Minneapolis mayor says ICE officer's killing of motorist was 'reckless' and wasn't self-defence
Minneapolis (US) (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.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
