A group of violent anti-ICE protesters hurled fireworks and rocks at officers on a Minneapolis block where a federal immigration agent shot a Venezuelan migrant in the leg hours earlier Wednesday night.
Local officials urged the angry crowd to “go home” and not exacerbate the already high tensions in the city after two shootings of Minneapolis residents by federal agents in one week.
“The crowd is engaging in unlawful acts. They have thrown fireworks at police officers, and at multiple times, gas has been deployed. Police are attempting to disperse this unlawful assembly at this time,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference late Wednesday.
“I urge anyone that is at the scene to leave immediately. This is already a very tense situation, and we do not need this to escalate any further.
“I have faith that the investigators are involved, will follow every lead in this case, and ensure it is completed to its logical conclusion,” O’Hara said.
Anti-ICE protesters also threw ice, rocks, and other projectiles at federal officers, which “is well past the line,” the police chief added.
Cops at the scene deployed pepper balls and flash bangs back at the group, according to local outlets.
The agitated crowds were primarily gathered around the 600 block of 24th Avenue North, where an illegal Venezuelan migrant was shot in the leg by a federal immigration agent during a scuffle earlier in the night.
The man, who officials said entered the US illegally in 2022, allegedly fled during a targeted traffic stop and reportedly beat a federal officer with a snow shovel and broomstick, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey echoed O’Hara’s calls for protesters to disperse and asked residents not to “counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos.”
“What I can tell you for certain is that this is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in,” Frey told reporters.
“I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and is intolerant. If it were your city, it would be unacceptable there, too. And for anyone that is taking the bait tonight, stop,” Frey said.
“That is not helpful. Go home. We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos.” Frey, 44, encouraged citizens to continue peacefully protesting, as many have done throughout the city since Renee Nicole Good, 37, was gunned down by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross last week.
“This is already the second shooting that we’ve had in a week. People are scared. The atmosphere is tense, but again, there is another option. We can stop going down this route together,” Frey said.
The mayor added that Minneapolis’s 600-member police force — which typically responds to everyday crime — has been overwhelmed by the 3,000 federal officers who have swarmed the city.
“We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another,” Frey said.
The federal officer and the shot suspect were both treated at a nearby hospital, DHS said. The suspect suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Two attackers, who the DHS said emerged from a nearby apartment and also allegedly mercilessly assaulted the agent with a snow shovel and broom handle, have been taken into custody.
The FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are on the scene processing evidence, O’Hara said.
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