CHICAGO (WLS) — Protests are being held in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and other communities across the area on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

There have been incidents of federal agent-involved shootings during alleged car-rammings in the Chicago area during an immigration crackdown over the past few months. They include a fatal shooting in Franklin Park, and another shooting in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, where the Department of Justice dropped their charges against the people involved, including a woman who was shot and injured.

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Little Village Community Council President Baltazar Enriquez issued a statement Wednesday afternoon, saying in part “Today, the Little Village Community Council, alongside community members, faith leaders, and allies, gathers in solidarity and grief to denounce the killing of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, an innocent U.S. citizen whose life was taken during an encounter involving ICE agents. We are outraged… Today’s gathering includes candles, prayers, and support from the faith community, honoring the life that was lost and all families harmed by unjust enforcement practices. We call on the people of Chicago to stand together-to demand justice, to protect one another, and to insist on a nation where no one is killed for existing, for migrating, or for being brown.”

Gatherings were also planned Wednesday evening in other communities, including in Evanston and at Winnemac Park on Chicago’s North Side.

The ICE officer shot and killed a Minneapolis driver on Wednesday during the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown on a major American city – a shooting that federal officials said was an act of self-defense but that the city’s mayor described as “reckless” and unnecessary.

The woman was shot in front of a family member during a traffic stop 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 hundreds of angry protesters.

SEE ALSO | ICE agent describes his injuries as ‘nothing major’ after deadly Franklin Park shooting: VIDEO

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, while visiting 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 bull****,” the mayor said.

SEE ALSO | DOJ drops charges against woman shot by CBP agent in Chicago after being accused of ramming car

DHS posted the following statement on the Minneapolis shooting:
“Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them-an act of domestic terrorism. An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots. He used his training and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers. The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased. The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries. This is the direct consequence of constant attacks and demonization of our officers by sanctuary politicians who fuel and encourage rampant assaults on our law enforcement who are facing 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats. This is an evolving situation, and we will give the public more information as soon as it becomes available.”

Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin issued the following statement:
“As I’ve said time and time again, the Trump Administration’s militarized immigration raids are dangerous political theater meant to spread fear and advance an anti-immigrant agenda. And now, a surge in immigration enforcement activity has led to the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis. This loss of life is tragic, heartbreaking, and enraging, but I encourage all protestors to remain peaceful.
“A full investigation must be completed so the truth can be revealed. Video of the incident starkly contradicts DHS’s narrative, and the fact that DHS has jumped to characterize this shooting in ‘self-defense’ is rushed, at best, and a lie, at worst.
“In a November hearing challenging the treatment of press and protestors by federal immigration agents, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said that their ‘use of force shocks the conscience’ and ‘this conduct shows no sign of stopping.’ And now their use of force has led to another shooting and another death. This must come to an end.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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