Minnesota officials renewed their calls on Friday for state agents to be allowed to help investigate the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officer in Minneapolis this week.
Two days after a federal officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on a residential street, immigration agents remained in Minneapolis, public schools were closed and the Minnesota National Guard was activated in what governor Tim Walz’s office described as a precautionary move.
State and local officials have pressed for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to be allowed to investigate the shooting of Ms Good alongside the FBI, as was initially announced in the hours after the shooting Wednesday.
But after the Trump administration and Minnesota’s Democratic leaders sparred over the circumstances of the killing, state officials said Thursday that state investigators had been denied access to evidence and were withdrawing from the case.
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“Our ask is to embrace the truth,” Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said on Friday, adding that he was worried the federal government had already concluded that the shooting was justified. “Our ask is to include the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in this process, because we in Minneapolis want a fair investigation.”
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday that state investigators were not cut out, and that “they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation”.
State prosecutors would face significant legal and practical obstacles if they sought to file criminal charges against the Ice officer who opened fire.
The tension in Minneapolis comes months into a campaign by the Trump administration to increase immigration enforcement in Democratic-led states and cities.
In Portland, Oregon, another place singled out for criticism, Border Patrol agents shot two people during what they called a “targeted vehicle stop”.
[ How White House unleashed torrent of false claims after woman shot dead by IceOpens in new window ]
In Minnesota on Friday, a few dozen protesters faced off with federal agents outside a government building. Agents shot pepper balls at demonstrators who approached a fence, and at least one person was taken into custody by law enforcement.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also announced plans on Friday to re-examine thousands of refugee cases in Minnesota, framing that effort as a way to root out fraud.
The shooting of Ms Good, a US citizen, came after weeks of mounting disagreements and heated rhetoric between the White House and the Democrats who run the state.
Over the objections of local leaders, 2,000 federal officers were said this week to be deploying to Minnesota to arrest immigrants lacking permanent legal status and investigate fraud in state social service programmes.
On Wednesday morning, just days into the stepped-up campaign, agents confronted Ms Good as she partially blocked a snowy residential street. When agents approached her car on foot and demanded that she get out, Ms Good disobeyed and began to drive away. A video analysis showed that Ms Good’s vehicle appeared to be turning away from the officer who opened fire.
The White House has described the shooting as a lawful act of self-defence, while Minnesota leaders have labelled the federal account as “bulls**t” or “propaganda” and have demanded that Ice leave the state.
“What we are seeing right now, it’s authoritarianism,” said Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat who is running for US Senate.
The DHS has defended its work in Minnesota, which has continued since the shooting, and has pointed to the arrests of men who they said were in the country illegally and had been convicted of serious crimes.
“In the face of violent attacks, Ice law enforcement arrested paedophiles, rapists and drug traffickers in Minneapolis,” Tricia McLaughlin, a department spokeswoman, said in a statement.
US attorney general Pam Bondi warned Minnesota demonstrators not to obstruct or attack federal law enforcement, saying, “Do not test our resolve.”
Officials in Minnesota said residents were angry, nervous and eager for Ice to leave. As protesters have gathered by the thousands this week, Mr Walz and Mr Frey have urged them to remain peaceful, saying they believed the Trump administration was looking for a pretext to send in federal troops. Early on Friday, city crews removed barriers blocking streets near the site of the shooting.
Mr Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard on Thursday but did not immediately send troops into the streets. He said the soldiers would be prepared to assist local law enforcement officers if needed. He said there was “every reason to believe that peace will hold”.
Minnesota state representative Esther Agbaje, a Democrat, said she hoped “that the federal government kind of pulls back from Minnesota”.
“People are scared,” Ms Agbaje said. “People are not going to school. People are not going to work. People are not going to the grocery store. I don’t think that that’s how people should be living.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
