In a powerful statement directed at ICE, Mayor Jacob Frey expressed strong disapproval just hours following the fatal shooting of a woman by federal agents in Minneapolis.
The Democratic mayor didn’t mince words, emphatically telling ICE, “Get out of Minneapolis.”
Frey criticized the agency, stating, “Your presence, which you claim is for safety, is achieving the opposite effect.”
He emphasized the harm inflicted on the community, noting that “people are being hurt” and “families are being torn apart” due to the actions of immigration officials.
“Long-term residents who have significantly contributed to our city, culture, and economy are living in fear, and now someone has lost their life. This is your responsibility, and it’s time for you to leave,” Frey asserted.
The incident occurred during a protest on Wednesday, which was in response to what appeared to be an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
The ICE agent shot the woman, whose name hasn’t been released, after she allegedly tried to ram officers with a vehicle, federal authorities said, calling it an act of ‘domestic terrorism.’
Frey also dismissed ICE’s justification of self defense, stating that he reviewed video of the shooting and ‘I can tell you that is bull****.’
Mayor Jacob Frey gave an extraordinary message to ICE after a woman was shot dead inside a car by federal agents in Minneapolis
FBI agents and police work the scene following a fatal shooting by an ICE agent on Wednesday morning in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Photographer King Demetrius Pendleton has his eyes flushed after being hit with chemical irritants in Minneapolis on Wednesday
Frey has repeatedly blasted the federal immigration crackdown on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
‘They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,’ Frey said after the fatal shooting.
‘They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos on our streets and in this case quite literally killing people.’
Wednesday’s shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major American cities under the Trump administration. It’s at least the fifth person killed in a handful of states since 2024.
The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have been on edge since the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it had launched the operation, with more than 2,000 agents and officers expected to participate in the crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
During a news conference in Texas on Wednesday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the agency had deployed more than 2,000 officers to the Twin Cities and already made ‘hundreds and hundreds’ of arrests.
For nearly a year, migrant rights advocates and neighborhood activists across the Twin Cities have been preparing to mobilize in the event of an immigration enforcement surge.
From houses of worship to mobile home parks, they have set up very active online networks, scanned license plates for possible federal vehicles and bought whistles and other noise-making devices to alert neighborhoods of any enforcement presence.
On Tuesday night, the Immigration Defense Network, a coalition of groups serving immigrants in Minnesota, held a training session for about 100 people who were willing to hit the streets to monitor the federal enforcement operation.
People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis
Frey’s profane remarks come just months after he sparked backlash from religious groups after attacking those offering ‘prayers’ for mass shooting victims.
Frey divided opinions with his impassioned remarks at an August press conference after the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School.
‘Children are dead, there are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy or absolute pain of the situation,’ he said in the aftermath.
‘Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now, these kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school, they were in a church.’
Minnesota Bishop Robert Barron condemned Frey’s response and branded it ‘completely asinine’ after the tragedy where children were shot inside a church.
‘Catholics don’t think that prayer magically protects them from all suffering. After all, Jesus prayed fervently from the cross on which he was dying,’ Barron told Fox News at the time.
Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, argued that critics misunderstand the role of prayer, and said ‘prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God, which strikes me as altogether appropriate precisely at times of great pain.’
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
