Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey rushed to a news conference on Saturday within hours of a man being shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent on the city’s south side. The mayor said little to calm Minneapolis residents but did propose an ultimatum to President Donald J. Trump: End your immigration operation, and safety will be restored in the city.
Frey was joined at the podium by Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara and the city’s Emergency Management Director Rachel Sayre. From the start, the trio of city officials acknowledged they had few details of the shooting but were quick to condemn the federal agents involved in the shooting of the armed man early Saturday morning.
Frey’s began his statement saying, “I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death. The mayor made no mention of the suspect being armed with a 9mm pistol as he approached the agents. Frey next went on to imply federal agents were randomly shooting the city’s residents without cause, asking rhetorically, “How more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?”
Frey’s comments did not include a warning to his constituents to not approach law enforcement officers engaged in the conduct of lawful immigration enforcement while armed or not to impede the officers from conducting their duties. Frey instead encouraged more participation in the protests asking listeners, “To everyone listening, stand with Minneapolis, stand up for America, recognize that your children will ask you what side you were on, your grandchildren will ask you what you did to act to prevent this from happening again.”
Frey shifted blame away from elected officials in Minnesota for the violent anti-ICE protests in the city aiming his comments directly towards the Trump administration asking, “What exactly are you accomplishing, if the goal was to achieve peace and safety, this is doing exactly the opposite, if the goal was to achieve calm and prosperity, this is doing exactly the opposite.”
Frey wrapped up with what sounded like an ultimatum to the President implying there will be no restoration of safety until the enhanced immigration enforcement efforts under Trump’s Operation Metro Surge have ended saying, “To President Trump, 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 and I’m telling you, our city will come back, safety will be restored.”
According to a DHS statement released shortly after the shooting, the armed suspect killed in the shooting approached Border Patrol agents conducting a targeted immigration enforcement operation against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault.
According to the statement, U.S. Border Patrol agents attempted to disarm the suspect, but the suspect violently resisted. Fearing for his life the and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired.
According to the Department, the shooting remains under investigation.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X @RandyClarkBBTX.
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