Politics
Fresh protests after man shot dead in Minneapolis operation
- Governor Walz calls shooting ‘horrific’, demands state-led probe.
- Says federal govt can’t be trusted to investigate incident.
- Trump accuses Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey of ‘inciting insurrection.’
MINNEAPOLIS: Federal immigration agents shot dead a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, in the second fatal shooting of a civilian during the Trump administration’s controversial operation in the city, sparking fresh protests and outrage from state officials.
The death came less than three weeks after US citizen Renee Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer involved in sweeps to round up undocumented migrants.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) insisted the man killed on Saturday was armed with a pistol and its officers acted in self-defence.
But Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the shooting “horrific” and demanded that state authorities lead the investigation.
“The federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period,” Walz told a press conference.
US President Donald Trump ratcheted up his war of words with Democratic Minnesota Governor Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing them of “inciting insurrection” over their response to the killing.
Trump has previously threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and send troops into Minnesota.
The victim was a 37-year-old white male US citizen from Minnesota who held a gun licence, Minneapolis police said, while withholding his name.
Video circulating on social media – and later confirmed by authorities – shows several agents, including at least one wearing a vest marked “POLICE”, surrounding a person on the ground and striking him multiple times. Several gunshots are heard.
Frey pulled no punches, urging Trump to end the federal immigration operation, which has sparked sometimes violent demonstrations.
“This is a moment to act like a leader. Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment – let’s achieve peace. Let’s end this operation.”
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said an “incredibly volatile scene” had erupted after the shooting and urged residents to avoid the area.
Officers who declared the protest an unlawful assembly deployed clouds of tear gas as the crowd grew and used dumpsters to make blockades on the road in the busy south Minneapolis neighbourhood known for its restaurants.
Local resident Maria, 56, told AFP the situation in the city was “escalating.”
“They’re attacking and terrorising our communities right now,” she said, describing the situation as “white terror.”
DHS wrote on X that “an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and that its officers tried to disarm the man who they say “violently resisted.”
“Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene,” DHS said.
O’Hara said police believed the victim was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”
Minnesota allows the open carrying of firearms with a permit.
Horrific shooting
Earlier, Walz said he had discussed “another horrific shooting by federal agents” with the White House.
“Minnesota has had it. This is sickening,” he said on X.
“The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”
Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, called the shooting “an execution” and accused Trump of transforming Minneapolis into a “war zone.”
Thousands of ICE agents have been deployed to the Democratic-led city, as Trump presses a sweeping campaign to deport undocumented migrants.
Minneapolis has been rocked by increasingly tense protests since federal agents shot and killed Good, a US citizen, on January 7.
An autopsy concluded that the killing was a homicide, a classification that does not automatically mean a crime was committed.
The officer who fired the shots that killed Good, Jonathan Ross, has neither been suspended nor charged.
Public outrage was rekindled this week by the detention of a five-year-old boy as agents sought to arrest his father.
“Donald Trump and all your lieutenants who ordered this ICE surge: watch the horrific video of the killing today. The world is watching,” Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said on X.
- Congress leadership condemns Modi for ties, demands answers.
- Cites Modi’s meetings with Trump, Israel trip to allege connection.
- Govt denies any advisory role or meaningful contact with Epstein.
Freshly released files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have sparked attention after an email mentioning Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surfaced in the latest batch published by the US Department of Justice, drawing a sharp response from New Delhi.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday that one of the emails, attributed to Epstein, refers to Modi’s 2017 state visit to Israel — the first ever by an Indian prime minister.
The message claims Modi acted on Epstein’s advice during the trip, a suggestion Indian authorities have firmly rejected.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the only verifiable fact in the email is Modi’s official visit to Israel, calling the rest of the claims unfounded and misleading.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the remarks as the musings of a convicted criminal, saying there was no evidence of any meaningful contact or advisory role involving Modi and Epstein.
Despite the denial, opposition parties have cited the reference to press the government for an explanation.
Meanwhile, local media reported that the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, strongly criticised Prime Minister Modi, calling any alleged link with Epstein a matter of deep national shame.
Congress, in a recent statement, said Epstein wrote in an email that Modi took his advice before visiting Israel, claiming Modi “danced and sang” there for the benefit of the US president.
The party said Modi visited Israel from July 4 to 6, 2017, and that Epstein’s email was written three days after the trip.
It added that Modi had met then US President Donald Trump in June 2017, before the Israel visit, claiming this showed a long-standing and deep connection between Modi and Epstein.
The opposition party said the issue concerns national dignity and international credibility and that Modi must answer questions about what advice he took from Epstein and the meaning of the claims made in the email.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was jailed in 2008 for soliciting paid sex from a minor.
A fresh cache of files released on Friday related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contains documents that refer to numerous high-profile figures.
President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and British billionaire Richard Branson are among some of the people named in the documents.
- Congress leadership condemns Modi for ties, demands answers.
- Cites Modi’s meetings with Trump, Israel trip to allege connection.
- Govt denies any advisory role or meaningful contact with Epstein.
Freshly released files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have sparked attention after an email mentioning Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surfaced in the latest batch published by the US Department of Justice, drawing a sharp response from New Delhi.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday that one of the emails, attributed to Epstein, refers to Modi’s 2017 state visit to Israel — the first ever by an Indian prime minister.
The message claims Modi acted on Epstein’s advice during the trip, a suggestion Indian authorities have firmly rejected.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the only verifiable fact in the email is Modi’s official visit to Israel, calling the rest of the claims unfounded and misleading.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the remarks as the musings of a convicted criminal, saying there was no evidence of any meaningful contact or advisory role involving Modi and Epstein.
Despite the denial, opposition parties have cited the reference to press the government for an explanation.
Meanwhile, local media reported that the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, strongly criticised Prime Minister Modi, calling any alleged link with Epstein a matter of deep national shame.
Congress, in a recent statement, said Epstein wrote in an email that Modi took his advice before visiting Israel, claiming Modi “danced and sang” there for the benefit of the US president.
The party said Modi visited Israel from July 4 to 6, 2017, and that Epstein’s email was written three days after the trip.
It added that Modi had met then US President Donald Trump in June 2017, before the Israel visit, claiming this showed a long-standing and deep connection between Modi and Epstein.
The opposition party said the issue concerns national dignity and international credibility and that Modi must answer questions about what advice he took from Epstein and the meaning of the claims made in the email.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was jailed in 2008 for soliciting paid sex from a minor.
A fresh cache of files released on Friday related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contains documents that refer to numerous high-profile figures.
President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and British billionaire Richard Branson are among some of the people named in the documents.
- Tasnim news agency rejects reports of IRCG official targeting.
- Iranian media says govt investigation cause of explosion.
- Blast comes amid heightened tensions Tehran and Washington.
An explosion occurred at Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, Iranian media reported, without giving a cause for the blast.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was targeted in the explosion were “completely false”.
Iranian media said the blast was being investigated but gave no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment.
The port of Bandar Abbas lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil.
The reported explosion comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington after Iranian the biggest protests to convulse the country in three years, and also amid ongoing Western concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The nationwide protests erupted in December over economic hardship and posed one of the toughest challenges to the government.
At least 5,000 people were killed in the protests, including 500 members of the security forces, an Iranian official told Reuters.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said an “armada” was heading toward Iran. Multiple sources said on Friday that Trump was weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused US, Israeli and European leaders of exploiting Iran’s economic problems, inciting unrest and providing people with the means to “tear the nation apart”.
Despite repeated threats of military action against Iran, Trump predicted that Tehran would seek to negotiate a deal rather than face American military action.
“I can say this, they do want to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.
Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to enter talks on its nuclear and missile programmes, Trump said “yeah, I have,” but refused to say what it was.
“We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading towards Iran right now,” Trump said, referring to a US naval carrier group in waters off Iran.
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