An officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement fatally shoots a motorist, leading to strong statements from state and federal leaders, and Gov. Ron DeSantis officially calls for a special session to tackle redistricting in the state.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minneapolis motorist on Wednesday during the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown on a major American city — a shooting that federal officials claimed was an act of self-defense but that the city’s mayor described as “reckless” and unnecessary.
The woman was shot in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets and about a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. Her killing quickly drew a crowd of angry protesters.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, during a visit to Texas, described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” carried out against ICE officers by a woman who “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blasted that characterization as “garbage” and criticized the federal deployment of more than 2,000 officers to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of the immigration crackdown.
“What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” Frey said, calling on the immigration agents to leave. “They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos on our streets, and in this case, quite literally killing people.”
“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit,” the mayor said.
Videos taken by bystanders with different vantage points and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The SUV begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the SUV at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It was not clear from the videos if the vehicle made contact with the officer. The SUV then sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop. Witnesses screamed obscenities, expressing shock at what they’d seen.
The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. The death of the Minneapolis woman, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was at least the fifth linked to immigration crackdowns.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced Tuesday that it had launched the operation, which is at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. During her Texas visit, Noem confirmed that DHS had deployed more than 2,000 officers to the area and said they had already made “hundreds and hundreds” of arrests.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara briefly described the shooting to reporters but, unlike federal officials, gave no indication that the 37-year-old driver was trying to harm anyone. He said she had been shot in the head.
“This woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue. … At some point a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot and the vehicle began to drive off,” the chief said. “At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced during a press conference Wednesday that he is calling for a special legislative session to tackle redistricting.
“Today, I announced that I will be convening a Special Session of the Legislature focused on redistricting to ensure that Florida’s congressional maps accurately reflect the population of our state. Every Florida resident deserves to be represented fairly and constitutionally,” DeSantis posted on X and Facebook.
The governor said that the planned special session would begin after the regular legislative session. That would, in DeSantis’ opinion, free up lawmakers to “focus on the pressing issues facing Floridians.”
The Florida Legislature took its first official step in early December toward potentially redrawing the state’s congressional districts as lawmakers convened a new House committee tasked with exploring possible changes.
At least six other states are redrawing maps, or at least attempting to, ahead of this year’s midterm election. Florida’s redistricting process is somewhat unique, however, because of its 2010 “Fair Districts” constitutional amendment, which prohibits maps drawn to favor political parties or incumbents.
“Florida voters approved the Fair District Amendments in 2010 because we wanted to rid our system of this type of partisan gerrymandering and rigging for political gain,” said Genesis Robinson of the voting rights group Equal Ground.
Over the summer, President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw their congressional maps to expand the GOP majority in Congress, alleging Democratic leaders in other states have gerrymandered maps of their own. DeSantis reaffirmed his administration’s intent to follow along, noting the state will likely pursue changes if and when the U.S. Supreme Court rethinks federal redistricting rules.
“We’re going to do it,” DeSantis said. “And part of it is we’re going to be forced to do it, I think, because the Supreme Court’s VRA decision is going to impact the current map. So just no matter what else happens, that is going to have to be addressed.”
The governor’s plan, though, will require House and Senate cooperation.
“Three people have to turn the keys at the same time in order to get new maps,” said Jonathan Webber of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “And right now, it does not seem like all three people are aligned. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s a bad thing. But overall, it’s a bad thing for the people of Florida that there is not clear leadership from their leaders.”
Thus far, the Senate has taken no action on the issue. In a memo, Senate President Ben Albritton said work on redistricting may launch in the new year.
“The Governor has expressed a desire to address this issue next spring,” Albritton said in a statement. “As such, there is no ongoing work regarding potential mid-decade redistricting taking place in the Senate at this time.”
Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff
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