Minneapolis (US), Jan 7 (AP) Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Wednesday that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot and killed a motorist acted recklessly and rejected federal officials claims that the officer had acted in self-defence.

During a news conference hours after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot the woman, whose name hasn't been released, an angry Frey 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. “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 defence. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit,” the mayor said.

The ICE officer shot the woman in her vehicle in a residential neighbourhood in Minneapolis, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major American cities under the Trump administration.

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul have been on edge since DHS announced Tuesday that it had launched the operation, with 2,000 agents and officers expected to participate in the crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.

A large throng of protesters gathered at the scene after Wednesday's shooting, where they vented their anger at the local and federal officers who were there, including Gregory Bovino, a senior US Customs and Border Patrol official who has been the face of crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.

In a scene similar to the Los Angeles and Chicago crackdowns, bystanders heckled the officers and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the crackdowns.

“Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “ICE out of Minnesota!” they loudly chanted from behind the police tape.

After the shooting, Mayor Jacob Frey said immigration agents were “causing chaos in our city.” “We are demanding ICE leave the city and state immediately. We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities,” Frey said on social media.

The area where the shooting occurred is a modest neighbourhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets in the area and 1.6 kilometres from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.

The Immigration Defence Network, a coalition of groups serving immigrants in Minnesota, held a training session Tuesday night for about 100 people who are willing to hit the streets to monitor the federal enforcement.

“I feel like I'm an ordinary person, and I have the ability do something so I need to do it,” Mary Moran told KMSP-TV. (AP) NPK NPK

ICE officer fatally shot a motorist during an enforcement operation; mayor rejects self-defence claim and protests erupt. An ICE officer shot and killed a motorist during a federal enforcement operation in Minneapolis; the mayor called the conduct reckless and rejected the officer's self-defence claim, an incident that escalated local protests and highlighted municipal-federal tensions over use of force and immigration enforcement presence.