ICE officer shoots woman dead in dramatic escalation of Trump crackdown

The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced on Tuesday that it had launched the operation, with more than 2000 agents and officers expected to take part in the crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.

A large throng of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting, where they vented their anger at the local and federal officers who were there, including Gregory Bovino, a senior US Customs and Border Patrol official who has been the face of crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.

In a scene that hearkened back to the Los Angeles and Chicago crackdowns, bystanders heckled the officers and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.

“Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “ICE out of Minnesota!” they loudly chanted from behind the police tape.

During her Texas visit, Noem confirmed that DHS had deployed more than 2000 officers to the Twin Cities and they had already made “hundreds and hundreds” of arrests.

For nearly a year, migrant rights advocates and neighbourhood activists across the Twin Cities have been preparing to mobilise 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 licence plates for possible federal vehicles and bought whistles and other noise-making devices to alert neighbourhoods of any enforcement presence.

On Tuesday night, the Immigration Defence 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.

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“I feel like I’m an ordinary person, and I have the ability do something so I need to do it,” Mary Moran told KMSP-TV.

AP

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