ‘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. That’s on you – and it’s also on you to leave.’
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey tells ICE to ‘get the f**k out’ of his city during a televised address, after an agent was seen on video shooting a woman dead in her car earlier today
FBI agents and police at the scene of the fatal shooting on Wednesday morning in Minneapolis
Photographer King Demetrius Pendleton has his eyes flushed after being hit with chemical irritants amid ongoing protests in the Minnesota city on Wednesday
Blood can be seen on the airbag of the woman’s car as the FBI photograph the scene
The woman was shot Wednesday after she allegedly tried to ram officers with her car ‘in an attempt to kill them’ during ICE’s operations in Minneapolis, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Mail in a statement.
DHS claimed the middle-aged white woman ‘weaponized her vehicle’ and called her actions an ‘act of domestic terrorism.’
Frey dismissed ICE’s justification of self defense as ‘garbage,’ stating that he reviewed video of the shooting and ‘I can tell you that is bull****.’
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz echoed Frey’s analysis, saying in a statement released on X: ‘I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine.
‘The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.’
Life-saving aid was rendered to the shooting victim, but she succumbed to her injuries. Police found the woman with a gunshot wound to the head, according to Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
Senator Tina Smith said the woman was a US citizen. O’Hara said nothing indicated that ‘this woman was the target of a law enforcement investigation.’
The woman has not been identified by officials, but they have described her as a middle-aged and white. Her spouse has arrived at the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the chief said.
Frey has repeatedly blasted the federal immigration crackdown on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul.
‘They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,’ Frey said after the fatal shooting.
‘They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos on our streets and in this case quite literally killing people.’
Law enforcement officers line a Minneapolis street as protesters gather in the city
Blood is seen on the headrest of a vehicle at the scene of the shooting earlier today
A children’s toy is seen the car where a woman was fatally shot by an ICE agent on Wednesday
Wednesday’s shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major American cities under the Trump administration. It’s at least the fifth person killed in a handful of states since 2024.
The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have been on edge since the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it had launched the operation, with more than 2,000 agents and officers expected to participate in the crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
During a news conference in Texas on Wednesday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the agency had deployed more than 2,000 officers to the Twin Cities and already made ‘hundreds and hundreds’ of arrests.
For nearly a year, migrant rights advocates and neighborhood activists across the Twin Cities have been preparing to mobilize in the event of an immigration enforcement surge.
From houses of worship to mobile home parks, they have set up very active online networks, scanned license plates for possible federal vehicles and bought whistles and other noise-making devices to alert neighborhoods of any enforcement presence.
On Tuesday night, the Immigration Defense Network, a coalition of groups serving immigrants in Minnesota, held a training session for about 100 people who were willing to hit the streets to monitor the federal enforcement operation.
A group of protesters hold placards near the scene of the shooting earlier today
Demonstrators line the road near the scene of the shooting amid rising tensions in Minneapolis
Frey is no stranger to controversy and has been known to issue questionable remarks.
He was met with scrutiny in 2024 after he branded people who work from home as ‘losers’ during a Minneapolis Downtown Council meeting.
The mayor, in his speech, accused remote workers of ‘diddling on their laptop’ while snuggled up on the couch with a ‘nasty cat blanket.’
He later admitted the comment was a ‘joke that perhaps was not funny.’
Frey divided opinions again last year with his impassioned remarks at an August press conference after the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School.
‘Children are dead, there are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy or absolute pain of the situation,’ he said in the aftermath.
‘Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now, these kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school, they were in a church.’
Minnesota Bishop Robert Barron condemned Frey’s response and branded it ‘completely asinine’ after the tragedy where children were shot inside a church.
An aerial view of protesters clashing with police after the woman driver was shot dead
Border Patrol agents stand guard as protesters link arms to block a street in Minneapolis
Police tape surrounds the SUV in which a 37-year-old woman was shot by ICE earlier today
‘Catholics don’t think that prayer magically protects them from all suffering. After all, Jesus prayed fervently from the cross on which he was dying,’ Barron told Fox News at the time.
Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, argued that critics misunderstand the role of prayer, and said ‘prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God, which strikes me as altogether appropriate precisely at times of great pain.’
The Democrat mayor has also previously been accused by his opponents of creating a divided city government that does not work well with county and state partners.
Minnesota state Senator Omar Fateh, who challenged Frey in last year’s mayoral election, claimed during a debate that he was ‘hostile’ towards other leaders.
