Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday the state’s National Guard was prepared to deploy if necessary following the fatal shooting of a woman during a federal immigration enforcement operation, saying, “We’ve never been at war with our federal government.”
During a news conference, Walz said he issued a warning order to the Guard, meaning an initial step to increase preparations should troops be needed amid heightened tensions after Wednesday’s shooting.
“We are preparing the National Guard,” he said. “They are prepared to be deployed if necessary.”
The mood in Minneapolis became tense after an unidentified 37-year-old woman was shot while in her vehicle.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were conducting an enforcement action when their vehicle got stuck in the snow.
As they were attempting to push the vehicle, she said, a woman “attacked them and those surrounding them” and “attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.”
A federal law enforcement officer fired and shot the woman, who crashed into a nearby parked vehicle.
She was pronounced dead at the site of the crash. DHS told Fox News the ICE agent who fired shots in Minneapolis Wednesday had previously been injured in a prior altercation.
DHS officials said that while working in the city last June, the agent had been dragged by a car in a separate incident.
Walz noted that National Guard members were residents of the state and not being bussed in from elsewhere.
“Minnesota will not allow our community to be used as a prop in a national political fight,” he said. “We will not take the bait.”
