Tension on the streets of the United States continues to rise in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis last Wednesday. The mobilizations continued for the second consecutive night in the most populated city in Minnesota, as in other cities in the country, and there are more protests called during the weekend, while local and state authorities demand that Donald Trump’s Government allow them to participate in the investigation of the event that has shaken the country.
On Thursday, less than 24 hours after the murder in Minneapolis that shook the country, federal immigration agents were involved in The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed in mid-afternoon that Border Patrol agents in the middle of a “routine vehicle stop” opened fire after the driver tried to run over the agents; exactly the same argument as in Minneapolis, . In this case, DHS described the agents’ targets as undocumented immigrants and members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
All eyes are on Minneapolis as protests grow in opposition to carrying out “the largest immigration operation ever carried out,” according to the immigration police themselves. Another hundred officers are expected to join the deployment over the weekend, raising the possibility of confrontations between protesters and officers. The state’s governor, Democrat Tim Walz, announced on Thursday that he had activated the National Guard “out of an abundance of caution”, in case it is “necessary to help maintain peace, ensure public safety and allow peaceful demonstrations.”
The demonstrations were in the morning. Federal agents used tear gas and pepper bullets against a group gathered outside the building where the ICE offices in Minneapolis are located. Overnight, hundreds of people blocked an intersection a few blocks from where the federal agent shot and killed Protesters marched through the streets, chanting slogans against Trump’s immigration crackdown and waving signs.
The protests are expected to continue this Friday. Governor Walz has called for a “day of unity” in memory of Good and called on Minnesotans and people across the country to observe a moment of silence for her.
Although there have also been protests in cities such as New York, Houston or Washington DC, the Government is closely monitoring those in Minneapolis, since it is the city where the national protest movement against police violence was created in 2020 by a police officer in May of that year. For months, and in the midst of a pandemic, protests and riots shook the nation. The Trump Administration has warned that it will not allow this to happen again.
“Peaceful protest is a sacred American right protected by the First Amendment. Obstructing, impeding or attacking federal law enforcement is a federal crime. So is damaging federal property. If you cross that red line, you will be arrested and prosecuted. Don’t test our resolve,” Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, wrote on her X profile on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the authorities of Minneapolis and the State of Minnesota launched another call this Friday for the Department of Justice to allow them to participate in the investigation of the shooting that ended Good’s life. In a press conference, the city’s mayor, Jacob Frey, asked that city investigators be able to access the evidence and material available to the Government. “If you have nothing to hide, then don’t hide. Include local experts in the process, we have nothing to hide here. All we want in Minneapolis is justice and the truth,” said the councilman.
The officer who shot the woman dead has been identified by the press as Jonathan Ross, although the Department of Justice has not confirmed his name. According to reports from The New York Times y The Washington PostLast June, the officer was injured after being dragged about 100 meters by another driver during an immigration operation in Minnesota.
In an interview with Fox on Thursday, Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, indicated that the same agent involved in Good’s death suffered “abrasions all over his body” on June 17 when he tried to detain a migrant who had been convicted of sexual abuse.
