TRANSCRIPT
Protesters making their opposition to the presence of thousands of militarised federal officers in the streets of Minneapolis clear.
Tensions have flared in the city over the Trump administration’s massive immigration crackdown, after a federal officer shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during an attempted arrest.
The Department of Homeland Security has alleged the arresting officer fired defensive shots after the man fled a traffic stop.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has defended the shooting, saying two other people violently attacked the officer.
"Our ICE agents are following the law and running their operations according to training. Last night, what we saw was three individuals weaponise shovels and brooms and attack an ICE officer that had to defend himself. So we're hopeful that we don't see that again, that we as protesters and violent rioters will be held accountable for the actions that they're taking and that our officers can do their work safely."
The shooting took place less than two weeks after an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, prompting angry protests across the city.
Federal immigration agents have since been accused of using aggressive crowd-control tactics — including pointing rifles at demonstrators and deploying chemical irritants, actions the government says are necessary to protect officers from violent attacks.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says the scale of the immigration crackdown in the city is causing widespread panic and fear.
“News reports simply don't do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities. Two- to 3,000 armed agents of the federal government have been deployed to Minnesota. Armed, masked, under-trained ICE agents are going door to door, ordering people to point out where their neighbours of colour live. They're pulling over people indiscriminately, including US citizens. And demanding to see their papers.”
Governor Walz urging residents to refrain from violence, and document what they're witnessing.
" Help us establish a record of exactly what's happening in our communities. You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct these activities. So carry your phone with you at all times. And if you see these ICE agents in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record. Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity. But to bank evidence for future prosecution.”
As protests against ICE actions persist, President Trump has threatened to invoke the the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy US troops to quell demonstrations.
While White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the insurrection act is a tool President Trump can use at his disposal, democratic representative Jason Crow says further military presence would only inflame the situation.
"Minnesota has been very clear that they do not want the intervention of the federal government. But just like California last year, where Donald Trump sent the military in improperly, and the courts actually agreed with that and said that he lacked the authority to do so, once again, he's pushing the boundaries of the rule of law.”
William Kelly, a Minneapolis resident, says demonstrators won't be bullied by President Trump into giving up their right to peaceful protest.
"It feels like fascism. It feels like Donald Trump is trying to strengthen his grip on this nation. And he's going to use our peaceful demonstrations, our First Amendment protests, as an excuse to send in the troops. But what I have to say to him is, 'We're not scared. We will continue to stand. And if we must sacrifice our life for this republic, we will do so. And we will continue to do so peacefully, as is our constitutional right."
