The US city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been on edge since an immigration officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, a US citizen, behind the wheel of her car on January 7 during an encounter with immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) agents while taking part in a neighbourhood patrol network of local activists tracking and monitoring the activities of federal officers.
A week later, a Venezuelan man who fled a traffic stop in Minneapolis was shot in the leg by a US immigration agent, the government said, amid a surge of agents that has spurred dramatic resistance in the state. Protesters throwing rocks, ice and fireworks clashed with law enforcement agents who fired teargas and crowd control munitions late into the night after the shooting.
Rather than end the ICE surge, as demanded by state and local leaders, US President Donald Trump and his administration said it would send hundreds more agents to bolster a force of about 2,000 deployed to the city earlier.
In Iran, Trump urged Iranians to keep protesting as the death toll mounted, promising “help is on the way”. This as the Islamic Republic’s clerical rulers try to quash the biggest wave of dissent in years, sparking threats of US intervention.
Iranian officials have accused the US and Israel of fuelling violence in the country and blamed the deaths on “terrorist operatives” receiving foreign guidance to instigate.
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